I was given all the pertinent contact information for a mutual friend, Steve at S and L Mobile Mechanics, just in case my car ever found itself in some trouble. I'm paranoid about being stranded on the side of the road after having it happen a few times driving across Texas while in school. When a car breaks down on the side of the road, it's a mess because you have to pay a towing company in addition to getting work done to get your car running again. Not a fun situation.

I know several people who have used S and L Mobile Mechanics and it's always good to have a reliable repair company in your phone for such a situation, especially if you find yourself in the Fort Worth area. Since they are based in Euless, they can cover both Dallas and Fort Worth, but prefer to stick mostly on the west side of the mid cities.

Anyway, I ended up needing Steve's help when I was over at the Fort Worth Stockyards this past weekend for an event. Turns out, my timing belt had snapped and I needed a new one. Steve was a lifesaver because not only did he show up in a flash, but he had all the parts and was able to get me back on the road without having to call a tow truck. If that's not good service, I don't know what is. These guys are definitely a company to add to your rolodex just in case you ever find yourself stranded on the side of the road with a forlorn look on your face.

In "The Wolf of Wall Street", we see two scenes involving the standard "sell me this pen" question that often comes up in job interviews for sales positions. In the first scene, at a diner, the answer is a matter of creating scarcity. "Write your name on a sheet of paper - oh you don't have a pen? Here you go." is assumed to be the correct answer from one of Belfort's cohorts.

At the end of the movie, we see a sales conference in New Zealand where Belfort goes around the room asking newbie/aspiring sales professionals the same question. "Sell me this pen."

Of course, no one in the crowd gets it right. They ramble on nervously about how great the pen is, how you can write upside down, etc. So what exactly is the correct way to answer this open-ended question if it comes up in your next job interview?

First, this question IS too open-ended. You can't sell a pen (or anything) unless you ask questions. If an interviewer asks you to sell him this pen, the correct answer would be something like:

"First, I have no idea the context in which you are asking me this. How long have you been in the market for a pen? What type of pen do you typically use? Etc." 

You need to be asking questions to qualify. Otherwise you may be selling something to someone who doesn't need it. This IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE. No matter what. Any interviewer with half a brain will understand this. If they don't, you're probably interviewing at the wrong company. Without understanding the context, it's impossible to sell anything.

Yes, it's an open-ended question. So ask questions of your own to figure out if the hypothetical buyer (the interviewer) even needs the pen. And what he looks for in a pen. And how often he uses a pen. It's that simple. Sales is about asking questions.

I had done a ton of ongoing work back in 2010 for my buddy Donovan at 360 Roofing and over the past year I hadn't heard much from him. However, that changed today. I'm looking forward to working with him again since his roofing company was always the best when it came to paying on time and being honest.

On a side note, if you need new roofing you should definitely contact them. They have a perfect A+ rating with the BBB and are just about the only roofing company I would consider talking to if I had an issue. My friend up in Plano recently contacted 360 Innovations Roofing about repairing a minor slab. My buddy said the crew was very professional. Estimated delivery date on this project will be late 2014 since roofing here in the Dallas area is so dang competitive. 

As reported on my other blog, I have begun working with the fence staining experts at Texas Fence Staining. A Dallas-based company with decades of experience, TFS was founded by my friend Larry as a separate division of an existing fence repair company when it became clear that treating fence staining as side work was no longer acceptable. Larry was smart to see the opportunity and has run with it.

If you're tired of looking at a dull, lifeless fence, especially one that has weather damage as a result of the freakish ice storm that hit Dallas a month or two ago - give TFS a call. I've used them and have referred them to several friends of mine in Dallas, Plano and Frisco and they always do great work. Staining a fence is a much more affordable and logical option compared to a full replacement and they can finish a job in the same day in most cases. Contact them today for a fast, free quote.

I had a few friends ask me what companies I would recommend for home repairs and other handyman work after the great snow storm of 2013 that has crippled the city. I get this a lot since I know plenty of local business owners. My picks are:

DK Electricians - Dale and Kerem do great work and are a locally owned electrical contractor that I've known for years. If you need a new breaker box or just simple repair, they can help.

North Dallas Dent Repair - My buddy Jackie owns this location off of Royal near 635. They can help with dent repair and other body work caused by the ice storm.

JCL Retaining Walls - Brandon owns several businesses in DFW and his retaining wall repair division can help since these structures were hit hard by days of snow and ice collecting on them.

I recently contacted my buddies at DFW Demolition Co. about getting a tool shed removed from my property. I was worried the pricing was going to be outrageous for this type of work, but it actually turned out to be very reasonable. The crew showed up on time and was professionally uniformed for the most part, which was also a pleasant surprise to say the least. The foreman walked me through every step of the demolition work and assured me the work would be done by the end of the day.

Removing the tool shed only ended up taking a little more than 2 hours, which was fine by me. I was very impressed with DFW Demolition and would highly recommend them to anyone in Dallas in need of house removal or other lot clearing services. Since they provide complimentary consultations in most cases, it doesn't hurt to give them a call, even if you are just window shopping.

You don't. You really shouldn't. More than anything, I'm just trying to see what kind of traffic a post about how to wear men's drop crotch pants will pan out. So don't judge me, I just need a current topic to write about and I noticed a bunch of douchebags wearing these pants that look like there is a diaper included. So this is a traffic test more than anything as I have no clue how to wear these stupid ass reverse bell bottoms or whatever they are. But I'll try to offer advice.

For those of you who don't know, this:

Some of the stupidest prints I've seen on these god-awful pants include the pics above. I mean just look at that. Justin Beiber is wearing some shit leopard print thing while I weep for the future. You look like you are wearing a sweatshirt upside-down you moron.


So how does a cool guy wear these baggy-ass-leggings in style? I mean pair the things with a faux-hawk I guess? I'm trying to think of some other douche words that people would search for in conjunction with these pants above, but I can't. Thus concludes this article. 

I recently did some work for an online attorney directory called My Hometown Lawyers. This site looks to compete with similar legal directories that list local lawyers by state and help with lawyer marketing. 

They are also running a peer-to-peer "best lawyer" voting contest across the US in large metro areas like Dallas, TX and the Chicago area to smaller niche suburbs like Denton and everywhere in between. This voting is open to the general public and encourages lawyers to nominate those in the legal field that have done great work over the last year. Those interested can also vote with their Facebook accounts.

The company who I'm working with hopes to build My Hometown Lawyers into a hub for legal resources, similar to larger, existing sites like Lexus Nexus. Still, the site already has solid user traffic due to a variety of legal resources already offered on the site. Because there are essentially over 1 million lawyers in the US as of 2010, the offerings we look to provide on this site are endless and should continue to expand over time.

Having previously had a sprinkler head worked on by Calworth Sprinklers at www.sprinklerrepairsfortworth.com and being extremely pleased with the quality of work, I was referred to DFW Sprinkler Repair Masters, L.L.C. of Arlington, TX, a locally-owned sprinkler and irrigation company.

Coming highly recommended and serving cities near my hometown of Dallas, I was looking forward to meeting with the owner, Ken, who has worked as a licensed irrigator for years and knows my buddy Andy at Calworth very well. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. To make a long story short, I was going out of town on short notice and had a huge mess in my front yard that needed to be attended to.

Since DFW Sprinkler Repair Masters is locally owned, getting a quote and getting someone on the scene only took an hour, which was great, especially for this time of year. I don't know how they did it, but it was fast and we haven't had any problems since, which is all I can ask for. Several of my neighbors ended up using them as well and were also happy with the results.

I was able to get everything cleared up and Ken and I even talked about putting in a retaining wall (again, reasonably priced) to prevent such issues from happening in the future. I would have no problems recommending DFW Sprinkler Repair Masters LLC to anyone in Arlington, Dallas or DFW - they are BBB accredited and aren't some fly-by-night operation.

Sponsors and Picks (below)  

(Read more at BKRpros) for home remodeling help including custom kitchens and bathrooms.

These guys did a great job with my brother's remodeling job on his guest house - we found a contractor in University Park through them that did not disappoint.

This is awesome.


NFL week 13 betting lines and thoughts:

Chicago favored by 3.5 at home to the Seahawks.  I'll buy it down to 2.5 and take the Bears all day.  Bears should take care of this one as a VERY legit D beats a good rookie QB with mediocre weapons around him.  Plus no one runs on Chicago.  I like watching the Seahawks when they play at home, but sadly they aren't at home...

Green Bay favored at home by 8 over the Vikings.  This is a weird game and I'm not terribly confident but give me the Vikings to cover and make this a 1 score game late.  Green Bay needs a statement win of some sort and while I don't see them making a deep playoff run, maybe they get up 14 points late (huge in a divisional game, which always have a tendency to be closer) and give up a garbage time TD with a suspect defense.  24-17 Packers but never terribly close.

San Fran favored on the road at the Rams by 8.5 - see above.  In this crazy NFL season, it just makes sense that this will be semi close.  They also played to a tie last time and both teams will get up for the rematch.  10-14 point lead late by SF with the Rams getting a garbage score and missing the onside kick to seal the game for SF in an awesome coaching chess match like last time.  Interested to see how San Fran's QB situation progresses after this week.

Upset of the week:  Indy at Detroit, with the Lions favored by 5.  I'll take Indy to win this outright.  If I have to pick an upset this week, I feel safest with this.  This line is extremely confusing as (with, as a general rule, the home team automatically getting 3 points) the 5 point spread means the Lions are favored by 2 on a neutral field/Super Bowl setting?  Over a well coached, semi legit AFC playoff team in waiting?  If the Lions do win this, it will be close (thus take the Colts to cover a very large spread if you don't trust the outright upset) with the Colts shooting themselves in the foot, which I have faith won't happen.  Andrew Luck has a big game in the dome.

Buffalo favored by 6 at home to the Jags.  Buffalo, who cares.

New England favored by 7.5 on the road to Miami.  I'll take the Patriots to cover, just because they always seem to.  They are one of the safer bets you can make in this crazy NFL season.  And they've scored like 110 points in the last two weeks.  And Miami has looked terrible of late.  And they are still Miami.  And the Patriots head coach, he-who-must-not-be-named, will figure out some defensive scheme that will kill Tannehill.  I'm actually surprised the line isn't closer to 10 on this.

Houston favored by 6 on the road to the Titans.  I'll take Houston to cover this and win by a TD or more.  This looks like one of the safer picks of the day; I just think Houston is a much better team.  No disrespect to the Titans who show some potential moving forward.

Denver favored by a TD over the Bucs in Denver.  This is easily the most intriguing game of the week to me and features the greatness of both Peyton Manning and Doug Brown.  I'll take Tampa to cover this 24-20 or something along those lines with the Broncos winning a competitive, defensive game with the Broncos D and Von Miller being the difference maker against Josh Freeman.  This does have trap game feel to it with Denver rolling into the playoffs - it's possible Tampa just has more to play for at this point and gets up on a Denver team that has looked sluggish at times in the 1st half against decent to good competition. 

Ravens favored by 8 to the Steelers.  I'd buy this down to 6.5 and take the Ravens to cover by a TD.  This isn't the same Ravens defense but Charlie fuckin Batch is starting and he sucks and has historically not played well against the Ravens.  Ravens at home over 3rd string QB in a divisional game by 7 or more all day.  And the Ravens are still pretty damn good and have a pretty great coach by the way.  The over/under on total points scored is 34.5 which is ugly.  I do see small potential for a blowout though if it gets ugly early and Pittsburgh's D gets tired.

Carolina favored by 3 on the road at Kansas City.  The interesting thing here is the point spread, which is 40.5 - so 21-20 or something like that is the over.  This is my 2 for 1 can't miss sports lock extreme play of the day.  First of all, Kansas City absolutely sucks.  On offense.  There defense isn't quite as bad and should at least be able to keep this semi manageable.  Plus it's in KC which can be difficult.  And Cam Newton is a wildcard who may or may not do something really cool.  All that said, I'd buy this down to 2.5 (just to be safe, so a FG wins it) and take Carolina all day PLUS the under on points.  I mean 27-13 and you are fine.  20-17 you are fine.  No way KC breaks 20 (or even 14) points and while Cam Newton should play well, the KC D will keep this closer than it probably should be.  Call it 24-10 Carolina (the under) or something like that with KC just looking horrible on offense.

Cleveland favored by 2.5 over Oakland in Oakland.  Ugh.  I would not bet on this under any circumstances.  In theory Cleveland should win this.  But it's a rookie QB playing in Oakland, who has absolutely nothing to lose. And it's Oakland, weird shit always seems to happen out there.  I will buy up to 3.5 points and take Oakland to cover with Cleveland winning 23-20.  Nate and I have an unofficial bet where I'm actually taking Oakland to win this outright somehow.  This will be a field goal fest full of turnovers and poor play.  I hope there's an Oakland vs. KC game coming up by the way.....

Cincinnati favored by 2 on the road at San Diego.  In a game I REALLY don't care about, give me Cincinnati to cover here.  This point spread implies on a neutral field that the Bengals would be favored by 5, which I would take them to cover with ease.  San Diego basically sucks way worse than most people thought, which is saying something, and can't beat anyone worth a shit in this league.  The players have given up on Turner, it's done, see you in LA.  Plus, AJ Green is a total nightmare and the Bengals have more to play for.  This game also features my failed fantasy running back Ryan Matthews, who I wish ill will upon.  Seriously they play the Raiders and Chiefs twice a year and Ryan Matthews can't score more than like 7 fantasy points?  Anyway...

Jets are favored at home by 4.5 over Arizona.  Good..... God.....  Uh.....?  Give me..... Jets.....?  Jets to cover.... in a game where..... stuff happens....?  I'll just take the home team here; NY should theoretically have something to offer their fans after New England scored like 85 points against them on Thanksgiving at home in NY.  And I know nothing about Arizona despite watching like 4 of their games this year.  They are like the It's Pat of the NFL, no clue what to make of them.  Jets in a close defensive struggle that no one cares about with Sanchez looking suspect.

Dallas is favored by 10.5 at "home" over Phili in the meaningless night game of failed coaches and insanely injured teams.  I wonder if they consider Cowboys Stadium a neutral site when they make these lines.   So here's the logic:  Dallas has more to play for, they've already beaten Phili, Phili is in complete shambles and has NOTHING to play for, Dallas is at home, Dallas REALLY needs a win of any kind, Rob Ryan has had time since Thanksgiving to put together a game plan against a rookie QB who hasn't done anything, no Desean Jackson, horrible offensive line play with a BRAND NEW STARTING CENTER for Phili.....

So naturally Phili will probably be up 10-0 at some point early.  This is an absolutely HUGE line that I want no part of.  If it was in the 7 range I'd feel comfortable with the Cowboys covering, but I have zero faith in their ability to win by more than 10 points (especially division games) until further notice, even at home with the circumstances laid out above.  Phili will hang around in an ugly, penalty-filled game on what is essentially a neutral field.  This is a tough one to call but I'll take Phili to keep it semi-interesting because Dallas will be Dallas....

Monday Night - Giants favored by 2.5 on the road to the Redskins.  Let's buy it up to 3.5 and watch the Giants win by a field goal in a good game - Redskins cover.  The over/under is 51 and I'm tempted to take the Over here.  I think anyone who watches NFC East football knows what to expect here - lots of passing TDs.