Hypocritical behavior

"One needs to get out of their own skins and see themselves as a separate person and judge themselves as one judges others." from Pressing Thoughts blog

Hypocritical behavior.

I know, we all do it.  Does that make it okay?  

In my defense, I do try to examine my motives and statements.  True, it's always after the fact and I don't always revisit the person or situation, but it's a start ... right?

I've worked for the same employer since 1991 and have never taken advantage of my right to take breaks during the work day.  I never looked down on others who did.  I think my thoughts were more along the lines of not wanting to negatively affect the person I work under.  I've worked under this same person over 5 years and have watched how careful they are to get what's rightfully/contractually theirs and I've hope I've been supportive.  They're probably who finally inspired me to do the same.  

I'd like the same support, without any shaming.

Today my goal is to find a way to bring this up.  Wish me luck in careful presentation and wording ...

 

Mustache windfall

Imagine my reaction when I opened an eagerly awaited UPS delivered box of foam gliders (surprise for the short folk) to find 8 dozen mustaches instead. Oh no!!

Yes, I had waited until I only had 14 days left before the big, end of our flight unit day.  My fault.  When you order with most internet stores that's plenty of time, but then there are the others. I wonder how the process works in these other warehouses. Is it a two person business? One who handles the computer side and the other person packages and ships? If so, they must've been deep in a conversation with the computer person to accidentally place mustaches in my box rather than gliders. I'm thinking the mustache party is probably just as disappointed--depending on the age of the group.

Lucky for me, Liseanne was home and eager to make a phone call to solve something, since all of her "stuff" lately has been far-from-solved.  She handled it beautifully and according to the person on the phone, our new box will arrive on Monday.  Finger crossed.

National Network of Bike Trails?

"A quiet revolution is starting in the world of transportation. 
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently announced what he's calling a "sea change" in transportation policy: He wants to make biking as important as driving...."(click here to read/listen to the rest of the story)

Can I Have Some Coffee, Please?

I rarely snack in the evenings, but tell me to fast for 12 hours and suddenly I'm fighting the urge to nibble all night long.
Why?
And now that it's morning, the urge to nibble has been replaced by the desire for COFFEE.  NOW.
:>P

Earth Day 2010

I can still remember the first Earth Day. It was 1970, I was in 6th grade and my teacher, Ms. Karnis wanted to do something meaningful. So we were all given big garbage bags before we were let loose upon school house hill.
I suppose it's possible we had chaperons and divided into small groups, but my memory is of all of us going willy nilly amongst the neighborhoods of my wee town. It was a beautiful Spring day and we picked up an impressive amount of garbage.
Of course, the best parts were the unexpected treasures that were found - to a 6th grader, I'm thinking a treasure would be something amazingly gross?
Happy Earth Day!
I hope you find a way to make it meaningful to you.

(Wow! Found out that Ms Karnis is still teaching in Washington - at least she was in 2008.)

How Alarming

How many alarms do you hear a day?
"beep! beep! beep!"
This thought passed through my brain over the weekend during a Burgerville opportunity.  My cell phone beeped to tell me I had a message, their fryer beeped to say the fries were done, a commercial truck beeped to tell us it was backing up--you get the idea.  How in the world does our brain sort out the beep to get up from the beep that our vehicle is locked?
Some days I feel like a pet in training.

Minto Brown

Click here for Minto Brown Park Flikr Photo Group

During a weekend walk into the back of Minto Brown Park, I remembered a suggestion I emailed to the park department.  One day, over 2 years ago, N and I were on a bike ride and were trying to figure out the best way to get from here to there.  The map in our head was good, but had it's limitations.
"What if the city park department sold tees with an upside down map on the front or a map on a kerchief?"
Even if they weren't ready to run out and print up some shirts, I did feel good that I received a reply to my email.

If you would like to see Minto Brown Park in all her glory in all her seasons, here's a link to the Flickr group.

Website load speed

After a recent happy hour discussion I decided to check out the web and see what kind of tools are available to test a website's load speed.  Quite a few sites offer this service, but I don't even pretend to know what the listed breakdown means.  Still, it's interesting.
http://tools.pingdom.com/
https://sematext.com/blog/website-performance-speed-test-tools/#:~:text=3.-,Google%20PageSpeed%20Insights,the%20faster%20the%20website%20is.

Breaking Ground for Others

During my hair appointment yesterday, Karyn was telling me about how her policeman husband has fought to receive care that some other police departments provide without a fight.  It had never occurred to me that spending your work days sitting in a car with inadequate support could take a toll on your back, not to mention the car accidents and other work related injuries many policemen suffer from.  Thanks to him, city policemen can ask for and receive a specially made seat for their cars and massage therapy.  Seems like the least we can do for those who serve us.

Happy Talk

While listening to NPR this AM I heard a story about the benefits of short, happy visits with family members suffering from Alzheimers. Just had to share this short article and it's good advice.
"Telling them a simple joke, calling them up on the phone, giving them a visit, could actually have these enormous positive benefits," he adds. (click here to read the entire article)

Woodn't you like to have a seat?

Wow, I forgot what it's like to sit on bleachers!  Has it really been that long??  My nephew's son plays basketball in one of the youth "pay to play" leagues in Washington.  My sis called to let us know they'd be driving down to watch him play here in Salem.  Nice to have those opportunities handed to you!
We watched his first game Saturday afternoon and then we all went out to eat at Word of Mouth.  They were out of the Bloom Cider, but the clam chowder didn't disappoint.  :>)

Pixels! Thanks to Hell Cat Betty :>)

Shave and a haircut

You have your entertainment and we have ours.  :>)  Personally, I'm kinda partial to that fuzzy, curly, style, but I'm out voted every single time.

The promise of sunshine

Just the promise of sunshine has lifted my spirits this morning. What a shame we can't find a way to put that feeling into a can! Oh wait, you say natural is better?

My favorite found images came from the UK (including that one over to the left).

 I think that lamb is smiling.  Probably why I like it.

Is the laptop the new fire?

As Fran, N and I sat in the living room chatting and watching the flames and glowing embers in our woodstove last night, it struck me that perhaps computers have become a replacement for fire gazing.

Small Talk

N and I took a whirlwind trip down to Rosieburg to pick-up Fran this morning. Jonathon's family was in the middle of their Easter day, between church services and heading to a dinner at the house of some dear friends. Our goal was to impact their day as little as possible and to keep from putting Fran in a position of being totally wiped out. Except for Hope weeing on their floor (twice!), we were successful.

Our talk on the drive back covered many topics, one of which was whether it's okay to expect a family member to join the rest of the family for Easter service when it's not in line with their personal beliefs. My thoughts are that we have the right to ask for an adult offspring's presence, but we don't have the right to demand it. Fran felt it was a small price to pay and a show of respect. I don't think it's that easy.

Everyone has their own personal reasons for taking their own particular path. They struggle with all that they've been raised with, their experiences and their view of the world. If a parent feels their child has made the wrong decision, how can it help the parent's case to make a big deal out of it? (Not the case in Fran's story.)

Newest Oregon LIcense Plate

BTW This was an April Fool's gag ...
I was so excited to see they'd finally approved this plate! Finally something the really captures Oregon! I wonder how long before they're available to the public?