Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Week two in Minnesota

Well, I'm wrapping up my first week in Minneapolis sales. The team here is very nice. They have all gone out of there way to make me feel welcome. It’s a lot to absorb though, new targets, new competitors, new team…wow! I've spent the week immersed in learning the market, meeting with each of the reps. I gave my first imaging tour to Best Buy today. He committed to having us quote their next buyers guide so that's a cool way to end the week. Next week I will be mixing in prospecting and meeting with the imaging side to start building relationships with that part of the team. I also have two customer visits set up and hope to add a few more before the week is done.

On the home front we are probably 85% done unpacking. Lots to do this weekend. The house is starting to feel more like home, but that will take some time. Catie really loves it here, and both Nik and Alex is starting to look around and notice things that they think are pretty cool. We live about 1 mile from Lake Minnetonka so we spend the evening there at the beach swimming and watching the sun set. It's not the Pacific Ocean in MDR, but it's still pretty nice. Next week we will have the kids signed up for school. The high school where the boys will be going just finished construction of they new indoor hockey arena for the high school team.

It was super hot here last week and early this week with temps over 100 and humid. The last few days it's been in the 80's so it's pretty comfortable now. The kids have about 4 more week to go before they start school so we are trying to make time for as much exploring as possible between now and then.

Alex flew into town on Monday with his best friend Nick Herbst from California. He and Nick spent the week exploring the area. They went to a Twins game on Wednesday afternoon. The Twins lost, but the boys had a really great time at the game. Alex also has fallen in love with downtown Excelsior. He took the camera there the other night so he could take pictures to share with his friends back in Cali.

There was a neighborhood block party on Tuesday night so we got a chance to meet all the neighbors. Really a very friendly group of people who really have made us feel welcome. Of the 10 houses in our neighborhood, there are two California families here. Paul and Judy just moved in across the street from us a month ago from Newport Beach. Across the other side are Less and Alice who live here in the summer, spending the rest of the year in Silicon Valley working in the Tech sector. Catie is making friends and is really having a great time.