Working with the Ambitious

Have you ever worked with a person that was nice to your face but undermined you behind your back? Of course you have. Have you ever worked with someone that absolutely insisted on doing things his/her way even if it meant extra work for everyone else? Well I have too.

At work I had the displeasure of working with a young lady like this recently. Behind my back, she would obliquely let others know that every problem was because old Alfalfa Bill just didn't quite have his wits about him. She never said anything to my face, but I overheard enough to know. She was young, ambitious, and just back from an internship back East. If she had to undermine others to rise to the top - so be it. And she was successful.

It was interesting to watch this young lady operate. One of the most interesting incidents was when she joined the project team late but insisted on redoing the databases we had started in one software program into different programs she was more familiar with. She didn't actually insist - she just did it - without asking anyone. The project never recovered because in the process of reloading the data into her favored program - much of the data was lost. She blamed it on the rest of us. And our supervisors believed her. She was attractive, articulate, very self assured, had connected parents, and determined. Our supervisors believed her.

When the project was over she was offered a better job. The rest of the team is still waiting.

Ron's Hamburgers

I've been meaning to say something about Ron's Hamburgers and Chili and their absolutely great hamburgers. There are around 10 of these hamburger stands in NE Oklahoma - mostly in and around Tulsa. I highly recommend their hamburgers and Spanish Fries (french fries + jalapenos and onions). I can't wait for them to grow into central Oklahoma.

The Tulsa Vision 2025 Projects Pass by Wide Margin

As Dustbury noted today regarding the Tulsa vote on Vision 2025 :

For years and years, Tulsa has thought of itself as Oklahoma's Dallas, and that other city down 66 was Fort Worth, nothing more. Tulsa has had better convention facilities, a spiffier downtown, more hotel rooms — and today none of it matters, as a refurbished Oklahoma City shoots for the big time and Tulsa descends into tedious Lubbockhood.

Well, within three years Tulsa will be right up there with the latest infrastructure because the county passed all four parts of the bond issues. Tulsa not only passed all four but passed them overwhelmingly - by margins of 60 - 40. The magnitude of the yes vote far surpassed the margin by which Oklahoma City passed the MAPS project a few years ago. The vote indicates that Tulsans are quite determined to compete.

Israel's Coverage of Gov. Henry's Trip

Brad Henry arrives in Israel today and Israel National News characterizes the trip as a "business delegation". The newspaper identifies the sponsor of the trip as the United Jewish Communities of North America (UJC).

The Henry Administration has not released a list of mission members, with the exception of the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture and State Senator Bruce Price, known for his deep interest in Israel. While the mission is portrayed as a "business mission" there is apparently no one from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce or State Chamber on the trip. When asked what business meetings the Oklahoma delegation has in Israel the Governor's office was unable or unwilling to name any. Other sources say that the trip is actually designed as an effort to politically please the Jewish community in Oklahoma more than it is a business mission to develop trade or investment between Oklahoma and Israel. According to Israel's office in New York, Israel is Oklahoma's 39th largest export market. Not exactly a hot market.

Hope the Governor has a nice (4th) vacation.

What to do with $80 billion?

WASHINGTON - President Bush wants billions of dollars more to pay for U.S. troops in Iraq and rebuilding the country, and congressional aides say the figure could top $80 billion in the upcoming budget year.

Just think what we could do with this $80 billion in the United States!!!

I don't mind helping people elsewhere - but many many Iraqis don't seem to want our help. They need it, but if they are so foolish and ungrateful let's hand it over to the UN and get out. Rumsfeld and Wolfiwitz failed to see the consequences of their aggressive and futile design to remake the Middle East and failed to plan for it. Nonetheless, it seems like the Iraqis want to blame everyone (mainly their liberators) but themselves for their predicament.