Resolute

I was grouchy when I woke up this morning. I was grouchy when I got to work. I was grouchy pretty much all morning.

I didn't really tell anybody. Nope - pasted on that customer service smile and dove into the day.

Just kept telling myself -"Nobody wants to hear about your problems Jim. Just suck it up."

I'm so happy I did. It has been a really good day.

I've had encouragement from friends, props from co-workers, and smiles and compliments from customers.

The back story is not what's important. What's important is that you all helped me and I am grateful.

You made keeping it positive all worthwhile.

Thank you!

See, it really is about all of us.

3 Odd things for Odd Day

In the spirit of my friend Cat's 3 good things - I'm spinning Odd day into 3 odd things.

1. I have not had a cup of coffee since before noon today. If you know me, you know that is odd. Of course the last cup I had was a black eye so maybe that had something to do with it.

2. I will be unplugged for the next two days. No computer. No cell phone. Nada. Zip! Zilch! Zero. We are going on our annual family camping trip to Camp Akita in the Hocking Hills. From, well now until Sunday morning I am out. I don't remember the last time that happened. Quite honestly it may have been for this same trip last year. Yikes!

3. I will be missing the Red Wing's game tonight against the !@#$%^&*() ducks of Anaheim. During the playoffs, especially the second round - I don't miss these games - except for this trip.
Of course, my friend Jess has promised to text me a score so if I can find just one point where I can get cell phone reception, maybe I'll at least get the score by morning - maybe....

Or maybe not. Sometimes it's a good thing to take a break. It makes me appreciate the technology, and more importantly the online community - that much more.

I really do appreciate each and every one of you.

Have a great weekend everybody!

I Love the Detroit Red Wings, but the CBJ Have a Softspot in my Heart

Getting right to the topic at hand and addressing the poll about my last post -

I ran out of time. More importantly, I also thought the post was getting a little long.

If you follow me on Twitter and / or Facebook I'm sure you know by now that NOTHING could sway my love for the Detroit Red Wings.

Oh, I follow the Columbus Blue Jackets pretty closely and have since their inaugural season. If you look closely at the Red Wing poster in my last post you can see a puck from the Jacket's first game on the shelf below the poster. A friend gave that to me. (Thanks Steve.)

My mother-in-law gave me this jersey signed by members of the Blue Jackets first team. (Thanks Mom.)

I am a fan when the Jackets are playing every other team in the league, and I will admit that it doesn't bother me quite as much as it probably should if the Wings lose to them during the regular season, as long as it is a well played game. (You'll note - I didn't say it doesn't bother me at all.)

When I am in attendance at games between the Wings and Jackets I can very often be heard cheering for both teams. This sometimes confuses fans around me, but I really want those to be the best games I watch all year.

It's hard not to be taken in by the CBJ. I love hockey. They are the hockey team in my new hometown. They are (finally) a growing young team with a lot of fight, a hard nosed coach in Ken Hitchcock, a budding superstar captain in Rick Nash, and an amazing young goaltender.(photo credit: Jack Wolf.)

I always want them to play well.

I have to admit I laughed at the notion, but I was thrilled to see this t-shirt for sale at the local Kroger when the CBJ finally made the playoffs this year. I am so happy for my friends who are true die-hard fans of the CBJ.

But I'm not giving up my Red Wings.

The Red Wings overwhelmed the Blue Jackets in their first round playoff series. The Jackets were clearly hitting a wall from fighting their way into the playoffs, and found out rather quickly that there is a steep learning curve when it comes to playoff hockey in the NHL. In my opinion, their veteran leadership that had that experience didn't do a very good job of helping the team stay focused, and the first three games were really no fun to watch at all.

Thankfully, in the 4th game there was finally a spark, a hint of what might come for this Columbus Blue Jackets team. I want my friends, and all CBJ fans to experience that time and time again. A well played spirited game with great plays on both ends of the ice.

I was thankful the Red Wings won that game, but I was very public in voicing my displeasure with the "too many men on the ice call" at the end of the game.

In retrospect, (first WOTD) I don't think I would have been so bothered if the Wings opponent had been just about any other team. As much as I understand that the call was correct, and had to be made I thought my CBJ friends deserved much better.

I hope that next time the Jackets go to the playoffs they draw a different match-up in the first round so that I can cheer with my friends, instead of against them for at least one series anyway.

After that?

LET'S GO RED WINGS!

To Brighten The Day

Today I want talk about something fun and shiny and YELLOW!

I own this yellow t-shirt you see. It's bright yellow. No, it's brighter than bright yellow. It's so yellow you can't look at it long enough to decide whether it is that yellow, or maybe might have some green in it. It definitely resembles a high lighter.

Now, I know you're asking: "Where in the world did you get that shirt Jimmer, and why in the world are you talking about it, much less wearing it in public?"

Well the answer to the latter question is because the shirt is fun. It reminds me of spring, and it makes me feel warm.

The answer to the former question? Well, it's also fun.

The shirt comes from an organization called Fishing Has No Boundaries.

This is one of the organizations The MJB Foundation shared our Joy with last year by donating funds for their younger participants to fish in their annual outing.

On the day of their festivities, we visited their outing where we received these beautiful t-shirts given to event sponsors.

Well, who doesn't like swag right? We proudly put our t-shirts on, and took a trip around the lake.

It was an awesome sight. Fishermen and Fisherwomen of all ages were having a great time. There were volunteers helping with the fishing. We probably saw at least 10 boats in different spots on the (Hoover) reservoir.

Afterward, we took some pictures and went to, well we went to visit Grandma & Grandpa.

But we still had the shirts!

K and D wear their shirts to sleep in. (No, they don't glow in the dark.) I don't think Netter has worn her shirt after that first day.

Ah, but I have.





I first broke it out for our annual family trip to The Ohio State Fair. My nieces and nephew LOVED it! Okay, they had fun with it. Well, they laughed at me and said I looked like I could fit in with the fair workers.

They're so mean to their Uncle Jimmy aren't they?

I think the shirt looked great for our race down the giant slide. (Yes, we take over the whole slide - only for one trip though.)

Next I wore the shirt to a poker-party. I don't think I won, but I did create enough distraction to at least win a few hands. - Maybe.

Finally, I wore the shirt to work. I like to wear t-shirts to work, but you can't just wear any old raggedy t-shirt you know?

I think the t-shirt you wear to work, (if you can wear t-shirts to work) has to fit some criteria i.e. it should be new(er), and fit well, and if it has a message emblazoned, (Ooh possible future WOTD?) on it it should be something appropriate and non-offensive.

Well what's offensive about Fishing Has No Boundaries? So one day all of my library shirts were in the laundry, but I wanted to wear a t-shirt to work. As they say in France.

C'est Un Voila (That's all the French I know)

We had a lot of fun that first day. A co-worker told me I was blinding him and wondered aloud aloud why my wife let me out of the house in this shirt. I said something to the effect of, "You know I have four of these in my house. I could wear 4 in a row, a whole weeks worth." He just smirked and said - please don't do that. (That's not an exact quote, but it's close) The humor of the day continued. A customer asked if I was doing some traffic control work on the side.

More than a few folks remarked about how I was brightening their day. As I said - fun!

I waited a few weeks and wore the shirt again. The same co-worker said again that I was blinding him, and again wondered aloud why my wife let me out of the house in this shirt. I repeated what I had said before - "You know I have four of these in my house. I could wear 4 in a row. One for every day we work together next week." Only this time...

My co-worker said, "I dare you to wear that shirt four days in a row."

Ever play the game Truth or Dare as a kid?

Yeah, me too. Of course I was always the kid who thought that the game Truth or Dare was two words too long. The heck with Truth and or...

Give me Dare!

Yeah, that made for some interesting stories, scary experiences, and gruesome tales over the years, but it also showed me along the way that you really never know about something until you actually try it.

Ironically enough, when I think about things I might be dared to do in this day and age, I can tell you right now:

I'm not bungee jumping. I'm not cliff diving. I'm not sky diving, and I sure as heck am not going skiing.

This is me, remember - I am afraid to drive in the snow. Ski on it? Are you crazy?

Still that doesn't mean there aren't some things I won't do, especially if I think I might have a lot of fun in the process.

So I wore the shirt every day that my co-worker and I worked together the next week.

I even made it my Facebook, and Twitter profile picture for the week. What do you think?

I know this - no one's ever gonna call me yellow!

As you might suspect, I too am sick of the yellow shirt. All four have been laundered and sit at the bottom of a basket. My co-workers can safely keep their sun glasses in their cars, and I can look at myself in the mirror without going blind.

That doesn't mean I won't break the shirts out again though.

After all, wearing the yellow shirt is always so much fun!

The Questionnaire

Well it has been some kinda 10 days or so. I've been fighting a cold that, well that just about won the battle it seemed at times. Coupling my allergy issues with this past Thursday's stormfront I was in bed that day until after 4:00 p.m. Even for me, that is well past sleeping in.

I'm still working on posts about the yellow highlighter shirt, the guru tag, and as always, I have a few other thoughts and ideas so please do stay tuned for those.

Today though - Well today, I'm going to riff off my Twitter colleague Tim Scott , and answer 10 questions I've always wanted to answer.

For the record, I love Inside the Actor's Studio. I think James Lipton asks remarkably insightful questions of some of the greatest stars of theatre and screen. The show is always informative, often revealing and usually quite moving.

I've often thought about how I might answer the list of questions asked of each guest toward the end of the show. They were originated, and / or inspired by French television personality Bernard Pivot.

So since the Oscars are on as I type this - why not put on my actor hat, and give it a try. I'm not tagging anybody for this meme of sorts, but I would love to read your answers should you decide to tackle the exercise. Please give me a heads up if you do.

Okay - here goes...

1. What is your favorite word?

Ponder. As a WOTD provider my list of favorite words is very long. Still this is my very favorite, both because as the Good Lord knows I've done enough of it in my day, and also because my oldest daughter and I have a running gag with this word. For you K. PONDAH!!!!!!!!!

2. What is your least favorite word?

Turd. Jerk runs a close second, but the word turd just sounds vile and disgusting and for me sounds even worse than that which it is supposed to describe.

3. What turns you on?

Heh, heh, How would I answer this? Okay seriously...Passion. I love people who care. No matter what it is, no matter what you do, if you are passionate about it, I respect that and you.

4. What turns you off?

Entitlement. You respect your elders because they are your elders. You do what you're told when you're told because you were told. You earn the right to make decisions for yourself and you earn the respect of others. Nothing is yours just because you think it should be. If you're not willing to earn it for yourself; unless I'm getting paid - I don't have time for you.

5. What is your favorite curse word?

What me? I don't swear. Well okay, yeah I FUCK(ing) do. This word works well in so many situations. It is always an attention getter. There have been times when I said this word and actually made myself pause and reconsider my actions. For someone who works on impulse and wears their heart on their sleeve like I do, having anything make me pause - especially a powerful word I said myself... Well it's kinda remarkable. I owe a lot to the word Fuck. That said -

Kids, swearing is bad. Say dang, or peanut butter or something more constructive.

6. What sound or noise do you love?

All my Lady's Laughing. Listening to the women in my house laugh, guffaw, giggle, and in general crack-up makes me smile my widest smile. As Tim says in his post, if I caused the laughter, even doing something ridiculous and /or embarrassing myself - well then all the better.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?

Children crying, especially if their parents are inattentive. No matter the time, no matter the reason, I think there is almost always something a parent can do to help to calm or quiet a crying child.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Writer. There's actually a number of answers for me to this question because I'm very often not sure what my current profession in and of itself entails. But, I'm already a teacher in one sense, and I've done my share of coaching and training, so I'd have to say writer. I'd like to have taken more time to hone that craft and really tried to make a living doing something I love. All that being said - if the Red Wings or Blue Jackets call I'll have my skates on in a heartbeat.

9. What profession would you not like to attempt?

Social Worker. I cannot imagine any job being more thankless, more hopeless, and lower paying than this. True, there are success stories, but it seems like they are all too often few and far between. That kind of defeat on a daily basis just isn't for me. Don't get me wrong, I admire the hell out of those folks. I just don't think I could do what they do.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Michael J. Fox had the best answer to this question I've ever heard. I'm paraphrasing, but essentially he said: "I hope God says Welcome, your Dad's waiting for you with a beer at the bar. There's a hockey game on, and he'd love to talk to you." My Dad is still with us, so I guess my answer goes something like this.

I hope God says: "Welcome Jimmer. You've done the best you could, and made a difference. I am proud. There's a game, (any game) on the t.v. and an ice cold beer on the bar. Your family and friends who have preceded you through those gates can't wait to see you and welcome you home."

Bureaucracy

I had to do it. I had to go. The dreaded place. The one place in the world none of us would want to go. It's dark there. It smells funny. It's hot. It's cramped. They are rude to you. They are mean to you. They make you follow rules that are...well they just seem arbitrary.

You know where I'm talking about... Anyone over the age of 16 knows exactly where I'm talking about.

Today I went to:

The

B

M

V

AAAAAAAAAAAaaaHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!

I know right?

It couldn't be avoided. We need to get a title, registration, plates and such for our new (to us) van.

So this morning, I dropped my lovely wife off at work and went to visit our friends at the BMV. It was 8:40 a.m. For me, on my day off, I call that "o'dark thirty."

I was ready though, I had some Starbucks. I took my iPod. I had my cell phone to text or maybe even tweet.

My first sign of trouble came when I started to walk from my truck to the building. In HUGE RED LETTERS across the front window: "No Food or Drink."

Sigh! Okay, coffee goes back into the truck. I'm pondering the question of why you can eat or drink at the library where there are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computers and books, but you can do neither at the BMV where you might spill on ... on... What? The floor? The line divider? Maybe the hard wooden bench or card table chairs they have for some to sit on?

Walking in the door, I noted that the line didn't seem very long. Wow! That's different. Okay, let me just check my cell - Oh, look at that big sign. NO CELLPHONE USE WHATSOEVER - Okay, never mind.

Not even gonna risk the iPod with the short line.

Shortly it was my turn. "Next" came the shout from "Corky." Now, I'm not judging, but "Corky" is your baseball coach, or your bartender. Do you really expect Corky to be the lady behind the counter at the BMV?

"Hi," I said, "I bought a van and I need to get a title, plates, the whole nine yards."

"We don't do titles here," Corky explained. "To get a title you have to go to 1970 Broad Street, where they do titles. Unless you want us to do it, but it won't be ready for two weeks." Corky then handed me directions to 1970 Broad Street.

I couldn't help but wonder how it could take two weeks to get my title from 1970 Broad Street to where we were in Hilliard. Is that a covered wagon trip? Bicycle courier with a lot of breaks in between? Pony Express?

"I can wait," I said which led to this little exchange.

Corky: Do you have plates?

Jim: We have plates.

Corky: From another car?

Jim: No, there are plates on the car from our friends who sold us the van.

Corky: Those are no good as soon as you buy the vehicle. We can sell you a temporary tag while you wait for your title though.

Jim: How much is a temporary tag? (All the while considering gas costs for the obviously long trip to 1970 Broad Street.)

Corky: $10.50.

Jim: Okay, what do we do next?

Corky set about entering whatever she needed to enter in her "not visible to me" computer? I'm guessing.

A young man came to the counter to be helped by the lady next to me. He was playing football at Ohio State he explained (I didn't recognize him. He'll probably win a Heisman or something) and he needed to get his license switched from Florida to Ohio. The woman at the counter told him that he would need his social security card. "Where is your social security card?" She asked. "Um, in Florida." Poor kid, bet he had to go to 1970 Broad Street too. I didn't hear the rest of the transaction clearly.

Another young man approached. (Corky was taking her time.) "I need to get my i.d." he said handing what looked like a photocopied birth record of some sort to the lady. "OH," she said, "this is a photocopy." She then went on a long rant about how it was obviously a photocopy from a scrapbook, and she really wasn't concerned about how it was all the young man had and all his mother had to give him, and NO she could not accept that. She could see notebook marks on it even.

Ouch?

"What color is the vehicle?" (Corky was ready for me again.)

"Champagne," I said. Hey, that's what Netter called it.

"Point to the chart." Corky said, clearly irritated.

Sure enough, on the counter there was a chart for vehicle color. Our van is not champagne at all. It is number 15, tan.

Alrighty then.

Corky asked a co-worker to figure out my sales tax, told me to write my check to Northwest Kiwanis, (not the BMV?) and $265 later I have a piece of cardboard / temporary tag, a certificate of registration, and a promise that in two weeks I can come back and buy my real license plates.

Just waiting on the covered wagon I guess.

Resolutions

I'm not working tomorrow. In fact, January 2nd is the one day of every year I try not to work. It's too depressing.

Now you might think I say that because it is the end of the holiday season, but that's really not it. Well, my reasons for not working January 2nd have a lot to do with one particular holiday tradition, so maybe it is true. I'll let you be the judge.

Across the land last night hundreds, heck, millions of people watched the clock strike midnight and made their New Year's resolutions.

This means that tomorrow at the library we, (well not me) will see people who are going to exercise more, lose weight, quit smoking, learn about technology, build a resume and get a better job, and on and on and on.

Now, I hope (today's WOTD), that a large number of these folks are successful in their endeavors. The reality though is that a larger number will fail.

In just a few weeks, the treadmills at the gyms will once again be empty, the restaurants will once again be full, and the junk food and tobacco business will once again be booming.

I just think that's depressing.

A few years ago, I decided I wasn't going to do resolutions anymore. I was sick of the failure, of saying things like, "I'll try again in the spring," or "I'll do it for Lent."

Instead I set about finding a way to actually accomplish something instead of revisiting failure.

I began by working on True Intent. As I've talked about before, that goal is to:

Always try to consider peoples' true intent when interacting with them and respond accordingly and without bias.

Now this is an ongoing exercise, so I can't say that it's a "resolution" per se, but I do remind myself each year to stay true to that goal and I take a little inventory to see how I've done during the course of the preceding year.

This year, I think I did okay. I still lost my temper more than a few times, was less than patient in a couple of situations, and probably added some sarcasm that wasn't necessarily called for.

It's always a work in progress.

Today, I am asking myself if there is an end goal from that progress, and while I don't think there is as human interaction will never end, I do think it is part of something larger that I have been working on without even knowing.

That would be the process of self improvement. Yeah, I'm putting it all together now - the Year of Inventory, the desire to get along better with others, wanting more people to know the real me. In general, the need to tackle some things I've been avoiding for years.

Duh, Jim - the process of self improvement. Good for me, but darn I can be slow sometimes.

Okay, so I'm asking myself, "what's next? What do I want to work on improving in 2009?"

Heck I don't know. I've been pondering that question all day long, walking around the house, staring at the t.v. screen, watching football and hockey, looking at my cluttered desk. You know - taking inventory.

I'd like to read more. I'd like to have better sleep habits, and maybe even make myself into a morning person. (Is that possible?) I'd like to refinish a couple pieces of furniture that have been sitting in my garage for far too long. I'd like to finish a few projects at work that have been sitting in my "to do box," for quite a while. I'd like to blog more, and write more effectively.

That's just the list of things I've come up with today. The total number of possibilities are really probably endless. Self improvement is not something that we ever finish or check off a list. Nobody is perfect as they say.

But where to begin? How do I "not fail?"

I have my lovely wife to thank for providing the answer to this question. Netter always says:

"Just do something. As long as you are doing something you are making progress and that's really all that's important."

And so I begin - that pile of clutter won't be there for long.

What's your New Year's resolution?

Saving A Beautiful Day

This has been a great day for my family and me.

And then I almost infected my computer with the dreaded Koobface Facebook video virus. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say my day got a little shaky.

To put myself back on track - I'm borrowing from my friend Cat just one more time and sharing three beautiful things about today.

1. In the incredibly simple category, we have a quiet, peaceful home with nice clean sidewalks and driveway. Needless to say, this is not one of my favorite jobs. For some reason however, I don't seem to mind doing it at night. So, last night I took care of most of the shoveling and this morning Miss K. put a bow on the job.


2. Moving into territory that is slightly more fancy. For dinner this evening we had homemade spaghetti. I don't make my own pasta or grow my own vegetables, but I also don't serve spaghetti from a jar. My ladies were all thrilled to have this homemade dish, but only D would jump in front of the camera for me.


Cooking is something I've always enjoyed doing. I also make a mean cheesecake according to Mrs. B. I use my Mom's spaghetti recipe, and I have to give a shout out to former CML and Hilltop staff member Carol Dickerson for the cheesecake. One of my running jokes is that the cheesecake was my "hook" for picking up the ladies. Netter tells me that if I want to keep my lady, I better be making that cheesecake a little more regularly.

3. Speaking of Netter - My lovely wife provides today's biggest highlight with our Christmas decorations including our tree.

Netter pulled out a full 21 boxes of decorations today turning our house into a Christmas wonderland. I'm hoping to shoot some video to capture the entirety of it all, but for today we'll just share the tree.

In the spirit of the season, knowing I won't possibly be fortunate enough to see all of my friends and family, or the casual reader - I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt wishes for a beautiful holiday for you and yours. May you know the joy, (saving that word for a special day) of this blessed season and enjoy a prosperous, healthy, and happy New Year.

There now, that feels better doesn't it.

WOTD

Stuff sticks in my head. I can't help it, and I can't stop it. If I hear a song lyric, maybe not even a good song lyric that has some kind of unique refrain, or elicits some kind of emotional response, or brings back a memory - Boom I'm stuck with it all day.

I also often find myself using the same word repeatedly in any given day. Not the usual suspects like - well "like," and - well "and" or "um:" No, I'm talking about words out of the ordinary, words like retrospect, words that carry a jolt because you don't know where they are coming from.

For a long time all I could do is say harrumph and go with the flow instead of being hell-bent on finding some magical way to clear my head, I just tried to make progress each day toward finding a way to deal with the things that were stuck in my head.

Through some kind of happenstance I seemed to have stumbled upon a solution.

Ladies and Gentlemen, especially those of you in my Twitter and Facebook communities I give you WOTD, the big Wahtahdah, (correct pronunciation), or more simply Word Of The Day, and what I call, well I don't have a name for my "song lyric thing." Maybe by the end of this post... Or I'll take suggestions via comments.

*Note those words in bold above were the first few words of the day.

One day, not long after I started using Twitter the word retrospect was stuck in my head. Every other sentence it seemed I was using the word. So, I tweeted that retrospect was apparently the word of the day. In retrospect, I had no idea WOTD would take off like it has. Later that same day, someone asked me if I had a word for the next day. The day after that someone tweeted, "Hey Jim word up. What's the word of the day?" Finally, someone shortened the terminology to WOTD, and it has become a regular thing.

Throughout the day, folks try to use WOTD at least once in a sentence, and then everybody gives them a shout out.

The song lyrics get thrown up as tweets as well, although not as often. Sometimes there are fun results. The day I put up "But not a real green dress that's cruel," almost the whole song was "sung" through comments by the end of the day. Unfortunately, we still don't have a million dollars.

Today, I had a Facebook conversation about the movie The Blues Brothers spurred by the line - Folks here's a story 'bout Minnie the Moocher.

But the regular head clearer if you will, the thing I seem to have become known for is WOTD.

Now, I get that I'm not the only one out there with WOTD. I would venture to guess however that I may be the only one out there with WOTD produced purely through happenstance, and not generated by an automated WOTD generator.

Of course, I don't always use a word from my head. (It doesn't happen every day.) Sometimes I ask for help from my Twitter and Facebook community, and sometimes they change the word on me if they don't like the one I got stuck on originally. No matter - it's all still fun.

Sometimes we don't even use real words. We use creative words like harrumph, wonky, or crap-nasty.

Occasionally we have a word for the weekend. A few times someone has spotted me using a word repeatedly or in a slightly different context and called WOTD for me.

One time we did use a generated word, but I didn't know it until after the fact.

Finally, we have on at least one occasion put WOTD to a vote. It was a monumental day.

We don't force a word every day. Sometimes we're all just too busy to worry about WOTD. Sometimes we're just plain focused on something else. For example there weren't too many WOTD's during the last week or so of Learn and Play @ CML.

I have added a WOTD roll to the blog. I retraced my tweets and found them all, (47) I think. I made notes about the stories behind each word so we can talk more about WOTD in the future.

Tell me what words you remember, what stories about WOTD stick with you - and then

Suggest a word if you'd like. It's bound to get stuck in my head sooner or later.

A B C, Its easy as 1 2 3