We announced Friday that we’ve signed a lease for our second location. This was followed on Saturday by an estimate from our contractor that our TI’s were going to cost a lot more than budgeted (A LOT MORE). Needless to say, this created a lot of stress and consternation over the weekend. The question of “did we screw up?” definitely popped into our heads. We had a meeting scheduled for Monday morning with our landlord and contractor to review the estimate. I felt physically ill from the stress. It takes a lot to stress to me out and this was way past “a lot” of stress. The meeting went well but we still have a lot of work to do.
I now understand why so many business development people I’ve worked with over the years have a tendency to sign deals regardless of if they were good for the company. While we negotiated this deal, I realized how easily one can get caught up in the moment. The definition of failure becomes not closing a deal instead of closing a deal that’s bad for the company.
All that said, I’m very optimistic about the future of our new site. In case you’re wondering, it’s located in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle. Our target opening date is January 1st. Wish us luck and tell your friends.
Archive for September, 2006
Denali Fitness Part Deux
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006Hail to the Victors!
Monday, September 18th, 2006It was a great college football Saturday–for me anyways. Michigan beat the crap out of Notre Dame, a joyous day indeed. A member at the gym–who I didn’t know–actually gave me a hard time about my Michigan sweatshirt before the game. It’s MY gym, what’s this giving me crap about MY team in MY gym? UW pulled out a squeaker against Fresno St. UW still needs a couple of years before Willingham’s recruits can make a difference so any win by the Huskies is something to be cherished.
Just watched the premiere of Studio 60. This could be the first show in a while that I try to keep up with regularly. Now I just need to get an HD DVR…
How not to rebuild a country
Sunday, September 17th, 2006According to this article, the Bush administration picked people for the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority based on their loyalty and connections to the Republican party. How much more could they do wrong? It’s like the administration is trying to screw it up.
Apparently the Republicans think hiring based on race is wrong but hiring based on connections to the party is okay?
Is Bush an idiot?
Friday, September 8th, 2006That was the question that Joe Scarborough (a former Republican congressman) debated during his August 15th show. His answer was not “no.” A lot of Republicans are starting to question Bush’s leadership.
A few years ago I found a satircal resume of Bush that focused on his education and work experience prior to winning the presidential election in 2000. How did we elect a president that was rejected by the University of Texas Law School? Unfortunately, I can only find resumes online that focus more on his presidency. Admittedly they are all biased but the at least the one I saw that focused on his background before becoming president seemed more fact based. Prior to becoming president, Bush had very few successes in life. He owed most of his gains to his family name and network–I wonder if he even knows the definition of meritocracy?
On another note, I just discovered that my site is the first result if you google “sang kim.”
Getting educated about education
Friday, September 1st, 200620/20 had an interesting show tonight, “Stupid in America“, about the state of education in the US. As a product of public schooling, I’ve been a proponent of public schools. I believe I received a good education from public schooling and like to think that I turned out fairly well. I’ve always considered the horror stories about bad schools to be the exception rather than the rule. I have voted against school vouchers and other programs that would take money away from public schools. Why take money away from public schools when we should be committed to improving them?
After watching John Stossel’s piece and seeing his interviews with people in education, I’m reconsidering my position. Per student spending in the US almost doubled from 1971-2001 with little or no increase in student performance on standardized tests. Stossel compared our public education system to a monopoly and how the lack of competition leads to bad schools.
Look at the university system in the US and you can definitely see how competition for students has forced universities to improve–although tuition costs are soaring. Considering how many foreign students come to US universities, I think it’s fair to say that we have the best university system in the world. So why can’t that work in our grade schools?
My one request is that guidelines be set for what can be taught in schools eligible for state funding. Public money should not be spent teaching “intelligent design”. I’m okay with teaching comparative world religions, I’m not okay with preaching with public money.