Updates and Changes

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about this blog. It started as an online journal - a way just to write stuff out. I've read some articles about ways to make money from a blog, and I've even gave some thought into doing something like that. The main problem(s) is/are that I have the attention span of a magpie (Ooo! Shiney!) and off I go in a different direction. So a blog about one topic would be doomed to fail.

Anyway,  it's been...what...Eight months since I last wrote? My wife and I have an ongoing joke that we never know where life is going to take us so we don't make plans much more than a month in advance. There has been a lot that has happened that I recorded over in Facebook (curse you, you easy to use !@#$%^&*). Fortunately, I have resisted the siren's lure of Facebook games and applications. Too many privacy red flags for my (admittedly skewed) tastes.

So, the Reader's Digest version: My spinal fusion surgery was a complete success! I am pain free and back to 100% normalcy. The human body is a fantastic thing. It's amazing what it can go through and still keep ticking. The downside is that I've pretty much given up on doing any heavy weightlifting. I could probably do it, but the thought of screwing something up makes me cringe and it just isn't worth it to me. 

My father also passed away last November. His cancer finally caught up with him. I posted the eulogy I did for him on Facebook and I might repost it here at some point. There isn't much more I have/want to say about that.

I started a new job about two months ago. As of last Friday, I'm unemployed. Long story, but the gist of it is that there were too many things going on (or not going on) that I didn't agree with and I couldn't in good conscience stay there. Unfortunately, that puts me in a bit of a bind. In all honesty, I don't like my current career path (such as it is), so I'm thinking of starting over. The problem is that I don't know which direction to take. I'm two years away from being 40 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I may be going back to school...if I can scrounge up the finances. More on this to come...

Let's see, what else? Washington State's caucus's were a few weeks ago. Somehow I managed to get myself elected as a delegate to our county's caucus. That should be fairly interesting...especially if I managed to get elected as a delegate to the state convention. 

On the game front, my online D&D group folded a little while ago. I was with that group for over a year (and I hadn't played D&D for decades prior to that). So I've been at a bit of a loss on the creative front. Role-playing games is one of those guilty pleasures for me. Having grown up in the 80s, there is still a lingering...something...from those years when it was looked down upon as "evil". I'm going to miss my group as it has always been very hard for me to find people I like to game with. 

(Unnecessary Side Note with No Further Explanation: Minecraft is far too addictive! Someone save me! I don't want to spend that much time playing this stupid game!)

I know there is more to say, but I don't feel like sitting here any longer. (So nyah!) I probably should figure out what exactly I should do with this blog. Make it more useful or something. Far too many things running through my head at this point. Life calls...and I don't like the names it is calling me.

The Problem with Facebook

The problem with Facebook is (as I've mentioned before) is that I don't take the time to write in my blog. Lots happened over the past year. Most importantly, I had a spinal fusion surgery. It went fantastically and I'm just about back to 100%. Which means I can start working out again. Who knows? Perhaps I'll even write in my blog some more...

Is It Too Early For A "Bah! Humbug!" ?

There is a lot that has happened since my last post. Unfortunately, since I've started on Facebook, I haven't taken the opportunity to blog much. Bah...who am I kidding? I just haven't had any thoughts worth writing down lately. I have read a lot more classical books lately. I can't remember which ones came between the last one I wrote about and my current one (and I'm too lazy to go figure it out). The book previous to my current one was "A Midsummer's Night Dream."

(striking a dramatic pose) "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania." ...and all that rot. It was a quick read and (in all honesty) wasn't overly interesting. Yeah, I'm an uncultured swine. I've accepted this about myself.

Currently, I'm reading "Great Expectations." I haven't read that since high school. I remember so very little about it other than Miss Havisham catching on fire (that does happen, right?) - morbid remembrance, I know. I'm still in the early chapters and enjoying it quite a bit.

The kids are doing good in school and work is going okay. Although, I found out that my spine is all messed up and if I ever have to have back surgery, I probably won't return to that particular job. In any case, I've started physical therapy and go in to see a neurosurgeon every 6 months or so. Fun stuff.

New Day After the Night

I finished up Arabian Nights a week or so ago. It turned out there were only 4 or so stories that had a mature theme. The rest were fine. And that is pretty much my opinion of the book as a whole, "fine." Some of the stories were a bit repetitious for my tastes. Others were pretty neat. It makes me wonder why certain stories have caught the modern imagination instead of others. I was surprised at the number of what I would consider Biblical (old Testament) references (King Solomon being a prominent historical figure in many places.) In any case, it probably isn't one I'll read through cover to cover again, but I might pick it up to reference specific tales.

Onward we go, then. My next book (which I'm already halfway through) is one I had seen on my dad's bookshelf for a long time: Silas Marner. Not having looked overly close at the title before now, I thought I was in for another nautical adventure. Yeah..."Marner" not "Mariner" - the title character is a weaver and not a sailor. Goes to show what I know.

Apparently this is a book that has been read in American schools almost since the beginning. (Not in my case. I knew absolutely nothing about it.) As such, some of the reviews I have read about it were not overly flattering...which tends to happen to books that we are forced to read in our youth. Since it was not a part of my past, I went into it with fresh eyes. So far I really like it. It's not so much a story about a single person; instead it is about a community and acceptance and how personal tradgedies affect everyone. Pretty neat stuff.

And it is a quick read. Like I said, I'm already halfway through it, and I imagine I'll be finished by the end of the week.

New Book and Other Random Thoughts

I just finished Tale of Two Cities. I know there are some people that don't like it; I thought most of the book was fine and the last 3-4 chapters were incredible. I have to admit that it has been a long time since a book almost made me cry.

Going into it, I didn't know much about it other than the title and the very first line: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." I was impressed how all the seemingly random chapters pulled together near the end. Even more impressive was when I read that Charles Dickens wrote and published a chapter a week in the periodical he was the editor of. Simply amazing. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the two cities are London and Paris in the years/months/days before and during the bloody French Revolution.

Now I'm on to The Arabian Nights - or more specifically, an abbreviated edition of it (since the whole thing is several volumes long). It's still the original Richard Burton translation, though. First impressions: No paragraphs! Arrg! Just one gigantic wall of text with no convenient place to take a break. Not only that, but it didn't take me long to understand why there have been objections to it over the years. It can be a bit...umm...risque in some scenes. It's definately not a book for kids...even if there are kid cartoons based on many of the stories. It caught me a bit off guard.

On a completely separate topic, I haven't posted as much here as I might have because of Facebook. It's terribly easy just to toss up a one sentence update on little minor events (or not so minor sometimes) that there doesn't seem to be as much need for a long-winded post. (Or maybe there is...since I'm doing one right now.) On the other hand, maybe it will let me focus my writing a little more. Who knows?

Weightlifting/swimming is going great! I'm loving being able to push myself physically. My muscles don't get sore anymore, but I do get tired. I'm pretty sure it's helping me sleep better as well.

Last little item...okay, it's a big one. Early last week I was approached by my boss's boss. Due to a large decrease in revenue from our team, we are going to lose several people. Jobs aren't being cut, they are just being moved elsewhere. Long story short, I was asked if I would be interested in a Facilities Manager type position, as the person currently doing that type of work is the Executive Secretary and she no longer has the time availablity to do it. I said yes, and was officially offered the position yesterday. So, even though I had a recent promotion, I'm moving out of my current role into a completely different field.

I'm excitied but also have a bit of that "deer in the headlights" feeling. The transition doesn't happen until next week, so it has been massively chaotic around here as we scramble to reorganize the team. I'm finally out of customer service! Currently, the position is only for the building here in town, but it will grow to include all the other offices across the country. It's a big opportunity for me and one that I feel honored to have been thought of as being capable for the role. There are still a lot of details to work out; although the responsibilities aren't new, the actual position is. And I'm the first one to hold it!

Workout Wonder

My workouts are going well. I'm even keeping a workout log at a weightlifting website where I can track my progress. So what exactly am I doing? Well, it's called a 5x5 workout. You start with an empty bar (in most cases) and add 5 pounds each workout. So far it has been easy, except for the bodyweight exercises (push ups, pull ups, etc.). I've been trying to work on my form so I don't kill myself as the weights go up.

It has been extremely nice to know exactly what I'm going to do when I get there. I can go it, set myself up, do my workout, and leave...all under an hour. At some point I'm going to add cardio workouts (i.e. swimming), but for now I'm just working on increasing my strength. Now that I'm doing something, I don't feel like I have to get in the pool right now. That being said, I do have a bunch of swimming workouts planned - workout that I have collected from when I was in the swim conditioning class and participating in the Masters swimming at WSU. The question is which to start with; which one will make me look the least like a drowning rat?

If I Was Unbalanced, Could I Do...This? (::insert awkward pose here::)

As a youth, I was never considered a jock or a nerd. Yes, I was athletic and yes, I did think of myself a quite smart (even if my grades didn't reflect it), but I didn't fit into either category. (Looking back, I admit I wasn't smart enough to think there might be more than two possibilities.) I had heard the phrase "jack of all trades" fairly early in life and attached myself to that - only to later hate that I was never passionate about any one thing. But that is going in a different direction than I want to go right now.

In my first year in college, I came across the term "philosopher-king" in my classical reading. This is a concept of someone who is strong physically like a traditional strongman-type "king" but who also trains his mind to be an equally strong "philosopher." The idea was that a perfect ruler would combine both worlds of jock and nerd. At the time, it was a mind-opening concept for me. Even now, I love the thought of living a balanced life of the physical, mental, and spiritual.

So, with that in mind, I've found a gym that has a pool. Now, in addition to my classic reading kick I've been on lately, I'll have the opportunity to workout as well. I'll be alternating swimming workouts with free weights.

3 Month Goals:

• Squat 150 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Deadlift 225 lbs (1 set of 5 reps)
• Bench Press 115 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Overhead Press 75 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)

6 Month Goals:

• Squat 195 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Deadlift 270 lbs (1 set of 5 reps)
• Bench Press 135 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Overhead Press 105 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)

...and I'm starting tonight.

We be Wee People; who be you?

Growing up as a short kid, I got picked on a lot. It's something you learn to live with. As a youth, I still got good humored teasing about being short. (The non-good humor teasing took a completely different tack.) As a middle-aged man (I have a hard time seeing myself as "middle-aged," but there it is...) there is still the occasional look-at-me-aren't-I-funny-messing-with-Steve moments. Generally, I just roll my eyes and move along with life.

So, I come into work today and find a big plastic pot of gold (not the chocolate kind either, bah!) on my desk. Stuck in the pot is a big sign reading "World's Greatest Leprechaun!" with my picture in the middle. (It doesn't help that my ears are slightly pointy.) Everyone found it extremely funny and waited to see how I would react. I put the pot (sign and all) on the cubical divider so everyone passing by could see and sat down to start my day at work. I think it was a bit anti-climatic for some. Ah well...I fully embrace my quirks.

Now for some background (this is a story I told in a team meeting several weeks ago): I ride the bus every day to and from work. Every once in awhile you meet some...interesting...people. So one morning I was at the bus stop when a fellow walks up obviously intoxicated. He starts asking me random questions and I respond politely. Generally I ignore people like that, but this guy was inoffensive and was actually somewhat entertaining. Finally, the bus pulls up and this fellow starts digging through his pockets and says, "Now I gotta come up with a dollar to get on the bus."

I happened to have a dollar coin in my pocket and, feeling unusally maganimous, I flip it over to him and say, "Here you go!" He catches it, looks at it, back at me, and breaks into a big ol' smile. He then says, "You're my best friend ever! You must be a leprechaun - you gave me gold!" As we got on the bus, he proceeded to tell everyone there that I was a leprechaun. It was an interesting bus ride.

The Tribulation of the Choir Director

Let me walk you through my day: First, I had to cover for the Elder's Quorum President today in Ward Council. Normally that isn't a big deal, but since we have the early session this year, I had to be at the church at 7:00 a.m. That means I had to get up at 6. Again, not that big of a deal. However, since the choir was performing today in sacrament meeting, we had rehearsals before church started at 9:00 a.m.

Right after Ward Council, I called home to make sure everyone was ready to be picked up. No worries there. So I race home to find out that Benjamin had thrown up in the 15 minutes it had taken me to get home. Leslie had to conduct Primary today so couldn't stay home and I had to direct the choir so I couldn't stay home. We quickly decided that I would take the non-sick kids to sacrament and then I would come home and Leslie and I would switch.

With the kids loaded up we raced back to the church, thinking I was going to be late for the choir rehearsal. Two people showed up. Two. Normally no big deal. But we haven't practiced in the past few weeks due to several different issues. (Is Valentines day really an excuse to bail out on choir? I mean, church gets out at noon and if someone REALLY needs to be with their spouse that bad that they can't stay for the 45 minutes after church we have for choir practice, who am I to say otherwise?)

So there I was, sitting in sacrament with 4 kids wondering if anyone was going to bother getting up when it came time for the choir to sing. Lucky for me, they did. Not very many, mind you, but at least there were some. (I may be overreacting, but it seems like our ward choir has been getting smaller and smaller since I was called as the director. Meh...whatever...) We sang "Love at Home" - first verse in unison, second verse guys on melody and women on the alto line, and last verse in all 4 parts. We sounded like a typical small ward choir. I'm not judging, but I do have to keep reminding myself that none of us are professionals and with so few of us, I have to really scale back on my music selection (like strictly out of the hymn book. Luckily we have a fantastic piano player who is able to embellish the accompaniment beautifully.

A quick 15 minute run back home saw me rushing in the house and Leslie out of the house. The car engine was never shut off and I felt like high-fiving my wife while yelling "You're It!" Ben was asleep and the rest of my morning was fairly quiet. I think I was supposed to go home teaching today as well, but my companion and I never really touch base with each other and, since I wasn't really at church today, I didn't think about it until just now.

As a brief follow-up from my last post, apparently everyone in my entire world has a facebook account. Who knew? There is a lot of stuff that I just don't quite understand yet and (justified or not) there are a lot of things that the privacy freak in my head is screaming about. (i.e. I wouldn't mind playing a game or two on there, but when it asks for permission for some third party to access my personal information I tend to say, "Huh, what do you know? I didn't want to play that as much as I originally thought...") Overly paranoid? Possibly. I've accepted this about myself. I'm not sure how much I'll use it, but there it is. If someone wants to get in touch with me, they now can.

Hey You...with the Face!

So I did the nigh unthinkable last night: I made a facebook account. I've never really been a fan of social networking sites (for a lot of different reasons). However, I made an exception because I came across some familiar faces from when I was a pre-teen/teenager. Egads...not that I want to relive those years, but it's nice to be able to get in touch and say "Hi!"

Besides, it's interesting to see how the other half lives their online life. I'm chalking this whole thing up in the "Social Experiment" catagory.

ID Badge Creed (With Apologies to Riflemen Everywhere)

This is my badge. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my badge is useless. Without my badge, I am useless. I must use my badge properly. My badge and I know that what counts in a badge audit is not our intentions, apologies, or the excuses we make. We know that it is the beeps that count. We will make it beep.

My badge is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories. I will keep my badge clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

Before my co-workers I swear this creed.

To Everything There Is a Season...

The process of writing down my thoughts seems strange on a very esoteric level. (Don't worry, I don't know what that means either...it just sounds good.) In my general, everyday life, I have random thoughts (or strings of thought) that are triggered by some sight, sound, other thought, etc. When it runs its course, that is the end of it. It is forgotten.

Taking the time to capture those thoughts in writing is what I consider the hallmark of a great thinker. If you can't organize and relay those random ideas, it is just internal background noise.

But when effort is put into it, even if it is one short sentence, then it can be looked at, expanded (even if over a loooong period of time) and become the bais of something greater. How many times have I heard about someone who wants to write a book but never even starts?

Ursula K. LeGuin (one of my favorite authors as a youth) wrote about this when explaining her response to the question: "How do I become a better writer?" She gives a two-step process: First, learn to type. Second (and I'm paraphrasing here) put something, anything, down on paper. The best way to learn is to do. She also mentions that her response tends to irritate people.

LeGuin has a point, though - one that made a lot of sense to me (and still does). I spent a lot of time in late high school and early college writing whatever came into my head - dreams, observations of classmates, snippets of fiction, random thoughts. I remember even writing about not having anything to write about. I just kept my pencil moving.

In college, my English 201 professor was, by far, the best writing instructor I ever had. I actually enjoyed his class. However, when it came to the final paper, I was at a complete loss. No matter how much I struggled with it (in hindsight, I probably could have spent more time in the struggle), I couldn't get started. So I dithered and delayed until the second-to-last day. (I'm sure none of you have been in that situation.)

In desperation, I just started writing. It was supposed to have been a research paper, but it ended up being some complete farce of fiction where a private-eye detective was looking for a topic. I wish I still had a copy. I was so embarassed that I was turning such tripe in that I came in on the last day, threw my paper on the pile, and left as quickly as possible. (There was no official "final" test - the paper was it.)

To this day, I have no idea what that man thought about my paper. But, by all I hold honorable and true, my final grade in that class was an A. It was the only A I received that semester. I dropped out of college (again) a semester or two later, and I never saw that professor again.

Nowadays, I have gone back to just letting the random thoughts come and go. I feel bad about it, honestly. Especially when I'm reading some of these classic books, I feel I should be recording my thoughts so I can review and expand on them (such as my thoughts about the senator from Uncle Tom's Cabin and how that relates to other areas of politics). The easy thing to do would be to mark it down to personal laziness, but I can't believe that is the whole issue. (Of course, I could just be fooling myself. Maybe it is due completely to being lazy.)

Sure, every now and then I break out with a blog post that goes a bit deeper than surface thoughts and actions. But, admittedly, they are few and far between. I'm not sure I'm at the point where I want to commit to writing every day. Let's face it, writing a stream-0f-consciousness blog post (like this one) is easy. Wrting something with a set purpose is harder. Writing something with any redeemable value is harder still.

Maybe what I need to do is write a stream-of-consciousness book. Yeah...(heavy on the sarcasm) I'm sure publishers would love something like that. I do have some ideas I would like to explore, but this time in my life might not be the right time.

To everything there is a season...

More Updates

Sheesh...seems like I've been playing catch-up too much lately. But, ah well. Here's the latest scoop:

I just finished reading Black Beauty, which I thought I had read before but apparently I haven't. I didn't realize (or forgotten) that it was written from the horse's point of view. It's one that I think I might have to read to my girls. They would absolutely love it.

Since I finished that, I've moved on to The Miracle of Forgiveness. I decided to move off the fiction again and go on to something a little more "weighty." I've read parts of this before, but never cover to cover. I'm only on the third chapter, but I realize I have some spiritual things I need to work on/fix in my life.

Along those lines, Leslie and I bought an exercise bike last week. With the exception of Sunday, we have both put in a half-hour a day so far. I found out a few months ago that I was officially overweight...not but much, but there it is. So I'm doing something about it.

Reading List Catch-Up

Since I haven't posted anything in awhile, I haven't taken the chance to comment on the books I've read. That's too bad, really. I had some interesting thoughts at several points along the way and thought, "I should write that down and think about it some more." Blah...it's one of the curses of modern living. I'm too easily distracted by too many other mind-numbing things that I don't take enough time just to sit and think anymore.

So here is what I've read since Sleepy Hollow:

Uncle Tom's Cabin (very cool book...I have boatloads I could talk about...but probably won't)
A Farewell to Arms (on my list of books never to read again)
The Wee Free Men (not a classic, but it was a fun little "fairy tale" book)

Right now, I'm reading Of Mice and Men by one of my favorite authors, John Steinbeck.

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I wrote this while I was at work. I just had an incredibly irritating conversation with someone here about a work-related issue and now I'm too mad to continue writing...

Arm-Waving Freakoutery

One of my official jobs is now to wave my arms about like a spaz in front of a bunch of people. Yes, that's right, I've been called to be the choir director at church. We perform in church once a month...and today was my first "performance".

It was actually a lot of fun - I really, really like music and I have very distinct memories of "conducting" the music to an old Hooked on Classics tape as a young kid. I remember thinking it would be neat to conduct a full orchestra, but let's face it, I have never been that interested in putting in the effort to be a professional musician.

In any case, our choir is small and widely varies in the number of members depending on the day, the weather, the song, etc... I don't expect any miracles anyway. This ain't the movie Sister Act and I certainly ain't Whoopie Goldberg (although I'm sure I'd make a terrible nun too).

Here's my philosophy when it comes to the church choir: When something wonderful happened in the heavens, the multitudes there either shouted for joy or sang. Now I don't really care if us mortals are more shouters or singers, but I figure if there is room enough in heaven for both, there certainly is room enough for both in the choir.

For today, we started our song acapella (no piano): Listen, Listen and then went right in to Search, Ponder, and Pray, both of which are songs written for little kids. Still, it was fun and they sounded great. I think next month we'll do Now Thank We All Our God since it is the Thanksgiving season.

Post Birthday Week

Last week was a very bad week for me. There were a lot of reasons for it - none of them worth squat in the grand scheme of things though. I was overly irritable and I generally blew up at the kids for the littlest things. Luckily, my family still loves me and I'm slowly getting over it (the feeling is still there to a degree, but I'm working harder at keeping it in check). I don't want to go into details of my funk because it would be at all helpful and there are just some things that aren't flattering to myself or others. It could be described as one of those dark corners of mortality that, unfortunately, spilled out into the rest of life.

I find it odd that our own perception of who we are is, at times, greatly different from how others perceive us. Iwas talking to Mary about this the other day. We can sit in church and look at a family and think they have it all worked out - nearly perfect in some cases. Then we feel inadequate, imperfect, perhaps even hypocritical at times. That is especially true when we hear from others how "perfect" our own family is. To paraphrase Bugs Bunny: "They don't know us to well, do they?" But it goes the other way too. We can't see what goes on in the homes of others, or in their heads. No one is perfect. No family is perfect. We only see a family on their best behavior for a few hours a week. We only see the outward appearance of a straight A student, or a good singer, or a good dancer (or sometimes all three togehte). It can be disheartening for children and adults.

But something occurred to me today in regards to my children: They may not be the best at anything visible (athletics, singing, grades, etc.) but they are still very young. Before, I would think, "They just need to find something they really enjoy doing." However, in thinking of the response I would most likely get to "What do you enjoy?" I can easily imagine them saying, "Having fun!" And there it is. They don't need to have a hobby or an exlusive interest at this point in their lives, do they? They are still young kids. They need to have fun. And they do. There is still plenty of time for them to figure out what they want to do in life (hopefully they'll figure it out sooner rather than later like me - not that I have figured it out yet mind you).

I guess I worry they are going to be lifetime slackers like me. But, then again, that gets back to my earlier point: They way I see myself isn't the way others see me. Success in life might be more based on the latter rather than the former, so maybe I worry needlessly.

Flowchart Humor

I find humor in some weird places at times. Case in point: Flowchart humor. Anytime someone puts in the effort to make a flowchart that is funny, I appreciate it. I like flowcharts in general anyway. I'm just strange that way I guess.

In any case, last year sometime I made a flowchart outlining my job. Yes, I did share it with my boss...and somehow I managed to get promoted anyway. Go figure.

You'll need to click on it to be able to read it. Warning: You may not think this is funny unless you have had my job, but trust me - it's really is funny. A little too close to the truth at times, but funny nonetheless.

Just in Time for Halloween

The Leadership Challenge is a great book. I forgot how much I enjoy reading it and figuring out ways to make myself better. But now it's time to move on to the next book: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales by Washington Irving. I've read Rip Van Winkle several times before, but not Sleepy Hollow (I've seen the cartoon though...). Nor have I read, or even heard of, any of the other stories in the book.

So far, I'm loving the way he describes things. Lots of imagery. Good use of the English language and all that.

On a side note, I had my second Account Rep meeting today and I'm proud to announce that no one said they felt "puked on." Hey, it's an improvement.

Did You See Which Way My Team Went? I'm Their Leader

I finished The Three Musketeers yesterday. Very, very different from what I thought it was going to be like. Still, an interesting read...even if I REALLY don't understand French culture during that time period.

Next up, a non-fiction book: The Leadership Challenge. This is one that I read back when I was an assistant manager at Hastings. I enjoyed it enough to keep the book around and decided that now that I am in a leadership position again, I should read through it again. As a general rule, I dislike management how-to books. I find them trite and somewhat insulting as a reader and as an employee. This one, however, has a number of redeeming qualities and ranks up there with Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Speaking of leadership, I ran my first Account Representative meeting today at work. We actually haven't had one for nearly half a year, so there was a lot of information to cover. Now for a bit of background: In the past, those meetings have generally been nothing more than complaint fests. They were long, drawn-out, irritating, and generally pointless. Today, however, I had 20 things that needed to be covered and only 60 minutes to do it in. That averages to about 3 minutes per topic. I started the meeting exactly on time - before everyone showed up (including my co-lead).

That made some people angry.

I told everyone that we wouldn't be discussing "what if" scenarios and if they had something they wanted to say, they need to get to the point quickly without any long stories.

That made some people angry.

The first question asked started with "But what if..." They didn't get any further because I interrupted them and repeated that we didn't have the time to go over every possible "what if".

That made one person really angry.

I apologized in advance for the fact that a lot of the information in the meeting was only going to be going one way (me to them), but that future meetings would be much more of a two-way dialogue.

The first part made some people angry.

I proceeded to work through the topics. After each one, I paused and asked for any comments. When the comments threatened to drag on forever or when people started re-hashing points that have already been made, I stopped the discussion, asked them to email me any remaining questions and I would answer them then, and moved on to the next topic.

That made some people angry.

While going over some topics, I noticed several people furiously scribbling notes about the changes and/or things that I asked them to be aware of.

That made me happy.

I conveyed all the information that I needed to with five minutes to spare. I thanked everyone for their patience and reiterated that future meetings (scheduled every two weeks) would have more give and take and they would have more opportunity to voice their opinions. I then adjourned the meeting.

That made several people give me sour faces and one to proclaim: "I felt like I've been puked on for the past hour."

After everyone left, my co-lead and I sat in the room in silence for a few minutes. He then turned to me and said, "Welcome to my world."

Shape Up, Eh?

Today was the first day in a new exercise program I've started. It's called "5BX" meaning Five Basic Exercises. I came across it recently, but it is an old program that was used by the Royal Canadian Airforce. I honestly didn't even know the Canadians HAD an airforce. I guess I am just another ignorant American.

In any case, I won't go into all the details; you can click on the link above to read more about it if you're that interested. It was an easy start, so we'll see how it goes. More to come...