Rhett's Blog

Getting an MBA part deux

2012-01-25T23:38:00.002-07:00

Many friends have asked me about the difference between an MBA and other graduate degrees like a Masters of Finance or Masters in Real Estate Development. While I’m a big proponent of any sort of higher education, I also believe that you should research the different programs to see what they have to offer. If you are considering a degree outside of a full-time MBA program, you should be sure that the benefits of the program outweigh the costs. A MF or MRED can be helpful but they are very specific fields. One aspect of MBA programs that many people don’t understand is the track breakouts. Once beginning an MBA program students are highly encouraged to select a track of study, mainly Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain/Operations, and Organizational Behavior/Human Resources. By focusing your studies in one of these areas, you can narrow your job hunt. Also, a few friends have wondered about marketing type jobs coming out the MBA program. From my experience, MBA programs do a great job preparing students for top managerial positions in marketing, HR, finance, and supply chain. If one of these areas of business interest you, I highly recommend looking into an MBA.

Ah the personal network. An MBA (at the right schools) is great for building your personal network. BYU has a great network. I've already had a ton of opportunities from some major companies because of the BYU brand/network. Our alumni reach out to us and love it when we reach out to them. Other schools have great alumni networks as well, and really it's a BIG part of where you should go. Sometimes “networking” can be seen as a dirty word. However my experience has been different. Networking to me is making connections with like-minded successful people of whom you can draw on for help, support, and learning. Likewise you can help them when they need. I’ve loved my networking experience so far.

The last item is cost. I worked at Cisco this summer with guys from Univ of Chicago who are paying FIVE TIMES the tuition I'm paying at BYU and yet we end up with the same job after school paying the same thing. This was probably my #1 reason why I came to BYU. It's a top 20 school, and it’s by far and away the best return on my money. I’m also a big fan of the mission and aims of BYU.

If anyone wants some personalized advice for their unique situation let me know the reasons why you are considering grad school. I'll throw in any more advice if you want.

Rhett

To Get an MBA or Not to Get an MBA, That is the Question – Part 1

2012-01-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Friends have asked me about getting an MBA or another type of graduate business degree (like a master’s degree in finance or real estate). Here is some advice I have given them.

The first thing you have to do is ask why you want a graduate degree. If you work for a good company and you just want a raise or job promotion, you might consider an executive MBA (especially if the company is willing to pay for it.) However, if you are considering switching industries, companies, or job function (like from finance to marketing), a full time MBA would be preferable.

Where do you want to work? For example, if you already have a job and you are just going to stay there, I'd say an MBA doesn't help much. However, if you want to get a job with a big name company, an MBA is essential. Also, let’s say you want to own your own company or work for a startup, having an MBA (from the right school) looks good on your company’s bio page. Your MBA network can be a great resource for your new company. Stanford for example has a great entrepreneurial program. At BYU we have great resources for entrepreneurs, like our Business Plan Competition. Conversely, if you want to work at an investment bank, you'd want to go Ivy League - Harvard, Wharton, etc. So really it depends on what you want to do after you're done with school.

Tiers
In my opinion, MBA full time programs are separated in tiers. The first tier contains the elite schools, i.e. Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Kellogg, and Chicago. This tier has the best recruiting, professors, and that “elite” feel to it. It also has significant cost. If you want an investment banking job, or work for a company that specifically hires from those schools, then you want to do everything you can to get into them.
The 2nd tier is about the next 25 schools. It includes BYU, Texas, UCLA, Berkley, Yale, and others. These schools have great recruiting and alumni networks. The cost can vary and so can the companies that recruit from these schools.

After these tiers, you pretty much have everyone else. Each program might have its unique strength or niche, but Fortune 500 companies typically won’t actively recruit out of the top 50 programs. A state school probably offers and MBA, but it essentially will only get you the MBA designation. It might help distinguish you when applying for a job from other candidates, but the alumni network probably won’t be strong enough to get you a leg up in the recruiting process.

Next week stay tuned for a Part 2 about getting an MBA.

- Rhett

Warren Buffett Visit - "I have to see the Oracle"

2012-01-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Did I get a chance to visit the Oracle of Omaha? Oh you better believe I did!

Morning Market Call - Sports Analytics

2011-03-18T14:00:00.003-07:00

Love this topic. Todd and I could talk about this stuff all day:

Facebook - BYU's Morning Market Call

2010-11-03T07:58:00.002-07:00

I was on BYU's Morning Market call with Doug Mumford discussing Facebook, market capitalization, Google, and the Social Network:

1st podcast

2009-07-31T09:21:00.002-07:00

I know I haven't posted for a long time, but I do have a big catch up post coming.

However, in the meantime check out my first podcast with joe. Comments and constructive criticism (i.e. how bad I suck) are welcome.

Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/lyxtcm

- Rhett

Mexican Riviera Cruise - Jan '09

2009-02-04T17:03:00.011-07:00

Mexico. The word itself brings so many images to the mind. We had a rockin' good time! The weather was phenomenal. There were a ton of really good friends there. And I love taking work off for a week to "re-charge the batteries". There was only 1.5 confrontations during the whole trip and even though the policia in Mazatlan made bank off of us, it was well worth it.

Most of my pictures are on Facebook. A lot of friends have posted pictures, but here is the link to the pix I posted http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88547&l=31060&id=568362111.

Our cruise left out of Long Beach on Jan 18th and we got back the 25th. A bunch of us decided to fly down Friday night after work and spend the weekend in the OC. Friday night we were in LA with no car and no place to stay, but we figured "hey we can just wing it." So we ended up "paratrooping" (How I Met Your Mother reference for those in the know) and we crashed at some mutual friend's house in Huntington. Saturday we just went to the beach in Newport and played all day. While sitting on the beach I had an epiphany. Why do I live in Utah during the winter? Seriously, why? I love my family and I've always enjoyed Utah and the snowboarding, but with flights hovering around $50-$100 each way, isn't that cheap to live in 70 degree weather all year? I can do my type of job in the OC. And I can probably get paid more down there for what I do. I'm seriously considering this. Why not ya know?

After freeloading again on Saturday night, we left out of Long Beach on Sunday and right away began having a good time. It was fun to be on the ol' lido deck for the 3rd straight year. Joe was able to watch his beloved Ravens lose in the AFC championship game and we started off with pizza and ice cream on the lido deck. There was a small altercation that night between a couple of our friends. In the long run it was no big deal. It was kind of a "boys will be boys" fracas over "spilled ice cream" and of course a girl was involved. But it was all resolved and things worked out (for the most part).

The first couple days at sea we all got our tans on the "mormon" deck (we took over the upper private deck of the Carnival Ship Pride... I think it's usually the topless deck so props to us!). There were a lot of cool people this year that came last year (minus Dre who couldn't come), and there were a lot of nice new people. The DB level was kept to a minimum and I actually met a lot of genuine people, both guys and girls.

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. We got off the ship early and grabbed a taxi-van and headed about 30 minutes north to a surf town called Sayulita. I've never surfed before so Mike and I rented a surfboard and decided to try it out. Needless to day surfing is difficult. I rode a couple of waves in without popping up to a standing position just so I could get the feel of it. After that I tried standing up a few times and I got up once and then ate it. I just didn't quite have a feel for the balance of the whole thing. After 2 hours I was exhausted so I headed in. I managed to only piss off one local, but in my defense I wasn't really on his wave and I was paddling out with 2 other guys right next to me that were locals so forget him. But I'm excited to try again soon. I knew I needed a guard, but I wasn't going to wear my only t-shirt so I just braved it and paid the price the next day. After surfing I fell asleep on the beach for like 3 hours. They woke me up to head back into town so needless to say I have no pictures of the beach. (Although Facebook has a couple of pictures of me asleep on the beach...) Then we just wandered around Puerto Vallarta and ate authentic Mexican food. Good times!

The next day we stopped in Mazatlan. A whole bunch of us rented 4-wheelers and prowlers and headed on out towards El Cid resort hotel. Here is the vid:

We then parked our machines in a pay parking lot outside of this nice hotel and spent the day at the pool and the beach. Ashley tried to fly this $5 barbie girl parachute kite and ate it running backwards in the ocean. Shaun and I about died laughing. Sorry Ashley! (But seriously, it was hilarious!) After playing around for awhile we headed out on the machines to get some authentic Mexican food (again). We rocked this joint! The Diet Coke trick was awesome:

After dancing to guantamera and the mariachi band, we went to look for some beach to spin around in. But after a couple of the 4-wheelers ran out of gas we just headed back. Here's the vid: (thanks Candice for filming while holding on for dear life!)

On the way back to the ship we got pulled over by la policia. After Rob was able to convince them to let us all go, he then "tipped" them $40 to take care of it right there so he could make the ship departure. There were a number of run in's with the cops that day. Joe was with some girls that had to pay off the cops when they flipped their 4-wheeler in a parking lot. Some guys in our group spent the day in jail when they got pulled over first thing in the morning. They made the ship, but only because of their Spanish skills and the religious affiliation of the judge's secretary. But in the end we all made the ship (except for the 2 girls that were getting massages and had to spend the night and fly to Cabo the next day... but that was their own fault).

The final port was in Cabo San Lucas. We just grabbed a water taxi and headed over to Lover's beach for the day. It's located at Land's End and is a pretty cool spot. We spent most of the day getting killed by the waves. Here's the vid:

The stops were pretty cool. I think I enjoyed the Caribbean stops better, but the weather and water temp were just as good in Mexico as the Caribbean. We got back to Long Beach on Sunday morning and took our time getting to LAX since our plane wasn't until 4:30pm. Mike was able to hook us up at the USO and we relaxed and watched movies before our plane. I was very grateful because I got the freakin flu. We made it home around 8pm and I went straight to bed. I was sick for an entire week. Work was accommodating, but it was still rough to go back. Apparently a bunch of others got sick too (sorry Amber!)

Many have asked "would you go again?" And I really don't know. I've gone 3 years in a row now and I've had a riot every time. But I'm kind of cruised out at this point. The novelty of the food, shows, and everything has worn off. But on the flip side it is really REALLY nice to get out of the cold in mid-January and hit up the beach with a bunch friends. It was one of my friend's 4th cruise and she called it her "senior" year. So maybe I have one more in me :)

Anyway, it was a good time. I made it home alive (even if I did get the Spanish influenza:)

- Rhett

Christmas 2008 and New Years

2009-01-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

So Christmas has come and gone. For the first time in many many years I was in the Christmas spirit. I got most of my shopping done early (even though I went to Fashion Place mall the Saturday before Christmas... NEVER do that again!) I listened to Christmas music the entire month of December (thanks Pandora), and went to a concert by the Utah Chamber Artists at the First Presbyterian Church (thanks Laura!) . It was even a white Christmas and watching the snow fall in downtown SLC from my office had a very post-modern Norman Rockwellian feel to it.*

Conversely, the current economic downtown affected our company. We had some layoffs during the Christmas season and the mood was dim. I had many friends that were affected in my company and out and I know that in the long run they will be alright. It just sucks in the meantime. Especially during Christmas

My parents finally finished the house remodel and it looks amazing! It has been fun putting random objects in the middle of the island because Mom and Dad can't reach it. And then to top that joke off, I got them a extended hand grabber (thanks Teri!) as an additional Christmas gift. My brother would appreciate the joke even if the parents don't. (I think that's what I miss the most about my brother being on the mission. We have the same sense of humor and quick wit. And we think it's as funny as hell to tease our parents. Sorry Mom!)

After spending New Years up at the U Stadium (yes I returned to the scene of Max Hall's heinous crime), the next night we went up to the cabin and spent the night sledding and tubing. Even though we popped all the tubes it was a way fun night.

Anyway, I'm headed to Mexico next week so more to follow up return.

* Rockwellian is one of my favorite words. People either know exactly what you are talking about or they pretend they do. Either way you look smart :)

- Rhett

Vid:

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

I know we lost, but....

2008-12-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

This picture made me feel a little better about our loss. I've always liked University of Utah girls. Even if they don't understand football at all.

The great thing about this picture is that I know some of these girls. Juliet pointed out that she got her letter right. (Of course it was the "U"... how hard is it to mess that one up :)

- Rhett

BYU vs UofU

2008-12-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

Answers to the questions I received all last week:

Yes I was there.
Yes it sucked.
It feels like I was dumped by my girlfriend. After I caught her making out with some DB. In my room.
No I was not spit on.
The people around us were pretty cool, probably because we've been going to games all year and they knew us. But some people were drunkin' idiots.
Yes I stayed until the last freakin minute of the game.
No I'm not happy for the U.
Yes I'm still a BYU fan.
Yes I will make good on all of my "friendly" bets.
I don't care if it's good for the conference. I would rather BYU win that get a dime of BCS blood money.
Yes jon really did lose his ticket on the way to the game. He claims it's Karma.
Yes I'll recover.
Yes I'll go to BYU games next year. Actually I'm already going over the match up in my head.

I would be happy to answer any other questions if you want, just let me know.

- Rhett

IM conversation

2008-11-06T13:57:00.002-07:00

So my friend Brandon and I had the following conversation today about the U/TCU game tonight. Probably the best 22 minutes of the day. If you aren't a fan, it'll bore you. I'm sure Joe will like it though:

11:19	Rhett	scale of 1 -10. how nervous?
11:19	Brandon	8
11:19	Rhett	wow... not bad.
11:19	Rhett	the weather will help you
11:20	Brandon	Talent wise it's a wash, it's a game that's going to come down to the intangibles
11:20	Rhett	like coaching
11:20	Rhett	ha ha ha
11:20	Brandon	I'd rather have whit than bronco
11:21	Rhett	wow....
11:21	Rhett	i wouldn't say that
11:21	Brandon	Watching Bronco this year I learned one thing. He's too arrogant. And until he learns to make adjustements, and better gameplans BYU will never make it to the next level.
11:22	Rhett	interesting. but whit plays with too much emotion. he wants to be on the field making the hits
11:22	Brandon	I don't see that as a bad thing
11:22	Rhett	but it won't take you to the next level either
11:22	Brandon	I'd rather have too much emotion than none at all.
11:22	Rhett	maybe
11:23	Rhett	it worked for lavell
11:23	Rhett	it works for paterno
11:23	Brandon	Really? Ask Urban how coaching with emotion has worked out
11:23	Brandon	Paterno has emotion
11:23	Rhett	i would even argue it works for meyer
11:23	Rhett	its controlled emtion
11:23	Brandon	Yea, Bronco has zero emotion
11:23	Rhett	agreed
11:24	Brandon	You can't coach without emotion, You have to feel the game, feel the wave of emotions that go through the game. Does Whit go overboard sometimes? Yes, but hasn't really this year.
11:24	Brandon	Bronco just sits back there and thinks My Gameplan is right, I don't need to change.
11:25	Rhett	he has kept it in check this year. but i think tonight and the byu game we'll see what happens
11:25	Rhett	and guess how many conference losses byu has in the last 2 and a half years....
11:25	Brandon	How many conference losses do they have in the last 3 weeks?
11:26	Brandon	How many times have they squeaked it out at the end, because their gameplan didn't actually account for having to stop anyone.
11:26	Brandon	How many times have they let an inferior opponent score close to 40 points on them in the last two weeks.
11:27	Brandon	Why, Because Bronco isn't making adjustments to help his pourous defense.
11:27	Rhett	and yet...
11:27	Rhett	we'll see what happens nov 22
11:27	Brandon	And yet.... BYU is sitting on the outside looking in and even a Victory on Nov 22 might not get them a conference championship.
11:28	Rhett	tcu wins tonight, they win the conf
11:28	Brandon	yep
11:28	Rhett	u wins tonight and u wins vs byu then they win the conf
11:28	Rhett	u wins tonight and byu wins vs u.... who wins? the freakin BCS!
11:29	Brandon	Boise State
11:30	Rhett	wait... you realize that there is a possible 3 way mwc tie this year?
11:30	Brandon	Yep
11:30	Brandon	unless AFA sneaks up and Bites BYU
11:30	Rhett	TRUE
11:30	Rhett	but what would happen if there is? who goes where for bowls?
11:31	Brandon	LV Gets first choice of the three
11:31	Rhett	unless there is a bcs invite, which there wouldn't be, would there?
11:31	Brandon	Maybe
11:31	Rhett	insane....
11:32	Brandon	If Utah wins tonight and makes it to 11/22 and were to lose on say another freaking bs fluke play and lost by only 3 or 7
11:32	Rhett	shudder....
11:32	Brandon	Then there's a good chance they wouldn't drop beyond 16
11:32	Rhett	but not top 12
11:32	Brandon	Nope
11:32	Brandon	But don't have to be top 12
11:32	Rhett	and how do you rank the U above BYU at that point?
11:32	Brandon	Because Boise State would be top 12 and get the guaranteed bid
11:32	Brandon	You don't
11:33	Brandon	But BCS Bowls don't have to go in order of ranking for at large
11:33	Brandon	Now
11:33	Rhett	oh ya...
11:33	Brandon	If Oregon State, or
11:33	Brandon	So let's take this scenario. Say BYU is about 12, TCU 15, Utah 16, And BSU 10.
11:33	Rhett	i'd take tcu if i were the BCS....
11:34	Brandon	BSU Gets the Auto Bid. And the conference champs from teh big 6
11:34	Brandon	me too
11:34	Brandon	so that makes 7 of the 10 spots filled.
11:34	Brandon	Big 12, and SEC would both get an at large making 1 spot left
11:34	Brandon	BCS Rules state only 2 teams from a conference.
11:34	Rhett	Possible... but not probable
11:35	Brandon	And in order for a team to get an at-large for a bcs they have to be in the top 16
11:35	Brandon	Now say Oregon State lost, Or USC Loses again.
11:35	Brandon	The choices would be a 1loss BYU/TCU/Utah or a two loss USC/Ohio State.
11:36	Brandon	Now if Oregon State lost the only other choice would be Ohio state or the 1loss teams.
11:36	Rhett	They go with USC all day
11:36	Brandon	yes
11:36	Brandon	In the first scenario
11:36	Rhett	Or something like Mich state
11:36	Brandon	but if Oregon State lost, I'm not so sure a 2 loss Ohio State is a guarantee
11:37	Rhett	i hope not. Ohio st has NOT looked good this year and their schedule is SUPER week
11:37	Brandon	They have to be in the top 16, and chances are Mich State will lose again
11:37	Brandon	They still have a Penn State matchup
11:37	Rhett	So many factors, so many things out of control
11:37	Brandon	Yep
11:38	Brandon	two of the Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State teams are going to have to be left out.
11:38	Brandon	But the bright side to all of this.
11:38	Brandon	More proof the BCS is crap, with big name schools getting screwed because of it.
11:40	Rhett	That is the only hope... if the big dawgs get burned then they will call for change. The problem might be, that the change does NOT benefit non-bcs teams.
11:40	Brandon	Even a playoff system that doesn't benefit non-bcs teams is a start
11:40	Brandon	Because once a playoff is in place it will be easier for it to expand
11:41	Rhett	maybe....
11:41	Rhett	I think i'm going to post this entire conversation on my blog....

Random Pictures: 1st big snow and my new poor man's meal

2008-11-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

The lake effect hit Salt Lake City hard yesterday. The snow was just pounding in downtown. That picture doesn't do it justice. It was kinda cool working downtown in a snow storm. And it was even cooler when I found out that the Bird opens this weekend!

The other picture is my new poor man's meal. I cook up a Bratwurst. (Tyre and Eric got me hooked on them while camping this summer). But because bread goes bad too quickly, I've been wrapping them in tortillas. They are soooo good!

Oh ya... and the U (#10) is playing TCU (#12) tonight in SLC. Turns out my decision to buy season tickets at the U was the best financial decision I made all year. I should sell them but I enjoy a good football game way too much. Good times.

- Rhett

Quick take on personal money

2008-10-16T11:17:00.002-07:00

I get this question a lot: "Hey you graduated in finance, where should I invest money?" Or I get some variable of the question about 401k's, mortgages, "credit investing", get rich quick schemes, and should I fold pocket 8's with 2 over cards on the board (answer: yes.) And while my understanding of it all may be limited, it's been my experience that I have a broader range of knowledge at my disposal about personal finances than most people my age. So here is my 2 cents (or 1 cent depending on how the market did today).

I'm a subscriber to Mark Cuban's blog (yes the obnoxious owner of the Dallas Mavericks) and I enjoy reading his posts. He shoots straight from the hip. His writing has grammatical and spelling errors, but the content is worth it. I read this little gem this week that that I recommend:

http://blogmaverick.com/2008/10/15/where-to-put-your-money-right-now/.

With all of the recent stock market turmoil Cuban has posted a ton of macroeconomic thoughts on policy change. But this recent post is all about personal finance. And while it may be semi-stream of consciousness, he makes some very valid points. Read it. But here is my summary.

Basically other than your good mortgage (and by "good mortgage" I mean a non-ARM, non-sub-prime, non-financially engineered one), you should pay off all of your debt before investing. The idea is that all debt has some sort of cost (it's called "interest" people!) and that cost is more than you can make investing in any legal activity.

For example, you have a credit card that has an interest rate of 10%. That means at the bare minimum you have to make more than 10% on an investment just to break even. The catch is that the investment would have to consistently return above 10% after all costs of the investment (like fees, loads, time frames, etc) and can never dip below 10%. An investment like that (especially in the stock market) is not just unlikely, its almost impossible. Mutual funds don't do it. (They claim they do, but they don't). Your brother-in-law can't do it. Straight up stock picking on eTrade won't do it. And texas hold 'em poker won't do it (although I wish it would.... :) The one exception might be a 401k employee matching plan. But that is a "might" dependent on the program and the many variables including vesting periods, % matches, etc.

Logically think about it. Jane Doe (insert your guilty name here) is paying 10% on a credit card and making 8% in the market. Subtract the two and Jane is LOSING 2% per month. And those are VERY conservative numbers. Most credit cards charge much more than 10% and a consistent 8% return in the market is very good. Not to mention that inflation is killing her too.

So what does this mean for you? Bottom line: If you owe money to anyone that charges interest, pay that off before investing. It's the best effective return you can get on your money. Read Cuban's post for more details that he provides. One point I liked is borrowing against your 401k to pay off the higher interest debts.

Now I'm going to go pray that BYU pulls out a win tonight over TCU. I have more faith in the DOW hitting 20,000 at the end of the year that I do in a BYU win.... sad but true.

- Rhett

Election '08 - Does it matter who I vote for as President?

2008-10-06T14:03:00.005-07:00

Now the title of this post my be a bit deceiving. It may (or may not) have multiple meanings. For example, I live in Utah and everyone knows how Utah votes. The Republicans know. The Democrats know. And even the Green Party knows. So no one pays attention to us. My friend Jon even blogged about this 4 years ago. He advocates we even out the voting in Utah in order to have the candidates pay attention to us. We need to divide the vote so we become a swing state. Then candidates can promise things that won't/can't fulfill to us and not just to the rest of the swing states. It's a nice idea (good enough that I'll probably actually do it), but in reality it doesn't really work.

I have a new idea.

Let's pick one issue each. The issue that means the most to us. Then vote for the candidate that can get that issue done. The way I see it, between the Senate and the House, there are plenty of Washingtonites to deal with all the "hot button" issues; i.e. abortion, gun control, foreign policy, the war(s), insurance, etc etc. So let's tackle 1 issue at a time that is the most popular (determined by who wins) and then vote for that person. That way we know at least 1 thing will get done.

Ok so maybe this sounds like a really dumb idea. The point I'm trying to make is that right now it just feels like absolutely nothing is getting done. Maybe it's the current financial "crisis", maybe it's years of empty promises, but I'm tired of politics. The only bright thing during this election has been the SNL's with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Here's one:

But honestly, I'm tired of it all. I don't feel like my vote matters. I know that's bad. And I know people will say "Look at Florida! Every vote counted there!" to which I would counter "So if I lived in Florida then maybe I WOULD care. I'm just saying, right here, right now, in Utah, my vote doesn't matter."

But.

But going back to my idea from earlier. What if there was one issue that I really cared about? Senator Obama was on the famed "Mike and Mike" sports radio show and he half-jokingly said that if he were President he would use an executive order to institute a college football playoff system. You can listen to it here. Now if I could get that in writing and a guarantee, I would vote for that. I'm serious. I wouldn't care what his stances are on any other issue. But a college football playoff system? You had me at "hello". And do you know why? Because if that were a real issue the candidates were dealing with, it would be the only issue that I feel pertains to me AND could actually be resolved.

Other random thoughts about the election (that may or may not come back to haunt me later):

Obama is a very good poker player. For those of you that don't understand poker, the type of persona it takes to be a good poker player in my mind is EXACTLY the type of person we need as president. I'm not saying it has to be Obama, but maybe we do need to have the candidates play a Texas Hold 'em tournament just to get a feel for the type of poker player they are. If they can't handle that pressure, then they can't be President.
McCain was captured. I'm probably going to hell for pointing it out, but on paper who do you vote for, the guy who was smart enough to get away or the guy who was dumb enough to get captured. (Ok this is a dumb point.... but whatever)
Both sides argue that they are about change. Boths sides contend that they are about "shaking up Washington". The difficult balance is having experience and connections, but not having so much that you are a "good ol' boy". At this point I would say that Biden and McCain are probably "good ol' boys". Palin and Obama are probably ok. And as far as Palin goes, I know she comes off wrong with how she has been answering questions lately, but so what? If she gave the "correct" answers, wouldn't that be a bad thing? What's wrong with "I don't know, let me get back to you"?

Ok so this post is a total random collection of thoughts written over a couple of days, but at the very least I hope you at least laughed at me :)

- Rhett

My 3 moments that I love the most that happen in sports

2008-09-25T15:45:00.008-07:00

There are 3 moments in sports that are completely unique to me that I absolutely love. In no particular order they are:

Bench clearing brawls in baseball. I love them. I think it's because when a batter gets beaned there is that tension in the air that says "is he going to take off for the mound or isn't he?" And the batter starts to walk to first like he is going to shake it off and then something snaps in his mind and he says "f it" and then jogs toward the mound. And there is nothing that anyone can do. Everyone sees it coming, but no one can stop it. The batter then usually throws his helmet (sometimes at the pitcher) and the batter and the pitcher get into it. A personal favorite is when Nolan Ryan beaned Robin Ventura so Ventura charged, but then Ryan also got the best of him. Here is the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEBW9qbkDwk

BYU football games. And actually a very specific moment at BYU football games. I know this is dumb, but I love the B-Y-U Cougars chant. It always starts on the south side and rotates counterclockwise through the student sections and ends on the east side with the gray hairs. I love that stupid chant. I think it's because everything stops during that chant. Even the teams on the field can feel that cheer. I can't prove it, but I think that nothing has ever, EVER, gone wrong right after that cheer in Lavell Edwards stadium. Anyway, here is the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUlYfHXpkeM

BYU basketball foul out chant. This moment only ever happens at BYU basketball games. (I'm pretty sure it can't happen anywhere else, most student bodies are too drunk to have the capacity to perform this ritual correctly). Anyway, so when a player on the opposing team fouls out everyone "marches" that player off by chanting "left, right" in sync with their footsteps. Once the player gets to the bench everyone yells "sit down!". I love this freakin chant! It's another instance when everyone knows what's going on. When I was at BYU I knew some players on the team and they said they even loved this chant. One time the player who fouled out tried to dance around to make it difficult. The best tactic most MWC teams take is to walk off the court as fast as possible. Oh ya.. one thing about this chant. It goes on until the guys sits down. I saw a guy stand for 5 minutes during play and every time he would shift his feet even a little bit, the entire crowd would yell "left!" or "right!" depending on the foot. I love this stuff. In a tight game when a starter get's his 4th foul everyone is praying for that 5th foul just so we can do this chant. The clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R29PW8RroM

Good times!

- Rhett

Ute Game - we are sneaky!

2008-09-08T07:50:00.006-07:00

So I'm a die-hard BYU fan. I am. I bleed blue. I love BYU sports. I grew up listening/watching BYU football. I always knew that I would go to BYU and I've never regretted that decision. My first year of college the football team went 14-1 and played in its only New Year's day bowl game ever. That pretty much solidified it. That year our basketball team went 1-30 but I didn't care. I even went to a couple of those games. I had friends on the teams and went to support them. My last year of college I worked in the computer lab in the Smith Fieldhouse and developed friendships with many athletes of all sports (not to mention cheerleaders and dancers :) So whether it's football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, rugby, swimming, or any athletic event, I cheer for BYU.

And I hate the U.

I really do. I hate their fans. I hate their colors. I hate their campus. I hate everything about the U.

Now let me explain a little bit. I have many MANY friends who have attended the U. I've dated girls at the U. I go to church at the U. I've even taken a class at the U. Obivously I don't hate my friends or the church. But the part of them that is the U.... yeah I hate that part of them. I don't own anything red. Our outdoor soccer team has 2 sets of jerseys, red and blue, and it pains me when we have to wear the red ones. When I've gone out with a girl that is a Ute fan I always make the joke that we could never marry because it would be like the Montagues and the Capulets and that story did not end happily (if she gets the reference I'll take her out again, if not... well... she gets home early:)

I'm not totally sure where this seeded hatred comes from. I think it may be a culmination of many things. And usually it lies dormant for most of the year. But during football season everyone in this state makes their allegiance known and I'm one of the antagonizers.

Well this year the BYU-Utah game is in Salt Lake. It's usually difficult/expensive to get tickets to the "Holy war". So this year I got the bright idea to buy season tickets AT THE U! I convinced Jon, Joe, and Rob to buy them with me. So we have 4 seats in the north end zone right outside the portal. They are pretty good $83 for the season seats. I figured we can either sell all the other games or hey, it's something to do on a Saturday night.

Well we went to the game Saturday night. The utes beat UNLV handily. I have to admit that the ute fans are pretty good fans. It seams everyone wore red (except for my friends). I saw one guy in a BYU hat and thought "man that guys is insane". I'm still trying to figure out if more people wear red at a ute game vs the amount of people who wear blue at a BYU game. The problem is that red stands out more and it seems like their is more empty space at BYU games. But I'll give the ute fans credit for supporting their team.

We've decided to play it cool until the BYU game. I won't go as far as to wear red, but I will sit there respectfully and watch the game. I even chatted a bit with the family sitting next to us. Hopefully the nice lady with the baby will forgive me when I wear blue to the BYU game. I have a feeling that it is going to be a BIG game this year.

Last time I attended a BYU-utah game in SLC was the year they went to the Fiesta Bowl. Jon went with me and we sat in the student section. It was cold that night and I just wore a plain coat. Jon, to his credit, wore his gray BYU hoodie. This drunk girl in front of us turned around and swore at him the entire game. I learned some new swears from her and I used to work construction!

But this year I will be going in my classic Steve Young Jersey. I will cheer. I will be loud. I will be really loud when BYU wins. I will also probably get killed. But you know what... it will be worth it.

- Rhett

All busted up toe

2008-09-05T15:34:00.002-07:00

So I play soccer. I'm not very good although I have a ton of fun and I always joke that it keeps me young. I actually mentioned some cold muddy games I had last year in an older post if you are bored and want to see some muddy pictures of me in a soccer uniform. (I actually had a hat trick in one of those games. For some reason when its cold, snowy, muddy, rainy, and miserable I do well. I think its because I grew up playing in those conditions in Eden :)

Well, I'm still playing. It's fun. We play coed indoor at Ultimate Indoor in Woods Cross. Its a great way to get some exercise without getting on that danged treadmill. We also play in the men's Utah Soccer Association outdoor league. Our team name is Leave it Blank if you ever want to see when our games are to come watch. Sometimes we play some friend's teams like Red Rum or the Tooele team. (Ya... somehow I have friends from Tooele, who would have ever thought that!) But I enjoying playing just to play even if I get frustrated when we lose.

Well last week in Lake Powell I snagged my pinky toe in the boat and yanked it the wrong direction. By the next day I thought it was broke for sure. I actually even went to the doctor which I HATE doing. Turns out it was just a really bad sprain. He said I probably dislocated it and it popped back into place. My toe is black and blue and hurts like hell to walk. And as fate would have it we have 3 outdoor games in 6 days. Luckily our indoor game was a bye Wednesday night, but last night we were short guys in our outdoor game and I had to play. I taped my toe up and played. Weird thing is it doesn't hurt to run. Just walk and turn (and kick of course... I did that twice in the game... not cool.) I had to tape my other toes too because they got shredded on some rocks in Lake Powell.

Anyway, here is wishing me luck tomorrow. I know this is a boring post (sorry Dre), but work has been SOO slow the last 2 days because of our server outage I had to write about something.

Oh ya.... go Cougars!

- Rhett

Lake Powell Labor Day Weekend '08

2008-09-03T11:28:00.005-07:00

So I went to Powell last weekend. And it was awesome! Legend.... wait for it... dary! It was a different crew than normal. Some recent BYU grads have moved to Arizona and they put it together. We had over 70 people on 2 houseboats, 6 ski boats, 2 jet skis, tons of food, and whole lotta fun. I want to thank Mike and Jared for putting it together, Tyre for bringing his boat, Matt for taking the pictures, the new guy friends I met that were way chill, and the girls for looking so beautiful in one of my favorite places in the world. Good times!

For all of Matt's pictures (and to be honest I didn't take any because he took sooo many) here is the link if you are bored: http://gallery.me.com/goingtopieces#100001. There are some way cool night shots because of his long exposure and camera skills.

Here are a few pictures.
The 1st one is me surfing on the tube (no life jacket... sorry mom!). The 2nd is our group shot minus some people that left early. On my left was the tower of girls on Rob's shoulders. In the middle. See me? I'm right there! What you can't find me? Look again :)
I won in poker. It was fun to play on the rain day.

Brit, Steph, me, and Ash. These girls are all way too good for me. Ha ha ha.

- Rhett

Cute cousin

2008-09-03T11:07:00.002-07:00

So my cousing Jed and his wife Jenny had a baby awhile back. I need to buy them dinner because they took the pressure from the grandparent off of the rest of us for awhile :) Anywhere here is Addie and me at Gramp's 80th birthday party in July. She is too cute for her own good and she loved to dance. She even posed her "blue steel" look for the camera!

- Rhett

New Job

2008-09-03T09:10:00.006-07:00

So I got a new job. I haven't had to time to really update y'all on it, but apparently lightening fried our san server over the weekend and the only program that works is public internet (good for me, bad for business :)

So ya... I got a new job. I heard about an opportunity through the grapevine and I got an offer that I pretty much couldn't refuse. So after over a year and a half, I've left i4 Solutions for Summit Technology.

I loved i4 solutions. I loved working there. The owners were top notch great guys. I loved the people I worked with and I left a LOT of friends there. It was a very hard decision. Harder than I think most people know. I enjoyed working there and it was one of the best jobs I have ever had. With that said, when this new opportunity presented itself I felt like it was time to move on. I had not been looking for a new job or anything, but when I was given the offer from Summit I seriously reflected on the changes that it would bring to my life. Besides the typical reasons for switching jobs, there was also some other intangibles that greatly influenced my decision.

My new office is downtown in the Wells Fargo building. The parent company is Wasatch Property Management. Wasatch actually owns a number of companies, so the opportunity for advancement is high. In addition, because of the number of people I come in contact with, not only in the company but also downtown, my network of associates is growing. This will hopefully be beneficial in my career further down the road.

So far I've been here about a month and I'm growing into the job. I like the people I work with and they are all capable smart guys who want the company to be successful. There is a lot of work to be done and I'm up to the challenge. Hopefully it will work out in the long run.

For those friends and co-workers at i4, I wish you all the best. i4 is a great company and I'm sure that you'll figure out a way to play NBA jam without me (but we know it won't be the same:)

Here's looking at you kid.

- Rhett

p.s... Some pictures. From the roof of the Wells Fargo building looking down on the peons at the Gallivan center trax stop. Also a picture of the Gallivan center Thursday night twilight center concert series. Tons of hippies. I was in a shirt and tie and went over to meet up with my friends straight from work. Maybe some hippies thought I was antidisestablishment or something :)

I love Summer!

2008-08-14T09:40:00.001-07:00

My apologies to Mr. Watterson for including this cartoon, but its a must. Also I found this site that you can search for that long lost Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that you miss: http://www.s-anand.net/calvin_89.html

I love summer. Its almost over. I'm so sad. My friend Kristi and I joke that we are only happy if we are in a swim suit. How can you not have a good day if you are wearing a swim suit? Pools, slip 'n slides, lakes, rivers, sprinklers... I mean they are all just plain ol' fashioned fun!

- Rhett

Iphone

2008-08-06T22:33:00.001-07:00

So I bought the iPhone. Its freaking awesome! I mean I had high hopes
for it but it is amazing. I am actually writing this post on my phone
with a program called writing pad. It's an ingenious program that
speeds up the writing process.
People keep asking me why it's so great and there are just so many
things it's hard to explain them all. The exchange email is great for
work and the face book app is useful.
I have a feeling that we are going to look back at this iPhone the
same way we look at the old iPods.
As cool as this phone is, the potential is still there for something
truely revolutionary.
- Rhett

Movies I recommend

2008-08-01T09:27:00.002-07:00

So my friend Maria asked for some recommendations for her Netflix queue. I responded in a comment, but decided to include my recommendations here for ya'll. (And for me when I need a movie and can't remember what I like). It was directed to Maria so some of the comments are directed to her. And she lives in NYC so their might be references to that too.

- License to Drive. I can't remember if you were here when we watched it. A Corey/Corey classic. Heather Graham before she was a schenk.

- The godfathers 1 and 2. I don't know if you have seen them or not.

- Karate Kid I. Just do it.

- Red Dawn. Swayze, "baby", Scheen, and Lea Thompson... all BEFORE their big movies. And its one of the most patriotic movies of all time. My friend in college introduced me to this show. He told me when he turned 12 his dad said "son, there is somethin' you gotta see." And then they sat down and watched Red Dawn.

- Patton. I still watch this movie every July 4thish. Some parts are a little slow, but classic none the less.

- Fight Club. Changed my life.

- Wall Street. You live there. You should see this movie. Gordon Gecko's "greed is good" speech moved me.

- Point Break. Jon and I went and saw this at the midnight movie a couple of months ago and its still good. Keanu and Swayze... good times!

- M*A*S*H* the movie. I just watched it for the first time and it was whack. Seriously. Not a comedy. Not drama. Just a random movie with some big name actors.

- Cheers. Earlier seasons where better but a little dated. I still laugh though and I got Dre hooked on it.

- Ghostbusters. Always fun to rewatch.

- Reservoir Dogs or Pulp fiction. Very swear wordy but I loved these movies in college.

- Casablanca. I own this movie. I love this movie. Some of the best lines in cinema history.

- Goodfellas. Great gangster movie. Probably better than The Untouchables because Untouchables feels so dated.

- The Usual Suspects. Just see it.

- Heat. Same. But space these ones out. They can feel long.

- Memento. Sundance film with Guy and Joe. But I loved this movie when it came out.

- LA Confidential. Guy again and Spacey. Way good. Bassinger got her oscar for it, but she's not the best part of the movie.

- Raiders. Forget the new one. This one is the best.

- Dre would say "gone with the wind".

- The Natural. Best. Sports movie. Ever. I ditched church one time to finish this movie on TV. It was worth it.

- Sandlot. Its just fun. And was filmed in Ogden.

I'm sure I have more. These were stream of conscience off the top of my head. If I think of more I will let you know.

And go to jon's blog and watch his commerical... kills me!

- Rhett

Jarem and Chantell's wedding

2008-07-24T10:40:00.002-07:00

June 6th, 2008. The day the music died. That's the day that Chantell married Jarem and hearts broke wide open around the world. It was a nice wedding at the Salt Lake Temple. It was very cold for the first week in June, but there was no rain so it worked out.

The wedding dinner the night before was at Chantell's parents backyard/pool/park area. The food was good, the people were nice (although I thought were a too many people, but turns out Chan has a big family), and we paid Jarem the ultimate respect by not sharing any stories in front of her family. :)

The reception was fun too. We saw some old friends (some broken hearts) and ate and danced. Everyone enjoyed the ice cream machine especially it was a throw back to the cruise where we all met.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

- Rhett