JD Deal Online Marketing and Deal Business Consulting, Watsonville and Santa Cruz, CA

Business Software Applications Analysis

• Location: Santa Cruz County
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Posted by Jack D. Deal at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Website Content Generator

• Location: Santa Cruz
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Posted by Jack D. Deal at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Engine Optimization SEO

• Location: Santa Cruz
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Posted by Jack D. Deal at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Engine Marketing SEM Organic

• Location: Santa Cruz
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you hang around search engine marketers long enough you will hear them whisper about Google, Yahoo or MSN's algorithms.   Algorithms are a fancy way of saying "criteria".   A search engine's algorithms are the criteria with which it picks, rates and displays search engine results. 

Those that work daily on the Internet can tell when Google changes its algorithms.   When the algorithms change, the results change.   

Since algorithms are the path to getting results, everyone and her brother are trying to figure out just what these algorithms really mean and how to use them. 

The rumor mill has it that Google has 200 such algorithms in its search engine tool chest.   That means there are 200 factors or criteria that figure into every search engine result.   

There are some that try to pick apart the algorithms in the belief that if they can find the real "keys" it will give them an edge in their search engine marketing efforts.  Depending on who you are and what you do, this could be a total waste of time. 

A better approach is to try for yourself and see what results work for your project.   While a few techies may be able to decipher the inner workings of algorithms, the average user and viewer will obviously not see these algorithms at work, only the results. 

It's hard to say how often the goodfolk at Google meet in the backroom and decide on the algorithms but suffice it to say they are on top of it and it is a constant process.  If you have ever used a search engine that is not up to snuff you will quickly see the problem and switch to one that does. 

For the average user and marketer what is important are the best practices for getting the desired search engine marketing results.   Even though the algorithms may change regularly there are certain trends that are gaining momentum and appear to be the future of algorithms, if there is such a thing. 

First comes what does not work.   After spam, which will get you delisted from most search engines, the biggest change is the declining effect of metatags and the uselessness of quick and easy search engine optimization tactics. 

Everyone uses these tactics and they do work for new sites and new blogs but once a site is picked up the metatags and other SEO gimmicks offer little improvement in key word domination and rankings.

Many SEO "strategies" are simply changing metatags and search strings or a series of words that a user will likely use when searching.   

Another trend is increasing the number and quality of links a site has; hence the "link with anything" approach that search engine marketers love to promote in their offerings.   While links are good and do improve results, there are some drawbacks. 

First, all links are not equal so a higher rated link carries more weight with search engine results than a lesser rated link.   In fact, some backlink generating websites have little impact on results as they are rated at almost zero by the search engines.   

Another point is that an array of links can make your site look silly, awkward and downright stupid.   Sites that are link driven offer little viewer value and are simple backlink factories that eventually drift to a lower search engine ranking. 

This also includes any linked content you may post on your site.  If you post content that is written for links your viewers will not see any content value and click away; if the viewer sees no value why should they stay? 

"Content has become king" says Mike Brown of Zuniweb Creative Services www.zuniweb.com, "the search engines know that viewers prize content above all else and those sites that are static and have little meaningful content will be ranked lower because they provide less viewer value."    

It's also a matter of keeping content fresh and not letting it "fossilize."   If you do not regularly update your site the search engine spiders and crawlers will stop visiting as often and you will be "classified" as a static site with little or no new fresh content.   

How can your site become a source of reliable information if it has little new content? 

"Changing and updating that content regularly is as important as having quality content," adds Mike Brown, "viewers want to see the latest and greatest and are often not interested in history or relics.  The search engines know this so they give much higher placement to sites that regularly update content."

Relevant, quality content on your site not only helps your search engine placement but also establishes your web "look and feel".   If your site's content is old, boring, or written for links, how can you expect your viewers to become interested and excited about your site?   

In many ways content has always been king; it's just that now that quality content's relative importance is increasing. Those that understand and use quality content will be more successful in their search engine marketing efforts.   

The question to ask is not what metatags to use but what content is of interest to your prospective customers and clients?

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 06:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the late 1990's technology soared.  It was the era of the dot.com boom and subsequent bust.   Many new software and hardware advances were adopted by large companies that began to integrate new technologies into their business processes. 

Some of these technologies were on the 'bleeding edge' with buggy software, crashes, insufficient memory and so on.   Online 'cloud' or web based applications were often not reliable and not user friendly. 

For smaller companies without IT departments, being on the technology bleeding edge was the equivalent to living a nightmare.

Around 2003 the applications became more robust and bugs and crashes were less of a problem.  Part of this progress was due to the dramatic drop in pricing for computer memory meaning that more robust programs could be run without crashing.  

Also around this time many industries developed industry specific software to run businesses like car dealerships or bookstores.   Called "management systems" this genre of software allowed smaller companies to combine all their processes under one program.  This management software also did not require an onsite IT department to keep it running. 

This vertical industry specific software was complemented by horizontal industry software such as bookkeeping and contact management software.   This meant that a company could also run its books and keep track of prospects and customers in ways they were not able to do before.  

Software and platform integrators stayed busy.  The big drive during this period was to try to link and integrate software.  For instance, management software would generate an invoice, note that it was paid and then route the data to the proper category in the general ledger through a linked accounting system.   

It was clearly understood that the more integrated and "seamless" a software was, the more powerful and cost effective it could be.   And since human error continued to be a major drawback to software applications, greater integration meant not only saving time and money but reducing errors.  

As hardware and software improved it also became cheaper and more affordable to smaller companies.   By 2005 and 2006 many of these applications became more mainstream and were used by smaller and smaller companies. 

Perhaps the biggest advances during this time were web based applications.   Companies could link all parts of their business online from sales and inventory to employee communications and human resources.  

This shift also reduced costs from thousands of dollars for a software purchase to a monthly user's fee making it much more affordable.   These applications also eliminated a lot of paper. 

By 2007 the second wave of technology upheaval had begun as smaller and smaller companies began using technology to manage and market.  

Smaller companies began to sell more online and funnel new prospects to their sales department.  These new technologies allowed companies to sell more by expanding their markets. 

"In today's marketplace if a retail or service business does not exploit all their potential markets then their competitors will," says Eric Ressler of Zuniweb Creative Services www.zuniweb.com, "it's just not optional anymore." 

Across horizontal and vertical industries the key driver is strategy.  Those companies with a solid strategy that is well executed are stronger competitors. 

Technology is a critical component in almost all business strategies and in recent years technology has enabled businesses of all types to leverage their strengths in their respective markets. 

As technology has become more user friendly it also has more users.   Today one does not have to know html or coding to operate very sophisticated software and companies do not require a high level of technical expertise to run most software. 

The big advantage is that the user can focus on business functions and not on user unfriendly software.  

With these innovations has come a second wave revolution that is changing the way business operates today.   As always, the issue is which companies take advantage of these opportunities and which do not.  

As always the marketplace will ultimately decide which of these companies succeed.

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know who they are.  They wear a tool belt for all their phones and gadgets.   They look like a telephone line repairman.   They waddle when they walk.  They can speak but like all good children they only speak when spoken to.   You might try texting them because it's quicker.   Besides, they will tell you they just don't listen very well.  They hear just fine, but don't listen.   It's not what they do. 

They have been called gadget addicts and worse.   You know the argument, video games and virtual reality are the equivalent of drugs.   However, drugs only affect the brain and do not actually become part of the neural network, unlike gadgets.  Gadgets become part of the flow of the parsed bits and bytes and therefore become indispensable.  Take out the gadget and the neural network crashes.

So with the New Techies, the gadgets have become part of the Extended Neural Network or ENN.   Taking away these gadgets is like taking away whole sections of the ENN.  It's like surgically removing a chunk of brain; well, sort of. 

As a consequence anything and everything that is connected with this gadget simply disappears when the gadget disappears.   This can cause a problem since all data of significance run through this device's chips.  This data includes such non-essentials as family, school and other community and personal experiences not including friends. 

Adults who don't care about how they look often wear a dumbing down earphone headset and can be seen in public gesturing and talking to themselves.  The question is, does this make them feel important or just look more stupid?  It sure hurts any chances for finding a date; who wants their conversation played out to everyone in the fruit and veggie section at the local Trader Joe's?   Is this the type of behavior young people should emulate?  Is this the type of behavior one should be exposed to while shopping for basil and artichokes? 

Needless to say this New Techie withdrawal from the human race and real time relationships means that the New Techies will become even goofier than their nerdy and goofy predecessors.   Staring at a terminal too long used to cause goofiness and now this syndrome has simply coded seamlessly over to cell phones and handhelds of all shapes and colors.   How about a little pink one in the shape of a heart for someone you really despise?

It's easier so subsequently there is little reason for the New Techie to become interested in things like hiking, surfing, football or even dancing.   Dancing is especially worrisome as it sometimes creates relationships and relationships are clearly problematic for the permanently sanitized and wired.  

As the Greeks said, beware excess.  Unfortunately chronic usage of add on devices results in the New Techies' mental circuitry becoming fried.  Offshore research has shown the neurons en masse begin to fray and melt into a sort of soft goo paste.  This goo or anti-brain matter causes dysfunctional withdrawal from the real world into the safer and less threatening virtual world where nobody gets punched, insulted or called nasty ethnic names.  After all, like the Super Bowl, World Cup and Presidential Election, at the end of the day it's still just a game.    

We certainly make it harder on ourselves since we humans are messy creatures creating a lot of fuss and bother and then leaving a bunch of garbage.    It's so much easier just to wire directly into that Extended Neural Network ENN and not have to deal with all the other parts of human bodies that are quite frankly embarrassing to most New Techies.   Part of the advantage of being wired is avoidance of physical contact.  No icky germs...

But the question remains of just how is elevated art and culture to be transplanted from the worldly wise into a pea sized cerebrum that is constantly bombarded by low-end, sleaze ball digital stimuli?   The short answer is it isn't because it can't.  The wired brain is not free and inquiring; the wired brain is bored, boring and stuffed with spam.   Mostly spam.  All irrelevant input and no relevant output.  That and gooey anti-brain matter.

But in the net net, it doesn't matter.  The inconvenient truth is we are what we think.   Or put another way a bit more pessimistically, we are only what little we think.  Does it matter that we plug and play into the only conscious freethinking organ we have?   How many independently generated new ideas did your liver and kidneys come up with this week?   But in the end, if you really think about it long and hard, who really needs those smelly, ugly old frontal lobes anyway? 

BTW, did you get my text message about your text message?

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Go ahead.  You might as well find out.  It's not hard.  Just Google, Yahoo or otherwise search for your company name in quotes and see what your footprint or search engine results bring up.   It's easy, it's quick and it won't lie or give you false readings.  Your footprint is your footprint...

Odds are you have a decent website.   Graphically, it is well balanced and maybe even designed by a webmaster or some such skilled webperson.   It probably is user friendly, intuitive and does what it's supposed to do; that is, no dead links, all spellchecked, scrubbed text and it all looks good and makes sense.

Most likely your site talks about quality, integrity, customer service and how you offer the best value proposition in the area, region, state, nation and world.   You maybe even have an interesting 'About Us' narrative, if there is such a thing.   Quite possibly you even state that your goal is to save the world or eliminate poverty in Chiapas and/or the Sudan. 

And your search engine footprint likely shows your website is number one or two or maybe both.   Good job!  This is to be expected since as a savvy web marketer you have search engine optimized or SEO'd your website since it was a baby.  Good for you! 

After the search engine picks up your site, it picks up all your listings in various directories and databases.    Some of these are paid and others are just local or industrial listings...at one point you looked into all the listings and probably signed up for most of them.   They are still there; at least some of them.   And they are still just listings...

Next come your press releases or maybe that article that appeared in the local newspaper three years ago.    But then it gets real thin.  By page two you are running out of direct search engine hits and all the 'oddities' come in; other companies with the same name, foreign companies with the same name, odd strings of words that pop up regularly in text files and whatever garbage is left. 

This happens because your search engine footprint is shallow.  Technically you are allowing the flotsam and jetsam of cyberspace to pack your footprint because you are too lazy to do so yourself.   Or forgot.  This footprint packing could include material and websites of which you do not approve, yet you allow this junk to fill your search engine footprint. 

Business wise, you've got the look but lack the feel.   If 'look and feel' determine the viewer or visitor's experience, you are long on specs, data and substance but short on why you are different.  And better.  And more interesting.   You don't have that unique value that causes a viewer to look further, pick up the phone or zap an email requesting more info.  In other words, your look and feel doesn't stand out so nothing happens.  And of course that's the problem.

Now imagine a different scenario.  Your website is good and does what it should, you have a variety of local and regional listings and you even have a few press releases stating your latest company news.   But interspersed are a series of articles, blogs and other sources that have third party news and views about your company.   

This gives the viewer an impression of what others think of your products and services; a bit of 'feel' to go with that snazzy, professional website 'look' that you have so professionally adapted.  It's a bigger and better and more well rounded you...but how to get there?

First, take a good look at your marketing plan and give a realistic assessment of what you need.   Remember that what you need and what you want might be two entirely different animals but it's important to focus on what you need first.   What you need is the right look and feel that gets your message across in a number of different ways and generates prospect response.   

Second, take one or two strong competitive advantages you have and drive those advantages.  Several ways you can do this are through media coverage and self promotion.   Since increasingly media coverage is an iffy if not spotty proposition, your best bet is self promotion.  One good tactic is to use self promotion to attract media coverage.   

Your goal should be five or six pages of search engine results that show you have a varied, interesting and penetrating web presence.   That means your company name appears on many websites whether linked directly or not.   This gives a completely different 'feel' to your company that can make a difference in your first impression and whether your prospect becomes interested enough to respond or can't distinguish your company from all the others in cyberspace.

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the old days I used to carry a laptop with an overhead digital projector.   And sometimes a portable printer.   I looked like a mercenary walking in.  I still on occasion use the projector.  But not much...same goes for my sales collateral, presentation, brochure, letterhead, portfolio and media packet. 

First off it's so much easier.  I don't arrive at a client's office needing a baggage cart.  I show up with my notepad, digital camera and recorder; all fit nicely in my pockets.   I don't carry a phone onsite since I am not an obstetrician or plumber.  In fact I walk in with what appears to be just me because it is just me.   

Sometimes they give me a quizzical look as if 'didn't you forget something?'   But unless they specifically ask, I don't specifically tell.   If we are at a conference table, I take out my pen and my small paper notepad and put it directly in front of me.  To one side I lay my pocket recorder, and to the other my trick digital camera which I take from my shirt pocket.  I'm not totally low tech...

I then take out my business card or maybe several if we are in a group.  I lay them on the notepad.  By this time more than a few in the room are watching and wondering what I will do next.  Maybe perform some sort of magic trick and up will pop a laptop and projector and sales portfolio packet.  As we do the obligatory handshakes and settle in, I slip my card across the table to my hosts.  And smile. 

"Do you have a resume or client list we can review?" is often the first question since they don't know what else to ask.  

"No," I answer, "both are provided by Google and Yahoo."

"Really?" they ask with raised eyebrows, "do you have a special deal with them?"

"No, just Google or Yahoo my name in quotes" I reply.  

"And your resume is online?" they continue.

"No, just my history and work."

At this point someone is curious enough to open up their laptop.  They Google or Yahoo my name and look up, nodding their head affirmatively.   What they see is what I have done.  I could compile one myself in a resume format but why bother.  My footprint or search results go on page after page.  Depending on Google's algorithmic moods, it can go on for dozens of pages.

As they click down the pages their eyes scan my article topics and they can see I write mainly business articles but also personal development, humor, sports, motivation and politics.   I tell them my websites are simply self publishing blogs that store and house my article archives.  

If they continue to scroll they will see many different websites where my articles are posted.   All types of industries; auto, construction, health, real estate, pet care and even a few not so PG sites fortunately pretty far down the list...ha.   Some political sites, some personal development sites and even an inspirational site or two.   And a few radical ones, a few right wing ones and a few Jesus ones. 

The advantages for me are many.  First I don't look like a salesman warrior loaded down with gadgets and briefcases inspiring fear as I prepare for battle.  If I need a promo sheet, I have one folded up in my pocket just in case.  I can use the wasted set up time to chat or start asking questions. 
 
Second, I have a very cool business card that is simple, direct and just the right colors.  It's me.  Third, they will never hear my cell beep or catch me stealing a glance down to see who called.  What an insult.  Fourth, I don't distract everyone by looking for an outlet and setting up my gear.  Ten years ago I would set up a mini office to impress.  Today I don't set up anything to impress.  Google and Yahoo are nice enough to do that for me. 

There's an old sales tactic that asserts if you can get the prospect to do something active they become more involved and more likely to buy.  Doing a simple Google or Yahoo search isn't much but it is active.   It's also something they can do when I leave or whenever and wherever they wish.   It's something they can duplicate anywhere and something I have no direct control over.  Because of all this, it's credible.  And (in)credible

Another important point to note is that I have a clean record.  Not even a divorce, knock on wood.  So by boldly stating 'Google my name' it shows that I am confident that no prison record will pop up.  Unfortunately this tactic is not a good one if you do have a prison record...

If you Google my name you will find articles of mine in the London Daily News but no record of my being an inmate at San Quentin.  That's because I have had articles in the London Daily News but have never been an inmate at San Quentin.   A simple Googling proves both.  Thank you Google and thank you Yahoo for making my life so much easier. 

You ever try to get a three prong plug into a two prong outlet without an adapter?

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

These two guys were almost at blows. Actually they were so puny it's doubtful that if one hit the other it would matter.

"Go ahead, I Dare Ya! Google My Name!" shouted one.

Was it a threat? Some sort of secret code? What would actually happen by googling his name?

I was intrigued and it seemed neither combatant would back down. That's how I guessed they were gamers.

It was hard to tell exactly what the two techie types did for a living but my guess was video game software. My hunch was one was trying to outdo the other with some sort of code that had made him famous; at least in the niched code world. A google search would verify that. Hence the dare.

But nevertheless the message was clear: 'you don't believe I'm really special then why don't you just help your own ignorance and Google my name?'

What we see here is the beginning of the unraveling and changing of the very social fabric with which we function.  It's not who you are. It's not what you do. It's not who you know. It's what is your google fameprint.

Some day at some point I will be doing an interview and some beatnik looking cat will hand me his google print out instead of a resume. And I'll probably take it and look at it and start making notes.

That's not so silly because every company in the land has a computer now and can do their own Google fameprint check. Some wormy, geeky looking HR mole will sit there all day googling employee fameprints and chuckling to himself.

Those nine public intoxications you had last year will show up. That nasty divorce in Biloxi is forever tied to your name. That infamous day when Junior drove your car into the Dean's residence will forever be etched in the yucks of fame by your fameprint. It goes on.  Your New Year's Day DUI. I wish I could say it ain't so...

Sorry. Maybe you really should change your name and start a new identity. At least that way you could start out with a clean slate. But if you do be sure to pick a name with a better fameprint than your current one. Always use the search keyword 'felon' to be sure.

Then again Google would probably find you. You can run but you can't hide. The real problem is not where you are; the problem is where you have been. And with whom.

Some pointy head techie is going to write some code that will link all your past sins to your new identity whenever you change it. Sort of like God on Judgment Day. Thanks to technology all your sins will be linked to one big relational database in the sky.

You are the one that will be sitting there as God waits for your Google fameprint to print out. Hours and hours. You will feel like strangling that Google geek but God glares at you and motions to back off.

At this point you can assume your timing is off.  It's too late and you are imitating government and reacting in slow motion. In the end Google, like God, has you by the proverbial walnuts. Learn to live with it.

Strive for inner peace amidst the torment. When you search for God and up pops Google, well, don't be surprised. It's all the natural flow of backlinked cyber evolution. If we can find a mate via email hey, there's not much we can't do, no? Would that be an email order bride? Ha...I can hardly stand it myself.

Besides, in the old days we weren't such weenies and there was a bit more threat in a good dare. Usually it was 'go ahead, step across that line. I dare ya.' Clint Eastwood stuff. What became very clear very early even to me as a tyke was that territory and not ground was the issue.

Today I'm just not sure what the territory is being discussed. To be perfectly honest I'm not even sure about the dare. But what the heck.

Go ahead. Google my name. I dare ya. And if you would be so kind as to please let me know what happens I would greatly appreciate it.

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

      Think of it: technology, computers, business, science and on and on, he says, it doesn’t stop. If you want to get ahead in your career, you have to speak English. Maybe not as well as you do, he continues, but it’s important to speak and understand. The young folks here aren’t stupid…they know where the future lies. One certainly can disagree with it or fight it but it’s like our hero Don Quixote fighting a windmill…it’s an absurdity, no?

      I suppose, I laugh, although there have to be worse things than fighting windmills. And at least the good Don Q stayed active and helped forestall old-timers… Licho laughed hard. As a hard nosed lawyer most of his world is black and white…but when something tickles his fancy he likes to let go with a good belly laugh…

      As you know, he continued, there are strong regional differences throughout Mexico. In Cancun, they allow nude public bathing, but not here in Vera Cruz. In Monterrey they are great at business and commerce but have a very poor sense of humor. We here in Vera Cruz are more artists, poets and intellectuals…and probably smarter, he laughs, that’s why we are adopting English so easily, especially the young. Seems like some of our young people are learning English faster than many of the Chicano young people in California, he adds, what do you make of that, amigo?

      Another one of those impossible questions, I answer shaking my head, this trip has been full of them. My head is so full of them I’m worried it will turn to mush…Licho laughs hard again.

      Not you amigo, he says, you keep pushing yourself and asking those questions and the day you stop doing that you will die. When that happens we’ll just put you out under the cactus with all the other drunk, wasted and lazy he laughs…

      It must be the lawyer in him, I think; sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about.

      I’m too old and stubborn to learn English well, he says, but let me tell you how I did learn what English I know. We had a client in Dayton, Ohio and I had to go there to do some of the legal work in Spanish. I was sent with a junior partner that spoke English …so I figured we would be fine. This was maybe fifteen years or so ago…

      I flew from Vera Cruz to Houston, where I was to meet the junior partner but he had a change in flights, he says, and it was there the nightmare started for me. I couldn’t figure out how to fill out my immigration paper and twice had to go back to the immigration check and was afraid I was going to miss my flight. I went to the ticket counter and showed them my ticket and was ready to leave on my 3:00 flight – I barely had enough time. But they said the flight was A.M., not P.M. and I was out of luck. I asked them what I should do and they said I had to buy another ticket…I was ready to go back to Mexico but they then changed their mind and said they would put me on a flight to Chicago that left in another hour. I agreed and I thought all was fine.

      I thought I could tell when my flight was leaving but they announced it in English and I missed it…so much for my guessing in English, he laughed. They put me on another flight and this time I went straight to the gate and waited…there was even an attendant that spoke Spanish so I was sure to get it right this time.

      I got to Chicago but my luggage got lost and I couldn’t figure out how to find it…I finally found an attendant that spoke some Spanish and she found a porter to help me and finally I had my bags and ticket and was ready to get to Dayton. It was now about 9:00 PM or so…

      I got into Dayton at 11:00 and of course there was no one there to meet me…I was supposed to get in at 5:00 or something like that. The airport was closing down and a security guard said I had to leave the airport…what a mess for me! I could not remember the name of the hotel and the guard was nice and tried to help me. He looked up the hotels and said there was only two or three that fit the description of being close to my meeting in the morning…he then helped me get a taxi and made sure I knew the fare before going…and I paid the fare in advance to be sure…by this time I was worn out and was ready to go back home.

      At the third hotel they found my name and I was set. It was almost 2:00 and I had a 9:30 meeting…and there in the lobby sat the junior partner…he asked me what had happened and I just didn’t want to go through the whole story…but that night I decided I would learn enough English to get by as a traveler…never again would I be stuck in an English speaking country with no English…that was my motivation for learning English…

      I told Licho I could sympathize with him as the same thing happened to me many years back when I was traveling in Europe and Africa. I knew enough Spanish when I got to Mexico so could get by and have been learning and refining my Spanish ever since…

      And now you are even Mexican, he laughed.

      And feel Mexican too. I always try to help out the poor traveler that is stranded in a strange land with a strange language…because I’ve been there and done that. It feels lousy and is frustrating but on the upside provides plenty of motivation for learning that language. Once again, necessity is not only the mother of invention but also a primary motivator, or something like that. The seasoned traveler not only has a sense of how to get through customs and find their way in a strange land but also pick up the language and customs. And since my traveling days I’ve always been able to tell the seasoned traveler from the novice…

      Let’s take a ride to see my grandmother, says Licho. We drive almost 45 minutes down some dirt roads to a large colonia.

      All my people were paracaidistas or squatters, he laughs, like many poor Mexicans, they just moved to where there was land with no one on it and stayed. My poor, extended family takes up what you would call a city block. They keep marrying, having kids and building more cinderblock houses. Colonia Popular is a polite way of calling these types of communities. He introduces me to his cousins, aunts and grandmother. They are all nice people but very poor…the houses are simple, in need of repair and the streets dusty and unpaved. We don’t stay long and we get back in his car and drive back to his suburban house.

      How did you get out? I asked.

      I don’t know what made me leave, he says, I guess I just didn’t want to stay there for the rest of my life. Of course, now all I do is work but it beats sitting around and being poor, he laughs, not many make it out of there…I was lucky I guess…just like you amigo…we get all the luck…

      We get back to his house and again stay up most of the night talking about our families, our futures, politics, law and his strange experiences in the U.S. Like the time the host company executive took him to a strip club... Several times I strongly suggest he get some sleep but he insists sleep is something he can do in the future but talking with me is a luxury he rarely gets and I agree…but I don’t have to get up at dawn and drive to work!

      Once again I’m thankful for my Spanish and the friends and fun and adventure it has brought me. I’ll be sorry to have to leave Licho but maybe I’ll be back sooner than later…

Jack D. Deal

Posted by Jack D. Deal at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)