Listening

Hearing is a lot different that listening. I find people may have good hearing but they don't seem to listen.

Not listening causes problems. If people don't listen then they become uninformed. That leads to bad decisions.

Bad decisions lead to grief.

Grief leads to anger.

Anger leads to ignoring which is a form on not listening.

As a rule, many people are not very good at listening. Its unfortunate. Unnecessary roadblocks are created by people not listening and failures result.

Don't be uninformed, listen.

Battleford Ugly

I was in North Battleford, Saskatchewan last week-end. I occasionally have to go there as part of my job. If you are unfamiliar with North Battleford it is a big town/small city type of place. There is not a lot of opportunity there. As such, I'm sure many people leave after high school, never to return.

There are no attractive people in North Battleford. None.

I warned the person travelling with me that there are no attractive people there. He didn't believe me. We took some time and drove all over town and could not find any person of even average attractiveness.

I'm curious why everyone is ugly in North Battleford. Statisically, there should be a few people who look good there.

Is the gene pool that shallow?

Does everyone who looks good leave as soon as they can?

It's strange. Maybe its just an anomaly. I don't have the answer.

All I really know is it is Battleford Ugly, and that is quite ugly.

Squeegee Clean

As I was driving home from the gym today I noticed a squeegee kid (who appeared to be about thirty) finishing up cleaning the windshield of a city bus. He then proceeded to the side window and asked the driver for some money. The driver didn't give him any. I'm not sure if he didn't have any or just didn't want to give it away. The squeegee kid then started to hit the bus wit his squeegee.

I can understand his frustration but he really has no reason to be angry.

I occasionally use the services of a squeegee kid. They can be really handy if you happen to run out of washer fluid. They can sure make it easier to see.

The thing is a squeegee kid is never owed any money.

They offer a service in hopes of getting paid. Drivers do not seek out squeegee kids and enter into a contract to have their windshield washed. The kids just wash the windshield in hopes of being re numerated.

Maybe the bus wasn't the best target. I can't see a city bus running out of washer fluid on a day when the road is dry. I would imagine a bus would be topped up daily.

Since the service was not asked for I see no reason for the bus driver to pay. I also see no reason for the squeegee kid (who looked like he was about 30) to hit the bus with his squeegee. He could of broke it and then his income source would be lost.

Of course the bus did have a very squeegee clean window.

The 95 Cent Orange

I live in a downtown high rise. On the main floor there is a small convenience store. It has has some fresh food, and a lot of packaged food. It is rather handy to zip down to pick up something you want or need in a pinch.

A couple of weeks back I was picking ups some margarine. I was making Kraft Dinner, but I had no margarine to mix in.

There was a woman who wanted 2 oranges. They had some rather nice large navel oranges for sale. The storekeeper wanted 95 cents a piece. That is rather pricey, however considering you do not have to go outside to pick it up, I could justify to myself to spend the money if I wanted the oranges. I was spending $4 on a small tub of margarine. She felt it was a bit too much and put the oranges back.

That is one of the beauties of capitalism, if you don't want to buy it you don't have to.

We both took the elevator up at the same time. She complained relentlessly about the price the entire ride up.

They were oranges in a convenience store. You have to pay for the convenience part.

If you don't want to pay 95 cents a piece for oranges, pay to travel to a grocery store are buy several oranges.

But, capitalism always gives you the choice.

Exploiting the Forces that are There

In the book 'What Would Google Do?' Jeff Jarvis discusses how Google through Google.org is attempting to reduce their carbon footprint by investing in green energy, with an effort to make it cheaper than coal power. By doing so economics will make coal power obsolete.

Good idea if you ask me.

The hard part is making the cheap green energy. If we, being the people who consume most of the energy, want it enough we will find a way.

What Google is trying to do is use the powerful economic forces help solve our problems with climate change. That is rather out of the box thinking.

The answers are not always related to the questions. We should be thinking about how we can exploit what is already there to succeed elsewhere.

We could use community to help with the economic distress. Relying on each other, where money maybe doesn't change hands to leave monetary resources to where community cannot help as much. In such we will not need to stimulate the economy as much as a smaller economy may be able to support us in a comfortable fashion. We may even find the connections so many people seem be missing.

This is only one example, I'm sure there are many others.

We need to exploit what is already there.

The Winds of Change

It's a fairly windy spring day today. Spring is always a renewal. To me is embodies change, something new, opportunity.

Something new and opportunity is nice, however change is difficult. People don't like it. They avoid it to a fault. It is really scary at times.

You may be thinking you handle change well.

Have you ever stayed in a job you hate? Have you ever stayed in a bad relationship? Do you keep doing things the same way, even tough you are rarely happy with the outcome?

If you answered yes, you probably don't handle change as well as you think. The good part about it is you are not alone. Most of us don't deal well with change. It's unsettling. It's difficult. It means we have to give up what we know, and sometimes like.

Should we roll over and accept we are not good at changing?

I believe we should do our best. We should address our fears to alliviate them. We should put on the brave face and face the big fearful change.

Often it will hurt, be scary, and frustrate you, but you will not know what could be done if you don't try.
Change is all around us, don't be afraid and let the wind take you somewhere new.

Plain Bagel With Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese

Often for breakfast I will stop by Tim Horton's for a plain bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese. I prefer it untoasted. So, I will go up to the cashier and order a plain bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese. If they ask if I want it toasted, I say "No thank you." Sometimes they don't ask.

About a third of the time I get a toasted bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese. Often they punch it in to toast the bagel without asking or often the person preparing the bagel toasts it anyway.

This all happens because of a phenomenon called expectancy.

Most people like their bagel toasted so the staff expect all bagels will be toasted. Because they expect that end state, they toast every bagel without realizing that some are not to be toasted.

The world will probably not be thrown off its axis and rocket out to the far reaches of the galaxy because my bagel was toasted, however there are tasks that are performed on a routine basis that expectancy can be rather dangerous.

Dilligence is the only way to defeat expectancy. Do it right every time and you will get the desired outcome. Don't expect anything to be how it was. If you are not sure, always confirm.

We all fall into the expectancy trap from time to time. It is part of being human. It often saves time, that's why it is so attractive.

That is also why I eat so many toasted plain bagels with herb and garlic cream cheese.

There Are Two Types of People

Everyone has their two types of people. I have often said there are two types of people in the world, pilots, and people who want to be pilots. This helps us orgranize our thoughts or beliefs. Sometimes it just makes us feel better about who we are and how we choose to live.

When it boils right own to it we choose how we go about our lives. We choose to be industrious, or gregarious. We choose to be leaders or to be lead.

Many people think of themselves as the few. The ones who make things happen. However, most people are the many, the ones who are told what to do. They cannot see how it can be done any better. Of course this is their view, they are doing the best they can. Maybe their best is not good enough. Maybe their talents lie elsewhere. Maybe they do not know what is within the art of the possible.

We have all had interactions with these people. It is astounding when you explain what you feel is rather obvious and when they ask questions it is so far into the weeds, you discover they do not have a grasp of the macro level.

If you can't see the maro level, then you must be assisted though the task at every step. This is the role of the many.

If you constantly are feeling like, they didn't tell me to do that or that's not my job, then you are one of the many.

There are two types of people, those who seek out responsibiity an those who avoid it.

You Don't Have to See to Know

There was a commercial for Stanfield's underwear. In it two guys are doing sit-ups at the gym. One is doing the old fashioned sit-up and the other is doing some new wave sit-up on a Swiss ball. The tag line is, 'You don't have to see them to know who's wearing them.'

I was always a fan on this commercial. I thought it was to the point and targeted the people who Stanfields wanted to buy their product.

I was at the gym today after work, much like many other days. I work out regularly. I do a lot of old fashioned sit-ups. Today, just like every other day, I was doing my sit-ups. Today, not like every other day, there was a guy doing some type of yoga-like balancing mumbo-jumbo on the mat next to me. He was pointing at the ceiling, and wrapping his legs around himself and standing motionless.

I don't know what he was trying to accomplish. You could probably argue it would help his balance, if you want to point to the ceiling with your leg wrapped around your body.

It looked a bit silly to me.

However in the end you don't have to see them to know who's wearing them.

The First Warm Day of Spring

If you live in a city like Winnipeg, one of the best days of the year is the 1st warm day of spring. I'm not here to discuss there merits of everybody wanting being outside in a few clothes as possible, enjoying the weather, I want to discuss, why this day matters.

Living in Winnipeg is like living in Siberia. It is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I question why should I put up with the winter that Winnipeg deliverers without debate. This is harsh, and usually, worse than advertised. Most of the inhabited world does not even fathom the typical January day in Winnipeg.

My point isn't about personal comfort. I live downtown, in an urban area. As such, I see many people who suffer. I pass on spare change when I have some, I don't wish ill on anyone.

Why would you produce an urban area, which is a false beacon of hope to the unequipped, in one of the harshest climates in the world?

The dead of winter in places like Winnipeg is deadly.

Why A Blog?

I was watching The Hour with George Strombolopolous back on April 1st and the book 'What Would Google Do?' by Jeff Jarvis was mentioned in a bit. I finally had some time to purchase and read the book last week-end. This book had a rather profound impact on me.

I'm not really into technology. I do have an iPhone and a PS3. I do have internet access. I never really thought about how much the world has really changed around me. What I really gained from that book is if you want to remain or even be relevent from this point forward, you must harness the power of the internet.

As time goes by I hope to shed my view on the world as I see it. By doing so, I hope to see some debate. I also hope to learn more about myself.

I don't really know how this will turn out or if this will be read. Only time will tell. I plan on blogging regularly and we will see where this goes.

By the way, everyone should read 'What Would Google Do?'