Guess what? I just won a seasonal “Like of the Year” award for 2019! Yes, I just found this in the comments section of this blog. It says that thanks to a comment I liked back in January, I won an award. Who knew? What a great idea? I didn’t even know there was such a thing. What a great marketing idea. I wish I’d thought of this. It just goes to show that even an unknown, middle-class noticer of things like me can win a major award.
Let courtesy be your guide
This morning, I was out running when I saw a woman at a four-way lighted intersection hit the “walk” button. With this particular “walk” button, when you press it, it gives you a 10 second head start before it activates the corresponding green light. So the pedestrian is the only one moving in the intersection. By pressing the “walk” button, this woman stopped traffic so she could walk across the street. When the lights went red, and the walk light activated, she just stood there looking around. The seconds in which she had the intersection to herself counted down,…
LOL or TAM?
If you work in an open office environment, you’ve no doubt instant-messaged a colleague with something funny, and they replied with LOL (laugh out loud). But then, if you sit near this person, you look and listen and realize they aren’t really laughing out loud. So why write it? It’s not like you can’t see. Perhaps we’ve gotten lazy with our acronyms. May I suggest TAM (that amuses me). That would lower the expectations of the originator of the presumed humorous comment and add some accuracy to the result. Or perhaps LIMH (laughing in my head). This tells your…
Marriage: we know so little…
There is no greater institution in the world in which so many have so much experience, and yet we know so little about, as marriage. It’s something that millions of people do, and yet there is virtually no information to draw from when making one’s own decision about either getting married or determining how happy they are in that marriage. We often read about the “top 1%” in the news, at it relates to wealth. There are plenty of lists of who’s in the top 1%, you read about what percentage of taxes get paid by the top 1%,…
Pacific Northwest problem-solving
Live in the Pacific Northwest area long enough, and you’ll start seeing some patterns about how people navigate driving and walking. For example, one things area residents really struggle with is what to do when they encounter a car stopped in front of them. It’s not completely uncommon to drive down a neighborhood road and see a car stopped, with the driver speaking with a neighbor or someone they know who’s running or walking. The strange part is that you can almost take it to the bank that the car that drives up behind the stopped car will have…
The choice between building up and tearing down
If your choice is between working on self improvement, personal projects, and contributing something or tearing down something others are working to build, I’m hoping you spend so much time on yourself that you don’t have time to destroy someone else.
How do you define “fan experience?”
I was doing some recreational reading, when I came across this article in the Houston Chronicle by Jenny Dial Creech. The article opens with the line: “The Astros just took another step to enhance the fan experience at Minute Maid Park.” It goes on to tell about how the Astros have extended the netting behind home plate down the right and left field line, all the way to the foul poles. Due to some recent foul ball injuries, including one death in Dodger stadium, where a 79-year-old woman was hit in the head by a foul ball while sitting…
Cancer in the workplace
I’ve managed people for more than 20 years, and if the people I’ve managed are to be believed, I’m apparently quite good at it. There are a few concepts I adhere to that I think make for a better work environment. One of those is defining and eradicating workplace cancer. When I inherit or build a team, one thing I establish early is that it is in everyone’s job description to be honest and forthcoming about what they’re observing in our work and in the workplace. They are getting paid to help this company be successful on every front,…
Close the gap
It’s a simple idea, but one I think could significantly improve heavy traffic. Close the gap. In all situations. If you’re driving, and there’s a massive space between you and the car in front of you, close the gap. Catch up. This enables everyone behind you to pick up the pace, as well. I know, there’s this notion of two car lengths. But that’s only necessary because it rightly assumes most people are not paying attention so can’t react fast enough. But if you’re focused on the task at hand: driving, you won’t get caught trying to put your…
Baby Boomers: the first generation to not want to leave the world a better place for the next generation
Rarely will I make a post that is a simple share of a video. But as I pointed out two days ago, rarely do I watch video. And if I do, rarely does it so succinctly capture an otherwise complex topic so quickly. From the time Baby Boomers were teenagers to now, they’re the first generation to take and take without giving a thing. Always focused on themselves, they are the first generation to focus on themselves and never stop to consider the ramifications of their actions. The death of thoughtful. The death of courtesy. The death of consideration….