The Lesson Learned

Time Will Tell

I had another entry typed up, but my computer flaked out and crashed. That doesn’t happen very often, so I can’t get too upset about it. And I don’t know that I lost all that much to be truthful.

My “Not Me” entry from a few days ago elicited concerned calls from a few of those who know me well. I’m okay. It wasn’t meant to sound quite so doom or gloomish. Really. And it wasn’t my idea to do the wave at the Japanese restaurant. It was that of a very intoxicated patron who sat our table. We only participated in the wave so that he didn’t look even more intoxicated and annoying than he already did. It was a sympathy wave, if you will. And I was mildly amused so I mentioned it here.

And very little has amused me recently, as I’m acutely experiencing The Funk. And not just any funk but The Funk That Consumed The World. That one. I’m hopeful that The Funk will soon lift and my normally happy, bouncy world will return.

Time will tell. In the meantime, I’ve been posting here a lot. At least one of my sites has survived The Funk. Apparently, knitting thrives in The Funk.

Got Answers?

Have you ever seen a recipe on someone's blog and decided that you just had to try it? Right now. Even if right now is 10:30 at night and the recipe is for Jell-O Shots? I guess I have had a rough week. **Grins**

Another thing--Have you ever left a comment at the site of someone whose interaction with you has been purely apathetic? And you realize that they could care less that you exist in the world, but just the same, you're nothing if not loyal and you still feel the need to show your support by leaving comments.** Sighs **

And another thing--Have you been kicking complex ideas around in your mind, but haven't had the time to properly address them on your site, so instead you post lackluster crap that you don't even care to read? ** Shrugs **

Final thought--Have you ever missed two little people (one little and one not so little, to be precise) so much that you feel the impulse to jump in your car and drive across country to return them to their proper home, with you? ** Sniffles **

Those are the questions.

Update: I just noticed that questions seem to be my trend lately. That sounds about right as I’ve always had an inquiring mind.

Tomorrow, I'll try to post only answers.

Mini-Lessons

Here are a few mini-lessons* I learned this week:

Just because the weather during the workweek is great, it does not mean that you can make plans to garden or plant flowers on the weekend. Mother Nature may very well decide to rain on your flower parade, as she possesses a sick sense of humor.

When you’re finally having a decent hair day and you actually care what it looks like because you need to make a good impression, torrential rains will plaster your hair to your head, destroying any chance of looking well groomed or civilized.

Just because this smells like Kool-Aid, does not mean it tastes like Kool-Aid. In fact, it most definitely does not taste like Kool-Aid.

Speaking of Kool-Aid, when meeting someone that goes by the nick-name Kool-Aid, it is probably not a good idea to ask them what flavor they are.** After all, you are in fact messing with Kool-Aid and you really don’t know the flavor or if you can handle it!

When fueling a vehicle for the second time ever, it’s probably a good idea to review which side of the vehicle the gas tank resides on, especially if it differs from your previous vehicles. Otherwise it might appear a little strange when you play musical gas pumps and circle the gas station several times.

* The “lessons” mentioned on this site are a play on the site’s name, The Lesson Learned. Now, while I believe that the best and most lasting lessons in life are learned the old-fashioned, hard way, I do not hold the misconception that I am qualified to “teach” anything. So, while the lesson learned theme is used from time to time, it is most certainly done so tongue-in-cheek.

**Earlier today, I did, indeed, meet someone that went by the name “Kool-Aid.” He is known as Kool-Aid because of the colorful tattoos that cover most of the normally visible areas of his body.

July in April

It feels like July outside. It’s 83 degrees, which is freaking hot for April. Please understand that I'm not complaining. Really, I'm not. I’ll take the hot weather over cold anytime. But it still seems weird to step out on a nice spring day and find mid-summer weather. Strange.

Lesson in Enough

I firmly believe that the secret and true lesson in life is knowing when enough is enough. Knowing how far to push yourself, your issue, or your project and knowing when to stop is key. I think this holds true across the board in my life, but it is especially true during conflict.

At the parent/team meeting for my son’s new soccer team, one of the mothers had issues with the coach’s stance about attendance to practices. He stated the intention of making the children that are more than a minute late to practice run extra laps. She very eloquently pointed out that her job requires her to work late frequently and she does not get out of work the same time every day. She stated that her son might be late because of her job, which is something that neither of them can control. She then made the case that it is not appropriate for her son to be penalized for her work schedule and she informed the coach that her son would not be running extra laps.

I’m sure she said what every working parent was thinking. How many of us have jobs where the work magically ends simply because it is 5:00 p.m.? I certainly do not. And our job may not be our only issue as our commute home and schedules concerning other family members or errands may factor in. I was ready to chime in with her and I’m sure several parents would have joined in as well, when she took it one step further. And, in my opinion, one step too far.

She then declared that the other and most crucial reason her son could not run laps is because he is asthmatic. Her son, who was standing right next to her, looked at her incredulously and loudly proclaimed, “I do not have asthma!” She looked rather sheepish and lamely restated that he would not run laps.

Now, I think a ten year old would know if he had a health problem as serious as asthma. Also, children with life-threatening bouts of asthmatic breathing do not generally sign up for soccer in the first place. Soccer is a rough and active sport. During the course of a game, the children run more laps than one can count.

I think it was a perfect example of stating one’s case and then going too far. She had already made her case before she went too far with the asthma story. Had her son truly suffered from asthma, that would have made her case in and of itself. There would have been no reason to mention her work schedule.

During team or cross-department meetings, I stand up for what I believe in and I will push back if I feel that other team members are missing the point, but once I make my case I stop talking and remain silent. It nearly kills me, mind you. It’s not easy to stop when I’m on a roll, but I find that if my point is valid and I communicated my case well, my team members usually agree and incorporate it into the project. I trust them to make the right decision. And knowing when to stop is especially important when making your case to a boss or senior member of management.

Sometimes knowing when to stop is not a fun decision to make such as stopping after one double-chocolate, frosted brownie or stopping after one rambling blog entry, but just as important.

Yeah, I think knowing when to stop is key.

Random Lessons

So, it’s been a little quiet around here. I’ve been very busy and haven’t spent much time online. Here’s a breakdown of my busy-soshizziness in "random" order.

Random Saturday--Over the weekend I had to run the boys to various sporting events, birthday parties, shopping trips, and other activities. They are both growing like weeds and we had to purchase the third round of jeans and slacks since the beginning of the school year. And of course their schedules, yes—they have schedules, did not allow for me to take them shopping together. So, we made two trips the mall. And, of course, I had to make two trips to the nearby yarn store because I could. (That’s a story for another day.)

Random Sunday--We had dinner guests on Sunday, along with more chauffeuring of the boys, and I was busy cooking and cleaning most of the day. At the end of day yesterday, I was left wondering where my weekend went.

Random Work--Work today consisted of a flurry of activity and the completion of most of my To-Do list. I really didn’t have much choice as I am out of the office for the rest of week, but I’m still pleased with my progress. I should be--I worked 12 hours straight in order to meet my deadlines.

Random Cold--In all the racing around it has become obvious that I’m starting to catch a cold. I’ve sneezed 842 times and my nose is stuffy. And the head cold isn’t the only random cold going around today--it looked liked a nice spring day, but it actually felt like a cold winter day. So, I left the house in my spring coat, but longed for my winter coat as I froze my butt off. Color me a sucker for a nice spring day.

Random Errands--After leaving the office, I raced over to the library to return a few books and check out several for a new project I was recently assigned (more about that later). Then I raced home to make my homemade spaghetti sauce to go along with my husband’s homemade pasta.

Random Troll--I happily logged on to my laptop and my typepad account to find that I seem to have acquired my first troll. Some cretin apparently decided it was a good idea to post several disparaging remarks and death threats (yes, death threats) to one of my archived entries. I blocked their IP address faster than I could say, “Achooo,” and changed the nasty comments* to praise my fabulousness. But I couldn’t help shaking my head and laughing at his or her lameness.

Random Thought--If only I had nothing better to do than troll archives and leave stupid remarks. Of course, I’ve always had something better to do. And I always will.

* A little trick I picked up from Kelly.

On the Blink-Blink

Maybe I’ll post this entry and maybe I won’t. I’m certainly writing this and if I’m not able to post it won’t be for lack of trying or because the subject matter is controversial in any way.

No, it would be because our cable modem is on its last leg. It’s definitely on the blink, as it is not unusual to watch it reset itself several consecutive times for no apparent reason. The thing lights up more than a Christmas tree with the constant flickering of lights--off and on. Off. And. On. The amber and green lights alternate between a fast and slow, but never ending, pace. In the past month or so we’ve noticed that we are offline more than we are online. You would think we had a dial-up connection.

Actually, we had a dialup connection for quite a while and it’s one thing to have difficulties connecting when you’re paying a significantly lower fee for the service. However, it’s entirely different when you pay twice as much for the Internet connection to find that you can never connect because your modem can’t stay powered on.

Not to mention the fact that one gets rather spoiled by having a fast connection. And it's all about the connection, baby!

So, we have a new modem on order and I’m writing with no assurance that I will be able to post this. But rest assured, my silence is not by choice.

Simple Solution

Earlier in the year, I mentioned my dilemma with my hair stylist. To sum it up, she has a habit of taking other customers before and during my appointment making what should be no more than a two-hour appointment last three to four hours. It was very frustrating and I debated speaking up or going elsewhere.

And then the solution occurred to me. It was crystal clear: scheduling the first appointment of the day should eliminate any problems. I’ve scheduled my last two appointments first thing in the morning and it has worked like a charm.

I don’t know whether I should feel smug for thinking of such an obvious ingenious solution or to feel like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner. It is, after all, a rather simple solution. Simple, but effective.

Five-Minute Rule

Have you heard of the five-minute rule? I’m not sure if I read this rule or if I heard it from a colleague or friend. The five-minute rule concerns meeting protocol.

The rule states that you should delay a meeting for five minutes, at most, to allow for other members to show up; however, if the meeting organizer or leader does not show up within five minutes the meeting will adjourn. So five minutes is the longest amount of time one should sit idle during a meeting.

A few days ago, I mentioned the five-minute rule after waiting 15 minutes for a meeting to commence and was met with blank stares. It was as if I had suddenly sprouted another neck and head. Or as if I had totally lost my mind. So, I ask you: have you heard of the five-minute rule? Did I dream it up?

Is it just common sense?

What Impresses You?

I’m not easily impressed. In fact, I’m surrounded daily by so many occurrences that fail to impress me that it provoked a good friend to ask me just what does impress me? As I paused to consider the question, I realized that there are quite a few people who do impress me. The things they do vastly differ, but the people do share a few qualities that I admire.

I’m impressed by hard work and initiative.

Those who start out with little in life and work hard to build their life into something special impress me.

Those who are highly successful in life impress me.

Those who touch the lives of others impress me.

Those who are experts in their field impress me—you know, the go-to person who everyone goes to because they’re eager and willing to help.

Those who exert every effort to excel even if they haven’t yet met their mark impress me. You just know they will reach their goal one day.

Those who have a vision and never quit until they reach it impress me.

Those who excel at reading other people and adapt to every situation impress me.

Those outgoing people who make friends in every situation impress me.

I’m actually impressed by quite a lot. And it feels good to acknowledge what’s impressive.