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A reading from the Book of Wisdom, Chapter 15:1-3:
1But you, our God, are good and true, slow to anger, and governing all with mercy. 2For even if we sin, we are yours, and know your might; but we will not sin, knowing that we belong to you. 3For to know you well is complete justice, and to know your might is the root of immortality.
Reader: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Ok, this was too good to pass by. Apparently several people have been working on ways to move electronic things with the power of the brain alone. One of the positive implications is for people with artificial limbs to be able to move the limbs just by thinking about it. Some not so practical implications include turning on a toy train, and playing Space Invaders. All of this, apparently, fueled by Hitachi Corporation's new technique in NeuroImaging.
Pretty cool if you ask me. Pretty soon we'll be able to look at the computer and make it do what we want, instead of having to type it in. So I could be in a hammock, and just think what I want it to do, and it'll do it. I like that idea.
Every now and again, I come across business signs, slogans, taglines, or license plates that just make me go, "Hmmm..."
There's one here in Pasadena that's called Professional Business Bank. The concept seems good, a bank created by business professionals with the intention of helping fellow business owners in business; in other words, a bank that caters to small business owners. Not bad. Unfortunately, the sign out front reads ProBizBank. Now, count me silly, but I've never considered the abbreviation Biz to be all that Professional. But what's worse is that they make the claim that they are professional; I've always been under the impression that if you have to state it, you aren't it. In any case, I see ProBizBank, and the image that comes to mind is this guy wearing far too much cologne, way too many necklaces and rings, and a shirt unbottoned to about mid-chest saying, "Well, let me tell you, I'm a professional, see, and in my biz, I would treat you right, you know?" Not something that inspires any sense of trust in this bank. I'd feel about as safe as putting my money into Honest Joe's Savings.
Now, here's another one. My friend and I went to play mini-golf last night at some big white castle in Sherman Oaks. On the drive home, I see this nice Audi with a license plate that reads MAKMNOFR. I comment on it and say, "Hey, check out that license plate. 'Make me an offer.' " We pass by the car, and my friend turns to me and says, "You know, I don't think a woman should drive around in a car that says, 'Make me an offer.' It could really give off the wrong impression." Now, I'm sure she was a probably in the Real Estate biz, or some other form of sales, and not the biz that her license plate could potentially suggest. Still, I think my friend is right... not a good choice of plates.
And finally, the picture below speaks for itself. This is a historical building in Portland, Oregon, established 1928, which houses a Chinese restaurant. My friend Jeremy lived there, and once, when I was visiting from Seattle, we happened across this building while hanging out around town. He pointed out the building and the sign. His commentary: "The food's really good, actually. It's just a really poor choice of signage..."
When stating a request for help, particularly one in which you are asking that a bug be fixed in some web software, please do not merely forward an email in which someone else states "I got an error message." This is highly innefective.
When stating a request for help, please use the following format:
1) State, "I got an error message when doing such-and-such on this-and-that page. The error message was: <insert copied error message here>" Exact copies of error messages will help to determine if the problem exists with the server, the programming, or whether the problem exists between the keyboard and chair.
2) Do not state, "this system needs some work," and expect a favorable response.
Yesterday as I started to walk to work, I realized that I had left my cell phone on all night, because it started beeping at me to tell me that the battery was low. Fifteen minutes into my hike, it died. Since I had planned a trip to my chiropracter and other stops on the way to work, I'd be without my phone for almost three hours.
Weird how that works, though. I can have my phone handy and yet still not use it for a full day, so it's clear that I don't have to use it. But somehow, having it not even be an option suddenly changes things. I can't just call someone up when I remember something I need to tell them... I actually have to remember it myself, then call them later. I can't be reached, since I'm not anywhere near a phone that is connected to me. What if there's an emergency? A webmergency? A once in a lifetime chance?
Yeah. I'm really not that important. And most everything in life is not that important either.
In my last year of college, I took part in European Quarter, and after that was done, I traipsed around Europe with a backpack and some cash. At one point, I had hitchiked from Geneva to Zermatt (of Matterhorn fame) so that I could find my way up the mountain. Before I got there, though, I distinctly remember a day where I walked on a road next to a vineyard, the freeway to the south of me. On either side there were the famous Alps, the sun was directly overhead, and I just stopped walking. I did a 360º turn and looked at everything around me, and then I had one of those really weird moments of global-self-positioning. I realized that I was about 600 miles from my family in Germany, several thousand miles from my parents in Alaska, and several hundred miles from my sister whom I had left in Venice, Italy. I also realized that for the last several days, no one had any clue where I was, how to reach me, or where I would be staying - mainly because I never knew where I would spend the next night. Instead of feeling afraid, or lonely, I was actually surprised that I felt happy. Happy at being nothing but a speck of flesh in the middle of this giant mountain range, in the middle of Europe, on the other side of the earth from most everyone I knew. My life was a blank canvas with every step, and that was freedom.
So what's that have to do with my phone battery dying? Well, if only for five minutes of traipsing through the city without my phone, I felt that sense of freedom again. Five minutes of open sky in the shadow of some high-rises.
It was beautiful.
Until I remembered how "imporant" I am.
I fixed the cookie setter for the comments. Your personal info will now be stored.
My mom sends me an email every now and again called "Weekend Ponder," which she gets from someone else and forwards to me. Normally, the email is a quick quote, a story, or something to make you go "Hmm..." I thought this latest one was pretty good, as I get ready to take on some more serious responsibilities:
Good leaders have a vision
Better leaders share a vision
The best leaders invite others to join them in spreading this vision1
It does us no good to have a vision but not share it with others; not much gets accomplished this way, because mind-reading is a skill most people have not developed and they will wander aimlessly instead of moving toward the vision's goal. Sharing the vision but keeping it in our own domain does a lot better, but it also can set us up for "glory" when we accomplish the vision because of our leadership skills. Like the quote says, inviting others to spread the vision with us is the best way to do things. However, I think that that's also the hardest part, because it means giving up complete control of the vision. If others help spread the vision, their input, their insight, and experience may help to reshape the vision into something even better than we came up with. Or, they may even do a better job than we do. Giving up the glory is something most of us are not exactly quick to jump on. Think about it. Even when someone takes our vision and runs with it, we usually end up saying something like "I cast the vision, Joe Bob here made it a reality." What if Joe Bob made the vision his own, and ended up taking control of it? Would we be so happy? Joe Bob's re-casting of the vision in his own unique way could mean the loss of "glory," and worse, the loss of control. Especially in matters of the Faith, we have to ask, "Is it about the vision?" Because if the answer to that question is "No," then it's obvious that the answer is "It's about me." And that's just plain not good.
Of course, I think the place where a lot of leaders fail is not in sharing the vision or inviting others to spread that vision, but first and foremost in not casting a vision, or casting an unclear vision. If people have nothing specific to move toward, they'll go in every which direction. Having a vague notion of where we want people to go, but not having a roadmap for how to get there is like telling a group of scouts to "Get to the top of that mountain," and wondering why some of them got swept down a river, or got caught in the brambles; they've each gone their own way to get to that elusive mountain goal. Reining in a group of people moving in different directions can become a full time job, and accomplishes nothing except to bring us as leaders to near breakdown from nothing better than crisis management.
I certainly hope I can be one of the ones who can cast a vision and let go of the control of it. I'd hate to be the one who leads people over a cliff or ends up at a looney bin. Pray for me. The time is coming when we'll find out.
1) Bob Briner & Ray Pritchard
It's better that way. I just vote a straight party ticket, voting what my party leaders tell me to vote for. Takes less brainpower. Straight down the line, I look for "Republican" and vote for that person. I mean why think for myself, really, when I know the Republicans are always in the right? Or was that on the right? Hmm...
In any case, read the manual, then go vote. It's not only your right, it's your duty.
[an Australian view on duty, and, of course, a contra view most appropriately named an "I don't want to cause someone inner conflict by telling them it's their duty to vote" paper]
Halloween. My friend and I decide we want to go hang out in Pasadena's Old Town to see the sights. One such sight: a guy wearing a "Strong Man" costume. Basically it was a big puffy costume that looked like he had lots of muscles, and was wearing a speedo. Weird. Then there was Superman, Batman, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, several pirates (both guys and girls), and a Robot Family - this was by far the most creative costume set. Then, of course, there were lots and lots of costumes that can only be described as scandalous. Basically, there were lots of women who apparently took Halloween as license to wear next to nothing and call it a costume.
Oh well, in the meantime we took some photos of ourselves, in our more traditional costumes. Not to mention less scandalous. So here goes, Puffy Shirt and Frilly Dress.
So yesterday I had a bit of a situation with the ATM. As I walked by my bank near home, I decided to use the ATM, only the door to the 24 - Hour ATM vestibule was locked. Since an armored truck was sitting outside, I figured I would have to wait until they were done, since they must have locked the door. So I stand off to the side when the guys come out, one of them carrying a nice little Smith and Wesson 40 Caliber. The guy with the money apparently didn't like what side I was standing on, so he asked me to move to the other side, which I did. There I leaned up against the wall, and scoped out the security on the truck. This didn't make "MISTER I'M-TOTING-A-LIVE-GUN" so happy it seems, as he kept a watchful eye on me. I thought about saying "Boo," but figured that would cause more trouble than fun; besides, it didn't look like they had much more than $50,000 with them, and that's not worth going fugitive over. As soon as they left, I tried the door again, only to find it still locked. Irritating. How's that supposed to be a 24-hour ATM? After talking with some guy waiting for the bank to open, I learned that you use your ATM card in the little slot off to the right of the door, you can get in. Once he told me that, I noticed a little sticker that had those instructions on it. Yes, it would help to read the instructions, but it might be helpful if they made the instructions a bit more visible.