Judge Yourself

The most difficult thing to do is judge yourself. It is always pretty easy to judge those around you. I am not saying that your judgements about them are always correct, but it is easy to do. It is much more difficult to take a long hard look at yourself to see what you are made of.

We have all heard of people moving away for college or travelling in order to find themselves. I myself did this totally unintentionally. I decided that I wanted to move away from my home town in order to go to college. I was not smart enough at that time to decide that I wanted to do it to better myself. I just wanted to get out of my home town. For this reason, my college experience was not all that it could have been. If I was moving away for college today, I think I could get a lot more out of the experience.

Self-examination is necessary for self-improvement. You have to want to change if you are going to change. These two phrases are basically saying the same thing with different words, but they are very true. I come in contact with many different people in my work life. Most of those people are unwilling to change. They have not examined themselves. They have not found themselves. I am open to change, but I have not done as much self-examination as I think I should.

I learned a lot about myself as I went through all of the paperwork for FamiliesFirst. Many of the forms that I completed asked questions that I have never asked myself before. I learned some things about myself and my family, but not as much as I could have. I am a very private person. I am not in touch with my emotions. I hold things in. I don't like to talk about things with other people. I feel embarassment, shame, or that I am letting people down. I don't know if that is something that is just hard-wired into men or if it is just something I stuggle with.

I really need to take a look at myself and learn who I am. I need to learn what I like and dislike. What I truly like and dislike, not what I think I am supposed to like and dislike. I have been trying, but I have a long way to go.

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I Judge

I know that I am a very judgemental person and I know that it is wrong. So, how do I change that aspect of my personality?

I don't think I look down on people or consider people to be beneath me, buy I do constantly judge the people around me. For instance, I look at the jobs my coworkers do and judge whether they are doing more than I am to contribute to the company. I judge my friends in order to decide how much time I want to spend with them. I think some of this is healthy, but I may take it too far.

I really believe that you have to surround yourself with people who have traits that you respect and want to emulate. So, how do you do this if you do not judge people? That is the dilemma that I am facing. Where do I draw the line? How do I change so that I am less judgemental? I need to find these answers in order to make myself a better person.

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We Are Ready

We had our final in-home interview with FamiliesFirst last night. It went great. I did not have to answer very many questions, but the girls had to answer quite a few. The Queen and I just had to fill out some more paperwork while the girls were being interviewed.

Our social worker was trying hard to talk us out of being foster/adoptive parents. She was telling us horror stories. I think she was just trying to see what our reactions would be and I guess she was satisifed. I was making dinner and helping Meg with her homework, so I did not pay much attention while she was not talking to me.

She told us that she has not learned anything from us that would prevent us from being foster/adoptive parents. She said that she would go back to her office and work on getting us certified. We really have no idea when they will call with a child or children. Toward the end of our interview, she got a phone call about some children that were being taken away from their mother. The children were five, three, one and a newborn. We all just kind of watched her in amazement as she was saying the kid's ages.

It is really hard for us to believe that there are people out there who either do now want to take care of their children or who are not capable of taking care of them. I know there are probably more than we think out there. It is all very sad.

One new piece of information she gave us is that a child will not be able to be adopted until they are placed in a stable home. For this reason, we may need to allow the child(ren) placed in our home visits with their family until the adoption is finalized. I thought all along that the child(ren) placed in our home would already be separated from their family and that we would not have to deal with their birth parents. I was wrong, but I think we can work through that without any issues.

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Long Weekend

Last Tuesday we were told by our social worker that we needed to have our spare bedroom ready for a child by today. The Queen and I talked about it and decided that our best option for a bed and dresser was to make the long trip to Ikea. The Queen and I both really like to shop at Ikea and they have good prices. I knew Unk Timmers was going to be in town, so I asked him to go with us. He agreed.

We had dinner with the fam on Friday night after Meg's track meet and we decided that we were going to leave at nine o'clock on Saturday morning. Saturday morning, The Queen decided that she needed to go to her classroom to get some things done so we cancelled the trip. After getting out of the shower, she decided the trip was back on. We ended up leaving at about ten thirty.

The trip to Burbank ended up taking us around three hours. It was the first time Unk Timmers shopped at an Ikea, so before we entered I told him he needed to prepare himself mentally. He had no plans to spend any money. He was just along for the ride.

As we walked through the showroom portion of the store he mentioned that he needed to buy a sectional soon. He started looking at them and ended up finding one that he liked. He said he might order it later.

We made our way to the bedroom furniture and found a bed, matress and dresser rather quickly. We made our way through the rest of the store much more slowly as The Queen was looking at every little thing trying to find items for her secret pal at work. We finally made it downstairs and picked up everything in the warehouse portion of the store. The Queen dissappeared and when I finally found her she had picked out a table and chairs for the patio. They were priced great, so I agreed to get them. Of course they were all sold out of the chairs so we found some alternatives and checked out.

Ikea was a mad house. The vehicle loading area was packed with people. It took me a while to get the truck parked there. We loaded up and hit the road. The trip home ended up taking us less than three hours.

Once home we began to put everything together. Unk Timmers was surprised at how easily everything went together and at the quality after it was built. I must say that Ikea has put a lot of thought into how their furniture is put together to make it the easiest and strongest. I am never dissappointed with my purchases from there. Granted, their stuff has the feel of a college dorm, but it is perfect for kid's rooms. Overall it was a great trip.

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Final Track Meet

Meg had her final track meet on Friday night. We invited my parents, my sister and neices and Unk Timmers to the meet. They all made it and were very supportive of Meg. I was scheduled to help time events.

Meg did not act like she was into her event very much before the meet. She did not ask me any questions. I gave her some advice and she was not very receptive. The one thing I told her that she paid attention to was to not let the tall girl from her school pull away from her again like she did the last race. That really sunk in.

I ended up having to time her race. For some of the races each timer took a lane and for the other races we took a finishing place. For Meg's race we ended up taking a finishing place because there were so many boys and girls running. I ended up timing for the fourth place girl.

Meg got off to a pretty rough start to the race. I did not see the actual start, but by the time I looked for her she was kind of lurching back because there was such a crowd around her. She struggled for ten seconds or so and then started to run her race. She has always run her eight hundred meter race at a good pace. It shows me that she has really practiced well.

She ran a really good race and as she got to the final straight section of the tack she really picked up her pace. She finished strong and ened up passing another girl to move into fourth place. She was almost sprinting as she crossed the finish line. I ended up being the one who timed her race. I met her and gave her the time for her race and told her that she finished in fourth place. I told her that she ran a great race and told her I was proud of her.

I had to keep timing races, so I did not get to spend much time with the fam. I texted them all her results. I never heard the announcement of the results for her race. We all went out to dinner when I was done timing. At dinner the fam told me that they announced that Meg got third place. I told them that she actually got fourth, but the person timing the second place finisher did not time them. It was a real mess trying to figure everything out. We don't know what ribbon she will end up receiving. I guess we will just have to wait until tomorrow to see what she brings home.

Meg's principal was in charge of receiving all of the times for the races and recording them. He was a somewhat passive person, which really surprised me. That was the first time I had any interaction with him and he was not what I expected. I guess I am used to take charge people in the business world and maybe the leaders in the education world are just not that way. Or maybe it was his first time performing that job at a track meet and he was just a little over his head. Either way, I was surprised.

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Walt Was Right!

Walt Disney was a brilliant man. Here are seven life lessons from him:

1. Keep Things in Perspective
2. Competition is Good
3. Do What You Love
4. Do the Impossible
5. Action Always Trumps Inaction
6. It Takes a Village
7. Get Better Daily

I must say that I cannot argue with any of these items. I think it is a short list that is right on. Read more about the list.

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I Solve Problems

I have always considered myself more of an idea man. I can think of solutions, I am just not as good at implementation. That is a weakness that I really need to work on. But I guess my coworkers think I am good at both.

I tend to be a counselor and this past week my schedule has been busy. I had our sales secretary come to me early in the week and talk to me about her review that is long overdue. She told me that her boss just has not given it to her and it is starting to concern her. She wanted me to give her my own review so she would be prepared for his. I told her I could not do that, but I would give her my own thoughts. I told her the honest truth, which was a little difficult for me to do. I think she appreciated it.

Yesterday morning I was paged to our accounting department. I thought they were going to give me some money, but I was very wrong. I walked in to the entire accounting department sitting there with our service manager. They all started telling me that our system was flawed. They said that we are not billing our customers correctly because the proper information is not being communicated from the sales department. I sympathized with them because I believe that communication is the biggest problem in our company. I agreed to try to solve their problem.

Yesterday afternoon our assembly manager came to me and told me that he had to vent. He said that the owner of the company came to him and told him that the assembly floor needed to be cleaned because we were having customers visit today. The owner then told our machine shop manager to make sure that the assembly floor was cleaned and the machine shop manager promptly told the assembly manager that he had to make sure it was done.

Today I was blind-sided by the owner of the company. He told me that some representatives from a manufacturer in Japan have been offering to buy our company for about four years. He kept telling them that the business is not for sale, so they want to partner with us now. He told me that they were our visitors today and that he wants to have me in the meeting with him and our vice president. I agreed and sat in the meeting. What they manufacturer really wants is to bring their equipment up to the level of our equipment. They want to learn from us. I don't really see much of a benefit for our company, but we will see. My boss left without us talking about the meeting so it will have to wait until next week.

I am done counseling for the week. I just need to enjoy my very busy weekend.

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I Am Very Lucky

We had our first in-home interview with a social worker from FamiliesFirst last night. She was a little late because she got lost. They really do not work very much in the south valley. When she arrived she apologized for not meeting us before showing up at our house and asking us personal questions. She said that she usually does not work that way.

She asked a lot of questions that really made me think. She asked both The Queen and me a lot of questions about our child hood. She asked a question about dealing with loss or a difficult time. She asked about school and about college. I really had a chance to think a lot about my life and I can say that I have been very lucky.

I had a pretty happy childhood. I did not have a lot of responsibility, so I got to be a kid. I never had pressure on me to do well in school, maybe becuase I always did well. My parents supported me in everything I chose to do. They got involved in everything.

All of this was great, but what really made me realize how lucky I am is when she asked Meg and Chels what kind of person I was. I don't know if they were just laying it on thick to make me look good or not, but they both said some really great things about me. I know I am not the easiest person to live with, but I guess they both appreciate me for the positive things I do for them. I heard words like "loving" and "fun" and phrases like, "I can talk to him about anything."

It is great to hear these things, because I am constantly questioning myself when it comes to my parenting skills.

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I Just Don't Understand People

This is one of those situations where I will use codenames to protect the innocent, or guilty. It is a story that I cannot believe really happened, but as I think about it more it is not really that surprising.

A family I know who goes to either Las Vegas or Disneyland every chance they get pulled their kids out of school on Friday and went to Disneyland for the weekend. This was not surprising because they go their so often and becuase they always seem to pull their kids out of school from one lame reason or another.

The real shocker to me was that just two weeks ago, one of the parents was telling everyone that they don't eat fruit and vegetables very often any more because they can't afford them. I found that statement shocking when I heard it becuase they didn't seem to have cut back in any other areas of their life. The kids still seem to have a soda in their hands everytime I see them and they have not cut back on their consumption of beer.

I undestand that fruit and vegetables are expensive. I often have an internal struggle when I am at the grocery store as to wether or not I should be buying the fruit and vegetables that I buy. I just can't understand why they are so expensive given that so many of them are grown right here in my back yard. For the most part, transportation costs should be very minimal, yet they continue to be expensive.

The last time we went to Disneyland, we ended up spending more than a thousand dollars for the trip. We did not stay at a fancy hotel. We did not even splurge on anything. The two-day park hopper passes for the four of us was the single largets expense. Given this, I know that this family spent a lot more than us. They have one additional child and they really love to eat. They alwayst talk about going to Downtown Disney to eat nice dinners when they are there. And on this trip their second youngest child ordered salmon for dinner one night so I know they were not operating on a shoe string budget.

I just don't understand why they would take a trip like this if they cannot even afford healthy food for their children to eat at home. They must have charged this trip on their credit cards which makes it even worse. Why do people do this? I think it goes back to parents trying to buy the love of their children.

These parents don't really spend a lot of time with their kids. I played catch with their second youngest child one day and the mother said that she was glad that someone was finally playing catch with him. That made me feel sorry for the kids, but also made me angry at the parents. I will admit that I am not the best parent, but how do you not play catch with your child from time to time?

This past summer, while they were still struggling for money they took several trips. They went to Disneyland. They went to Knott's Berry Farm. They went to Great America. Then in December, they went to Disneyland again. I just don't understand how a family who is struggling with money can make three trips to Disneyland in less than a year. How can you justify that? I guess this is just what most families do now which is why their have been so many home foreclosures. People have just gotten irresponsible. They just do whatever they want without thinking about how they will pay for it. It all just makes me mad when I think about it.

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Track Meet

Before I get started, I want to announce a change I am making. I am tired of referring to people in my life with code names, so unless there is a real reason to protect identities I am dropping them. The one exception is that I will probably continue to refer to Tina as The Queen.

Meg had her second track meet this past Friday night. On Thursday night she asked me how she could get faster. I told her that she has done everything she could possibly do at that point because she has been practicing. I told her that the only thing left was to keep telling herself that she was not tired. That she could run faster. That she could pass the girl in front of her. She said that she would try that.

On Friday night, Meg was her typical self. She was full of energy and could not sit still. When they announced her even, the 800M, her and a friend told the coach that they needed to go to the restroom. I don't even think she heard her event announced. By the time they got back the announcer had already given the second call for the runners. I rushed down to her and her friend and told the coach that I would take them to the even. We hurried down to the infield.

The school track coach was just letting the runners do whatever they wanted to do while they waited for the even to start. Meg and her friends were stretching some, doing jumping jacks, doing jump kicks and doing shoulder rolls. Not at all what I would consider the proper warm-up activities. I was just hoping that she was not going to wear herself out before her event.

She had quite a long wait for her event, but the announcer finally called the runners to the starting line. Meg lined up about five runners in from the outside of the track. She got a decent start and made her way to the inside of the track. I thought she was running a great race. She held her pace pretty steady for the entire length. When she was coming around the last turn, she caught up to one of the other runners from her school. They spoke to each other briefly and then that girl picked up her pace and pulled away from Meg.

Meg finished the race in sixth place. I think she was probably the first third grader to finish the race, unfortunately the race is for both third and fourth graders. I am curious to see if she improved her time from the first track meet. It really appeared to me that she ran better this time, even though she finished two places later than her first race. She did a great job.

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Oil is Natural

Rush Limbaugh made a totally ridiculous statement about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He said, "The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is." What an idiot. He does not understand what he is talking about and is therefore a dangerous person. He has a lot of listeners who just believe what he says is the gospel. They don't research the topics on their own. After all, he calls them ditto heads?

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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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Why is Everyone So Angry?

I guess "everyone" is an overstatement on my part, but it sure seems like there are a lot of angry people in the United States these days. The conservatives are angry that Obama's health care plan has been signed into law. Fourteen states are so angry that they have sued the government over the law. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are so angry about the health care plan that they have resorted to comparing Obama to Hitler. I don't see the comparison.

Obama and his liberal friends have tried to do something to help all of us, not just the wealthy people that the conservatives bow down to. Hitler just tried to help the elite that he identified at the expense of everyone else. Hitler killed people. Obama is trying to help people. How are they similar in any way?

Many people are also angry that they have to complete their census forms. They think that there is too much government involvement in their lives. They want to be free from government control. The only problem is that if you don't complete the census forms, you local government will lose out on federal funding for things such as infrastructure and education spending. This means that the pot holes in your local roads may not get fixed or that the school your children attend may be overcrowded. There are many implications that I don't even know about. Just complete the census and stop being selfish!

Joe Biden was caught on tape at the signing of the health care plan. He whispered to Obama, "This is a big f***ing deal!" This has made some people angry. They cannot believe that the vice president said this. Come on! Do you expect me to believe that none of the other politicians use swear words. Maybe the conservatives want us to believe that they are good God-fearing church goes who never use that type of language, but I don't believe it one bit. I guarantee that at least ninety percent of the politicians use colorful language at least once a week. After all, they are very powerful men who are used to having their way and saying whatever they want when they think they are behind closed doors.

Give it a rest. Learn to control your emotions and use your energy for something positive. There are enough problems in this world that we do not need to worry about the vice president dropping a F-bomb while whispering to the president. Besides, it was a big f***ing deal! I can't fault a guy for showing some emotion.

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Why US is Getting Fatter

Since everyone is focusing on health care with the passing of Obama's reform, I found an interesting article on the use of High-fructose Corn Syrup. I have known for some time that it is not healthy. I have even suspected that it is really, really bad for you to consume. Now I have proof.

Princeton University researchers have released a report that focuses on research that was performed on rats. Some rats were given access to high-fructose corn syrup and some were given access to regular table sugar. With equal caloric intake of the two sweeteners, the rats who consumed the high-fructose corn syrup gained more weight. Long-term consumption even led to the rats gaining more weight around their midsection and increased levels of triglycerides.

One quote from the report really stood out in my mind. "Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man gaining 96 pounds" Wow! That is eye-opening.

So where did high-fructose corn syrup come from? HFCS, as it is known, was introduced to processed foods and soft drinks in the US from about 1975 to 1985. Prior to that time, the US Government was looking for something that corn could be used for. Corn was, and still is a subsidized crop in the United States so it made sense to try to find something else that it could be used for. Sugar prices began to rise in the late nineteen-seventies and the fairly new HFCS became a cheap alternative to food and beverage manufacturers.

High-fructose corn syrup is now consumed in greater quantities than regular table sugar. In 2005, Americans consumed a per-person average of almost 63 pounds of sugar per year. It is an ingredient in most of the products sold in US grocery stores today.

A few years ago, I tried to eliminate it from my diet. I grew disheartened upon examining products at the grocery store. It would be very expensive and a total diet change to completely eliminate it. It would be very beneficial to American society if we could completely eliminate it from the packaged food and beverages available to us. I think that they only way to achieve this is for the government to step in and drop the subsidy for corn. This is controversial because most of the sugar we consume comes from outside of the United States.

Most sugar cane is grown in countries located around the equator. These growing regions tend to have weather fluctuations that affect the crops availability. They also tend to experience political change that affects the infrastructure that makes it available for export to countries like the US.

On one hand, I am glad that my assumptions have been proven correct, but on the other hand I am disappointed that nothing has yet been done to try to fix this major problem. As we get more and more overweight, our health problems increase putting a strain on our health care system. Eliminating HFCS from our diets would be one way to help reduce the cost of the health care plan that Obama just signed into law.

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What Happened?

I never thought this would happen. I actually did not even think about it happening while it was happening. The Queen and I have been sickened by people who act the way we are now acting. We love our puppy!

I don't know what is different about this dog as compared to the last dog we had. The only thing that I can think of is that this new dog is a puppy. We found out yesterday that she was born on January 11th, 2010. This makes her ten weeks old.

Cheeseball has really bonded with Cocoa Bean already and it has just been a little more than two days since we got her. This is interesting since she was really afraid of most dogs before this. She did not even want a dog for a pet. We really had to convince her that it would be great to get a puppy and let them grow up together. We think that this is the best way to get her over her fear.

She has been reading outside with Cocoa on her lap the last two days. We have also taken Cocoa on a walk to the mailbox the last two days. On Monday she refused to walk and one of the girls had to carry her. Yesterday she ran almost the whole way there and back. It is really funny to watch her run. Because she is so small she almost jumps when she runs, especially through the grass.

I scheduled a veterinary appointment for Cocoa yesterday. We are also going to start having the girls take her for training starting on Saturday. We are doing everything the right way when it comes to this puppy.

We have friends who treat their dogs like they are children. We have always thought that was silly. I just never thought that the entire family would feel this way about a puppy. Cocoa Bean has definitely won us over.

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Health Care Reform?

Obama signed the healthcare reform bill into law today. Before it even happened, the state attorney general from Virginia threatened to sue if it was signed into law. After Obama signed the bill, thirteen other states sued the U.S. departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor. The lawsuits focus on the "individual mandate" that requires most people to have insurance or pay a penalty.

I just don't understand this thinking. Why is it a bad thing to have every citizen in a country with health insurance. This takes the burden off of tax payers. As our system is currently designed, tax payers support the people who do not have health insurance that go to the emergency room when they have a cold. That is a burden in my opintion. When you look at the big picture, I believe that while health care reform is a radical concept for us to accept it will save us all money in the long run.

I have an open mind when it comes to Obama's health care bill. I can see that it can really accomplish some great things. I can also see that it could fail miserably and cost us all a lot of money. Every radical plan has both of those potential outcomes and that really depend on how they are managed. If the right person, or group, is in charge of the reform it will be the best thing that has ever happened to this country.

While I am on the reform topic, I would be remiss if I did not bring up law enforcement. Criminals currently get better health care while in prison than the correctional officers who keep them in line get. They have newer facilities and get guaranteed medication every day without fail. Nobody outside of prison is guaranteed to be able to afford their medications every time they need them. My family members have been prescribed medications before that our insurance plan did not cover and we did without them. Prisoners never have to make this sacrifice. In addition, they are transported to hospitals by helicopter or ambulance whenever the on-call doctor can not come in to the prison to treat them. All of this is at the taxpayers expense.

If we are willing to spend this much on healthcare for people who have broken the law, why are we not willing as a society to provide basic health care insurance to law abiding, productive citizens? I just don't understand how we think as a society. If we can afford to do it, why not? We pay some of the lowest taxes in the world and are still able to have a government that functions well most of the time and is able to provide necessary services to our people. Let's keep doing that!

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Our New Addition

We finally brought a new addition into our family. She is a beautiful young girl. Her name is Cocoa Bean.



I was not ready for another dog. I have really been enjoying my nice clean back yard with no holes or extra clean up work, but Cheeseball has been asking for a pet. My first suggestion was a fish. She told me that you cannot play with a fish so she didn't want one. She asked for a hamster. I said no. She asked for a cat. I said no. She asked for a rat. I said no.

The Queen told me about a co-worker whose dogs had puppies. She told me about the puppies and I said no. She told me that she wanted to go by her friend's house on Saturday and I agreed. I didn't even put together that this trip would be about the puppies. She showed them to us and The Queen fell in love with one of them. And I was smitten myself. We talked a little about it that night, but did not make a decision.

The next morning I told her I would like to talk to the girls about it. Before I went for a run I told the girls that I wanted to have a family meeting. When I got back I told them that I would be OK with getting a puppy if they promised me that they would take care of it. We told them that we would even pay for them to take the puppy for training. They agreed, so The Queen called her friend and told her.

We went to pick up the puppy on Sunday afternoon. The girls both fell in love with her. We took her to PetSmart to get food and supplies and to look into training. When we finally got home later last night, Cheeseball could not stand the fact that the puppy was whining. We convinced her to leave the puppy alone. She slept in a box in the laundry room.

This morning, The Queen needed to get some clothes out of the dryer at six o'clock. She went in and the puppy started whining. Cheeseball came right in to take care of the puppy. She took her outside and was very concerned that it was too cold for her. I tried to tell her she would be OK, but she was still worried.

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Happiness?

Does anyone really know what happiness is? Are you happy when you are just coasting through life without any challenges? Are you happy when you have little to no responsibility? Are you happy when you are in a relationship? What is happiness?

I work with some guys who are seriously defective when it comes to relationships and life. One of them has never been married, but was in a serious relationship for more than ten years. She left him and now he is bitter, grumpy and nearly cries whenever he talks about the past. He does not think clearly and is on the verge of hating all women.

He accepts that fact that he is a little bit crazy now and has read books about what happens when a relationship ends. What he has read has told him that it will still take him about three years to get over his ex-girldfriend. He is OK with that, but he is still very emotional. The good thing is that he knows what he is going through and has accepted it. The bad part of all this is that he is now very cynical.

Another co-worker was talking about how needy his girlfriend is. She has to be with him all of the time. He sounded like a sixteen year old boy. The only problem is that he is in hi fifties and his girlfriend is sixty. All he does is complain about their relationship. I think he is putting up a front, becuase maybe he feels like that is how men are supposed to act when they are in a relationship. I don't like that at all. Be a man and admit that you are happy in your relationship.

Yesterday, he was complaining again and started talking about his ex-girlfriend that he lived with for sixteen years or so. She had no problem going off and doing her own thing and he did the same. They would do things with their friends instead of eachother. I asked him where she was now. He totally missed what I was saying and told me that she was probably at home watching tv. I repeated my question and he just kind of froze like a deer in headlights. I told him that was why she left him. There was nothing keeping her in the relationship because she already had her own life.

The Queen was telling me about a conversation she had yesterday with a few of her friends. Two of them were talking about how happy they were and the third asked them how it felt to be happy. Then they talked about people who cheat and how it is unbelievable that their spouse is really in the dark and thinks they are happy. I told The Queen that it is because the spouse only thinks they are happy, but is so selfish that they have not asked the other party if they are happy. They probably do not even listen to them at all.

I think my comments caught her off guard. I then told her that she needs to stop working so much and have work-life balance. She is working had to try to get a permanent teaching contract and I appreciate that. We just need to keep working hard to make sure that we have a strong relationship with eachother and our children, especially if we finally get to add another child to our family.

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Free Speech in the Classroom

I heard a news report this morning about a local junior college "professor" that used the bible as fact and said that homosexuals were mentally ill. The ACLU is suing the school on behalf of some of his students who have complained about what he is teaching. The class that he made those remarks in is a health class.

I am all for professors having free speech. At a university, it is the job of the professor to not only teach classes but to also perform research in their field of expertise. They publish books and speak at events. They are used to formulating their own opinions and it is only natural that they would give their opinions in their classrooms and lecture halls.

This so called professor is teaching at a state junior college. There are no requirements for research at most of these colleges and most of the instructors are not even professors. Professors usually have a PhD or have completed a post-doctoral fellowship. This level of education is not required at most junior colleges because of the high salary requirements.

The problem I have with what this individual is saying in his classes is that he is teaching hate. He is singling out certain people as not normal and that is not acceptable in a higher learning environment. I also have a very big problem with god-fearing Christians hating people. You may think that the word hate is too strong, but I think that anytime that you talk about a group of people as not being normal or not being right, that you are using hate. I always thought that Christians were supposed to love all of God's creatures and hate just does not seem to align with those beliefs.

I also have a problem with a well-educated man using the bible or any other religious book as fact. It is generally accepted that these books are not fact, but rather parable. These books are meant to tell a story and teach a lesson. They are not fact and accepting them as such can get you into trouble. There is, for instance, scientific proof that evolution is a fact. The moment you dismiss this fact and inject your religious beliefs into the argument is the moment that you lose all credibility.

It is not the job of a public junior college instructor to inject his religion into his teaching. I think a really good example would be if a Muslim instructor started teaching the Qur’an as fact in a city with a predominately Christian population. The people in that community would call for the firing of that instructor and would not rest until it happened. The instructor that caused this lawsuit happens to teach in a very conservative, predominantly Christian area. For this reason, most of the people in the community support him. That does not make what he is doing right and the ACLU is standing up for the little guy in this situation. I support them for that, but I am not sure that I want to censor professor's speech. This is a very tricky topic.

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Productivity Improvement

I have been reading a lot about how to improve my productivity. I really need to focus a lot of attention on this task so I can be more efficient. I manage my time pretty well, but I do get buried by the less important tasks quite often. I am not usually late on my projects, unless there is a legitimate reason.

I see real value in becoming more productive. After all, that is the only way to effectively increase your income. I plan to start my own business on the side while I am still employed full time. In order to accomplish this task, I will need to be much more organized. I will also need to learn to prioritize items much better than I currently due. I am starting to see that the secret to business success is organization. It doesn't matter whether you pay someone to keep you organized or you do it yourself, but it has to be done.

I read some advice from one blogger that recommended that you hand write your task list. Her feeling was that if the task is important enough to be written by hand that it is important enough to be on your task list. I agree with this to a certain extent. I can see more shuffling and moving of items on an electronic task list. I also don't know if I want to have access to my task list at all times. If I keep my list in a nice Moleskine notebook, which I already have, it will take on more importance for me. I really like these notebooks a lot because they have an archival feel to them. They feel like something you need to hang on to because it will be important in the future.

I may give this a try, since I know I have to do something. My only problem with a hand written task list is that I make fun of one of my coworkers for walking around with a small yellow note pad in his back pocket. I guess I can still look down my nose at him if my task list is in a Moleskine notebook.

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Americans Killed in Mexico

I saw on the news this morning that a couple of Americans were gunned down by a drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico over the weekend. An American consulate worker and her husband were shot while driving in their car. Their seven-month-old daughter was in the car with them and was not shot. This is just the latest drug cartel related killing of Americans in Mexico.

This is a social issue, not a law-enforcement issue. The people of Mexico are afraid of the drug cartels and they are worried that if they step forward to try to stop them they will be targeted. This is the problem in most developing countries that have crime problems. It will continue until the people stop accepting the criminal activity and stand together to put a stop to it. The police and other law enforcement departments can only do so much to try to stop them. The biggest problem is that these governmental agencies typically have limited funds and manpower when compared to the criminal groups.

The Mexican government has realized that this is a social issue and has begun focusing on changing the social issues in Ciudad Juarez. The United States has continued to provide monetary support to the Mexican government allowing agencies to purchase x-ray machines and even helicopters. The FBI and DEA continue to provide support for investigations when American citizens are involved in the drug cartel violence.

My biggest problem with all of this is that if Mexico really wants to change, the people will need to be the leaders of that change. They cannot sit back and wait for the Mexican government to make the change happen, which is what they typically prefer to do. Mexico is not known for major social change happening organically at the hands of the people anymore. In the past they have had change happen in this manner, but it seems like the people have become more accepting and less active in recent history.

I personally love to visit Mexico. I find the culture and people very interesting. There is a lot of history to explore. My wife's grandfather still lives in a small mountain village in central Mexico. We have visited him there twice and have really enjoyed the trips. The village is in Michoacan, which has had a lot of drug cartel violence recently. We have been talking about going back, but I don't know if this year will be a good time with all of the violence that is happening.

Ciudad Juarez is located just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a current population of about 1.5 million people. Juarez and El Paso make up one of the largest binational metropolitan areas in the world with a combined population of about 2.4 million people. The Juarez-El Paso border crossing is one of the busiest US-Mexico border crossings with more than 600,000 people crossing every day.

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Daylight Saving Time and New Exercise Routine

I hate Daylight Saving Time. I lose more than an hour when the time changes. I get so tired this time of year. I think it may be due to allergies, the time change, and the weather change all together. I usually struggle to wake up and get to work at my normal time for a few weeks. This year I wanted to change this.

I decided that I was going to start doing my exercises in the morning. The only problem is that this change was going to coincide with the time change. I decided to press forward and use it as a way to let the time change affect me less.

I woke up yesterday at about three o'clock and could not go back to sleep. I just laid in bed until my alarm went off at four o'clock. I finally got out of bed about five minutes later and got ready to exercise. It was tough to wake up this early and be ready to exercise, but I struggled through. I yawned almost the entire hour.

I felt good after I was done, but I was tired most of the day. I started getting groggy around ten in the morning. It was a real struggle to make it through the day. I picked up Cheeseball at her after school program and headed for home. I thought I might fall asleep and even asked her to wake me in time to make dinner if I nodded off. It didn't happen even though I was very tired. I made dinner and had every intention of doing some abdominal exercises, but I got tied up paying bills and doing some financial work.

Today is day two of my new exercise plan, and I must say that I am extremely tired. I woke up this morning at about a quarter after four. I felt more tired than yesterday, but I did not yawn through my exercise. I guess this means that I will be able to stick to my routine.

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The iPad

I am not sold on the iPad. I think it is too large and just does not fit into a well defined nitch. I think there is some very cool technology in the device, but I just don't think I will be purchasing one.

I like the size of the Kindle better and I like the fact that you don't need to pay for internet access to download a book from Amazon.com. I like that it has a paper-like display which will make it much easier to read books on. I don't like the navigation. I don't like that the screen is so much smaller than the overall device. I don't like that you cannot go into a store and touch one and try it out. I am impressed that it is the best selling item on Amazon.com.

When it comes to the iPad, I like that it has a color screen which will make it great for viewing magazines and browsing the web. I like the navigation because it is very intuitive. I like the fact that the screen dominates the device. I like the fact that it uses Wi-Fi. As I said before, I don't like the size of the device. I don't like the price tag. I am very impressed that they sold 51,000 preorders for the iPad in the first two hours it was available.

I am not in the market for one of these devices yet. I am going to wait and see how things shake out. I think Apple has a better idea of how it should work because they have experience with the iPod and iPhone and iTunes. Their system will be much easier to use and will be a much better experience. They just have years of experience with user interface design which Amazon.com is lacking. At this point I would lean toward the iPad, but I saw another reader in Popular Science magazine that had a paper-like display on one side and a color screen on the other. It opens like a book with one on each side. Now that is a great idea.

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