More Travels

Phoenix. I spent the week of Jan. 25 to Jan. 31 in Phoenix for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association annual Trade Show and convention. OK, not all of it was for the NCBA Convention, the first couple of days were seminars on BVD (that's bovine viral diarrhea virus for all you non-cattle people).

The economic downturn has affected the cattle industry just like many others across the country. The difference that I see is attitude. Cattle folks have a way of tightening their belt, pulling down their hat and knuckling down to take on whatever comes their way. There is an amazing can-do spirit that sets them apart from many people. I admire their willingness to face adversity and overcome it despite the odds. It's just another storm on the horizon -- OK, not on the horizon anymore.

If you are ever in Phoenix I would highly recommend Donovan's Steak and Chop House. It was outstanding. I would rank it among the very best in the country. Great food, the right level of service, quiet atmosphere and quality through and through.

More travels to come. I'll try and keep you posted.

Didjereedoo

I was recently digging through the dusty archives of things written, not-written, ideas, etc. which have accumulated over the years. In it, I found the story below which I composed in April, 1990. The events are based in truth and occurred in the 70's and 80's.

Didjer

She sure looked scared all huddled up in the back corner of the kennel. It was hard to believe that someone would have such a beautiful animal put to sleep. she wasn't hurt all that bad, but the vet bill was going to be higher than her owner was willing to pay.

Ninety dollars to remove her eye and sew it shut -- but, what good could a one-eyed cowdog be anyway? Wounded in the line of duty by a young horse that didn't know better than to kick at the darting ball of fur nipping at that old cow's nose. A lot of good years left, even with one eye -- but not worth ninety dollars.

I had been working for Doc almost a year and was beginning to make a fair hand at patchin' up the critters that found their way into the clinic. Doc was determined to make a vet out of me, so he let me do a lot of things an assistant normally wouldn't have had opportunity to try.

I told Doc that I thought I could sew up her eye if he'd let me. Sew it up and take her home and not tell anyone that she didn't make it to her great reward on schedule.

She didn't want to be handled. I guess instinct said that this place was not going to be kind to her. Like a wounded badger, she crouched in the corner with her teeth bared and her good eye toward me. Sometimes you have to get a little rough to be kind.

The operation went well, with only a smidgen of guidance from Doc's experienced hand. During the week of recovery, every spare minute was spent in making her acquaintance -- and she became a friend.

Finally, the time to go home arrived and Didjereedoo was well on her way to recovery. A few more weeks of fresh air, green grass and a lot of attention and she was well in body and spirit. It soon became difficult to tell that she was only one-eyed. Her adjustment to the handicap was nearly perfect.

Over the years she was a joy to my family and to me. She never was any good at chasing cattle again. She was too cautious of flying feet. For companionship though, she couldn't be beat.

During years of college and then a new marriage, she and I were often apart. She did just fine living with my parents, but I knew that someday she would move in with my new family -- and so she did.

When we moved to our little country place near town, I knew that Didjer had found the place she had been waiting for. It was her fifth different home since I had rescued her, but the gray frost on her muzzle indicated this would probably be her last.

Still lively after surviving years of puppies, snake-bite, occasional sickness and many a highway pizza, Didjer decided she was still young enough to chase cars. I guess it was the influence of the younger dogs that we had kept to give her company. She was an expert at crouching in the ditch and approaching at just the right speed and angle to make an off-side intercept at almost any time of day or night. I didn't like her ways, but she was beyond convincing that car-chasing wasn't a sport for old dogs. I was concerned that the results would be fatal.

Her end was sudden, and I guess appropriate. It was a pickup that got her -- the sad part is, I was driving. She approached on her blind side and I guess she stumbled. I knew when I felt the bump that her time was gone. Not even a whimper. I stopped and ran back, but she never moved.

It's been about two years now since I buried her under the big old elm tree out back. She was a good friend. Her pup that we had kept got to chasing the neighbor's cattle and found her end very shortly afterwards. I haven't owned a dog since. I guess I know that another dog could never replace my one-eyed cowdog, Didjer.

Note: I have since owned a number of dogs.

Continued Travels

In my last post I left you with great Louisiana cooking. After arriving home on Sunday afternoon I got to sleep in my own bed for a change -- but only for one night. Monday, it was off to Midland, Texas, for the Southwest Beef Symposium.

Midland is not considered the mecca of the southwest, but it is a nice small city. The Symposium was well executed -- including the food. Whoever catered it did an excellent job with the steaks.

Wednesday evening I made it home late and then rose early to catch a flight to Denver for the National Western Stock Show. We participated with one of our vendors as a sponsor. It was my first trip to the National Western.

Denver was a good place to meet a lot of producers in a brief period of time. Many of the purebred cattle raisers had animals there for the show. There was a sprinkling of some of the larger producers but predominately it was those who raise them as a hobby. It is a group of producers with which I rarely come into contact. I believe that it was a productive trip but it will take time before I see any results. In spite of many of the producers there being well versed in genetics, very few of them were well versed in cattle health. They tend to leave it to their Veterinarian which is proper -- however, good producers need to understand health issues better than this group did.

The food in Denver was excellent as always. We made it to Il Posto, an Italian restaurant like none I have ever visited before. I highly recommend it as the pinnacle of dining experiences. When you go, be prepared to spend at least 3 hours dining. The meal is served in courses. Follow the link to find out more about them.

This week I have had some badly needed office time. I didn't realize how far behind I was.

Here We Go Again!

Here we go with another week!

I finished up last week yesterday afternoon when I finally got back home. From Tennessee and Kentucky I traveled south to New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Cattlemen were meeting at the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge. Attendance was low but it was a good trip. I picked up one new customer and several solid prospects. I also was able to visit with a number of leading influencers.

The LSU campus is gorgeous. It is the first time I've ever been on their campus. There are huge live oak trees and lakes. The weather was nice and the facilities were excellent.

We took a brief foray into the French Quarter of New Orleans for dinner on Saturday evening. We didn't stay long after that. It is required that one sample the Cajun cuisine when in town however, and so we did.

At the Conference on the LSU campus we sampled true "native" fare. The first day, dinner was Jambalaya. They spent all day cooking it in a huge pot in the arena of the cattle pavilion. It was outstanding. I've never had Jambalaya in which the meat used was sirloin steak. I've never had better. The second day at lunch was traditional Cajun fare also. We had sticky rice with meatballs. It was ooowheee good! Y'all gotta try it sometime, ya heere?

Sales Calls and Customer Acquisition

I flew into Nashville on Tuesday evening in the midst of pouring rain. It did not bode well for the appointments that I had on Wednesday (yesterday). I hate driving in the dark in the rain on unfamiliar roads with high-speed bumper-to-bumper traffic but that is what I did. Thankfully, I reached my motel in one piece and checked in. After a bite to eat, I retired to my room , happy to be out of the rain.

Wednesday dawned with cloud cover, but no rain. The snow which had been forecast failed to materialize and the day turned out to be great. My big worry became a minor scheduling conflict between my appointments. I called the first one early hoping to move it up and low-and-behold, that was the way it happened. It was a 40 mile drive to meet him at his operation south of Nashville. I headed south on I-65 thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't in the inbound traffic that was backed up almost 15 miles south of Franklin in parking lot mode.

The appointment went even better than I had anticipated and I met not only with him but also one of his neighbors that he had invited over. Both of them are now new customers. I then headed north to my next appointment in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I arrived about 20 minutes early which was great because it gave me some extra time to prepare a couple of items that I felt needed to be added to my arsenal.

The meeting went extremely well and we parted with the agreement to take the next steps. I then called a contact in the area that I didn't have on my schedule and he invited me out to his place northeast of Bowling Green. It was well after dark-thirty when I left after a great visit.

As I hit the north edge of Nashville my cell phone rang. It was the veterinarian who does the work for my afternoon appointment. He had lots of questions and said that I had made a favorable impression. We talked for almost 30 minutes as I drove back to my motel. (I know, I shouldn't be talking on the cell phone while driving but the traffic was light at that time of evening.)

This morning I received a call from our home office to let me know that the veterinarian I had spoken with last night was ready to go ahead and utilize our services for his client. He had called before 8:00 a.m. We will be shipping him the items he needs to get started today.

Yep, it has been a good week so far. Three new customers picked up yesterday in an area where we are looking to expand. Now I'd better get off of here so I can catch my flight to New Orleans.

Another Year

Once more we come
To the end of a year
And such a year it has been!

Just hold on to your hat
'Cause the things unleashed
May be the worst we've ever seen!

It is a time for reflection,
A time to make plans,
A time to be thankful for friends.

It is a time to decide
Where your priorities lie
As this old year quietly ends.

As you're making your list
Of Resolutions next year
There is one thing you need to include;

That is time for your God --
To "get right" with Him
Because only He seeks your good.

Transitioning to the Season

Only another week and then my travel schedule will slow for a few days around the holidays. I am ready! It seems that I've been going from one Trade Show/Convention to another forever. Yea, I know, it hasn't been quite that bad but what's a good complaint if you can't use it. What's bad is I just looked at January and it appears to be worse!! I don't see more than a two-day break for the entire month. Yee-haww (not)!

It has been good though (the Trade Shows/Conventions) because we have picked up quite a bit of business. That's not necessarily something you expect from such functions. Usually, they are good for starting the process or for developing new relationships, but rarely do you walk away with new business (at least not in my industry).

The other gratifying thing is that our marketing efforts are paying off. Potential customers know who we are. They recognize our name/logo and know what we do. They are seeking us out. That makes it doubly important that I be at all of the industry functions. When they see me there, they know that we are supporting them as well as asking for their business.

My schedule is reflected in my recent posts obviously (or should I have said, lack of posts). It seems that there hasn't been much time to reflect, just to do. When I'm running 9-0, my creativity goes down the tubes.

I need to get back in the creative spirit though -- Christmas requires creativity. It should be a joyful time of family and friends. It should be a time of reflection. Instead, it is usually filled with intense activity trying to get shopping done, programs attended and on and on. I intend to do better this year. I plan on enjoying the holiday season rather than dreading it. It's all about attitude right? (I guess I'm trying to convince myself.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Travels in Colorado and New Mexico

A colleague and I recently attended a symposium in Colorado Springs. On the way back south we decided to detour and see some different country. At Trinidad, Colorado, we turned west on U.S. 160 and then south on Colorado 389 toward the tiny community of Branson. (Follow this link for interesting pictures and info on Branson.)

The photo below was taken just south of the 160/389 junction. We are looking to the west toward Trinidad. The two taller peaks on the right side of the photo are the Spanish Peaks and the snow-covered mountains in the middle are the Sangre de Cristos. The mesa to the left is in the area of Raton Pass. (You may click on any of the photos to enlarge them.)

The photo below is a zoom into the Sangre de Cristos. From where we stood, about an hour east of Trinidad, you cannot see a single house or building.

The valley that you see in the distance of this photo is where Interstate 25 runs today but was once a section of the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. The trail continued over Raton Pass into New Mexico. To the south of where we stood for this photo is the town of Branson which is located on the BNSF railroad (once upon a time the Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Railroad). If you continue futher south on 389 you will enter Tollgate Canyon through which was a minor branch of the Santa Fe Trail. It was used extensively by Charles Goodnight when he trailed herds north on the Goodnight-Loving Trail into Colorado and Wyoming. He thought the tolls over Raton Pass were too high so he shifted the herds futher east to the Tollgate Canyon. After a period of time, he blazed his own trail over Trinchera Pass.

Tollgate Canyon was also known as one of the hideouts of Blackjack Ketchum, a notorious outlaw of the early Plains. He and his band of thieves used the canyon as a route between various trails where settlers traveled. (Some interesting reading about the area can be found at this link.)

Photos courtesy of Neal Odom.

Just for Fun: What Board Game Are You?

You Are Boggle

You are an incredibly creative and resourceful person. You're able to dig deep and think outside the box to get things done. You are a non linear thinker. You don't like following directions You draw your inspiration from the strangest places sometimes. You're constantly inspired.

What Board Game Are You?

Just for Fun

What I like about Texas....Gary P. Nunn

President Bush to Deliver Commencement

President Bush has certainly taken lots of knocks during his tenure. Much of the negativity comes from the extreme left because they don't understand his belief system. Some comes from the right because they have felt that he often gave into the left. In many ways, that put him at the center.

There are in this country, still many people who are proud to call him their President. The areas of the country that continue to hold conservative values still support him. I am one of those who is proud to say the he is still my President (at least for a few more weeks) and I am proud that he will deliver the Commencement Address at my alma mater.

President Bush to speak at A&M commencement

Dr. Lowrie to the Rescue....

A good man (and fellow blogger) just jumped into the "hotseat" of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon, Texas, was elected President of the BGCT yesterday. I guess we'll have to share him with the rest of the state now.

West Texas pastor elected Baptist group president

Click on the link for the AP story.

Richard Fisher's Remarks to the Texas Cattle Feeders

In the previous post I mentioned attending the Texas Cattle Feeders Convention at the Gaylord Texan on Lake Grapevine. In the comments, someone asked about my reaction to the speech by Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher. My response was that I was impressed. You should be the judge however, and to that end, I have linked his speech which can be accessed at the following link:

http://dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs081104.cfm

Although it is obvious that he took great care in his remarks to send no signals to the market, I felt they were revealing anyway. I hope you take the time to read his speech and please feel free to comment. I would like to know your thoughts.

Football, Travel and Fall Colors

I just watched Texas Tech pull out a win against Texas. It was quite a game. It was exciting to the last second on the clock. It's too bad the Aggies aren't having such a good season but they did beat Colorado today.

Tomorrow I'm headed for the DFW area for the Texas Cattle Feeders Convention. It will be held at the Opryland Hotel on Lake Grapevine. From there I will head home on Tuesday to spend the night in my own bed before heading to Colorado Springs on Wednesday for the Beef Summit. It will be lots of travel from now through mid-December. But, I guess it's been lots of travel for the last few weeks.

The weather here has been nearly perfect for the last few days and is expected to be the same for the next week or so. The high temps have been in the low 80's and the lows have been in 40's and 50's. It has been great for creating good color in the trees. The red oaks below are in our front yard.

Fiscal Issues Week Focus of Senator Cornyn

With the current economic turmoil faced by our nation being prominent in the news, U.S. Senator John Cornyn has focused his website on fiscal issues for our nation. I am privileged to have a guest post on the Senator's site which can be viewed here. I appreciate the Senator's efforts to bring these vital issues to the public's attention during this election season. He has been a strong advocate for fiscal conservatism and I believe will continue to bring that message to the Senate as we send him back for a second term. Thank you Senator for your efforts!

Fred Thompson's Thoughts on the Election

Fred Thompson shares some thoughts on the election in the link below:

http://www.fredpac.com/index.aspx

Random Thoughts From Jacksonville

It has been awhile since I have posted anything. My travel schedule has been crazy and will continue to be that way until almost Christmas.

I am writing this from Jacksonville, Florida, while waiting until time to board my flight west.

It has been a good week working in the Southeast. The people are friendly and the weather was great. Attitudes are good.

Every newspaper that I pick up has gloom-and-doom headlines about the economy and yet as I look around, I don't see it. Business is happening and people are spending money. There is certainly an underlying current of anxiety because people don't know what may really be happening in the economy. That anxiety is fed by the newspaper headlines. Yet, there lifestyles really haven't changed.

In agriculture, things really look pretty good. There is certainly some market turmoil -- but that's the way it always is. The markets go up, the markets go down. You do the best that you can.

The only negative that I've heard is a rumor that one very large outfit that is an industry leader is financed by one of the BIG 5 banks. The word is that their credit line has been squeezed.

So, why is our government bailing the big banks out? I know that it's because it would devastate our economy if they fail because it would create a cascading effect that would start with the big boys and work its way down until everyone was affected.

My thought though, is that they need to seriously consider breaking the big banks up into multiple smaller institutions. Kind of a Ma Bell breakup. Let's spread our risk instead of allowing it to concentrate into a few hands.

What bothers me is that the very banks that the Fed is propping up are the ones buying other financial institutions. If I had a bent toward conspiracy theories, I think we could certainly build a case that this whole financial meltdown smacks of a conspiracy to gain financial control of the world. But, being the rational individual that I am, maybe it's just a function of human stupidity instead.

Maybe I should run for President. Is there anybody out there that would vote for me?

Discernment

discernment - 1 : the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure
(Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary)

"They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them." __Deuteronomy 32:28

How do you know when someone is lying? How can you cut through the fog and see what lies beneath the words? When listening to a skilled liar, the only way to know is through the gift of discernment. It is a gift. Not everyone has it. It is something for which one should pray. It is desperately needed by each and every voter in the upcoming election.


"Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!" __Proverbs 17:7

Get Out the Military Vote

U.S. Senator John Cornyn has developed a new website to help our military to be able to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. It is a portal to important information and critical dates to ensure that their vote will count. Please get the word out to any military personnel that may have questions about their voting rights. It can be accessed at www.texasmilitaryvote.com.