Rick Beeman

A very active day today. There was a little conflict in the office. Apparently our DVD’s that we produce don’t play in all the machines of our customers. Im not sure about the technical jargon with the codecs and drivers. My response to IT is fix it. Their response is to tell me why it can’t be fixed. My response, come up with a solution. I wasn’t being very managerial. I don’t really have the time to be too managerial. My mind should be focused elsewhere. The good part is the office is functioning as a fine tuned machine. Salesmen are selling, designers designing, editors editing. I enjoy overseeing and doing a few tweaks here and there. Today I was focused on trying to do a few technical things in the office. I kept getting interrupted. They were good interruptions. But still everytime I had to stop it took me some time to get back into the groove. The good part was that all the interruptions were good news. Im confident we are going to get out of the dip that we ar...

What a tough day emotionally it was. I miss my kids. Things over there seem to be getting worse and not better. I have to trust God on this one. We had a big group at our Positive Living Group tonight with 8. Nabs and his girlfriend came by for the first time. I really like Nabs. You may recall he was the first Arab to walk to the North Pole. He’s a bit of a celebrity around here. We are studying stress in our teaching series with Joel this month. I mentioned to the group that I rarely experience stress (as I believe it’s a choice mostly) but the past couple of weeks I was really experiencing it. Maria asked me, what makes me stressed. I responded when things are out of my control. Well the kids are out of my control, the company’s cash flow issues are kind of out of my control. My emotional state is sometimes out of my control. The teaching on stress tonight was to recognize your stress points and change your circumstances. Well…I can’t really change my circumstances ...

A day full of activity. We had a lot to get done at work today. We had a new salesman come on board. So I wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable in the new environment. We are so busy and have so much activity yet the bottom line cash flow crisis hasn’t changed much. We have monies out there waiting to be collected, I just have to finish the projects in order to collect on them. But finishing the projects is proving to be difficult. I have so many other distractions and other potential projects come in that have a higher priority. The team and I are putting together a proposal for a potentially huge client. So I have to budget and have a proposal by tomorrow. The good thing is that I have a team of people working on it with me. Im trying to give more authority away. The key that makes this work is we’ve assembled a very competent team. I think our company is primed to be a great big company. We just have to survive long enough to get there. But again I have to beli...

I was feeling a little bit anti-party this past weekend. I was invited to two big shindigs, one last night, and another today. I just didn’t really feel like going. I tried to blame it on my voice. Who wants to go to a party when they can’t understand what you are saying. So I’ve been taking it easy all weekend. That’s not to say I haven’t made it out because I have. Today I got up to play Russ racquetball. For the third straight game I didn’t hit him. I was feeling really lousy at the start of the game. So I wasn’t sure if I should play him or not. But after the game I felt better. For me that’s a little bit counter-intuitive (man I like that word) you would think if I go through something strenuous I would feel worse, but quite the opposite is happening. Its weird when you play squash and racquetball at the same time. They seem like similar games, but they are absolutely different. Darren refuses to play racquetball because he is afraid it might mess up his squash game...

What a dramatic day it has been. I told you yesterday that I started coming down with something and I didn’t have the time to be sick at the moment. So I fought through it. Today I woke up and I didn’t have much of a voice. So I was hoping if I had a big breakfast that might help. So I got to church and my voice was still a little raspy. I went over with Pastor Graeme what my role in the service would be. Originally he gave me a monologue, which was ok, but just not great. I asked if I could rewrite it a bit and he said no problem. So I fashioned this as an extremely well-prepared improv, as opposed to a learning a skit word for word. I teach so much improv, I feel that well done improvs are much more believable. So I got up on stage on my cue and the performance came off without a hitch. The voice was fine. I hit all my important points and the audience seemed to respond to it well. Now here’s the weird part. My friend Josh noticed this first. After the service we were...

What a day. I crammed so much into today. I woke up and felt the flu coming on. I felt pretty lousy. But I can’t afford to be sick right now. So I prayed it away. Usually when I get sick I pray “Spirit of sickness, disease or infirmary, you have no authority over me. You have been defeated. I command you leave my body in Jesus name.” The secret is attaching Jesus’ name to it. There is power in the name of Jesus…really. It’s not just a hymn. I’ve been praying that prayer for the last four years or so…and I went from being regularly sick, to rarely ever being sick. If you are a believer…you should try it sometime. It only works is if you are a Christian. By Christ dying on the cross…He has power over sickness, death, and other annoying crap. By being a Christian you are given that same authority. Its kind of having the ultimate big brother. It works for other things too like overcoming temptation, for strength and resiliency when you come into adversity. There are man...

I am exhausted. I am so glad the weekend is around the corner. I sure need one. I didn’t mention last night because I was still trying to process it. A really unfortunate event. I was so overwhelmed with responsibility I just didn’t know how to handle the news. I own a home in Houston. When I bought the house I was traveling back and forth to California for work and back to Houston for the 1st 3rd and 5th weekend visitations. I took the Friday off and took the first flight out on Friday morning and the last plane back on Sunday night. I did this for a whole year and only missed one weekend. I wasn’t hardly saving any money because most of it was going to the airfare but I didn’t miss any time with the kids. So I figured if I bought a house it would give my kids some permanency with regards to me. But since I was home only 6 days a month, I thought it was silly to leave it empty. So I started renting out the rooms. With the economy, I thought it was a pretty good move. Ge...

When God told me the next six would be difficult, I tried to anticipate it. I guess I didn’t anticipate it enough. Oh…just in case you are wondering, God is totally speaking to me in the midst of all the crap as a means of encouragement. But right now I feel like Im in the midst of the storm. There are so many little crappy things happening. Not one big giant issue, just about a dozen headaches. They can be rectified, but it’s a big hassle. But in the midst of everything, its not making my life miserable. I believe that God prepared me for this. Although I probably should have prepared more. There are issues from home, issues at work, deadlines, extra-curricular hassles, being lonely. But if I look on the bright side, Im healthy. I’ve had such a great run the last 11 months. Its been so full of joy and peace. Although the storms have still raged, I’ve had peace in the midst of the storm. But now its being really tested. God must have amazing plans for me by the end of O...

I can’t write a lot tonight because I left my power adapter at work. I only have a few minutes of battery time remaining. So Im going to try to post before my computer dies. More tomorrow. It’s interesting, Im pretty stressed at work with the three deadlines coming up. This is after I blogged that I don’t get stressed. So again I was short with my employees and again I apologized. We did the positive living group tonight, and what was the topic Joel was speaking about? Living a Stress Free life. Before I listened to a podcast in the morning from my church in California…the topic…hearing the voice of God. Hmmmm….do you think God is trying to tell me something…lol. God has a sense of humor. Things are going to be OK. What a good day it has wound being…more tomorrow. I have to post this today…even though its short so my mother won’t be stressed that I’d been abducted by terrorist…or in an accident or a plane fell out of the sky and landed on my flat. This is her way of seein...

What a tough day. The pressure got to me a little today. We were able to cover payroll this month barely. This is a regular problem for KSDi apparently coming out of Summer and Ramadan, still its tough. So while my focus should be on developing more business for immediate cash, I am drawn to production as we have three deadlines coming up in the next two weeks. The frustrating part is I have a staff that sometimes is making mistakes. I have never missed a deadline, but Im in danger of that record going away. Its so frustrating when you give staff deadlines and they miss them. That puts a lot of pressure on me to compensate. It also adds to the stress (which I rarely experience). Stress is absolutely non-productive. I found myself being very short with the staff. Nice Mr. Rick went away with very concise Mr. Rick taking over. I didn’t yell…but I expressed my displeasure with the staff. Its frustrating to be frustrated. I need to get in a better mind set. I prefer to work...

Another nice day for me. A little bit quiet. I slept in and played Russ racquetball at the Navy Base. Im proud that I didn’t hit him this time. That last time was weird. I do love going onto the base. I wish they would sell memberships, it has everything. But since Im not a navy guy nor a Dept. of Defense employee, I need to get someone to sign me on. Whenever we do go, we usually have lunch at Taco Bell…which they don’t have on the island. You don’t appreciate Taco Bell until you don’t have it. So think of me when you are downing your next chalupa. I came back and I was so tired and looking forward to my Sat. afternoon nap. But then I just started chatting with my friends. That is so nice. I am really cyber-connected. I have as many friends online then I do around Bahrain. That isn’t meant to make me sound pathetic. But I have several really great acquainstances here and 5 really great friends. I think that is a good mix. Since I don’t have my children/family regula...

I got up early to go to church. Reji doesn’t have a car, so I drove across town to get him. It was a small thing to do. I figure that’s an Act of Service. I like Reji a lot. He’s a great guy. The service was nice. I like being so involved in the church. I was planning taking long naps today, but instead I just lost myself for hours chatting with friends on the computer. I feel so anti-social when Im being cyber social. But I am getting friends from all over the world now. I was talking to my friend Misty in Florida. We were talking about drinking. Drinking and excessive drinking is so prevalent here. I have a theory. That people drink to hide the insecurity that they have inside. The more they drink the more their insecurity is numbed. That’s why they get more emboldened. Liquid courage because the insecurities are gone. Plus the alcohol numbs the pain and loneliness. I believe with Christians, we get our identity through Christ. Thus our insecurities, become second...

What a tale of two halves. I started out very overwhelmed at work. I have so much to do, and so very little time to do it in. I thank God that we were able to make payroll this month. That gives us another month to scrounge up money. I think we’ll make it, but this is all part of what God spoke into my heart. I know He will make a way. I need to be out there making money, but instead, I find myself trying to finish off three projects at the same time, plus run a company. It’s a challenge. So I was in a really bad mood this afternoon. I was not snapping at people, but I was expressing my displeasure and disappointment in them. Now I was kind of gentle…but when you compare that with my normal jovial, encouraging self, its like a different creature overtook my body. I did apologize to the staff if I constructively criticized them a little too harshly. They took it well. The thing that set me off was my deal for the Funniest Person in Bahrain. I saw the deal proposal and it ...

It was a really nice day today. I got into the office and got a lot accomplished. We have a busy crew now of 21 employees. We started out at 13. So in a year we added 8 staff members. My goal was to double within a year. I still have about 1 month to go before my first anniversary. But still, that is pretty close to me being on target. Money is really tight now. We have a good sales team in force, but its going to take 2-3 months for those monies to start coming in. I think that was one of the thing that God was preparing me for the next six weeks (now five) issue. Im so confident that he will make a way. Im not that stressed about it. Maybe if I wouldn’t have been prepared, it would have stressed me out a little bit. I took Manu and Jerilyn, out to lunch at the Ritz Carlton for their winning employee of the month the last few months. We give them a nice bonus check and I take them to the nicest restaurant on the island. I took Tanya along too. She is always fun to tal...

First day back in the office after Eid. The rest of the country was on holiday. But Khalifa reasoned that two days were enough, especially since there are only two practicing Muslims in the office. That still amazes me, two practicing muslims and eight Christians in a company in a Muslim country. That can’t be a coincidence. Bahrain has so many public holidays. Someone told me they have the second most holidays in the world. Im not sure if that is true or not. But it was nice getting a lot of work done in the office today. The next few weeks should be a firestorm. Everyone puts off business until the end of Eid. Then everything happens really fast. A lot of parents are upset at the Government. They closed the schools down until Oct. 14 as a preventive measure of the Swine Flu. Im not sure how much that will help. But you have to think that hundreds of thousands of pilgrims that descend upon Mecca for Haj, have to be concerned. But the Government of Saudi Arabia is convin...

Some day…no most days, I have tons to write about. That is kind of nice. I truly am living an amazing adventure over here. Work doesn’t feel like work, unless there are payroll issues, and I really do know a lot of people on this island. I am absolutely blessed. But today is one of those rare days where not much happened. The fact that I can think of being here for 11 months and I’ve only had about 10 of these days I think is pretty significant. Now keep in mind I wasn’t bored. Which still amazes me. I should have been bored by now, at least once. The fact that I haven’t just blows my mind. Whenever I do have a little bit of inactivity, I throw in a DVD so I’m always doing something. Today was the 2nd of the 3rd day of the Eid holiday. Our office had it off. But Moody and I went into the office anyway. We have a deadline to meet. The good part is that I went in late at 12, and only stayed til 6. So I was able to sleep in and it was a relaxing day. The next two weeks are...

Ok…I’m kind of jazzed right now. I am totally addicted to the internet. I just signed up for the NFL.com package where I can watch every single football game the entire season. Its only available for people outside the U.S. So the crazy part is, I won’t be subject to blackouts, and I can watch all the Oakland Raider games. I know Im kind of a sports dork. But Im a pretty passionate fan. The 10am games or the east coast games start for me at 8:00 PM, so its kind of prime time for me. Whereas the late/west coast games start at 11:00 PM, which is a little inconvenient. When I lived in Taiwan in 2002 that is the the year the Raiders went to the superbowl. Can you believe that, the one year that the Raiders are good and Im out of the country missing it. But I used to wake up at 2:00 AM (Taiwan time) and listen to the radio simulcast of the game, not even video. So I’m glad technology has caught up. Plus I get to watch in HD. Now this is only available for people overseas. So I...

What a satisfying day it was for me. Not any one particular thing stood out as amazing, just a lot of little things combined together. I slept in, which is always a good thing. I don’t get to do that too often. First order of business was to meet Russ at the Navy base for a game of Racquetball. Russ you might remember from last week was the recipient of getting hit five times with the ball. I was more careful this time. He ran into me once, but I made sure I kept the ball away from him. It was good exercise and a even match. Darren, whom I would later see twice more met us on the base. We all had Taco Bell. The navy base is the only place in Bahrain you can get Taco Bell, so it might as well been filet mignon in a five star restaurant. Its all in your perspective. Came home took a nap, finished watching Prison Break Season 3, sent emails, and chatted with friends. By that time it was 6:00 and time to play Darren at Squash. Now I’m scheduling two strenuous racquet sports ...

Another very satisfying day. Now I don’t want to get all self-fulfilling prophecy, but I thought for sure God told me the next six weeks would be difficult. Now Im not wishing or hoping for the bad times. The week certainly started out challenging, but the last two days have been fantastic. Maybe it is a respite, or a test for me not to get too lazy. Now it is very important to me, that this blog is not perceived as egotistical nor tooting my own horn. I have a failed marriage, nearly a failed career that was resuscitated, and a strained relationship with my children, and many other inadequacies which I have mentioned in previous blog. I acknowledge my faults and try to be very real and transparent as that is what I believe Im called to do. So when I talk about my exploits, my intention is to not talk about how great “Rick” is. Rather its to show God’s faithfulness through a willing vessel. If God can come through for me an ordinary guy, surely he can come through for everybo...

What an amazingly cool day it was. It’s 2 am, I just got back from a Brazilian themed party at Mo’s house. Basically that is a party where you have to wear yellow and green. There is a lot of alcohol at these parties, but I don’t drink. I just go to connect with friends. I think its important that they see me in those environments. So lets go in order of what happened today. I’m so overwhelmed with deadlines at work, I didn’t hardly get anything done. Hopefully over the long weekend, I’ll be able to make up for lost time. So that’s the question, when is the long weekend. At the end of every Ramadan is a 3 day holiday called Eid. It’s the closest equivalent to our Christmas. The question is when is Eid. It might be Sunday or Monday or even Tuesday. The problem is that it hasn’t been called yet. There is this special counsel that looks up at the moon to declare when Ramadan is over. The problem running a business is you don’t know when to tell your employees to work or not...