Cell phone shopping...

Cell phone shopping…an activity to love and hate. For the shoppers, there are a seemingly limitless amount of options for both phones and plans. Android, Windows or Apple OS? Blackberry, Android or iPhone? Prepaid or postpaid? Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Cricket? Talk, text, data? Camera megapixels, video capabilities, ease of texting, processor speed, type of network and the list goes on and on. For those of us non-shoppers, it is an overwhelming array of ever changing specs. By the time I’ve completely researched a phone, it’s obsolete. What do I really want in a cell phone anyway? Being able to talk to friends and family, easier texting through QWERTY (either touchscreen or keypad), a small size to fit in my wallet, great camera quality, data to upload those pics to facebook, quick internet to search for my next activity and maps to get me there, gtalk, and a quality sound recorder to capture the interview that begins my public radio career.

After surfing the internet until my eyes glazed over the last two nights, it was time to experience the actual cell phones. First stop, Wal-Mart. Few options, adequate staff and cell phones permanently adhered to the electronics counter. Next stop, Best Buy—very helpful staff, wide variety of phones, yet still the phones could not be experienced. Each had a frozen screen (or sticker?) that offered no opportunity to try out the so-called “blazing fast” GHz speeds or check to see if “the call volume is too low” or determine if the picture quality really was lacking. CNET has been my main source for reviews on cell phones; and, I guess their reviews will have to do for now. One item that I did find amazing was the relatively small size of cell phones today. Most of the phones, even the Androids, could fit inside my wallet. In terms of networks, Sprint already has a 4G network. However, disappointingly, the sales rep explained that none of Verizon’s, AT&T’s or T-Mobile’s 3G phones will be able to work on at the new 4G LTE network speeds next year. Yet, maybe that’s my opportunity. In 2011, when everyone is upgrading to 4G, 3G phones should be cheap!

Homemade Pesto Sauce

Perhaps its watching too many episodes of MasterChef; but, I felt inspired this past weekend to start cooking the majority of my meals, from scratch no less. Usually, my lunch meals consist of microwave dinners with less than 20% sodium (it's tough, but there are a few out there). My suppers are grilled meat and cheese sandwiches with a piece of fruit. Yet, last weekend, I checked out a couple of vegetarian cookbooks and went grocery shopping for vegetables and spices. My choice of vegetarian is simply because meat completely confuses me. I'm afraid it's undercooked and then I overcompensate to toughness. And, really, how does one thaw out frozen meat? After thawing, how long is it good in the fridge?

Sunday, I began by cooking something I've become proficient at - curry chicken. Thai Fresh sells a variety of curry spice mixes; and, they are delicious! The yellow and masaman curries are the mildest. The red curries are the next spiciest with the green curries barely edible due to the fire on one's lips. Coupled with brown Basmati rice, that fed me for three meals, which meant I needed to cook again tonight.

MasterChef Gordon Ramsey has been known to advise - "don't over complicate it". Usually, I try to use everything in my fridge at once and make some amazing concoction (which rarely succeeds). So, I started simple by cooking spaghetti noodles and steaming broccoli and carrots. My attempt at something new - homemade pesto sauce. The recipes looked deceptively simple - basil, garlic, parmesan, nuts, olive oil, all thrown into a blender. My kitchen contained basil, garlic and olive oil. I wasn't crazy about the nuts; but, would crumbled blue cheese suffice? I threw it all in the blender (sans nuts); and, waa-laa! "Have you tasted it?" Gordon Ramsey echoed in my head. A lick of the spatula was rather bland with a strong garlic aftertaste. Maybe some more greens? In went cilantro. The recipes also recommended adding salt to taste, another quick addition before hitting the mince button. The final pesto effect - too salty and then too garlicky.

Yet, I plopped steamed veggies on top of al dente spaghetti and drizzled the pesto sauce over the top. It looked pretty forlorn on the plate. Piling the rest of the plate with spinach and blueberries made everything look much more appetizing. My hopes were pretty low as I sampled the pasta. Yet, amazingly, it was delicious!

Indra Nooyi, CEO/Chairman of PepsiCo, speaking at UT's VIP Distinguished Speaker Series, Sep 16, 2010

Two and a half years as a graduate business student gave me a new cast of superstars. Now I understand the wit of a cameo by Jack Welch in the comedy series “30 Rock”; I am thoroughly impressed by Sony’s British CEO Howard Stringer; and, I even have respect for Austin’s hometown hero, Michael Dell. However, throughout my degree, the dearth of women top executives surprised me.  Meg Whitman of ebay, Carol Bartz of Yahoo and Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo were three women that I learned about outside of my degree. When I heard that one of these women would be speaking in Austin, I had to attend!

Gracefully taking the stage in a classic black dress with iridescent silver jacket, Indra Nooyi looked smaller than I imagined. However, she captured the audience of mostly UT business students with her engaging manner. As part of UT’s VIP Distinguished Speaker Series, Dean Tom Gilligan interviewed Nooyi for the first half hour. Then, the floor was open for student questions.

She spoke of her first job. Hired as a brand manager, Nooyi was given a desk and a cabinet stuffed with information from her predecessor. “Figure it out yourself.” She took charge, organizing that cabinet, cataloging the brands she was managing, and learning about the jobs of all the people making those products. From this experience, Nooyi encouraged us to (1) sweat the details; and, (2) learn to go deep in knowledge.

Nooyi provided many tidbits for these students going out into the business world:

-          “Focus on the job you’re doing; don’t run for office.” Nooyi’s grandfather

-          Instill confidence in the people for whom you work. Confidence that your work has been so perfected and checked that they do not need to check it.

-          Investigate how your position impacts others and build those linkages. “Together we can do better by the company.”

-          Learn from your mistakes.

-          Provide appropriate feedback to your direct reports so that they know where they stand. It is a direct reflection of your own leadership skills.

-          The 5 C’s that she’s looking for: Competence (raw intelligence – “damn good at something”); Confidence (tell me your point of view); Communication; Consistency (do you defend your beliefs? Or, are you wishy-washy?); moral Compass (integrity).

Regarding PepsiCo, Nooyi reminisced on her interview process. When she started looking at other opportunities in 1994, several companies wanted Nooyi, including PepsiCo and GE. PepsiCo’s chairman/CEO, Wayne Calloway, was also on the board of directors at GE. The day Jack Welch announced to the board that Nooyi would probably be joining GE, Wayne Calloway called to convince her otherwise. He said that GE was a wonderful company; but, PepsiCo needed Nooyi more because she was a foreign born woman from a completely different industry.

Today, Nooyi proudly promotes the PepsiCo company culture as a “can do spirit coupled with must do responsibility”. As CEO, “I am PepsiCo, the company, so, if I don’t like something, I change it!” Nooyi expounded on the relationship between big companies and countries. Companies, as limited liabilities, owe society a duty of care. Toward this end, PepsiCo’s purpose is “Performance with Purpose”. The three main tenets of this purpose are (1) human sustainability, (2) environmental sustainability, and (3) talent sustainability.

In the area of human sustainability, PepsiCo has branched into healthier foods and beverages. The acquisitions of Tropicana and Quaker Oats has significantly increased PepsiCo’s nutritious portfolio. In the case of Tropicana, PepsiCo also expanded into a different daily segment – beverages consumed before 10 a.m.

Nooyi’s own childhood in water starved Madras has influenced PepsiCo’s environmental sustainability. PepsiCo plants strive to be water neutral.

Sustaining talent at PepsiCo is part of a long term development program. By looking out ten years with their employees, PepsiCo can plan backward to make sure their employees meet their professional and personal goals.

One student asked about the Pepsi Refresh program. In 2010, PepsiCo pulled their Super Bowl advertising and used that money toward grants. Each month, seventeen grants are awarded for grassroots projects. The funding ranges from $5000 to $250,000. PepsiCo will return to advertising during Super Bowl 2011.

Nooyi closed by answering a question regarding leadership qualities. She spoke of feeling PepsiCo everyday, of running it intellectually but with a human touch. In an endearing illustration, Nooyi related writing to the parents of her direct reports to tell them what a wonderful job their children were doing and to thank them.  Yet, pragmatically, Nooyi now has advocates in those parents to keep their children on the job. ;)

Grupo Fantasma - Mohawk - Aug 27, 2010

Friday evening was actually cool! When I walked out of my house with my bicycle, I considered taking a jacket. 86 is cool in August in Texas. Yet, I'm still a girl going to a bar on my bike; and, I decided against carrying around one more thing all evening.

The cruise down 12th street was pleasant until the sidewalk suddenly ended in stairs. I stopped in time. However, my bike light and bicycle chain fell off. It was time to get dirty, as I flipped the bike over to get the chain back on. My hands and arms were covered in grease. I rubbed them against the brown grass in the dirt along the sidewalk--slightly better. Just a few more blocks to the Mohawk.

Upon arrival at the Mohawk, a terrible band was playing. We verified with the bouncer that the band was not Grupo Fantasma. It was a bit painful to pay $17 cover with the awful noise. We walked outside to check out the crowd and search for a few friends. The outdoor venue is spacious. A raised area looks down on the stage from the right; and, a balcony over the entrance faces the stage. There are at least four bar areas - one inside and three outside (main level, raised area and balcony). Beside the great views from all the different levels, there is seating! On the ground level, a bench stretches across the fence bordering Red River. The raised area and balconies have numerous plastic chairs.

Our friends had sweet spots along the railing on the raised area to the right of the stage. We squeezed in and watched Grupo set up below us. Soon, we were enjoying the invigorating sounds of Grupo Fantasma. Cumbia is their specialty; but, every song makes you want to move. With such a great cumbia band, I expected to see more salseros in the crowd. Yet, the majority of the crowd were non-dancers moving to the energizing music. Along with a lead singer, drums and guitars, Grupo boasts a tight trio of trumpet, trombone and saxophone.

It's tough to be still with Grupo's lively music. We put the open space to good use, dancing our hearts out - cumbia, merengue, cha-cha. We danced them all, stopping to rest only after near disastrous spins. Yet, jumping up again as soon as we regained our breath and downed some water.

My only regret, I forgot to take a picture to post!

Corrine Bailey Rae - La Zona Rosa - August 14, 2010

One Saturday, we decided last minute to attend the Corrine Bailey Rae show that evening. We'd never seen her live; and, that made up for the slightly painful price of the tickets. We parked on Congress for dinner and then walked the few short blocks over to the La Zona Rosa, located near the Royal Blue Grocery and Johnny Mellow Bike Shop. La Zone Rosa is certainly nothing spectacular. It is a bare room with a stage in one corner. Admission is general, standing room only. That didn't seem too terrible when we first walked in. However, after standing through the opening act of Dan Dyer, my legs were already tired! In addition, the air conditioning was weak; and, the ceiling fans did little to cool the audience. Definitely not the venue for the occasional live music attendee.

Wonderfully, Corinne Bailey Rae and her band were amazing! I had not expected such a large voice to be coming from such a tiny woman. Corrine's voice slid and modulated up and down the scale, resolving into melodic phrases. She was pensive and joyful, quiet then projecting loudly. Whether playing guitar or tapping a tambourine, Corinne exuded endless energy. Her slender hips would be swaying to the beat one minute; then, she would be jamming out with the guitarist, pianist or drummer the next. Corinne's band were strong musicians in their own right; and, each had a chance to shine through riffs. Corinne started with the songs from her new album. Near the end, she started playing her well-known singles - "Like A Star" and "Put Your Records On".

If you get a chance to see Corinne Bailey Rae, I highly recommend going.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

When my alarm went off at 7 am on a Saturday morning, I was pretty tempted to turn it off and go back to sleep. But, we'd already taken the REI clinic on stand up paddle boarding; and, the lure of a $20 discount for a lesson got me moving. A groggy drive east on Cesar Chavez past I35 brought us to Robert T. Martinez, which we followed south to the river. We quickly slathered on sunscreen and headed toward the paddle boards waiting on the dock. I had made one previous (terrible) attempt at surfing; and, I approached the paddle board with low expectations. Hopefully, we could just sit on the board. Did we really need to stand up? However, within a few minutes of floating on our knees, the instructor was encouraging us to stand. Amazingly, it was easy! Soon, the entire group was paddling back and forth across the lagoon. One guy fell in; and, that broke the unspoken "don't fall in" tension. We were falling in trying the instructor's different tricks - "walk to the front of the board", "walk to the back of the board", "stand on your head". Overall, it was a very enjoyable early morning outing.

The Expedition School gives Stand Up Paddle Board Lessons by appointment. First time lessons are $45. Subsequent lessons are $25/person or $15/youth. http://www.expeditionschool.com/safety-courses/day-trips/

An evening bicycle ride...

It's been way too hot to bicycle during these 100 degree days. Maybe a 9:30 ride will be a little cooler.
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Even though it's still close to 90 outside, there was a slight refreshing breeze. There are well marked bike lanes on the west side of MoPac along Lake Austin Boulevard all the way to Hula Hut. The return on Enfield also has bike lanes until Exposition.