Success

Success requires a lot of hard work, more than a little inspiration and a boatload of confidence!

tattoos

Lots of people love tattoos, and I am a sometime fan. But it occurred to me today, if you get a tattoo so you have something different, but you have it forever, isn't the "different" now the same all the time?

staying positive in times of distress

Some turn to religion to stay positive in times of distress, but I find ‘1-10’ works well, too. One a scale of one to ten, ten being nuclear war or the planet blowing up, just how important is this? It's quite humbling to realize how insignificant most of what we stress about is. That’s not to say it isn’t important to us at that moment, but to keep in mind that in the grand scheme of things, or even over the span of our own lifetimes, most problems are mere minor annoyances.

"Ahoy! 'Tis time to talk pirate, me hearties"

Today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day, an observance that has been recognized on all seven continents and beyond." So head over to this article on CNN.com to read all about it, me hearties!!

just say "no"?

For a couple of days now I have been hearing about the new book "The Power of No" by Beth Wareham. The book’s premise is that you only have one life and you shouldn't waste even one second doing something you don't want to b/c you were too afraid to say "no." Saying no, she declares, reclaims your time, your power, and your respect for yourself by communicating "I don't have time for this nonsense. I am making a great life here."

If only it were that easy. There are likely many times when saying 'no' may do all those things, but many other times, we agree to do something out of love or resect for another person and we are rewarded for that in other ways. I have a friend who refuses to go to weddings anymore, and I can see her point. She doesn't like them (not being a big fan of marriage anyway) and no longer wishes to go to the time, trouble and expense to watch someone else celebrate. She hates dressing up and prefers to save the considerable money required to dress and attend these events. I get that; there have been times I wish I could politely decline an invitation without hurting someone's feelings, but most of the time I don't say no when I'd like to because I perceive that doing so would result in hurt feelings and damaged relationships, and I cherish the relationships enough to give my time to preserving them. Only a person who is comfortable with flying solo for life can afford to say no every time it crosses their mind. We often get more than we give when we agree.

I DO think we need to examine all the relationships in our lives and nurture only those that are truly worth the significant effort required. When we discover that one takes more than it gives back, we need to let it go without regret or fear, and the longevity of a relationship shouldn't determine its value. You can't be friends with everyone, nor do you need to be. If there aren't thousands of mourners at your funeral and a full page obituary, who cares? You'll never know ;-)

online guide to cell phone emissions

The Environmental Working Group has created an online guide to cell phone emissions, covering over 1,000 phones currently on the market. You can find the article here, and you can look up your cell phone's ratings here, though the site is rather busy right now.

sorting it out

It occurred to me this morning that the web serves as a sorter for people. Like a coin sorter at the bank, lots of different types go in, and then fall into little slots that determine what type of coin it is. Keeping track of web surfer's visits and favorite sites do the same thing- they categorize us into groups according to interests. We are essentially doing the marketer's job for them- all filing into neat little lines that tell advertiser's how likely we are to be interested in their product or service. This is good in one way, b/c it cuts down on advertising we are not interested in, but terrible in that it allows them to focus a full-court press on what we might be likely to buy. It is true- everything comes down the almighty dollar. (or pesos or euros or yen…)

funny tech posts

I don't know about you, but I am very entertained by funny tech postings. I understand that tech stuff can be very confusing when one is first using it, but seriously people, some of this stuff is just hysterical!


Here's one of my favotires from http://notalwaysright.com:

What Happens In Vegas…

TECH SUPPORT | SAN ANTONIO, TX, USA

(A customer calls in, unable to connect to wireless internet. I have her navigate to the connection screen.)

Me: “Okay, ma’am. Do you see the name of your wireless network in the list of available networks?”

Customer: “I don’t know which one is mine.”

(I proceed to authenticate the customer and provide the name of her network.)

Customer: “No, I don’t see that listed.”

Me: “It’s possible that your router glitched. I’m going to have you go ahead and power it down.”

Customer: “What’s that?”

Me: “It’s the main box that we install in your home when we set up service. It broadcasts the wireless signal. We’re going to reset it and see if your signal comes back.”

Customer: “I can’t do that?”

Me: “Is it out of reach?”

Customer: “No, I’m at a friend’s house.”

Me: “Ma’am, where are you located at right now?”

Customer: “Las Vegas.”

Me: And where is your router located?

Customer: “Fort Worth…”