Why is it so easy to catch a bad mood?

It always seems so much easier to catch a bad mood that it is to catch a good mood. One bad mood in a room or "The Room" and the whole place goes down in flames.

Quote from Randy Pausch - Last Lecture

I will never forget this quote...

"Tell the Truth All the Time"

"If I could only give three words of advice, they would be "tell the truth". If I got three more words, I'd add: "All the time". My parents taught me that "you're only as good as your word," and there's no better way to say it. 

Honesty is not only morally right, it's also efficient. In a culture where everyone tells the truth, you can save a lot of time double-checking."

It's all about me...

I know I have visited this subject before and I probably will many times again. It's political season again. I'm not sure there is a season anymore. It seems unending. No politicians ever stop campaigning any more and just do their job.

It seems as though so many people in society want what's best for them alone and screw everyone else. Rich people want write-offs. Poor people want hand-outs. The rest of us get stuck in the middle paying for it all.

It's really hard not to get sucked into the vortex of greed and selfishness. We're all stuck in our own orbit and screw everyone else.

When did public service make you rich? Why are all politicians millionaires?

Thougths on 9/11

I've been watching some of the coverage of 9/11 these past few days. It's almost as though it happened just yesterday.

I remember being at my job that day, like any other day, and how important my work seemed. Every piece of paper and every file on my computer. They all seemed vitally important.

Then the first plane hit the North Tower. And then the second hit the South Tower. I was stunned. I watched the towers as they collapsed and all those pieces of paper floated down to the street. I wondered whose piece of paper that was and how important it was to them, perhaps even as little as an hour before. I looked at my own desk and my own work and it all seemed so stupid. I felt disassociated with many of my co-workers who seemed to be continuing with their day as though these monumental tragedies were not occurring.

I still don't understand the meanness of the human race. So many of us are not the kind people we should be. Some of us don't even seem to try. Just the other day, if a friend and I hadn't stopped at a cross walk, two men in a pick-up truck would have gladly run us over. And probably smiled while doing it.

Now I go to work everyday and remain completely devoid of connection. I have not put up so much as one quote or photo on my desk. The upstairs departments rarely fraternize with the downstairs departments. And one side of "The Room can't even be civil to the other side of "The Room". Every day seems so stupid and pointless.

I continue to try to be the best person I can be, but unfortunately I often let myself down. I'm not even sure how to close this as it is unfathomable to me that we call ourselves civilized.

Office parties

Let me start by saying this isn't to any of the co-workers who may be reading this now.

Is it just me? Isn't it just a little strange attending an office party and everyone you work with wants to hug you? It's creepy. I don't hug anybody when I come to work? No, I don't want to hug my boss or the people I don't like or the people who talk about me behind my back. Can we all just eat, drink and be merry. Oh wait, that's right, I forgot who I was talking about. Can we all just slop the hogs, get sloshed and make totally inappropriate gestures and behave badly? You know like every other day. And pretend I'm last weeks fish guts on the driveway of life. Well you could leave that out, at least until we are back in "The Room".

I'm not a hugger. Never going to be a hugger. I don't even hug people I like.

Professional and/or Public Speakers

I've heard so much awful English on TV. I guess it's a pet peeve of mine. Don't get me wrong, I don't speak perfectly, but I'm also not a public or professional speaker.

Example:  Are are kids being taught math in school?
Correction: Are our kids being taught math in school?

Example: Nucular
Correction: Nuclear

And can we stop repeating words multiple times and please stop saying uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhh?

Shouldn't public/professional speakers speak correctly? Come on news media and politicians!

What offends you?

I have sat down in front of this page so many times recently, pondering the multitude of questions I could post. Many times I'm concerned that I may offend someone, although it is never my gold to offend anyone. Not in this blog anyway. I have pages and pages of contemplation and yet it never makes it this far. Eventually I will risk the post and hope no one gets angry.

It seems as though society, including myself, gets offended easily today. Is there something going on in the world that offends you? Some behavior you see or experience? Etiquette? What is it?

Stay-at-home Mom's

I think I know better what it must feel like to be a stay-at-home mom. I've seen them many times on TV saying how much they miss adult conversation. I never really understood that, until now. I work in a mostly hostile, unfriendly work environment. I don't think I understood what detachment really felt like until now.

Super Elastic Bubble Plastic

Do you remember this stuff? While I was out walking yesterday I saw an awful-colored piece of chewed-up gum on the road. For whatever reason it reminded me of that goo we used to squeeze out of a tube, as kids, onto the end of a plastic straw and blow it into a bubble. As I always do I emailed my brother and asked him if he remembered. I can always count on him to remember this stuff. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic.

http://www.retroland.com/super-elastic-bubble-plastic/

This is only some of what this retro web site had to say...

"Tired of blowing regular old soap bubbles? Looking for something a little longer-lasting, a little more psychedelic, something perhaps with noxious fumes? Well, the scientific minds at Wham-O toys had just what you were looking for, Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, that short-lived, but certainly well-remembered, tube of goop that delighted millions of kids during the 70s."

If you remember this stuff at all you must check out this web site for a trip down memory lane. 

Do you remember any other stuff you had as kids?