Time To Enlarge Your Vision

Centuries ago, wine was stored in leather wineskins rather than bottles. But new wine always required new wineskins, since the leather lost is elasticity as it aged. If a person poured new wine into an old wineskin, the effervescence of the new wine would cause the container to burst and the wine would be lost.

You have to enlarge your vision! You can't put new wine into old wineskins. You can't have a larger life with restricted attitudes. You must get rid of your old wineskins, start thinking bigger. Enlarge your vision and get rid of the old negative mind-set that holds you back.

Are you making room in your own thinking? Are you believing for increase? Are you planning to excel at your job? Are you believing to be a more effective leader, or a better parent? It's time to enlarge your vision

Meet The Chairman

Today was the third and final day of a Diversity Champion Workshop at Bellagio. One of the Executive Assistants to the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was one of the participants in this workshop. She is an awesome person with so much life and energy.

To our surprise the door opened and in walked Terrence Lanni the Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE. He dropped by in between board meetings with all the property presidents. He offered his thoughts about this program and the amazing way we are changing lives. Mr. Lanni also mentioned 90% of his emails come from employees who have recently attended the workshop and they ways it has changed their lives.

This man is amazing and has started a major cultural shift that will ripple out of this desert we call Las Vegas and across this nation. Diversity is about how people should be treated. It's about seeing people as human beings first and foremost. I am more blessed than I have ever been and look forward to future months and years changing the world for the better.

What Price Will I Pay For Today?

Have you ever felt like life was like this picture? If you know me you probably have had this thought about me in the past. When I had a life change like being down sized from Bank of America this is the path my life took for a while. I love the work I did at BOA but then I found myself looking for that niche that would give me purpose and direction again.

Tomorrow begins a new week, a new day and a new 24 hour period to make a difference. I am going for sign off on a few of the processes tomorrow and been given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of another twenty some people.

"This is the beginning of a new day. The Lord has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or I can use it for good. What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain: not loss... good: not evil... success: not failure... in order that I may not regret the price I paid for it."

I plan on making tomorrow count in many ways. I hope to have sign off in a couple process and many during the next three days.

Blast From The Past

Yesterday afternoon I picked up a friend from the McCarran Airport I haven't seen in almost ten years. Parzaham and I use to terrorize Orlando years ago and then he moved to Ft. Lauderdale and today lives in Miami Florida. We lost contact years back when I moved from Orlando to Charlotte, NC with NationsBank.

A couple months ago I was bored at work and going through my phone numbers and saw his. I decided to make a call and see if it was still his phone number. Parzaham's Mother answered the phone and gave me his new cell number. We started conversing again and he had a business trip to Vegas this week.

He decided to come early so we could spend some time before he checked into the Venetian for the rest of the week. When I arrived at the airport I recognized him from the back at a distance of 200 feet away. It was like we just saw each other yesterday. We picked up where we left off, but filling in the gaps of the past 9 to 10 years.

I took him from the airport back to the office where a co-worker assisted me in running through the introduction segment I have to do on Monday for sign off at work. Parzaham seemed to enjoy the session and even brought up "comfort zones" later when we went to Charlie's the country bar here in town.

I will post pictures of Parzaham and our weekend later tonight!

Saint Therese Center - Serving the HIV & AIDS Community in Southern Nevada

Today we visited the Saint Therese Center in Henderson Nevada. It's a center serving people living with HIV and AIDS in Nevada. Father Joseph is the director of this program and gave us the tour of their facilities today. Their smallest client is a three month old baby that was born with AIDS. The baby is doing well and the center continues to assist and give hope.

They have a food pantry to assist people with making sure they have food on their tables. Homeless people are also welcome here for food. It's a small non-profit doing a very large service to the community.

St. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun, died at 24 years of age from complications of tuberculosis, was unknown, beyond the immediate circle of her family and sisters in religion. The Little Flower, as she is often called, Saint Therese of Lisieux became a saint not by performing great miracles but by doing little things with great love - putting up with frustrating companions, obeying superiors, and finishing the laundry. So ordinary did she appear that several of the sisters in the convent were unaware of her remarkable prayer life until after her death. St. Therese is a model of those who live in obscurity, their great worth known only to God.

Community Service

Tomorrow should be an interesting day. My team is having a community service day giving back to the community around us.

The first stop will be to visit Vet Services and visit the homeless Veterans where they live on the streets.

We will be taking water and nonperishable snacks to hand out.







The second stop will be an old folks home.

We will have lunch with the elderly people on this stop.

I hope they have something other than Jello!





The last stop of the day will be to visit a children's home. More on this subject later!!!

I know I'm taking a box of tissues with me.

End Of A Week

I'm dead tired from working seven days straight, but it couldn't be more worth the time I put in. To see people go from one point on day one to the other end of the spectrum by the end of day three.

Met up with an old friend from High school that's known me since the 8th grade of school. Her and her husband live in Cleveland Ohio and he is a homicide detective. You can imagine the fun I was having asking about his first case since I use to live in a funeral home for a couple years.

I ended up telling them some stories about the adventures of living in a place of death! Believe it or not these people have some really great senses of humor! They also love practical jokes so you've gotta be careful when their turned on you. More to come on those at a later date!

Will post more tomorrow when I'm not so dead tired.

Eve Of Goodbye

I sent an email to the master trainer training me on facilitating the Diversity Champion Workshops and asked her if we could have drinks at Toucan's on Friday night since we already planned on going out after work.

She said she was in but this morning when I got to the classroom, she said why wait until Friday night!

I like her way of thinking! So after we ended our first workshop of the week, we headed to Toucans with fellow trainers and tied one on for the Eve of the Closing.

Tomorrow night is the night we will say goodbye! I feel like I'm in the final episode of Cheers.

Here's what I probably looked like a lot on a Friday or Saturday night.

Looking forward to starting a new class tomorrow mornings and celebrating tomorrow night at my favorite hang out in Las Vegas.

Goodbye To A Vegas Institution

My favorite bar in Las Vegas is closing. Most of my friends that have visited Las Vegas may have experienced Hamburger Mary's at least once. I found out tonight they will be closing the doors forever on Friday night.

Richard and Trent were the last two friends that partied with me at Toucan's. Hamburger Mary's changed its name about a month ago but due to financial problems has decided to close.

This is an inside picture of the dining area. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was the friendships created here. It was meeting up with people on Friday or Saturday night to start of the festivities for the evening.

I have a workshop through the weekend and will be working Friday, Saturday and Sunday but I'm not going to miss the opportunity to say goodbye to an old friend! God I feel like Norm from Cheers. Feel like I'm living the last show of Cheers when they closed the bar after so many years. I was working on getting my plaque hung at my barstool.

Guess this means I'll have more time to study since my favorite hang out will no longer be a place to socialize.

How Green Is Your Grass

Have you ever had a neighbor that checks out your yard to see what things you're doing? A neighbor that has to plant more flowers to have a few more than you have? A neighbor in competition with your yard to always have an edge on you? Does it bother you? Do you try and keep up or recognize it for what it is?

How many times do we measure ourselves against other people's standards? Are we benchmarking ourselves against the right criteria? How often do we look at other people and determine that's where I need to be, that's what I need to be like, that's what I need to own.

Have you ever looked at other people to determine where you think you should be in life? People are at different places in life determined by their unique experiences. It's what makes us different from other people and brings diversity of thought when interacting day to day.

"Don't look at another man's grass to determine how green yours should be"

9/11/2001 - The Day America Changed Forever

Today takes me back five years ago to where I was when the world stopped. The unimaginable happened to America, terror was brought to our shores.

I stood on the top of World Trade Center two just two months prior. Taking breath taking pictures off the roof of the building.

I could have never imagined the building I was touring would become the murder scene of over 2,800 people.

It was unimaginable that the buildings were reduced to dust with little of anything being recognizable.

Here is the light tribute which was once again turned on this evening in New York.

My heart is with my fellow Americans in remembering this tragedy and praying that it will never again take place in our homeland.
This was one of my favorite proposals for the rebuilding of the World Trade Centers.

I am happy with the Freedom Tower that broke ground earlier this year.

Human Rights Campaign Las Vegas

Last night was the first annual HRC dinner held at the MGM Grand Conference Center. There were over 800 people present for the event.

Liza Minnelli was suppose to be appearing at the event but cancelled at the last moment.

Senator Harry Reid was suppose to accept an award from HRC but had Senate business and wasn't able to attend. He sent a video accepting his award and what he's doing in Congress to protect the rights of ALL people.

The President of HRC from Washington said he attends about 30 dinners a year around the country and this was the first time the napkins were made of velvet. Everyone had black velvet napkins!

Jerry Cade a gay doctor that fought for rights of his patients at UMC to have their significant others present in the hospital room was one of the guest speakers. He had a very inspiring speech.

Louie Anderson was the final act that came on and helped out Atlanta's Jim Marks better known as Bubba Delicious auction off some items for HRC. It was amazing how the audience responded much much better to Louie than Jim Marks as himself.

Jim tried to be funny by making stabs at Louie, however wasn't a match for a national headliner like Louie. I had the pleasure of riding in the elevator with Louie as he left the building. He's a very nice man and funny as hell. I would suggest to put his show on your "To Do" list when you're in Vegas!!

Some Thoughts To Consider

Take a good look in the mirror and look deep into your soul.
Are there places you can be better?
Are there people I can treat better?
Are there people I can better respect as human beings?
Are people better because they know me?
Finally ask yourself, where must I be better?

Do more than exist.... live
Do more that touch.... feel
Do more than look.... observe
Do more than read... absorb
Do more than hear... listen
Do more than listen... understand

People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

WOW What A Weekend

This past weekend was incredible. I had two of my closest friends visit me here in Vegas for the second time in less than four months. Richard Cherry and Trent Jones flew from Atlanta to Las Vegas on Thursday night.

We dropped their bags at the house, got back in the Jeep and drove to Mandalay Bay where we enjoyed the buffet with all you can eat Alaskan King Crab! Thanks Trent for dinner!

Friday I had to go into work for a meeting so while I was there I dropped the boys off at Tropicana Casino to tour the Titantic Exhibition. Trent has seen it before and said his favorite part is when you walk onto the deck of the ship.

Friday night I treated them to a Cirque du Soleil show at Treasure Island called Mystere. Richard liked "O" at Bellagio better but was still impressed with Mystere.

This is the third time I've seen this show and it's definitely one of my favorites.

After the show we ventured down the street for the Fountains of Bellagio. We stayed about 90 minutes to see six or seven shows. Christmas time is beautiful in Vegas with the water shows playing Christmas music to the dancing fountains.

Saturday morning we visited Hoover Dam and was joined by my best friend here in Las Vegas. He ended up driving since my Jeep is a little tight for four people.

Everyone enjoyed the day and the sights around Hoover Dam. It's a must see when you're in or around Vegas. It's unimaginable what these people were able to accomplish back when it was built.

Trent was very nervous looking over the side. Below is my favorite picture from the weekend. I'm not sure what Richard is trying to do here but it looks natural!

This giant hole reminds me of a few friends as well!!!