The #1 and #2 ranked American squash players in Bahrain

(Forgot to post last night...Sorry)
I am so out of routine with Ramadan. Normally I do my bible reading at lunch wherever I go out and eat. Well…I can’t go out to eat at lunch, so my devotionals have fallen a little bit by the wayside. I don’t like it when Im out of routine, im more prone to spiritually stub my toe, or run out of gas emotionally speaking. So I had to mix it up a little bit. Im instead doing my devotions before bedtime. Its working, I feel like I have more sustained energy, spiritually speaking this way. Its like I need my daily fill up.

I was so busy and productive today at work…yet I have no idea what I really accomplished. I know I felt a great deal of satisfaction. Its weird when Im dealing with managing as opposed to doing projects. There are lots of little vital things to do that don’t really get noticed. But when I complete a project I have something tangible to show for it. I did do the proposal for Bahrain TV. I know they don’t have a lot of money…the question is do they have any? We can produce the Improv show for very little, since we are getting the revenue from the live tickets at the gate. Any television revenue generated is like icing on the cake. I want an opportunity to streamline the show so we can open up to a bigger market once we iron out the kinks and perfect it. This hasn’t been done anywhere in the Middle East…so why not dream big…and call it The Funniest Person in the Middle East. There are actually some pretty big television networks here that would go for that. The possibilities are really exciting. Start small…and work our way up to big. I can see how everything could fall into place from a far. We need things to break our way…but they have been so far. What’s nice about the cast that I have for this, is they are so enthusiastic. Most of all of them have been clamoring for a practice session. They have a lot of fun doing this. That is very rewarding for me.

I have to interview for another sales executive position. Ugh…this will be #5 since I’ve been here. No wonder the company is hurting cash flow wise. I know as the General Manager, sales is also a huge part of my responsibility. While I have brought in the last two massive deals, I’m being stretched to be a filmmaker and day to day manger as well. I love the challenge, but there are certain aspects which I feel Im more adept at handling. Hopefully we can get a sales guy that can produce. Im confident that our product is now top notch. That really is what I spend the last year in perfecting. Now we just have to go hit the marketplace. We interviewed four people today. I found out my good friend Fayad, left his company because they hadn’t paid him for three months. Fayad is a great guy and a excellent salesman. I was so excited when I found out he was available and willing to come work with us. But now, I have to go through the motions and interview the rest of the lot because Nader likes to have options. He has the ultimate say. I’ve vouched for several people, like our last two sales managers for example. Those haven’t worked out so well. So my opinion on personnel is a little sullied. After Fayad came in, I excitedly ran to Khalifa…I said…”he’s great.” He responded…you think everyone is great. I thought about it…and yes…I do think everyone is great. I always focus on the positives. So maybe I have to defer to others on this one.

I had another squash match with Darren. I made the mistake and showing him my new racquet. Its so light and powerful. So he went out and bought one. Now our matches are nearly equal. We played to a 2-2 draw again. We had done that the time before as well. I’d rather the game be competitive than a wipe out. Darren and I were both gassed at the end. He brought his co-worker by to play a game. He was Jordanian…and just wiped us out. Darren and I thought we were getting pretty good…this guy showed us…that certainly was not the case. He had a great attitude while he cleaned our clocks. I commiserated with Darren afterwards that he and I were still the numbers 1 and 2 ranked American Squash players in Bahrain. Im pretty certain we’re the only two American Squash players in Bahrain, but who care about the details?