New Job, first few days

This is my 3rd day on the new job, I am in the middle of New Mexico now, still have no computer at work, there seems too be a mix up on me being in the system.
Let me talk about the area and what we are doing here. If you have ever been to the East New Mexico/West Texas area you know what is here, Oil, Scorpions, Tarantulas, Snakes and not much else, a few people, finding a place to live is going to be a challenge, the company is reimbursing me for expenses until i find a place, once that happens I go on Per Diem. The company I am working for seems to have it's act together, the procedures and processes are straight forward and easy to understand, the people seems nice enough, in fact I meet a guy that i knew in Baghdad, I bet there are more I find as time goes on, those of us that travel for a living seem to be of the same mold and are drawn to the same strange places and jobs, it may be the money, it may be the excitement, I know for me it is the fact that I get bored quickly with my surroundings, even living in Cocoa Beach on the ocean now seems like another life for me, I do miss the people, and the friends I left. For some reason new friends are easy to come by for people like me, i guess because they see I am pretty easy going, not stupid, enjoy being around people, work hard and most of all, I listen.

Since I brought up the subject of listening, i will share some wisdom I learned at a young age, the old saying that God gave us two ears and one mouth was so we could listen twice as much as we speak, I have found that if you sincerely, truly listen to someone they will tell you more then you wanted to know, in some cases WAY more then you wanted to know, there are too may people in this world that think they have something important too say and don't take the time to listen first. one of the reasons I am successful is because I listen, not just listen but actually listen and try to comprehend what people say, do you know that one of the main training courses you will take if you become a spy is too learn to listen, it is one of the main wash out points while training, more people wash out and go home during this portion of training then any other point, strange isn't it? It tells me that learning to listen and not talk is very difficult to learn, some of the problem is people think there opinion is better then anyone else's, there pride tells them they know more, there better and they don't need to listen, they already know the answer. The problem with that train of thought is you don't know everything, I have spent years in Procurement and do know more then about anyone about the subject, but I still take the time to listen too the new guy if he has an idea, and believe it or not, sometimes they come up with something worth saying, in fact more often then not, they have a great idea, after I listen and tell them why they didn't tell someone else about this, they answer "I did, but your the first one that listened" I try to teach all the people in my department how to listen, and you need to learn also. the next time you are discussing something with a friend, stop yourself from talking and just pay total attention to what comes out of there mouth, then think about it, then and only then, speak your mind, you will be surprised at how much you learn about people if you just pay attention and think before you talk.

Enough preaching for today, stay tuned for the next lesson.
Luvya Meanit
Thanks again for reading my thoughts.