John Mac's Travels

  The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada In the mid 90’s I directed IT Services for a small software development firm based in Seattle. I was always on the road, traveling to support our servers and sites nationwide. I also traveled for the tradeshows.  If there was a software convention happening in the US between 1995 and 1997, I was probably there. ComDex was a big one, CES (of course) and Microsoft sponsored events were among just a few of many show I attended when I was on the “Tradeshow Circuit”. It seemed like I was always headed to Las Vegas for one reason or another, and anytime I was in town I always made it a point to stay at or visit  The Mirage  hotel and casino. After opening in 1989 The Mirage was marvel on the strip.  No other hotel compared to it. This place was nothing short of Amazing. One of the first “Mega Hotels” on the strip hosting more than 3000 rooms, it was the new standard that all other hotels in Las Vegas looked up to. Complete with...

 For those who follow my weekly articles, ya'll know that I am a CRAZY fan of the  UFL and more importantly the St. Louis Battlehawks!  I have season tickets and make the 8-hour round trip to St. Louis five times a year to see all of our home games. I usually stay at the  Hotel St. Louis when I am in town because as #3 son most eloquently put it, "its bougie" with 5-star dining and a rooftop pool overlooking the St. Louis Cardinal's Busch Stadium and the cityscape. Last Friday #3 son drew the short straw and got to travel with Dad to Good 'ol St. Louie to see our beloved Battlehawks take on the San Antonio Brahmas in the final game of the regular season and fight for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. (Note - WE WON and the Playoff game is this weekend at The " Battle Dome ". The winner will advance to the UFL Championship game, which will also be hosted in St Louis. After arriving in St. Louis friday night and enjoying dinner we headed up...

There has been a lot of change in the industry that I work in.  A lot of change at the company I work for. For many, change is hard. I am a creature of habit. I don't like change. I have struggled with some of the recent changes in my life, both personally and professionally. I decided to put the changes in my life into perspective and ask myself a few simple questions. "How does this change affect my goals? Is the change hurting me, or helping me? Is the change hurting my team at work, or helping them?" Same question for my family. I took some time to sit down in a quiet place with a pencil and paper and write down my goals. With no direction or organization at all, I just wrote down every goal in my consciousness. Then decided to prioritize by professional goals and personal goals. I realized that my personal list needed to be separated by family and personal(me) goals. As I ran out of paper, lead in the pencil and patience, I then went digital with my list. Going digit...