It is hard to navigate in a fog

I was pretty sick for a couple of days this past week.  I don’t like to be sick and I’m fortunate it doesn’t happen very often.  I came home after a long day on Thursday and in the middle of the night I woke up realizing someone had shoved a brick into my stomack while I slept.

I spent the rest of the night sitting either in a chair or else where but sitting none the less.  It was after breakfast the next morning I realized this wasn’t going away after a few hours.  My head hurt like they must have shoved the brick through my nose.  Either that or there was a second brick that was slowly expanding in my head.  Maybe that’s it.

The Brick Dissolved

That brick slowly dissolved and entered my blood stream causing massive shutdown of my muscles and joints.  Drugs were used to control the pain life on the couch was about all the movement I could get out of the rest of my body.

A little white pill donated (I had no idea what was in it) put me to sleep on the couch for the second night.  (We don’ t have a couch as such.  It is a series of recliners joined together with a couple of cup and remote holders between a few of them.) Which makes sleeping on this concoction of chairs and humps difficult.

But at 4 am I awoke and all the bricks and particles were gone from my system.  A little tired from the experience and glad it was over in 36 hours and not 4 days as I had feared.

Something happened though I hadn’t counted on.  The whole 36 hour experience served as some kind of internal reboot.  Like I have to do with my Blackberry.  It gets to acting strange and suddenly locks up.  I pull the battery while it is turned on and after about 5 minutes it resets everything and functions great after a reboot.

One of the things I enjoy doing and might even go so far as to say am passionate about is writing.  But lately, there has been a glitch in the software.  I was out of words or thoughts weren’t coming together in any way.  I wanted to write, I needed to write, but nothing was being written.

A Glitch in My Software

There was a glitch somewhere.  It appears I’ve undergone a power on reboot.  The end result some thing has been reset and I’m writing again.

Maybe there is a good reason why we get sick.  I always thought sickness was a bane.  And we do everything we can to take drugs and keep on pushing and pushing harder to keep going.  Like me trying to get one more tweet and one more email responded to with the berry when I know the smart thing to do is just pull the battery and let it reboot.  But I don’t want to take the time. I have too much to do, till I have no choice and it stops working all together.

I know that it wasn’t a pleasant experience being sick, but I will never look at the experience the same way again.  I’ll take it as my signal that a reboot is in process and will shut down to let it happen as quickly as possible and maybe, just maybe I’ll find there was a software upgrade that took place during the reboot or at least I’ll be functioning again.

It really feels good not to be sick.

Dad & Me with Paul Buyan in Braynard MN

That’s how I feel most days.  But it isn’t as bad as it might sound.  As long as Dad is still around I’m still the son of one living.  I remember when all my grandparents on both sides of my family were alive.  A diverse group.  All unique in their own ways.  All providing something at various times in my life.  My Dad’s dad was someone I never had many moments with one on one.  There was one; only one.  I was 10 and sitting on a pile of dirt made from the addition being added to our house.

Grandpa Smith was there visiting and for some reason he came over where I was and talked.  I was amazed.  He never talked to me, or for that matter he never talked much to any of the grandkids.  So I never felt like it was something to do with me, but a part of his character and nature; he just didn’t talk to kids.  But this time he talked to me,  I guess because I was the only one around.  I don’t remember how the conversation started or how it finished but I do remember us talking about history.  Do you find that funny, that the first and only conversation between a grandfather and grandson would be about history?  He remembered his grandfather talking about the War when he was growing up.  The Civil War, yes, the Civil War.  There was this instant connection between someone I knew and what I thought was ancient history.  He talked about the first automobile and seeing the first airplane.  Seeing a motion picture for the first time and what it was like to live through the turn of a century, the 20th century.  My grandfather was born before 1900.  My dad was born in 1922, he grew up during the Great Depression.  So did my mom, so did everyone during those years.

Grandpa Smith was the first person I ever saw who had died.  He went back to the earth many many years ago.  But I was young and it didn’t seem to have much of an effect.  Except in my young mind I thought; “there is only one generation between me and . . .”  As aunts and uncles have passed away over the years the thought would pop up for a second or so.  Then last year Mom died, and suddenly the thought was larger and lingered longer than ever before.

Dad In Golf Cart

Dad has had a couple hard years, but he isn’t only older than dirt he is a lot tougher.  He’s a Depression Kid, he survived and fought in World War II.  He is my champion, my hero, my shield.  And when he had returned to the earth, I’ll be the last generation, or the next one how ever you want to see it.  In a way I guess it is a role I’ve been preparing for all my life.  My Dad has been the role model for this position in history for a very long time.  I’m not ready to take that position just yet.

I wonder if my Grand kids think I’m older than dirt.  I know one thing, in a few years I’ll tell them about the time I sat on a pile of dirt and talked to my Grandfather about his grandfather who lived during the Civil War.  That should get either blank stares or looks or wonderment and maybe embed a generational memory for when they are the Last or the Next generation.

The Coupon

Not everyone thinks the same way.  I know what you’re thinking, STOP IT.

In my pursuit of life observations I had one thrust upon me this past week.  Ok, it wasn’t so much thrust as it was observed by me as a witness to a teller at McDonald’s struggling with a hole punch.

My first thought was “Bad coupon Design”  who thought this thing up that put the location for the whole punches where a hole punch couldn’t reach it.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later while thinking about this post in the shower, Yeah, I think in the shower, it has caused many a nick of the razor and I have to make a note not to think so much and pay attention to the sharp object in my hand.  Geez, yes I shave in the shower, no I don’t use shaving cream, it is for economy.  I’ll explain later.

It was during that moment of pain it struck me, this wasn’t so much a case of bad design as a designer making an assumption about those using the coupons.

The designer assumed consumers would use the free one at the top first.  This would expose the punches for the coupon above and below.

But what if the consumer (this would be me) started at the bottom and got the first card punched all the way and used it for the free one.  This now removed left the top one and the one in the middle.  This caused the issue with the hole punch.

It was my intention to use the last two coupons are “Free” coffee.  This way I paid for 4 drank the 5th free, paid for 4 more and drank 5th and 6th free.

If the designer had put the coffee cups at the bottom making the middle coupon identical to the middle coupon it wouldn’t matter how the consumer used the coupons.  The hole punch could reach all locations.  The way it is if the consumer doesn’t tear off and use the top coupon there is no way for a standard hole punch to be able to reach all locations on the middle card.

And the Point ?

Think about it!

Yesterday I was looking at the tool ads for Tucson when I ran across this one.  It will disappear when the “stuff” is sold.  It shouldn’t, it should be memorialized as a great ad.  So it won’t pass out of existence when the “stuff” is sold here is the ad which I’m sure will disappear soon.  Such “stuff” won’t last long.

Man Stuff For Sale

$416 worth of man stuff!
Treat your man or yourself because life’s no fun

BONUS!
I’ll throw in this new, never used Colibri pocket watch that was $115
but you’ll have to pay my full asking price, $99 for everything
I know, I drive a hard bargain

You’ll get:
Black Marble desk set ($95)
2 small, working tape recorders ($45)
Brown worn out Brighton belt sz 36 ($55)
12″ Stanley tape measure ($8)
BMW silver keychain
new snooz alarm ($15)
2 padlocks w/keys
cell phone case
2 small black leather notebooks
“Fight Club” lighter ($15)

and what man doesn’t want to impress his friends
with his own remote control fart machine with over 15 different farts?
Control farts remotely up to 100 feet away!
I’ll even give you batteries! ($20 value!)
What a great icebreaker at parties to get the mood going!

1 lg pewter “Key to Success” ($15)
a black velvet bag with (3) nice Tungsten tournament darts ($45)
plus a new pkg of Harrows radical flights system ($15)

**New Nite Note ($20) with 2 extra nite note paper pks ($14)
Nite Note has a built in light with a
built in pen that writes upside down
You can:
* Write a vivid description of your dreams to bore your friends with
*4 a.m. and can’t sleep? Keep a record of your hopes and goals, even your “to do” list
* Tell that special someone how you feel
*jot down something important in your sleep!
*Keep track of late night harassing phone calls

Some tasty booze recipes on a silver ring
Duracell battery charger for 4-AA’s ($15)
Tasco binoculars, 7×35 wide angle model 318 (LOL) (an unbelievable $25 value!)
Autopoint silver pen ($14)
1 leather ashtray

Act today! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

I will delete this when it’s gone

Man Stuff

Bonus Stuff

I might have to check on Craigslist more often. There is some pretty cool stuff on this list. I can see now why so many people shop on craigslist. Where have I been? Don’t Answer That!

Great Day to be Dave

Today isn’t bad, but tomorrow is even better.  Why?  because tomorrow, thanks to an economy that sucks, “Guys Named Dave Eat FREE at Famous Dave’s”

That’s right, tomorrow I eat free.  I don’t know what I get to eat at Famous Dave’s but whatever it is I don’t have to pay for it.

I have eaten at Famous Dave’s before, not because I was famous, or because it was my place.  No I ate there because the people I was with didn’t want to eat at McDonald’s.  Go Figure.  Famous Dave’s it was.

I found something I could eat, that wasn’t too spicy, or hot.  I like the water there and the lemon they put in it isn’t bad either.

Not a fan of the little bitty ears of corn which are actual ears of corn chopped up into four small ears of corn and sold as an “ear of corn” when anyone who ever raised corn knows an ear of corn isn’t 4 inches long and blunt on each end.

But I’m not going to complain about it.  Tomorrow I eat free at Famous Dave’s.  I won’t get famous for it.  I won’t be famous because I wrote this either.

I was actually going to write this post on another blog, but was warned that if I did and too many Dave’s showed up at Famous Dave’s it might be crowded.  Yeah, like there are a lot of guys named Dave in Tucson, LOL, what a thought.

Therefore, I’m putting this post here, where no one reads it that lives in Tucson (or probably on this continent) and most certainly not anyone named Dave.  I also know if you are thinking about changing your name to Dave so you can eat free tomorrow, forget it, it takes at least a week to get it change to Dave, I know.

Anybody remember “Fred, eats FREE day”.  Be patient someday your name will come up and when it does hope you are living close enough to the place to be able to eat FREE.

What a day  it will be, Transformers in the morning and FREE Lunch.  Hey, who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch?  Bet he wasn’t named Dave!

That's Not a Thumb

I’ve got two chapters left to read in “Rules of Thumb” by Alan Webber.  It has 52 chapters, one for each week.  They aren’t long, about 4 pages each.  Mr. Webber (not as in the grill)  used to be with the Harvard Business Review and he started some business magazine I had never heard of called “Fast Company“  “Fast Money” or something like that.

His life has been reduced to a bunch of 3 X 5 cards of which he picked 52 as the basis for this book.

I’ll read it again after I finish it for the first time through tomorrow.  The second reading will get annotated and I’ll even make note of the couple typos I found.

No 3 X 5 Cards but Some Thumbs

I have Rules of Thumb myself.  I never wrote them down, and there aren’t 52 of them.  I usually don’t even remember them till I have broken one of them and paid the consequence.  Once such recent violation involves the “the chair” which is not the centerpiece for the For No REal Reason Badge.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what to do with the next decade coming up.  I’ve decided the best course of preparation involves being ready to go and do when the time and opportunity presents itself.  This translates into a forth simplification.

If you want a good thought provoking read I would suggest “Rules of Thumb” and when you get the book be sure to buy a pack of 3 x 5 index cards.  You’re going to need them.

Postscript

I’ve finished the book.  Now on chapter 2 on the second read.  Chapter 1 should be read again every 5 chapters.  We need to be reminded often to drive out fear and enjoy the journey.

The Badge

Upon request, don’t ask why, I have created the For No REal Reason Badge.  You can proudly display this badge on your blog for no real reason.  This means you don’t need a reason to put this badge on your blog or website for that matter.

There are no black hat SEO features in the badge.

If you look at the badge backwards or upside down there are no hidden messages.

If you display it upside down, change will not fall out of the chair.

On a happier note, lint, cracker crumbs and toenail fragments also will not fall out of the chair.

There is a story behind the chair in the badge.  Since you can’t look behind the chair you won’t know what that story is.

Maybe someday I’ll turn the chair around and let you see the story.  NAH!

In need of a badge? Any old badge will do?  Then we have an any old badge for you.

A Badge For No REal Reason

Yes, we have a badge, Not like a sheriff has a badge, more like one of those vanity badges you see on website. You know the ones people put at the bottom of the home page about all the organization they belong to.

This is a weenie badge.  The Weenie and for No Real Reason are some what related.  They go together like a hotdog and bun.

So when the weenie made available a badge to be displayed (not expecting anyone to actually display it, as a matter of fact we this might be the only site besides the weenie itself with a weenie badge) Oh Boy I sure hope so.

The badge seemed perfect.  I like the colors, the old red and yellow ketchup and mustard bottles are exactly like the ones we had when I was a kid growing up.  The weenies were boiled and the buns were always soft and fresh.

We didn’t care about mystery meat back then.  A weenie was a weenie.  You could put anything on it you wanted.  I preferred ketchup, which was allowed in Ohio where I grew up.  Sweet relish was my second choice and then a few onions for that oh so fresh breath feeling.

Add some chips and baked beans and we had ourselves a summer supper or a quick lunch.

So for me the weenie badge isn’t just a badge of honor.  No it is a nostalgic trip down memory lane and back to my childhood. : )

Near the end of his short life, he died at age 29, the missionary Robert Murray McCheyne allegedly said, “God gave me a horse and a message. I have killed the horse and I can no longer deliver the message.”

There was no television or devices for recording this deathbed conversation.  But it has been reported and quoted through history since to help those that spend their lived providing for others that doing so the the detriment of their own physical and mental health is to cut short the valuable service they render to others.

We seem to be in such a time now.  For some it is the economy of commerce, for others the economy of relationships.  Yes, there is such an economy.  It exists and is marked by how we are viewed by others and how we view ourselves in relationship to them.

We all have an emotional bank account.  Did you know that?  We do.  And it is human nature, meaning the nature of being human, that we make deposits and withdrawals into our account.  This account has been referred by some as mental health, or emotional wealth, others refer to it as our “Love Tank” which can be running on fumes or empty.  All are referring to the emotional bank account.

Trying to run your life on empty is about the same as pushing a car down the road in the same situation.  You make little progress and the effort is overwhelming.

Getting The Fuel We Need

There are many sources of fuel.  Other people that make deposits in our bank account are one.  Things we enjoy doing is another source of fuel for our account.  We each run on different fuel, but we all need it to run.

Stopping the Leaks

It is unfortunate there are some people and events which drain our emotional bank accounts.  Sometimes we take out of our account and put into someone elses.  This is healthy and good.  However, some people are emotional bank account robbers.  They are making withdrawals from our accounts when they haven’t made deposits.  As with a bank, making a withdrawal where you havn’t made a deposit is robbery.

There are situations involving people as well that can be a steady drain on our emotional bank accounts.  This is where we have to take action to keep ourselves from being drained.

Killing the Horse

Killing ourselves in this process does no one any good.   Sometimes the toughest love we have to give is to ourselves.

Lot’s more could be said.  Be the kind of person that people want to see coming (they make deposits) and not the kind of person that always drains other.  And if you are running on empty, you can’t keep making withdrawals on your own account, if you try you will end up killing the horse.

Our Fallen Angel

I heard a screech coming from the living room the night we decorated the tree.  Our angel that had adorned the top of the tree for many past years suddenly became dizzy and lost her place on top of the tree.  World Traveler was the source of the sound.

Fallen Angel lie on the floor still lite but not herself.  I grabbed the camera to document her fall, but not her fall from grace.

She will be missed. But never forgotten.