What is Your Culture?

I think culture is the most important factor in determining the success of an company. I am not alone in this belief and a lot of attention is now being paid to culture in business.

I work in a company that has no unified culture. Or maybe our culture is that everyone does whatever they want. Whatever our culture is, it is not working. We cannot seem to implement change and make that change a standard. We have tried many times and it just does not work and I think it all starts at the top of the company.

The owner of my company is not a consistent person. He comes up with hair brained ideas one day and then forgets about them the next. I will give him credit for coming up with ideas, I just wish he would filter them before passing them on. I don't think he has the ability to really take a look at an idea and determine if it is appropriate for the business or not. Some of his ideas would be OK for his personal life, but are ridiculous for a business.

A great example of this is that every year, he treat all of the ladies in the office to something for Administrative Assistants Day. Every lady in the company gets treated. Last week he rented a limousine and took them all out for lunch at the most expensive restaurant in town. He then took them to have drinks at two other restaurants. When they returned to the office, there were nice flower arrangements waiting for each one of them. This is great, except not all of the women in the company are administrative assistants.

He took our purchasing manager on this lunch. He took our engineering intern on this trip. And he took women who have men that work in the same position, but did nothing for the men. This to me is just plain crazy and may even be asking for a discrimination lawsuit. It is not like he hid the limo from the men. They all saw it and some of them even made some comments about it. As a matter of fact, some of the women wondered why they were going to lunch with him. None of them declined the invitation though.

The Queen was outraged that he did this. She said that most of those women should be embarrassed for going on the lunch since they are not administrative assistants. She said it was demeaning and I agree. This is just one of the crazy ideas he comes up with that he does not completely think through. Now, I have to figure out a way to tell him that he should not do this anymore. I feel it is necessary to protect the company and repair our culture.

Today, all of the hourly employees got a notice in their paychecks that said unless they have prior approval from their supervisor they will not get paid for the time that they clock in and out. Instead, the accounting department will change their time to their designated start and end times. I think this is totally wrong and plan to have a talk with our Vice President tomorrow. I think it send the wrong message to our employees. It is a rule that penalizes the employees who have lazy managers. Managers should be reviewing all of their employees time sheets to see if they are showing up and leaving on time. If they are not, their manager should have a conversation with them to correct the bad behavior. This is just another bad move that is damaging our company culture.

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Sexual Harassment

I had to go to state mandated sexual harassment training this morning. It was the best two hours of my week. I got a free breakfast and then actually got to work in a little nap. All that while most of my coworkers were working away in the office. Who could ask for more?

I must say that the training was a waste of time. We are required to attend the training every two years, but the materials did not change from the time I took it two years ago. The instructor of the class actually sounded like one of the people in your company who you watch closely because you think he is going to say something that will get you hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit. He was making silly wisecrack comments the entire time. I could tell that he did not totally buy into the program he was teaching.

I can see why to a certain extent. He said that the average sexual harassment award was more than four-hundred thousand dollars. That is a very large figure for actions that don't even have to be proven. Most companies are encouraged to settle out of court. If the cases do go to court a jury decides the award, which could be even more money.

I totally understand being in tune with people's feelings and doing everything you can to not hurt them or put them down, but some of the cases are absolutely silly. the government has made sexual harassment a priority over safety, which seems backwards to me. I definitely think there are more important things to worry about most of the time.

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Loss

Loss is always difficult to deal with and it always seems like it is a shock to everyone, even when it is expected. We all deal with it differently because we all have different relationships with the person we lost and we all express our emotions differently. Some of us are silent while we deal with our emotions on the inside while others have no problem letting their emotions show to the world.

We all know that death is inevitable. We cannot deny that, but we are never really prepared for it to come. It seems like we always have regrets. We wish we could have told the person that we loved them or we wish we would have made up with them. There always seems to be something that bugs us when that time comes. I guess the answer would be to live your life with no regrets, but that is easier said than done.

Is it better to lose a loved one suddenly or to lose them over time as they are dealing with an illness that we know will eventually take their life? I don't have the answer to and I think it is an individual preference anyway. No matter how you answer that question, I don't think you will ever be prepared for the day anyway.

It is really interesting to hear people justify the loss of a loved one. I guess that is just something that is hard-wired into humans. You often hear some say, "they lived a full life." Or you may hear someone say, "they have gone to a better place" or that "they are no longer suffering." This is just our way of trying to move on in our own lives. We want to believe there is a purpose to everything that happens, so we use these phrases to make us feel that way.

My family experienced the loss of a loved one this past Friday. The Queen's grandfather passed away in Mexico not even two years after her grandmother passed away. This "sudden" loss really took everyone by surprise even though his health had deteriorated over the last six months or so. I regret that I did not get to spend more time with him to get to know him better. From what I know, he was a good man with a great work ethic who loved his family very much. He made a lot of sacrifices for his family. Rest in peace Damian.

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NFL Draft 2010

What a shocking draft this has been. I like that they put the first day in prime time, but it did create an interesting situation. Having only the first round on Thursday night meant that Jimmy Clausen had to wait overnight before he was selected. Any other year, a player like him who was predicted to go high in the first round would have just had to wait later in the day to be selected in the second round. Instead, he had to stress out all Thursday night and most of the day Friday before being selected.

Another surprise was Tim Tebow being selected so high in the draft by Denver. I think he is totally over rated for the NFL. He was a great college player, but will not be a star quarterback in the NFL. I like the fact that Denver said that if he does not make it at quarterback he will be a good H back. Why do you spend that much money on a guy you have a feeling might not make it at his natural position? That makes no sense to me.

The biggest surprise of all was the selections that Pete Carroll made for the Seattle Seahawks. I think his selections speak about the job he did the last few years at USC. All three of the players he selected in the first two rounds were from positions that there were players available to select from USC. He started out with an offensive tackle and passed on Charles Brown. He next selected a safety from Texas instead of taking Taylor Mays from USC who was rated a higher prospect by many analysts. His only pick today was selecting Golden Tate from Notre Dame while Damian Williams was still sitting there.

I think the one pick he is going to regret is not taking Taylor Mays. Taylor could have played for his former college coach in his home town. Instead he will be playing for San Francisco. Taylor will now have a chip on his shoulder while playing in the bay area. Pete will have to play against him, since they are in the same division. I know this is a business and you have to take the best player available, but Pete was Taylor's college coach and Taylor did everything that Pete asked him to do. I never heard Pete say anything negative about him and then he passes him over. All I can say is wow!

Taylor is obviously upset by not being selected by Pete and I can understand why. You trust your coach and believe everything he tells you. Taylor even returned to school for his senior year because he felt he needed to learn more. I really feel bad for him.

I think Pete is telling the entire football world that he and his coaching staff did not do a very good job of developing players that last few years. He also did not do a very good job of recruiting if there are players that are better at every position than the players he brought to USC. If I were in his position, I would be a little embarrassed about the statement I just made in the NFL draft as a criticism of my own work in my previous job.

I wish Pete and the Seahawks success, but I really feel like he might have stayed too long at USC. He lost his passion for the school the last few years and it was visible as he was entertaining NFL offers each year. I will not be a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, but will continue to follow the careers of USC Trojans in the NFL. After all, we are all a part of the Trojan family.

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My Mad at You Voice

It really was a rough day yesterday. I got a call from ChaCha at about seven thirty in the morning. There was something wrong with her car and she was on her way to school. It turned out that she had a blowout and drove on it for a while not knowing what was wrong. I left work to pick her up and take her to school.

I had every intention of changing the tire myself, but when I saw that the tire was ruined I decided to call AAA to do the dirty work. I was just not a happy camper at that point. I called The Queen to let her know what happened and to vent a little bit. She called me back to make sure that I was taking ChaCha to school. She was driving so Cheeseball was talking to me. She was put in the middle of our conversation and I was not happy at that point, so she took the brunt of my anger.

When I picked her up from school later that day, I appologized to her and told her that I was not mad at her. I was just upset in general. I explained the whole situation to her and actually vented a little bit. She then told me that the way I spoke on the phone upset her. She said, "you used your mad at me voice." She then told me that my mad at her voice was louder than my mad at ChaCha voice. Those two sentences were a real eye-opener. I know she is old enough to pick up on emotions and the little things that we still think she is too young to notice. But she really is a smart little girl with a lot of emotion. I think she put that in the exact words that I needed to hear.

I think I use my mad at her voice a lot more than I should. I don't want her to be afraid of me, I just want her to think about things more and realize how they affect other people. I guess I am going about it in the wrong way. Maybe I have an anger problem that I need to work on? I know that I have a lot of stress that builds up from me having to do a lot of the things in the house. I need her and ChaCha to pitch in more and be responsible for themselves. That is a lot to ask of an eight year old, but I think she is ready.

I decided to try my hand at writing a haiku about the major issue of the day.

My mad at you voice:
it hurts you so much inside
I must change my ways

I don't know how good this haiku is or if it is really a haiku at all. I know that it does follow the structure of a haiku though. I have never been good at poetry or writing because it is difficult for me to express my emotions. It is even difficult for me to think about my emotions. I think that is why I am so cold most of the time. I guess you could say that I am boring. I don't laugh or have fun as much as I should. I am always worried about something. I need to change, but it is difficult.

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We Are Poisoning Ourselves

I was flipping through TV channels yesterday and came across a channel that I think was called "Treehugger TV." I have never watched that channel before and really did not even know that it existed. The program that caught my attention featured short stories about different things that are affecting our lives and the environment. The story that I watched from start to finish followed the founders of Seventh Generation.

Seventh Generation is a company that "is committed to becoming the world's most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home." In other words, they make products that are environmentally friendly. They are most known for the cleaning products they make, but they also make diapers, napkins, tissue and feminine care products that are all natural.

The TV show followed the founders for a day. One of them was carrying around a meter that measures the amount of volatile organic chemicals in the air. He measured the level outside as they were driving to their first stop. I don't remember the exact level, but outside was higher than in the car. They next went into a dog groomer and the levels of VOCs inside were higher than outside. They then went to a dry cleaner and the level inside that business was off the charts. The owner was so surprised that he invited them to his house to measure the level there. Before going there they stopped off at a nail salon and the levels there were also very high. The reading really spiked when they opened a bottle of nail polish.

At the dry cleaner owners house the levels were much lower than anywhere else they had been, except for the car. They then decided to use some of the household cleaners he had on hand. The sprayed one of the cleaning products on the kitchen counter and the reading spiked very high. It also took it a while to drop back down to the normal reading. They then sprayed some of their Seventh Generation cleaning product on the counter and the reading did not move at all.

This show was very informative. I did not realize how much more harmful our indoor environments were than our outdoor environments are. Outdoor pollution does not seem to be the thing we should be worrying about the most. We are all indoors much more than we are outside nowadays, so we should really be concerned with the cleaners and other products that we use in our homes and businesses.

Common sense tells me that we have a sense of smell so that we can tell the difference between things that are dangerous to us and things that are good for us. It is a primal sense that helps us lead a safe life. We know that we are attracted to the smell of foods because we must eat to survive. We find certain types of smells bad because something about them is harmful to us. Most of the cleaning products we use now have some sort of lemon or other pleasant scent added to them to mask their real smell. This is very deceiving. Most of these products would have a horrible smell if they were not masked by the lemon scent. That tells me that the chemicals in the product are dangerous and should not be used indoors.

I would love to switch to products like those made by Seventh Generation. I just need to convince The Queen that they work as well as the traditional cleaners. I have my work cut out for me.

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Why Am I So Boring?

I have had a conversation about the Central Valley with some friends a few weeks ago and now yesterday with a coworker. The all had bad things to say about the valley. My friends were really down on the valley because of the lake of culture. My coworker is really into music. He is a musician himself and is also a sound engineer for live events. At work he is just a mild manered draftsman. We often give him a hard time about his rock star lifestyle.

So yesterday he was complaining about the lack of a music scene in the valley. I agreed with him and gave my view that the valley is just more of a house party type of place. He agreed, but continued to talk about the great venues that exist. He said that he cannot understand why the music scene is not much bigger considering the venues.

We agreed that the Central Valley is just a big cultural vacuum. The Fresno Metropolitan Museam closed last year which left a big cultural void in the valley. I told him that there is just nothing exciting to draw people to most towns in the valley, including Fresno. He commented that they valley is just a place where people go to work, come home and spend time with family. I told him that is not a bad thing and he agreed. He just wished that people would support the local music scene.

I agree with him. I think the biggest knock about the valley in general is that there really is not much culture. Everything is focused on agriculture. It really tells you something about the area when the "Farm Show" is the most attended event in the valley and the biggest draw every year. And it is not even located in one of the two largest towns in the valley.

As I think about it, I really do lead a boring life as compared to people in large cities. I like the pace of my life and I really like being there for my children, but I could use some excitement in my life.

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The Toyota Way and My company

I must admit that I am behind in reading my current book, The Toyota Way. It is a difficult red for me. It is packed with information. I don't think there is any way I will finish it this month.

The entire time I have been reading this book, I have been thinking about how it can be applied to my company. I have thought that it would be difficult since we rely on engineering so much to build our semi-custom machinery. I have always thought that we focus too much on the custom aspects of our machines and use it as an excuse. Today I had a breakthrough.

I started reading a new chapter and it briefly discussed how the Toyota method can be applied to engineering. I was excited. I knew it could be applied, I just did not know how.

I can't wait to keep reading to get more details on how to apply the Toyota system to our business. Engineering is definitely one of our problem areas. We are currently late on every project and it hurts every department. We need change!

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Where I Belong

I was at Fresno State yesterday for their spring career fair and I must say that it is always interesting when I go there. There is just something about that campus that does not feel right to me. I just don't feel like it is a university. It has the feel of a junior college to me. I guess that is why you really need to visit any potential college you are considering before making a decision.

I made my college decision without making a visit. I did not actually visit the campus until orientation over the summer. The good thing is that I felt comfortable on campus. My only regret is that I did not get the chance to live in the dorms my freshman year. It was not by choice, but I still regret it. It is so easy to make a lot of new friends when you live in the dorms. I would encourage everyone to do it their first year of college, especially if they have left their home town and don't know anyone like I did.

College was a great time in my life. I got to escape from my home town and meet people that were very different than I was. For instance, I did not know any black kids in my hometown. When I got to college I lived just down the hall from a few. Later in college I met a few more. I also only knew a few asians in my home town, but in college I met a lot of asian guys and girls. My junior and senior years I ended up living in a house with an asian guy and four asian girls. For some reason, I just did not click with a lot of white people in college. I was definately more comfortable with minorities and I think that had to do with the fact that I was a minority while going to school in my home town.

To this day I feel extremely comfortable when I travel to different parts of Mexico. I also felt comfortable when I traveled to Puerto Rico earlier this year and to China a few years ago. The places I really start to feel uncomfortable is areas of California that are traditionally known for having wealthy populations. I just don't fit in with that whole keeping up with the Jones' mentality and you are what you wear attitudes.

My other regret is that I didn't do something more exciting and helpful when I graduated from college. As I think back, I realize that it would have been a great experience to have joined the Peace Corp and traveled around the world helping disadvantaged people. I just wish it would have happened.

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Grand Challenges of the 21st Century

The White House is asking the citizens of the United States of America to help identify goals for the twenty-first century. Some of the goals that have been mentioned in the past include early detection of dozens of diseases from a saliva sample, solar cells as cheap as paint, and educational software that is as compelling as the best video game and effective as a personal tutor. I really like the idea that the White House is asking the citizens for feedback and not just having politicians make the decision for us.

One of our biggest challenges in the twenty-first century is global climate change. There are many things that are affecting this change. Our reliance on fossil fuels is a big contributing factor to climate change and I think the one area where we can make the biggest difference. We need to make our number one goal changing our global reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. This will not be an easy task, but I believe it is a goal we can accomplish.

Many aspects of our daily lives rely on fossil fuels. We heat our homes with fossil fuels. Much of our electricity is produced by fossil fuels. Our cars run on fossil fuels. Plastic is made from fossil fuels. Almost everything around us relies on fossil fuels. While this is a big challenge facing our global community, I believe that change is happening. Their are companies that are innovating new technology that is lessening our reliance on fossil fuels.

The greatest challenge we Americans face in the twenty-first century is education. I would like to see American youths lead the world in math and science scores. We have been losing ground every year and at this point we have fallen too far behind to be satisfied with our current education system. We need to have education reform. We need to make education our number one priority.

The students of today are the inventors and leaders of tomorrow and we are letting these students down by not making education our priority. We need to set education funding and not rob from it when tax revenue falls. We cannot say that it is a real priority if we cut our education budget every chance we get. It is easy to make cuts across the board, but we don't need leaders who can make the easy decisions. We need leaders who are willing to sacrifice in order to ensure that the long-term good of the nation is being met. We need leaders who believe that education is the key to our country's future.

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The Truth About The Tea Party

I knew that there was something wrong with The Tea Party movement. It has struck me as being wrong from the first day I heard about it. Now my suspicions have been confirmed. This movement is not just about politics or health care plans. It is about something much bigger and much uglier. It is about racism.

I came across a study with some really surprising information earlier this week. The study from the University of Washington found that "those who are racially resentful, who believe the U.S. government has done too much to support blacks, are 36 percent more likely to support the tea party than those who are not." This is a big deal.

The Tea Party has been playing on people's fears from its inception. It is using fear as a tool to convert supporters. It has bashed Obama's health care plan as being bad for the country. Now, it appears that they just don't want to provide health care or other resources for people who are not white.

Supporters of The Tea Party have painted themselves as patriots looking out for the well being of the citizens of this country. They are the new revolutionaries. This study would suggest that maybe they aren't revolutionaries at all but just a more mild version of the Klan. They are haters who are trying to spread their beliefs to the rest of the country.

I knew I didn't like what they stand for, and now I know why. They are a bunch of racist hate mongers who are pretending to be something they are not. I am horrified that they have received so much main stream support. Here is a quote from an assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington who was involved in the study. "It’s clear from the data that people who want limited government don’t want certain services for certain kinds of people. Those services include health care," says Christopher Parker. All I can say is wow!

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How Obesity Affects My Life

Let me first state that I am not obese. I have been a little overweight for most of my life, and am still a little out of my target weight range now. I would not consider myself obese at this point, but obesity affects many parts of my life. I am not just talking about sitting next to an obese person on an airplane.

Most of my friends are obese. I don't know why it happened as we were all about the same in high school. Over the last twenty years since we graduated they have steadily gained weight. A few have lost weight, then gained it back several times. One has had lap-band surgery and is doing pretty well. She is not at her ideal weight and I don't know if she will ever get there, but she has lost a lot of weight.

Here is how their obesity affects my life. This weekend The Queen and I were looking at some patio furniture. We were sitting in the chairs to see how comfortable they were. I tried several before I found the one chair that I thought was the most comfortable and looked to be the best built. I was sitting in the chair when The Queen said that we could not buy that set. I asked her why and she told me that our friends would not fit in them.

This is not the first time we have had that conversation. We have looked at patio furniture several times over the past few years and this topic comes up every time. Why can't I buy a piece of furniture without worrying if my friends will be able to sit in it. It is my furniture!

I have been working out pretty religiously for the past six weeks or so. I wake up at about four-thirty in the morning to fit it into my day without taking time away from family. I am tired most days because I wake up so early. I am really trying to get healthier and I finally feel like I am getting their. I have talked to coworkers about the subject from time to time and I don't feel bad about it.

We were at some friends house on Saturday for a birthday party. We were all in the kitchen and I started talking about my exercise program and how I am starting to see some positive changes. I wanted to share my excitement with my friends. Everything was fine until we got home. The Queen told me that I should not have talked about my exercise to my friends. She told me that me talking about it could make them feel bad.

She told me that she has heard the comments from them before when she has talked about exercising. If these people are my friends, why can't I talk to them about something that I am excited about? I can talk to my coworkers about it, so why can't I talk to my close friends about it? I see The Queen's point, but it just frustrates me.

It sure seems like we are all walking on eggshells around obese members of our society, which make up the majority of people in the valley. You see people criticize models for not being real people. There have been pushes for plus sized models. There are plus size stores popping up all over the place. Why are we catering to these people who are "sick" instead of trying to help them? It just doesn't make sense to me.

The Queen told me a story of a wife that got mad that her husband ate some fast food for lunch instead of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he took to work. She was mad because she is trying to lose weight and he is supposed to be supporting her and keeping her motivated. This is so wrong for many reasons. If you are not motivated by yourself, you will not succeed. You cannot blame other people for your behavior. You must take responsibility for your own actions. So if he starts to lose weight faster than her is she going to make him stop exercising? Where does it all end? When will obese people stop affecting my decisions? Is it selfish of me to think this way?

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Excellent Debut

Earlier this year, Cheeseball informed The Queen and I that she joined the school track team. She is in third grade this year and it is the first year they let third graders join the team. Several of her friends joined with her.

This was a big surprise to me since after our Thanksgiving 5K run she told me she didn't want to run again. I was happy she decided to give running another chance because she is pretty good at it. She tried several distances until she ultimately decided to run the eight hundred meter, which is two laps around the track.

They have practice twice a week and were scheduled to have three track meets this year, the last of which was supposed to me a type of championship meet. Her first track meet was rained out last month. She was both excited and nervous for that meet. When we go there she started to relax after hanging out with her friends. She was really disappointed when they announced that the track meet was cancelled. I was a little relieved since I signed up to help with the timing of some of the events.

Her second meet was this past Friday. It was a month after the first meet was rained out. She did not seem either nervous or excited for this meet so I did not know what to expect from her. Before we left her with her friends, I gave her some quick advice. I told her to keep the girls in the lead within reach. Do not try to keep up with them, but keep them close. I told her to sprint to the finish. That was all.

I watched with a nervous excitement as her group was waiting to be called to the starting line. She actually had to stand their waiting for a few 100 meter races. It was finally her turn. They called her group to the starting line and got them set. The race started and she did just what I told her to do, although she was a little farther back in the pack. She kept a great pace for the first half to three-quarters of the first lap. Then she got caught behind some slow runners and she slowed down a bit.

She was finally able to move around them and then picked up her pace again. I was excited for her because she was running a good race. She continued her pace for most of the second lap. She was in front of the pack at this point and was using another girl to pace herself. That girls started slowing down, so Cheeseball slowed down with her instead of passing her. She didn't sprint to the finish, but kept pace with the girl in front of her. I really thought she could have passed her, but I was happy with her race.

She made her way back to the stands where we were and actually ran with one of her friends. She was not as tired as I thought she would be. We waited to hear the results of her race. It was hard to hear, but she ended up finishing in fourth place. If she would have known that the girl she was using for pacing at the end was in third maybe she would have passed her instead. I was really happy for her though. She did great for her first race and she ended up with the best finish from her school in that race.

I think the race was very confusing for all of the runners. The race included third and fourth grade boys and girls. There was a big crowd at the start of the race with a lot of runners.

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What is Happening?

I have hit the wall once again. I am not feeling creative. I am not tired, I just don't have too many ideas in my mind. I guess this just happens to me every few months. I can't explain why, but it is really a struggle for me.

Maybe I should be analyzing myself to find out why it is happening. But, It seems like a lot of other bloggers I read have slowed down now as well. There just does not seem to be a lot of interesting content available recently.

Apple previewed the new iPhone 4 OS today. Nothing was really exciting, but there were some good things. The best being multitasking. The only problem was that later we learned that it will not work on the 3g iPhone. Bummer. I guess I will just have to upgrade when the new iPhone goes on sale later this year.

The more I see of the iPad, the more I am contemplating getting one. It just looks really cool. I don't always take my current book with me everywhere I go, but I think I would take the iPad with me. The only questions would be if I would read my book or just mess around on the iPad. I don't know.

I started reading The Toyota Way this week. I know you are wondering why I would pick this book to read after all of the recalls Toyota has had recently. I actually bought the book a month or so before the recalls were announced and was just waiting for the chance to start reading it. I am only twenty-two pages into the book, but I have already read some interesting things about Toyota's culture and their TPS. I think they do a really good job with continuous improvement and I really think they have handled the recall very well.

According to the book, historically Toyota has handled recalls and other issues better than most auto manufacturers. I just think that they are better at a lot of things than most other companies. I am not saying that they are great or that they have no room for improvement because they certainly do and the recalls prove that fact. They just have a culture that allows them to attack problems with different thinking than most other companies.

The book is going to be a long read because it packs a lot of words onto each page. They type is smaller than most other books I have read recently, but I am looking forward to learning something.

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Work-Life Balance

I am a big advocate of work-life balance. If your equilibrium tips in favor of work, your entire life, including your career will suffer greatly. Life is too short to spend all of your quality time at work at the expense of your family.

I know some people who are at work for twelve hours per day. This does not mean that they work harder than those that are only at work eight hours per day. It just means that they choose work life over home life. I just don't understand this kind of thinking. It makes no sense at all to me to spend more time at work than at home, or with your family.

Family is much more important to me. I love being able to attend all of my children's school and sporting events, including practices. I love being able to help them with their homework. I love that they know that I will be there to support them with everything they do. They actually think it is odd when I am not at one of their extra-curricular activities. I really love that.

Having a good work-life balance makes every aspect of your life better, including your work. When you are over-worked you are not doing your best work. Here is a great article that shows you how to balance your life.

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What is Happening in the World

I stumbled onto a site that gives a lot of statistics about what is happening in the world right now. This site really makes you think. For instance, right now the world population is 6,836,601,315 people and growing.

I think some of the more interesting stats on the site are in the Governments and Economics section and the Health section. I would have thought that the military expenditures by governments worldwide would dwarf the speding on education, but it is almost half. I guess it goes to show you that the less developed countries lack of military spending really affects the worldwide total.

More interesting statistics are that there are more televisions produced every year than books. But even more disturbing is that the amount of money spent on video games in the world today is almost eighty million dollars.

This site is interesting to spend some time on and see how the numbers change by the minute.

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How to Improve Yourself

What a monumental task that is. I have been using this blog as one of the tools I am using to improve myself and I have just dented the surface. This is not easy and most people do not even attempt to do it. The majority of people I observe either sleep walk their way through life or spend their time seeking fun and parties. I am not saying that you cannot have fun while improving yourself, just that the majority of people have no intention of even trying.

A lot of people are not even capable of having real relationships and conversations. One thing that makes me uncomfortable in "manly" situations like golfing, playing poker or going out with the boys is that most guys just make fun of each other, make rude comments or talk about women. I do my fare share of these things as well, but I like to think that I have real conversations and have real relationships with people I am close to.

Over the last three to four years I have really tried to improve myself. I have removed some people from my life who I felt were not a good fit for me. Thinning your tribe is something that you have to do pretty regularly. People change pretty regularly, so if someone is not compatible with your life goals you need to remove them. Compatibility is important in every aspect of your life from your spouse to your friends to you career.

It is sad to think that a lot of people have a job just to make money. They are miserable and don't like going to work everyday, but they force themselves to do it to make money to keep up with the Jones'. They work to accumulate stuff, most of which is not a necessity. I think that is the wrong reason to work. There should be a purpose in everything you do, including your career. This is something that is very hard to accomplish and I am in the process of attempting to get to this point myself.

Many people say that they need to escape from life. They need to escape from the stress that their daily life causes them. These people are not in charge of their own life. They should be trying to make their life what they want it to be instead of just playing the hand that life deals them. Make decisions that affect your life in a positive way and give you choices for your future. Don't limit your possibilities. Aim big!

This list has some really good suggestions for ways to improve your life. As I read through the list I see several items that I am trying to do in my own life. One thing I really need to do that is not on the list is to create a profile of myself. Some of the things on the list I would love to do include creating a life handbook, use to-do lists, learn a new language, join Toastmasters and start a business. Maybe I will work on those items this year.

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Thirty Things Every Man Should Have

I came across a blog posting the other day entitled 30 Things Every Man Should Have by 30. I read through the list and feel that there are only a few items I do not currently have and most likely did not have when I was thirty years old. Below are the itmes I don't have with an explanation:

5. At least one friend who gives honest fashion advice. For some reason I have surrounded myself with people who are either stuck in a different era or who just don't have any fashion/design sense at all. I only have one friend who I would take advice from in this department. I think Topher has decent fashion sense, but our relationship is not such that we go shopping together. The friend I go to the most often for fashion advice is my best friend, The Queen.

14. An emergency kit in the trunk of his car. I don't have an emergency kit in my car and really don't feel like I need one. I carry my AAA card in my wallet and keep a cellular phone with me all of the time. I keep flashlights in The Queen's car.

15. A hobby that does not include a television set or a 6-pack of beer. I have had different hobbies over the years. I enjoy taking photographs. I play softball on a team. I tinker with graphic design and computers. I have built websites. I have designed t-shirts. Nothing has really stuck for too long, so I think I still need to develop a hobby I can stick with. I bought some canvases and paints a few weeks ago and plan to start painting abstract landscapes, so maybe that will end up being the hobby that sticks.

22. A nightstand that doesn’t say "Handle with care" on the side. My nightstand does not say "handle with care" on the side, but it is a beer crate. I took it from home when I left for college and it is still beside me bed to this day. The Queen and I really need to buy some new bedroom furniture, so it will move to the garage when that happens.

29. A place where everyone knows his name. I just don't have this place and I don't think I ever will. I have the wrong personality type for this. I tend to keep to my self and observe. People with my personality type don't usually have a place where everyone knows their name.

Here is another list for all of the women out there.

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Motivation

I came across a blog post for the 7 Most Motivational Quotes Ever Spoken. As I read through them I agreed with some and disagreed with others. I think the best one on the list is from the movie Pursuit of Happyness.

"You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period." These words were spoken by Will Smith's character in the movie. I have seen parts of the movie, but have never watched it all the way through. What I have seen of the movie has been really good and powerful, but I always seem to have something pulling me away. That quote summarizes the whole movie.

I always enjoy reading profound quotes from other people. We can learn a lot from reading other peoples words and really thinking about them to try to figure out what the person was trying to say. I always wonder if I will every say or write anything that could end up on a list like this one. I don't think so, but you never know. I also never thought I would be publishing a blog three to five times per week and I do that now.

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What is My Personality Type?

Here is a link to a story about the Nine Enneagram Personality Types. I have been doing a lot of searching that twelve months or so. I guess I have been trying to find myself. This is something I should have done while I was in college, but I was just too young and naive.

I think I know which personality type I fit into, but the article says that it is the people around you who have a better view of your personality. Please comment on this post and tell me which personality type you think I am.

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Live Big

I really enjoyed a TV show named Boston Legal. James Spader played a very cynical lawyer with a very unique view of life. William Shatner played an aging ace lawyer who was a partner in the firm. Those two characters had great interaction in the show. I remmeber a line from one of the episodes in which James Spader's character said, "live big." That phrase hit a nerve with me and I think about it from time to time. I don't know if I really know what he was talking about, but I would like to try to live those words. I don't think I have done the phrase much justice up to this point.

I had not really thought about the phrase for some time and I had even forgotten about it. For some reason, I really began thinking about it on my vacation earlier this week. I can't remember what made it pop into my mind, but I was thinking about it the entire time. I think I might have been waiting in line for a roller coaster when it just popped into my mind. It sure is strange how the mind works.

Live big to me means to live your life in a way that you will not regret. It means that you should do all of the things in life that you want to do. I have a book named 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. In my mind, that book is the epitome of living big. Make a list of the things you want to accomplish and then tackle that list. Live without boundries.

This phrase really ties in well with a book I read a few months ago. The book was called The 4-Hour Workweek. See my blog posts about the book here and here. Here is a quote from the book that I think really ties in well with the phrase live big, "The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals. If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think."

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Vacation

We checked into our hotel early on Monday afternoon after the long drive. We stayed at the Hyatt Century Plaza in Century City adjacent to Beverly Hills. The hotel was great for the price. I booked through Priceline and got a good rate.

We went to the Fashion District downtown to look for a prom dress for Chacha. We were off to a bad start as we walked through Santee Alley. I told her not to get her hopes up, but she ended up finding a dress she loved that fit her.

We left downtown and headed to USC, my alma mater. The Queen and Chacha had been probably fifteen years ago and Cheeseball had never seen it. I gave them a quick tour including Doheny Library, Heritage Hall and the bookstore. It felt good to be back on campus. Sometimes it feels like I only dreamed I went to school there.

Tuesday morning I went for a jog and noticed some filming going on in the hotel lobby. A TV pilot for fox, Traffic Light, was being filmed. There was a clown and an actor that The Queen recognized. I spoke to an actress to get the name of the show and asked her what the story with the clown was. She told me, "it's a long story dude."

We made our way to Knott's Berry Farm. We ate at the Chicken Restaurant before entering the park. It was weird because most of the employees were over fifty years old. The restaurant was a little run down and it was very fitting that the employees were all older people. We made some jokes, but the service was good. They ticket taker at the gate was also an older gentleman. I made a joke that there must be a retirement home attached to the park.

We entered the park with low expectations. The first ride line we looked at was pretty long and slow moving. We decided to look for another ride. We were surprised that the next roller coaster we went to had a short line. That was the trend for the day. Every roller coaster except for one had a fifteen minute or less wait. We entered the park at about twelve thirty and had ridden all of the coasters by about three o'clock. We then let Cheeseball choose whatever ride she wanted. She chose some of the kiddie rides. One actually had the longest wait of the day! We left the park very satisfied with our visit. It really was a good experience. At one point, I looked out at the park and all I saw were roller coasters. Knott's Berry Farm is a great alternative to Disneyland.

Yesterday morning we went to the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood to watch Alice in Wonderland. It is a Disney owned theater where most of their movies premiere. We had no problem finding a great general admission seat and ended up saving about ten dollars per ticket over reserved seats. There was an organist playing on the stage when we got there. He played a few more songs before the previews began. We put on our 3-D glasses for the last few previews, then the movie was about to begin. Another screen descended from the ceiling and a special movie introduction began. There were pictures and crazy designs being projected all over the theater, including the screen. Then, out of nowhere, flower petals began raining down from the ceiling. After the movie, we went downstairs and got to see some of the props from the filming of the movie. It was a great experience and the movie was OK.

We walked around Hollywood for a little while and then headed back to the hotel to check out. Traffic back to the hotel was horrible. We checked out and headed back home after a great little vacation.

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