Nebraska: The Corn State

It was that time of year again... my annual business trip to middle America. This is my third year and I hope my last. The first year, we flew into Omaha and rented a car into Lincoln. All we saw were corn fields. In my mind, I kept thinking of the movie "Children of the Corn." This year, we flew directly into Lincoln. Everyone always asks me, why Nebraska? It's where the franchise headquarter is located. They host an annual meeting there and most of the franchise owners come into town. The franchise rents out suites and we do business in the living room. It's actually a simple and cost-efficient concept.

For starters, we missed our flight to Denver. We had to catch a flight to Chicago, then go back down to Lincoln. This was the first time I ever missed a flight. I literally spent a whole day either at the airport or on a plane. It was horrible. And the sad part of it was, we were still in America. On our way back, the plane leaving from Lincoln was delayed. When we got to Denver, the monitors said there was a delay of 1 hour to LAX. Next thing we know, there was another delay. I had the worst flight experience this trip.

During the day it was work and buffets. At night, we would head down to "O" street. It is known for their bars and crazy college kids (I heard some pretty strange stories). At night I hung out with the guys from Tamiya and Kyosho. Both veterans in the business, multi-million dollar companies, and straight from Japan.
I've hung out with Tamiya guys and they are really cool. That is why we do business together. Let me tell you about the Kyosho guys... Those guys are actually quite strange. Theres a 21 year old name Devin. He was previously a Tamiya National Champion and now works for Kyosho. This guy talks and drinks so much that he usually gets himself into trouble. From what he said, he got slapped by a dealer at the convention for running his mouth. George, from Tamiya told me that when they were in Japan, Devin missed his train from Tokyo so he ended up sleeping somewhere and racing the next day. This guy goes bar to bar just pounding beers. He calls the chairman of Kyosho (Aki), guycho. In Japanese, ten-cho means manager but in Spanish guy-cho means crazy guy. I don't know if Aki knows it or not. Aki is a cool guy. From what we understand, his dad owns Kyosho. Devin has to look over Aki like a hawk because the guy is worth a fortune and they can't lose him. I like the whole respect aspect of it.

Did you know that people with money usually travel separately? Just in case something happens to one of them, the other is still alive to run the company or take control of the household.

By the way... drinks are really cheap in Lincoln. Seventy-five cent domestic beers and 2 dollars shots. We seriously had a hard time racking up a $20 tab.

The funny thing is that downtown Lincoln's supermarkets and convenient stores do not sell beer or alcohol. We found that out last year. This year we shipped an 18-pack of beer to our suite for our customers and prospects. We handed out free cozies too. You can buy beer or liquor at a bar but they don't sell it at the stores. Strange, but I guess it's to support the local bars.

The franchise gave us free movie tickets, so we went to go watch Transformers 2. That movie was not that great. I ended up falling asleep again. I fell asleep watching Star Trek too.

Fun Facts: Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska. It is where the University of Nebraska also known as the Corn Huskers resides. It is also home of Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corporation. Omaha is known for their steaks and is home to the infamous Warren Buffet. If you don't know who he is, then u better wiki him.

The girls in Nebraska are what we called corn fed and home bred. America's Premium Product!