Weekend

This past weekend was full of interesting happenings. Saturday my oldest and I took a visit to the a local PA DMV office. She was attempting to become a licensed driver. I was impressed that the PA DMV had improved things so we didn't have to stand in a long line and wait for hours. All we had to do was go online and schedule a time and show up at that time and take the test. They were prompt and on time, so we had practically no wait. She has had a learner's permit for quite some time, but has been very nervous about taking the test. Her mother helped her to get a new car (2005 Chevy Cavalier) and this put a little pressure on her to finally get her license. She was still hesitant because she was worried over parallel parking. I picked her up from work a few times before her test, and showed her how to park, and get close enough to the curb. When I took my driver's test, many, many years ago, I had to take it twice, and we didn't have to do parallel parking. However, she became a licensed driver on her very first attempt. I am extremely proud of her. My son went to Penn State College for FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) leadership training conference. He came back tired yet a little more wise. He is quickly becoming a man, and has already laid out a plan over the next year for getting his driver's license as soon as he can after he turns 16. I also took my two youngest to get costumes for Halloween at the Spirit Halloween store in the mall. So after an hour in the store, a few tears because the perfect costume was too small, or too expensive, or the wrong color, a run back to the car to get a wallet, and an empting of that wallet, costumes were bagged and taken home. They will be a fairy princess and a wench tricking and treating around town this year. Well the weekend is over, and it's time to relax... at work.

Package in car?

Well, I am guilty... Full of guilt for not posting anything here since April. Well actually I am not feeling really guilty. If someone was actually reading this, and expecting there to be something here THEN I would feel guilty! I am sitting in CiCi's Pizza in Cranberry Twp., PA writing this entry to the ramblings. I am wishing I had something exciting and witty to write, but alas, I am wit-less... So why are you still reading? I just watched the most boring news cast of my life. There was a bomb scare in Washington, DC and they were showing live video of the car where the bomb was supposed to be... Waiting... Waiting for something to happen... Watching the waiting with nothing happening was just about as exciting as brushing my teeth in the morning, without the plaque... Well it was successfully "disrupted", thankfully... It was so boring that I looked away at the wrong time and missed the "disruption" which was a small explosion that popped the door off the car... When I looked back the car looked the same except that a blanket was over the car now... I didn't realize I had missed anything... I suppose the whole thing would have been more interesting with sound... Anyway, why the TV thought it would be exciting to show an unmoving car sitting there doing nothing for almost my entire lunch hour, is beyond me. Why not just tell us it was a probably a bomb, show us something else until something "interesting" happens with the bomb... BTW: "Interesting" when talking about a bomb is defined as "bomb explodes" or "bomb is successfully disarmed, but the technician grew a few new gray hairs". Then show us the highlights over and over again... Until we have the images burned into the retina's of our eyes... Well it's over... Glad it came out ok, meaning no one hurt. I haven't heard yet whether the suspicious package was actually a bomb yet... For all I know it might have just been someone's dirty laundry left in the car too long and starting to develop its own self-awareness. Now that would have been news! While the package in the car was being taken care of the scroll on the bottom of the screen described a story about a parking ticket placed on a car with a dead guy inside... (Yeah that was more exciting than watching the car just sit there...) Apparently the guy wasn't discovered to be dead until 2 days after the ticket was placed on the car, and the guy had been missing for 9 days. You think there would have been some distinctive clues that the guy was dead... You know like not breathing, and fogging up the windows! :-) Or that he hadn't moved in almost a week. Maybe they just thought he was a pile of dirty laundry. Well it's time to go back to work. I better put a reminder in my PDA to clean out my car when I get home from work tonight. Later Lou

Busy...

I have been trying to sit down and write something here. I didn't want to just sit down and write a bunch of nonsense, but after reviewing other Blogs, I guess that's all they are... :-) Well, I have a little time before my next "event". It's one meeting after another, and not all of them are work related. As a matter of fact MOST of them are not work related. I suppose the easiest, and best way to be less busy, would be to just say one word more frequently, and with confidence. It's a word that apparently I do not use enough, except maybe around my kids... It's a simple, yet powerful, small word... I am sure you have heard it, if not used it many, many times...

That's the way to become less busy... When asked to do something, instead of trying to please someone else, or doing it to make yourself look good, Ok that's simple enough right? Wrong! Ego gets in the way, or the desire to take care of someone gets in the way, or the boss who keeps you employed gets in the way, or the significant other gets in the way... Well speaking of getting in the way... I have to go now to my next meeting... So I will catch up with this later! :-)

Patience

Patience

Patience emphasizes calmness, self-control, and the willingness or ability to tolerate delay: Our patience will achieve more than our force (Edmund Burke). - from Dictionary.com

The ability to be patient is not an easy thing to acquire. It's a skill that takes many, many years to perfect. Many think they cannot become a patient person, but I think they are wrong.

Patience isn't that tough, really. However, it is tough to have the right amount. Having too much patience causes a person to become a doormat, which everyone walks all over. Not having enough patience and the world sees you as an unstable bomb that they do not want to be near for any length of time, for fear they may trip the "live wire," and cause an explosion. Patience is a simple matter of "ignoring" the little stuff. Some examples are:

• Loud or Annoying Kids: Let the kids be a little loud, and rambunctious when they are at home or a friends house, even though you would prefer quite time to read the paper or talk on the phone. Buy earmuffs, or a louder handset for the phone.
• Cleaning: It's ok if the kids/hubby/wife didn't pickup after themselves every single time. The world doesn't come crashing to a halt because there is dirty underwear on the bedroom or bathroom floor... Now dirty underwear on the kitchen floor is a different matter. Yeah, you have told them 100 bazillion times to pick up after themselves. Think about this... Unless they are running around without any underwear, the reason the dirty ones are on the floor, is because they put clean ones on... Isn't that the most important thing?
• Bills: Yes, you have to pay the bills; otherwise they take away whatever it is you are paying for. Arrange to have the bills due at the same time or two times a month (i.e. 15th and 30th). That way, you only have to deal with them once or twice a month instead of every other day. That leaves MOST of the month to not worry about them.
• Storage: The basement or storage area doesn't have to be alphabetized, categorized, and in perfect organization. If the stuff is out of the way, and you can find the Christmas decorations by Thanksgiving, it's organized enough. Spend your time playing with the kids who are being loud and rambunctious.
• Plans: Planning upcoming events are a great idea, and a necessary thing. However, life happens, and plans often get changed. When life is happening, pay attention to it, and not the plan, or you will miss it. Enjoy the life, it only happens once! Plans can be rebuilt, remade, and redone. Try doing that with a life!
• Coworkers: People you work with or go to school with may drive you up a wall. They may bicker, backstab, giggle, fart, or clip their nails incessantly. If you are in a cube a work, slap on the headphones, do your job and ignore them. You will get more work done and those annoying people will get less done, because they are too busy doing the annoying things instead of their job. You will be the star employee, and you won’t need to brag (or kiss butt) to prove it! J They will be on the chopping block the next time the company does cutbacks.
• Driving: Road rage is the hardest thing to control. There are idiots everywhere, including the road. Guess what? They can’t hear you when you yell and scream at them. Flipping the middle finger, or slamming the brakes, or the horn is not going to make a difference… Know why? Because they don’t care! If they did, they wouldn’t be driving the way they are… So don’t waste your effort… Smile instead… You’ll live longer.

There are many other simple things you can do… But it takes practice… You won’t develop patience over night… So don’t give up, keep smiling, and remember… You will be happier, live longer, and more people will want to be around you. I think that’s a good reason to ignore the crap that exists in this world don’t you?

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The day I wrote this, it was March 17th, 2005, and we were all (at least most of us), looking forward to drinking some green beer. Some of us may have started a little earlier!

In many parts of the world, this day of prayer, and renewal of one's faith, and a celebration of the life of a single man who changed the face of a nation - St. Patrick. To the rest of us, it's just a reason to PARTY!

There are many stories about St. Patrick, but no one can deny that he has impacted our world. Even if some of the stories of him are more legend than fact, he showed the impact one person can make on the world when following the will of God.

So let's wear our shamrocks, and our green, sing folksongs, kiss the Blarney stone, catch the leprecaun, buy a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds, and raise a pint of green beer to St. Patrick!!

Winter Death

A man died. A man, that I knew. A man that went to the same school as I did, and rode the same bus to and from school each day as I did, and graduated in the same year (1983) as I did. A man, who as a boy, stayed over night at my home at one of my birthday parties, at which another boy threw up, down the stairway. A man who stayed close to home, as I did, after school. A man who I would see occassionally, and who would take the time to stop and talk with me. A man who once offered to help me find a job at his company when I was struggling to get my career started. This man died, suddenly, without illness, without warning, without finishing his life. I will not bump into him any longer at the supermarket, or hear about him from mutual aquantences. I will not see him at the next high school reunion. I went to the funeral home, where his body was laid for viewing. I stood in a long line to say my last words, and pay respects to his family. I thought I would recognize some of the faces. I thought I would see people from school, or people that we both knew, however I didn't recognize any of them, and I was overwhelmed. As I looked over the long line and I realized that this man had touched many, many lives, other than mine. Many of those lives touched more profoundly than mine. I made my way slowly to the front, and I looked that the pictures, the flowers, and the people. I stopped short of the casket, and was greeted by his older sister, whom I didn't know. We talked briefly, and she said his death was quick and painless. I stopped at the casket and said good-bye, and whispered that I was sorry we didn't know each other better. I told his father, mother, and brother that I was truly sorry for their loss. Then I left quickly. I was ashamed... I was ashamed that this man was in my life, every day for over 10 years when we were going to school, and I didn't take the time to get to know him. I did know from the few times we spent time together he was a good man, with a great heart. A man who would give his last dime if it would help you. I didn't know his family, and I didn't know if he had a wife, kids or other loved one. How could I have been so selfish as to not know more about such a good person? A person who I literally grew up with! I am 39, and soon to be 40, and I realizing that even though I have been around for more than a couple of years, that life is really short, and you should live it to the fullest... You can't know the future. You don't know whether you have 50 years, or 50 minutes of life left... So live! Take the time to get to know that person who's on the edge of your life, and it will make your life bigger! Later Lou I cannot change the past, but I can learn from it.

Winter Storm

Today here in Western, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. We are expecting a "Winter Blast" with snow accumulation upto 8 inches. It's supposed to be the worst accumulation we have had all winter... Let me tell you we have already had quite a bit, so for this to be the worst it must be going to be pretty bad. According to the National Weather Service, it does appear like a big storm is approaching, and at the time of this writing we are just seeing the beginnings of the storm. I have been hearing about this storm since last night. It's making the headlines and all of the local talk shows this morning are gabbing about it. My nine year old daughter went out with a friend to see the movie "Because of Winn-Dixie." Her friend's parents told her that there would be a big storm coming and possibly a school delay this morning. Everyone knows about this storm.... Well, I get into work this morning, turn on my computer, and I find the following picture on my computer:

Now that's a great picture... Nice flowers, and nice to think that soon here in the Pittsburgh area, we will be seeing green leaves, grass, and maybe some flowers... This picture is our "weekly company picture". Our company is headquartered in Israel, and the main office here in the US is in Dallas, so they probably don't realize that Punxsutawney Phil said there would be 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!

Last week here at work, we had a gentleman from our HR department come in to our office, and reviewed the results of "employee survey" the company did in 2004. It basically showed that we are "happier" than we were two years ago, but we are still unhappy. They haven't yet figured out that if you give a pay increase, even a small one, not just a one time "bonus" that it can go a long way to improving "morale".

So I guess what I am saying is the results of the survey and the weekly company picture did not improve my morale this week... Instead it made me feel even more like the company is out of touch with me. They keep saying they understand and that they are going to improve things, but I don't think they really are... Why should they? The survey said we are happier than we were two years ago!

I am going to go back and look at the pretty picture again... Maybe if I look at it again, it will lift my spirits...

Later Lou

Neat

I am over the holiday blues. I am feeling really good, new vim, and vigor... What is "vim" anyway. I did eventually put up Christmas decorations, on Christmas Eve, but now they are still up... Well, the tree is. But I have been feeling good, so I don't care! ;-) I have decided to take my life by the scruff of the neck, and kick it in the butt, and tell it to get moving. A few projects at work came up and I didn't really "take charge", but I did take a leadership role, in so much as I attempted organized the chaos a little. I arranged a few meetings, helped to coalesce a few ideas, instead of things flying all over the field. What's neat about this is that the people I am working with don't feel like I am stepping on their toes, at least I don't think so. They actually seem to appreciate it. Of course, only time will tell on that issue. I have learned quite a bit in the last five years about organizing things, and arranging things because I had to working with Scouts. I also had to learn how to deal with many, many different personalities, and not let it get personal. That experience is helping me now. Kinda neat when you do something for someone else, deal with the ups and downs that come with it, and you can learn from it and apply it back in a positive way in your life. Of course it's only 9 days into the new year, and the pessimist in me (who many times out weighs the optimist), says that they are just appearing on the surface to like this, and behind the scenes and my back, they are gabbing about how I have "taken over". Well, for now the optimist is winning, and I don't really think that's happening... Again, only time will tell for sure. Check back, in a few weeks, or months, and I will let you know which side wins! Neat huh? Do me one last favor, keep the survivors of the tsunami in your prayers. They need that more than just about anything.

New Year

Well, I am starting off 2005 with a "Bang"... or is that a "Crash". I trashed the web site. I deleted everything I had on the site, and what's worse I didn't have a backup, or was the deleted pages in the recycle bin... So, that means I am rebuilding the site from scratch. It could be a good thing... It may be better than it was, since I have learned quite a bit in trying to recover it!

I decided to keep the same look and feel for starters, but I am completely redoing the content. I have gotten the main page, and the "Interests" pages back up. I have also revived this Blog. Hurray... I lost some of the inline pictures, but nothing that can't be replaced.

So the new year is here. Outside of backing up my web page, and other important data, I haven't made any resolutions. I suppose that's the expected thing to do, so I guess I will have to do that. What's a good resolution? Loose weight? Stop some bad habit (biting my nails)? Stick to my budget? Hmmm... I will have to think on that. Tomorrow (actually today) I return to work, after being on vacation for 2 weeks. I should be in bed getting a good night's rest for my first day back, but I am in no mood for sleep... I suppose it wouldn't be good to stay up all night. Ok, off to bed I go.