Quote - yesterdays and tomorrows

"How merciful it is when our yesterdays no longer hold our tomorrows
hostage."

- Bruce R. McKonkie-

Sent from my iPhone

Quote - Misery

On the show Everybody Loves Raymond, Raymond says:

"Misery, your company is here."

I guess someone that was negative arrived at the house.

Fuh-ney.

Quote - Moments

"It will happen so fast, but you won't forget a single word."

Instincts and Honesty

On an episode of Sanctuary (a sci-fi show), one of the characters was making a decision that another character didn't agree with and it started a discussion that can be summarized as follows:

Character 1: "I'm sorry for disagreeing with your decision."
Character 2: "Never stop doing that - being honest with me. I need to know that my instincts aren't wrong. That my feelings don't end up blinding my decisions."

Deep thought.

Wrestling with a Pig - quote

Earl:

Don't ever wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

Stupid Questions - quote

Quote on a cube wall:

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask a question?

- Scott Adams -

Quote - Leaders

"A leader's job is to make people's strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant."

- Peter Drucker -

Quote - wishes

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes.

Quote posted on whiteboard - Work

Hard work spotlights the character of people:

- Some turn up their noses
- Some turn up their sleeves
- Some don't turn up

You Might Be a Mormon If...

So, here's something that is supposedly from Jeff Foxworthy, but he couldn't possibly know this without a good Mormon friend prompting him.

I believe that most of these are right on the mark from what I've seen:


Jeff Foxworthy on Mormons

This is to all of you that may be a Mormon, that may know a Mormon, that may live in Utah, that may have lived in Utah or have heard about Mormons.

If all your dishes have your name written on them with masking tape...You might be a Mormon.

If you postdate your checks while shopping on Sunday....You might be a Mormon.

If you believe heck is the place for people who do not believe in gosh...You might be a Mormon.

If your mom was pregnant at your sister's wedding reception....You might be a Mormon

If you pray that your food might "nourish and strengthen your body" before eating doughnuts....You might be a Mormon

If you think Jell-O is one of the basic food groups......You might be a Mormon

If at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house.......You might be a Mormon.

If you've ever written a "Dear-John" to more than two missionaries on the same day....You might be a Mormon

If you were frustrated when your son "only" got accepted to Harvard....You might be a Mormon.

If you have one kid in diapers and one on a mission....You might be a Mormon

If you have never arrived at a meeting on time....You might be a Mormon.

If you have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world countries....You might be a Mormon.

If you've already got your order in for volume 50 of "The Work and The Glory"...You might be a Mormon.

If you think it is all right to watch football on Sundays as long as a direct descendant of Brigham Young is playing...You might be a Mormon.

If you have to guess more than five times the name of the child you're disciplining...You might be Mormon.

If you automatically assume that BYOB means, Bring Your Own Burgers...You might be Mormon.

If you go to a party and someone spikes the punch with Pepsi...You might be a Mormon.

If you arrive to an activity an hour late and are the first person there...You might be a Mormon.

Scripture - Mark 11:24

Mark 11:24 (King James Version)

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Quote - The right thing

Do the right thing.

- Spike Lee -

FYBY

For You, By You

Overheard - Looks and Feelings

It is better to look good than to feel good.

Video - Transformer Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKZdmzDOFuk

"Out of Office" replies

1.I am currently out of the office at a job interview > and will reply to you if I fail to get the position.> Please be prepared for my mood.> >

2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am> out of the office. If I was in, chances are you> wouldn't have received anything at all.> >

3. Sorry to have missed you, but I'm at the doctor's having my> brain and heart removed so I can be promoted to our> management team.> >

4. I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I return> from vacation. Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in> the order it was received.> >

5. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99> for the first 10 words and $1.99 for each additional word in your> message.> >

6. The email server is unable to verify your server connection.> Yourmessage has n ot been delivered. Please restart your computer and> try sending again.(The beauty of this is that when> you return, you can see who did this over and over> and over ...)> >

7. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing> system.You are currently 352nd in the queue, and can expect to receive a> reply in approximately 19 weeks.> >

8. Hi, I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by> your computer for my response.> >

9. I've run away to join a different circus.> >

10. I will be out of the office for the next two weeks for medical> reasons.> When I return, please refer to me as 'Stephanie' instead of'Steve'.

Funny - Nature of God

GOD ENJOYS A GOOD LAUGH >> >> >> >> >> >> There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black: >> >> 1. He called everyone brother >> >> 2. He liked Gospel >> >> 3. He didn't get a fair trial >> >> >> >> >> But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish: >> >> 1. He went into His Father's business >> >> 2. He lived at home until he was 33 >> >> 3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God >> >> >> >> >> But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian: >> >> 1. He talked with His hands >> >> 2. He had wine with His meals >> >> 3. He used olive oil >> >> >> >> >> But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian: >> >> 1. He never cut His hair >> >> 2. He walked around barefoot all the time >> >> 3. He started a new religion >> >> >> >> >> But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an >> American Indian: >> >> 1. He was at peace with nature >> >> 2. He ate a lot of fish >> >> 3. He talked about the Great Spirit >> >> >> >> >> But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish: >> >> 1. He never got married. >> >> 2. He was always telling stories. >> >> 3. He loved green pastures. >> >> >> >> >> But the most compelling evidence of all - 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman: >> >> 1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was virtually no food >> >> 2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just >> didn't get it >> >> 3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was >> still work to do >> >> Can I get an >> >> AMEN!!

Story - 1,000 marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's thequiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's theunbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hoursof a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup ofcoffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as atypical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seemsto hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio inorder to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I cameacross an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a goldenvoice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcastingbusiness. He was telling whomeverhe was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intriguedand stopped to listen to what he had to say."Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure theypay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and yourfamily so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixtyor seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed yourdaughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something thathas helped me keep my own priorities."And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles.""You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The averageperson lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and somelive less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is thenumber of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.Now, stickwith me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in anydetail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through overtwenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to beseventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I wentto a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up havingto visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home andput them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shacknext to my gear.""Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown itaway. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on thereally important things in life. There is nothing like watching your timehere on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.""Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take mylovely wife out forbreakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container.I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given alittle extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little moretime.""It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family,and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man,K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.I guess he gave us all a lot to think about I had planned to work on theantenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams towork on the next club newsletter..Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey,I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" sheasked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time sincewe spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop ata toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles...A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.And so, as one smart bear once said.."If you live to be a hundred, I wantto live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live withoutyou." - Winnie the Pooh.

Poem - Less is More - by Scot

> Saved this from an old email from my brother.

Subject: scot poem> Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:56:53 -0400>

"Less is more."

> Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,>
Enwrought with golden and silver light,>
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths>
Of night and light and the half-light,>
I would spread the cloths under your feet:>
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;>
I have spread my dreams under your feet;>
Tread softly because you tread upon my dreams.

> Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

> The world is too much with us; late and soon,>
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;>
Little we see in Nature that is ours;>
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!>
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,>
The winds that will be howling at all hours,>
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,>
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;>
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be>
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; >
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, >
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;>
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;>
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. >

About Me: I persist. I pursue the unattainable. I change.

Funny - Performance Evaluation Quotes

Subject: Performance evaluation quotes

These quotes were reportedly taken from actual federal employee performance evaluations:

1. Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.

2. I would not allow this employee to breed

3. Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.

4. When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet.

5. He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.

6. This young lady has delusions of adequacy.

7. This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

8. This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better.

9. He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to acheive them.

10. Got a full 6- pack, but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.

11. A gross ignoramus ? 144 times worse than an ordianary ignoramus.

12. He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier.

13. I would like to go hunting with him sometime.

14. He's been working with glue too much.

15. He would argue with a signpost.

16. He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.

17. When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.

18. If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one.

19. A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.

20. A prime candidate for natural de-selection.

21. Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.

22. Gates are down, lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.

23. Has two brains: One is lost and the other is out looking for it.

24. If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week.

25. If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change.

26. If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean.

27. It's hard to believe that he beat out 1,000,000 other sperm.

28. One neuron short of a synapse.

29. Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.

30. Takes him 2 hours to watch 60 minutes.

31. The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.

Funny - Kids in Church

KIDS IN CHURCH
>3-year-old, Reese:
>"Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off the neighbor's wife."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord's Prayer for several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word right up to the end of the prayer: "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some E-mail.
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>One particular four-year-old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A Sunday school teacher asked her children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door?They're hushers."
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5 and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
>'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
>

Quote - learning

"In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists."

Funny - Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

GEORGE W. BUSH - We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or it is against us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL - Now at the left of the screen, you clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

HANZ BLIX - We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

JACQUES CHIRAC - We will veto any resolution regarding noncompliance of the chicken whether it has or has not crossed the road!

MOHAMMED ALDOURI (Iraq ambassador) - The chicken did not cross the road. This is a complete fabrication. We don't even have a chicken.

SADDAM HUSSEIN - This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

AL GORE - I invented the chicken. I invented the road. Therefore, the chicken crossing the road represented the application of these two different functions of government in a new, reinvented way designed to bring greater services to the American people.

RALPH NADER - The chicken's habitat on the original side of the road had been polluted by unchecked industrialist greed. The chicken did not reach the unspoiled habitat on the other side of the road because it was crushed by the wheels of a gas-guzzling

SUV.PAT BUCHANAN - To steal a job from a decent, hardworking American.

RUSH LIMBAUGHI - don't know why the chicken crossed the road, but I'll bet it was getting a government grant to cross the road, and I'll bet someone out there is already forming a support group to help chickens with crossing-the-road syndrome. Can you believe this? How much more of this can real Americans take? Chickens crossing the road paid for by their tax dollars, and when I say tax dollars, I'm talking about your money, money the government took from you to build roads for chickens to cross.

MARTHA STEWART - No one called to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the farmer's market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

JERRY FALWELL - Because the chicken was gay! Isn't it obvious? Can't you people see the plain truth in front of your face? The chicken was going to the "other side." That's what they call it -- the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And, if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too.I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like "the other side."

DR. SEUSS - Did the chicken cross the road?Did he cross it with a toad?Yes, The chicken crossed the road,But why it crossed, I've not been told!

ERNEST HEMINGWAY - To die. In the rain. Alone

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. - I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

BARBARA WALTERS - Isn't that interesting? In a few moments we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

BILL GATES - I have just released eChicken 2003, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook and Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.

ALBERT EINSTEIN - Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON - I did NOT cross the road with THAT chicken. What do you mean by chicken? Could you define chicken, please?

GRANDPA - In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

COLONEL SANDERS - I missed one?

Funny - Favorite Flower

While attending a marriage seminar on communication, Tom and his wife, Peg, listened to the instructor declare, "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other." He addressed the men, "Do you know your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched Peg's arm gently and whispered, "Pillsbury All-Purpose, isn't it?"

Funny - Parrot in the Freezer

A young man named Jon received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

Jon tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally Jon was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Jon shook the parrot and the parrot got even angrier and more rude. Jon in desperation, threw up his hands and grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then, suddenly there was total quiet, not a peep was heard. Fearing that he had hurt the parrot, Jon quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto Jon's outstretched arm and said , " I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions. I fully intend to do everything I can do to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior ."

Jon was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. He was about to ask the parrot why he had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, but the bird continued...

"May I ask what the chicken did?"

Quote - Maybe

Maybe one day it will get better

Quote - Perseverence

Never give up.

For that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Quote - Relaxation

Relaxation is an art that has been made very difficult to practice by the conditions of modern civilization.

Prayer of the Meyers-Briggs Types

This is pretty funny and unfortunately very true.

http://www.bouldertherapist.com/html/humor/MentalHealthHumor/prayermyersbriggs.html

Video - kids and finger biting

Saw this on Erin's blog and thought I'd share. So cute.

Video - Why Email was Invented

Quote - Design

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

--Douglas Adams

Quote - Taking a personal break

"Rest when you're tired. Take a drink of cold water when you're thirsty. Call a friend when you're lonely. Ask God to help when you feel overwhelmed. Many of us have learned how to deprive and neglect ourselves. Many of us have learned to push ourselves hard, when the problem is that we're already pushed too hard. Many of us are afraid the work won't get done if we rest when we're tired. The work will get done; it will be done better than work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit. Nurtured, nourished people, who love themselves and care for themselves, are the delight of the Universe. They are well-timed, efficient, and divinely led."


From The Language of Letting Go, Melody Beattie

Video - Mayo Clinic Piano Playing

Arlington, VA - The Rap

This, my friends, is hilarious because it is true.

Glass Half Full?

A quote on a friend's Facebook page:

Optimists see the glass as half-full.
Pessimists see the glass as half-empty.
I see the glass twice as big as it needs to be.

Quote - Service

The Spirit of Service “If I'm attentive to what's going on inside of me when I'm helping, 1 find that I'm always helping someone who's not as strong as 1 am, who is needier than 1 am. People feel this inequality. When we help we inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity and wholeness. When 1 help 1 am very aware of my own strength. But we don't serve with our strength, we serve with ourselves. . . .Helping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing, is mutual. There is no debt. 1 am as served as the person 1 am serving. When 1 help 1 have a feeling of satisfaction. When 1 serve 1 have a feeling of gratitude.”
"Serving is also very different from fixing. When 1 fix a person 1 perceive them as broken, and their brokenness requires me to act. When 1 fix 1 do not see the wholeness in the other person or trust the integrity of the life in them. When 1 serve 1 see and trust that wholeness.. .Fixing is a form of judgment. All judgment creates distance, a disconnection, an experience of difference.. .We can only serve that to which we are profoundly connected, that which we are willing to touch. This is Mother Teresa's basic message. We serve life not because it is broken but because it is holy.

"I think 1 would go so far as to say that fixing and helping may often be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul. They may look similar if you're watching from the outside, but the inner experience is different. The outcome is often different too.. .Lastly, fixing and helping are the basis of curing, but not of healing.. .Only service heals."

"In the Service of Life, " Rachel Naomi Remen, Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco

Quote - Best and Brightest

Quote on an email signature:

..saying "we're going to hire the best and the brightest" is the policy equivalent of saying "I would like a pony." -- Alyssa Rosenberg

BigThink - Thoughts on History

Quote - thinking and acting

"You are more likely to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting."

Principles of Leadership

Principles of Leadership

At the United States Naval Academy’s Forrestal Lecture Series, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England identified important principles of leadership based on his personal experiences as a business executive and as the 72nd Secretary of the Navy.

Those fifteen principles are as follows:

• Provide an environment for every person to excel
• Treat every person with dignity and respect — nobody is more important than anyone else
• Be forthright, honest and direct with every person and in every circumstance
• Improve effectiveness to gain efficiency
• Cherish your time and the time of others — it is not renewable
• Identify the critical problems that need solution for the organization to succeed
• Describe complex issues and problems simply so every person can understand
• Never stop learning — depth and breadth of knowledge are equally important
• Encourage constructive criticism
• Surround yourself with great people and delegate to them full authority and responsibility
• Make ethical standards more important than legal requirements
• Strive for team-based wins, not individual
• Emphasize capability — not organization
• Incorporate measures and metrics everywhere
• Concentrate on core functions and outsource all other
  

“England Expects That Every Man Will Do His DUTY” Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805

Webpage: http://bfgf.org/Initiative/Leadership/UpcomingEvents/PrinciplesOfLeadership.htm

Video - Soccer Squirrel

Funny video someone sent me in email and found it on YouTube.

Physically Challenged Children

Turn off the Tube!

When I read magazines, I rip pages out that I think I will use later on for some purpose.

Out of the June 2009 issue of the Prevention magazine, I cut out this little tidbit:

151 - The number of hours per month the average American spends watching TV.

60 - The number of hours per month of TV watching associated with a 23% higher risk of obesity.

60 - The number of hours per month of TV watching associated with a 14% increased risk of diabetes.

30 - The maximum number of hours per month of TV watching recommended for ideal health.

Sources: Nielson; Journal of the American Medical Association; David Katz, MD

A Teachers' thoughts on students

A little quote that a teacher made in response to a blog post someone posted.

"I am a teacher and rather than feeling like I mold young minds I feel like I babysit farm-animals. "


Haaaa. Just thought it was funny.

Quote - Behavior and Information Sharing

Saw this on Facebook today.

Someone quoted that Commandant of the Coast Guard as saying the following:

"Transparency of information breeds self correcting behavior."

Quote - Life is too short

I'm watching Seinfeld right now and the bald guy was talking to a guy around 70 years old about dying. The guy wasn't worried about it all and was trying to enjoy life with a positive attitude.

The bald guy (what is his name?) kept harping on him about not being worried about death.

The older gentleman got up from the table and walked off all while the bald guy asked where he was going.

The older gentleman said, "Life is too short to waste on you."

Haaaa.

It is kind of like the line that I'm always saying - "There is no time for people like that."

Ahhh, good quotes from Seinfeld.

Quote - Newspaper

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain

Fitts' Law

Fitts' Law: The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target.

Quote - Friends

"Come on, dear brother, since the war is past,
For friends at first, are friends again at last."

Quote - Clean House

Qu0te seen on a blog:

"A clean house is a sign of a broken computer."

History of Mother's Day

Here's a link that my Dad sent out this morning.

Thought I'd share it here.

http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/

Happy Mother's Day!

Quote - Living

Found in an email signature I received at work.


"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn."

-Charlie Parker-

Poem - Filled Lamp

I found this poem in one of my old journals.


"What to do when the dawn brings night,
and the moon spins out and the stars fall white?
Wait, calm in the silence, the black sky spilled,
your lamp will light, if it is filled."

By Carol Lynn Pearson

Mormon Ad - for Sci-Fi lovers

Mormon Ads are always meaningful or fun.

Here's one for sci-fi fans.

Balancing Goat Video

My Dad forwarded me this video through email.

This is real talent - plus it's a riot!

Reader's Digest

This little magazine is a favorite of mine.

It's packed with funny jokes, good resources and inspirational stories.

Take a look at http://www.rd.com/

Sound of Music ...at the train station

This video was posted on YouTube and I thought it worthy of a blog pickle.

Wish some of us would do this more often just to shake things up a bit.

Inspirational Basketball Story

My father sent me this video in an email and I went out and found it on YouTube.

Awesome inspirational story!

Quote - Jon Stewart talks about CNBC

Jon Stewart jokes about CNBC this week and states:

 

" Wow, if I had only followed CNBCs advice I would have a million dollars ...provided I started with $100 million dollars."

 

 

Captcha

A Captcha is one of those sets of computerized words that come up when you are trying to make a comment on a blog, enter a username and password along with additional verification, etc.







Here's more at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

Anyway, this past week, after trying to figure out what to do at my job, I got this on a comment that I was trying to post to a blog.


"work outgrowth"


Inspiration doesn't get much better than this.

Quote - Committee

A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.

Barnett Cocks (1907-89)

Quote - Water and Fish

We were giving presentations for work the other day and one of our presenters shared a quote.

"I don't know who invented water, but it wasn't fish."

Clever. It somehow related to learning, but I can't remember how now.

Quote - Books

"I cannot live without books."

- Thomas Jefferson, June 10, 1815 -

Quote - I Link

Quote seen on an email signature.

"I LINK, therefore I am"

The internet is here.

Quote - Just because you can

What we saw often at work, but applies to life in general:

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

At work it most often refers to people that have just discovered all the bells and whistles that Powerpoint has to offer.

Movie Line - Madea - What's in a name?

I turned a tv channel this evening and came across Tyler Perry's Madea Family Reunion. Although I didn't get to see the entire movie, here is a line that I wrote down because I thought it was fairly powerful.

The Grandma (Madea) was talking to her granddaughter about being called names on the bus and at school. Grandma Madea told her something to the effect of the following:

"There will always be people who call you names through life. It ain't what you are called that matters. It is what you answer to."

I like that. Sometimes we forget that we don't have to respond to people that bug, people that degrade and people that generally try to put us down because of their own insecurities.

As I see it we have a few responsibilities - answer to the right names and be sure that we are calling others by the right names. Names that uplift and inspire instead of pull down.

Who would have thought Madea would have the answers? As a wise grandma once said....

Deep Thought - Insecurity

Overheard thought:

 

Insecure people show off.

 

Secure people serve.

 

Quote - Hope

Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.

 

- George Iles -

Quote - storms

From a Henry B. Eyring talk:

"...not just to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage."

Quote - spirit and poverty

"Nothing destroys spirit like poverty."

- Becoming Jane -

Quote - personal philosophy

"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words: it is expressed in the choices one makes."

- Eleanor Roosevelt -

Quote - Education

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."

- B.F. Skinner -

Quote - rattlesnakes

I was watching a show on Martin Luther King Day and one of the people commenting on a filthy politician in the past made the following statement:

"Rattlesnakes don't commit suicide"

The politician said he would go out on a limb and do something that would ruin his political year.

Do you think he actually followed through?

No, and thus the quote...

Quote - God's help

Found on Facebook:

"You look in the mirror every morning when you boys get up to scrape off the fuzz, and the girls get up to put on the paint you look into the mirror and say "I can do the right thing today, God being my helper. And I will do it."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley (BYU-Idaho)-

Quote - Adversity and Faith

Found on Facebook

"I know that strength is forged in adversity and that faith is developed in a setting where we cannot see ahead" 

-Elder Richard G. Scott-

Vision Board

So, I was channel surfing the other night and came across that bachelor show that I never watch right when everyone was looking at this girl like she was a nut.

Apparently she had just finished telling the bachelor that she had a "vision board." I stopped to listen when they brought it up because I remember hearing about this in the book called "The Secret."

Thought I'd look it up this evening and here's a site about it - http://www.visionboardsite.com/. It seems to be the same concept that Amway had so many years ago - put up what you want to be, what you want to have, and where you want to be in pictures on your refrigerator.

Hmmm.

Perhaps there is a way to utilize this idea to my benefit.

Side note: I read The Secret when I was up at a Harvard Business School Publishing meeting a few years ago. There was a drawing for a very nice iPOD and I believed I would win it and I did. However, being a government person I had to contribute it to my work. It was kind of a neat little experience in positive thinking. Of course, it stopped there. I did not win the lotto that next week though my intentions were focused and good.

Quote - Simplicity

"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. the height of cultivation always runs to simplicity."

- Bruce Lee -

Found on a blog - Beware of Friends!

Good blog post about friends.

http://wisdomeverywhere.blogspot.com/2009/01/beware-of-friends.html

Quote - Adversity

Adversity doesn't build character; it reveals it.

Quote - Energy and Attention

Another thought I overheard:

 

Energy flows where attention goes

 

 

Quote - kind of - thoughts and results

I heard this the other day and am summarizing it:

 

What we think about and thank about is what comes about

 

 

Funny - kids and jobs

A friend of mine was taking his kids on the Saturday visitation and some of their friends came along. He was obviously nervous to have the other children in the car. But, he made an attempt to find out their names and what they liked to do.

After a long pause he asked one of the children - "So, what do you do for a living?"

The kids busted up laughing and made fun of their Dad for asking nine year old children what they did for a living.

Fuh-ney

Funny - GapingVoid

Quote - Process

A quote:

"By measuring the process, you change the process."