More Motivation
Whenever I’m interested in learning something new, I fire up the internet and head over to my local library’s webs site. I then start searching for books on the topic and anything that looks remotely interesting, I click the Request button. Typically in a few days, a slew of books are waiting for me. I then go through the books looking for information. Some I’ll just glance at and return. Others I’ll actually read in depth. In the span of two weeks, I’ll digest a large amount of information on the topic and have a pretty good feel for whatever the subject is. Occasionally, something I’ll read will really strike a chord with me and I’ll make that important switch from passive reader to active participant. The interesting thing is; what is it exactly that flips that motivation switch? Read more »
Posted: August 27th, 2008 under Improvement.
Comments: 1
Clutter Buster
The other night I wanted to do some work on the computer, but the kids wanted to watch Scooby Doo on NetFlix. On occasion, I’d stream a movie from NetFlix on the PC and the kids would lie on our bed and watch it. Something about watching a movie on the PC in Mom and Dad’s bed is exciting to them. So I fired it up and soon the Scooby gang was dealing with vampires in Australia. But now what was I going to do? There sure are a lot of papers on the desk. Read more »
Posted: August 26th, 2008 under Possesions.
Comments: none
Family History is Important
I typically talk to my grandmother every Sunday. She’s 89 years old and still going strong so I enjoy catching up with her week and telling her about the latest antics of the kids. Yesterday we were talking and she was telling me the different things she did as a child that were so dangerous. Apparently she and her brother would take a wagon (as in horse and…), remove the section that the horses connected to, move it up to the top of a hill, and then ride down the road at full speed, hoping no cars came by. Later she told me about the time her house and four others burned to the ground. It reminded me of when I talked to my grandfather about his service during World War II. He had all these interesting stories that I had no idea about. Read more »
Posted: August 25th, 2008 under Family.
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It’s Policy
How many times has a simple thing blown up into something ridiculous because people refuse to apply actual thought to the situation? I have found myself growing less tolerant of poor customer service from the places I do business with. I’m never belligerent or rude but I’m certainly not going away because “it is our policy.” A lot of this has to do with me reading sites like the Consumerist but also just the general degradation of competent help. I will say that probably 75% of the time any issue that I have is resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner. Unfortunately, that percentage used to be a lot higher just a few years ago. Why is that? Read more »
Posted: August 22nd, 2008 under Stress.
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Family Olympics
A few years back I created this activity for our Sunday School class called the Family Olympics. The idea was that each family would compete in a series of games and whichever team won the most would win a Gold, the family that came in second got the Silver, and the third place team won a Bronze. It was a challenge because we had families of all different age groups and some with no kids. Trying to balance it out in such a way so that everyone had a roughly equal chance at winning required some mental gymnastics but I eventually figured it out. Of course the end result was not to find out who had the best family; it was to encourage families to come together in friendly competition. Read more »
Posted: August 21st, 2008 under Family.
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