A Slower Pace

This morning I woke up early with my son so we could head to Scouts today for their Scouting For Food drive. This collection of canned goods from the local community will help augment the local food pantry and is a great way for the boys to give back to the community.

Our small den packed into my wife’s truck and we headed to our assigned neighborhood. We told the boys to be on the lookout for bags of food that people were instructed to leave on their front porch or doorstep. Soon enough at one of the first houses we passed by, one of the boys spotted a tan plastic grocery bag right out on the front porch of this house that sat about 50 yards off the street. We sent two of them up to retrieve the goods. We watched them from the truck walk down the driveway towards their target and turn onto the walkway headed to the front door. As they got to the steps of the front porch we saw the bag move, then arch and stretch. It turned out the bag was a Garfield colored cat! We all started laughing in the truck as the boys then had to explain why they were there to the homeowner who just came out the door. He did not have any food to donate so they returned empty-handed to the truck trying to stay composed and hiding their smiles…..all while we were laughing hysterically.

It was a pretty funny Scouting For Food fail because from the street, that cat totally looked like a tan plastic grocery bag full of food.

Here kitty, kitty.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This so happens during my conference calls. Pretty funny!

Humor is funniest when it hits so close to the truth.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I was reading an interesting short article over at Lifehacker.com and stumbled across a comment that was better than the article itself. The original is here but I am cutting and pasting it below in case it goes away.

What Do You Know Now That You Wish You Knew When You Started Your Career?

As with learning things about college in hindsight, it sometimes takes years (maybe even decades) to get wise about our work. If you were going to give career advice to a novice in your field, what would it be?

Patrick McKenzie recently wrote this awesome post (he calls it a README.txt for your career) on what he learned after ten years “and a lot of suffering” as an engineer. Though meant for programmers, there’s great universal advice in there, such as positioning yourself in terms of how you contribute to your company’s bottom line rather than your job title, why if you want to succeed you have to drop the modesty, and how the best jobs happen through networking. It’s a worthwhile read for any stage of your career.

However, we’re asking you, Lifehackers: what are the things you’ve learned since you started working that could help those new to your field or creating a career in general? We learned some fantastic advice about college from you, so let’s share what we know about work now too.

Comment:
When I started, I was all doe-eyed and willing to learn. Anything to get me out of that backwater hell of a childhood. But then, the guy who hired me died on the job right before I started, and they promoted this wet-behind-the-ears guy who worked for him. I swear I knew more than this guy. They even tried to get into my personal life, telling me I couldn’t date because it would interfere with the job. So, I heard this other company started by some guy I knew since I was a kid was recruiting, so I went to apply. I was intrigued by the promise of better on-the-job training. My old bosses didn’t accept my resignation, so I trashed the place on the way out. The biggest problem with the new job was that I had to wear a suit to work. You know, the heavy, itchy, black kind that you can never seem to get comfortable in. I went right to the top. Anyway, it was all great for about 18 years, until the old company I used to work for went through a restructuring, and wanted me back. My boss went after some of their hotshot young employees with some hardball recruiting tactics. Basically, I had enough, and initiated a hostile takeover. That’s when I threw my boss down a reactor shaft and the second Death Star exploded.

Pretty original and pretty funny. For those of you who aren’t Star Wars fans and don’t get it, my apologies. Please come back tomorrow.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

My football wife cracks me up. As backup history, when we were dating I brainwashed her into liking football. It is now one of those things we do together and she knows more than most guys.

Tonight we are watching the Sunday Night Football pre-show — Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints — and one of the announcers posed the announcer-type questions, “How do you stop the Colts?” (who are 0-6).

My wife replied (to the TV): “What?!?! How do you stop the Colts?!?! How do you START the Colts?”.

I laughed my butt off. She’s so cool!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

A friend shared this with my wife on Facebook and I figured I’d share it with you.

1. Just one God.
2. Put nuttin’ before God.
3. Watch yer mouth….
4. Git yourself to Sunday meetin’.
5. Honor yer Ma & Pa.
6. No killin’.
7. No foolin’ around with another feller’s gal (or ‘nother gal’s feller).
8. Don’t take what ain’t yers.
9. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’.
10. Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff.

Now that’s plain an’ simple. And bless your little cotton pickin’ heart!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

We are nearing 3+ weeks of scorching hot weather this summer. Usually we get a breather here and there during the summer. But not this year — we have had triple digit heat indexes (temp + factored in humidity) for a while now…..with no relief in sight. Our pool is now a tepid body of water that doesn’t cool you off until you get out and let the breeze hit you. Thank God we have A/C and also a basement.

So this morning, I was chatting with a guy at work and in short conversation asked if I was “staying cool”. I remarked that thermally I was keeping the heat away but, as the father of two teenage girls, I would never be cool.

Sad but true.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I think the sign above only begins to tell the story.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

At least for today, I am officially an Ohioan. See the declaration below.

Now granted, I don’t officially follow or watch the NBA. I started boycotting them after the 1998 strike because I did not want to support whiney babies who play a game for a living and make more in a day than I do in a year and complain about it. And, while I am a die hard Dallas fan, it’s not the Mavs but the Cowboys. However, I allow a little of that to spill over and I can honestly say that I routed for the Mavs for the entire 48 minutes of game 6. So technically I am a Mavs fan so therefore today I am an honorary Ohioan.

I am giving a shout-out to all the other honorary Ohioans today.

All that and I didn’t even have to move.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The quick video below is some encouragement from a young boy who just learned how to ride his bike. And, interestingly, we can apply it to other areas of our life as well.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Someone’s reading my blog and has a sense of humor.

However, do NOT mistake one false prophet man’s mis-interpretation of Jesus’ return as if it is not going to happen. Technically, Harold Camping is right — he just is very wrong in his timing. Which is the sign of a false prophet.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net