At the End of the Day

The company that I work for, Fiserv, is truly a global company.

Headquarters is located in Wisconsin. We have offices, in NY, GA, OH, Oregon, Europe and India, to just name a few.

The reason that I mention this is because of come of the colloquialisms that I hear on a daily basis.

Don't worry about it.
No worries.
Forget 'bout it.
You're welcome.

All the above are responses you could get depending on who you are talking to when you tell them "thank you."

The phrase that I have been hearing frequently from people from Georgia is

At the end of the day ... yada yada.

Most of the time I state when all is said and done ...

The majority of the time I hear either phrase, it relates to how important or unimportant something is. For example, at the end of the day, does it really matter if I wear my brown shoes with my brown belt, or my black shoes with my black belt?

There are a lot of events that happen during a given day and very few of them really matter at the end of the day.

Don't let small things bother you all day because at the end of the day, they probably won't matter.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as easy as reminding them at the end of the day, the small thing that was bothering them really does not make a difference.

86400

If 86,400 is the answer, what is the question?

How many seconds are there in a day?

You can always get more money, but what you can't do is get more time.

How well do you use your 86,400 seconds a day?

Do you find yourself spending your time wishing for the good 'ol days? Or being mad at someone for something they did to you in the past? Or waiting for something good to happen to you?

Make the most of the time you have and make the good things happen. One of the best ways to make good things happen for yourself to make good things happen for someone else.

Let the past be the past; don't carry around the burdens of the past with you today. Enjoy all the good blessings that are in store for you today.

Make the most of your 86,400 seconds starting right now.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as reminding them of how good today is.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2008

I have lots to be thankful for this year.

A tie for first place is that I am alive to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.

The second half of the tie goes to being able to spend the time with my wonderful family.

I am thankful for the good friends that I have.

A minor thing that I am thankful for is the price of gas going down.

I am thankful for living in a country where we have the freedom to write a blog if we so choose.

I am thankful that I have a great job during the global economic crisis that we are experiencing.

When you are feeling down, remember to count your blessings, they far out way your problems.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as reminding them of all the things they have to be thankful for.

Eli Stone

Last night was the first episode of the second season of Eli Stone. For those who don't follow the show, the basic premise is the character Eli Stone is a San Francisco lawyer who starts having visions which leads him to find out that he has a brain aneurysm. His visions lead him to accept cases with little monetary gain but a lot of moral goodness; in short, it leads him to God.


This is a pretty risky show for a big network to take on as it could alienate viewers that don't share the same beliefs. I give ABC kudos for doing so. When shows were being canceled for this season, I was extremely happy to see this show make it for at least a second season. If you can watch the first season and the first episode of this season, I think you will be hooked as well.


Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as sharing time with them and watching this week's episode of Eli Stone.

Gone to the Movies Lately?

For as much as I like movies, I seldom actually go to the movie theater; I normally don't stay awake during the entire movie.

I don't have a real high standard for movies - if it can take my mind off my troubles for a couple of hours, it did its job and I will classify it as a decent to good movie. If the movie is on a subject that I enjoy and is somewhat accurate, I can classify the movie as good. There are not many movies that I classify as great, even movies that I consider my favorites.

This past weekend I went to see not one, but two movies at the theater. The first one was the Coen Brothers movie, Burn After Reading (BAR). OMG, this movie has to fall into the category of Ishtar and Waterworld as one of the worst movies ever made. BAR used the f-bomb like it were one of the character's names in the movie; and that was not the worst part of the movie. I had a hard time following the storyline; there were a couple of funny scenes at the beginning of the movie, but that was about it. I dozed a couple of times during the movie, which is part of the reason I don't go to the theater very often.

I saved the best for last.

The second movie I saw with my friends was Fireproof. The premise of the movie is a couple's marriage is falling apart and the husband, through the help of his father, starts this 40-day journey to find the true love of God in order to share with his wife and save his marriage.

Fireproof is the first movie that has really moved me in a long time. Needless to say, I did not doze or fall asleep during this movie. It is a religious movie (there I said it) that can get you back on the right path, help you walk the path, or lead you further down the path with God than you have ever been. This is a movie that can change your life for the better if you let it. No matter what state your marriage is in, you need to see this movie.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It can be as simple as taking them to see the movie Fireproof.

Bringing Mom to the 21st Century

I recently returned from a trip from visiting my in-laws.

When ever I go to visit the family, I am the resident computer geek. Something on the computer needs to be fixed, updated or configured - "Phillip will fix it." is the normal statement. Any geek worth his salt generally likes to be that guy.

This trip was no different in the demand, but it was very cool for what my mother-in-law wanted. Mom upgraded from a desktop computer to a laptop computer, mostly on her own, but without any help from me since the last time I visited. Way to go Mom.

I brought my Garmin (my hand-held GPS unit) with me, since I can get lost in a brown paper bag. My mother-in-law saw it and saw how easy it was to use that she decided that she thought she wanted one. We went to one of the big stores there and we meandered to the electronics and television department. Mom said that she was interested at getting a flat-screen television; one of the cool factors of shopping for televisions is that most stores have multiple televisions displaying the same show or recorded program so you can see the difference in sets.

Mom found a 32" flat-screen television set that she liked and we asked the associate if there were any in stock; unfortunately, there were none, but we were told to check back on Saturday, as they might get a shipment. We call back on Saturday -no shipment. Mom is resourceful; she has another place she can go to find a good flat-screen. We go to this other place and Mom finds a nice 37" HDTV Toshiba flat-screen that she decides she wants. Mom is still pretty simple, she does not need the very latest and greatest, but she wants something big enough to watch her sports on, especially her beloved NY Yankees. While we are there, she decides that she wants to see if they have a Garmin Nuvi 260W like I have. To her happy surprise they do, so she decides that she is going to get one. So we head home with not only a larger television than she originally thought she was going to get, but also a Garmin. I quickly programmed the Garmin with her home address and set it to go home and Mom used it to get home - if you are looking to get a GPS, I highly recommend Garmin - my friend Ron got me hooked on it. She was a happy camper.

So we get home and my first task is to setup the new television after taking down the old one. For physical tasks, this is pretty easy. Her old 31" CRT is tremendously heavier and bulkier than the new flat-screen television, but still easy enough to move. So the first challenge comes about for connecting the satellite to the new flat-screen and making it work - this should be a no brainer - boy was I WRONG.

Mom has the second connection to the satellite and it operates on channel 73, not the standard 3 or 4 that old cable would use - this still should not be a big deal. I make the physical connection and turn the television to channel 73 - after allowing the set to automatically search for channels. A great big nothing - only gray and white snow on the set. Mom says that she knows the number for the satellite company and calls it. She talks to the guy for about 2 minutes and decides that if she wants it done with the smallest headache that I should talk to the guy, so I do. The guy is pleasant and appears to know what he is doing. He has me go to where the primary satellite hook-up is located and press the menu key and 6-1-5, select the secondary connection, change the channel to 60 and save. He then tells me to go to the secondary set (the new flat-screen set) and change the channel to 60. Voila. Like a champ, it is working.

The problem with a satellite connection is you need to have a receiver for every television in your house, or all the televisions have to display the same show. The reason I mention this is because Mom has a little 19" CRT set in her bedroom that she uses as white-noise to go to sleep. Mom goes into her bedroom to do something and turns on her "little" television - nothing but white-snow. She calls to me and asks what did I do, because she can't watch television in her room now. I do the typical geek thing, scratch my head and say, "hmmm." The first idea that crosses my mind is to turn off the big-screen and perform the same steps I did to get the other television working. [Buzzer sound] Thanks for playing, but you lose is all I get. Ok, I scratch my head a little more and think that the televisions are two different types. So I wonder if I change the channel back to 73 using the main system, if the CRT will work. What do you know - the small CRT works and as expected, the flat-screen does not. I tell Mom I know what the problem is and she has two options - either buy a smaller flat-screen to watch in her room, or go without. Mom has to think about this as she says she only watches about 15 to 30 minutes of shows in her bedroom in order to fall asleep. For the present time - we do nothing for the bedroom.

Earlier, I mentioned that Mom upgraded her computer system to a laptop system. She has an additional keyboard and mouse for the laptop so her great-grandson does not destroy the laptop by banging too hard on the keyboard or touch pad. Another cool -factor about the LCD flat-screen is that it has a VGA connection so it can be used as an additional monitor. The next time we went back to Mom's regular store, I looked around for a male-to-male VGA cable, but there were none to be found. Well, any self-respecting geek knows where he has to go - even though he will seldom admit it - when he needs an electronic part and the regular store does not have one - RadioShack®. So I ask Mom to bring me there and I pick up the part I need. We get back home - using the Garmin of course - and I connect the laptop to the big screen and push a couple of buttons and Mom can now see the laptop screen on her big screen television. She is as giddy as a school girl with her first crush.

One small problem with my setup. Mom is a neat freak and does not like having a mess anywhere. The geek in me has to figure something out so she will use this cool stuff she has.

The next day we are expecting the great-grandson, Anthony, to come over for a visit. Yvonne and I saw some cool 3D chalk one time back home, but have not been able to find it since. Yvonne's twin sister Darlene says that she saw it at Toys R Us. So we all decide that we are going to meet for lunch, but Mom, Yvonne and I will stop off to get the 3D chalk first. When we get to the store, we see a sign on the window that they have WII in stock. Yvonne and I have been trying to buy a WII for months, without any luck because they have been out of stock. I digress; Yvonne and Mom start looking for the 3D chalk and I set out on my own mission to see if they really have WII in stock. Yvonne and Mom have good luck and find the 3D chalk. I in the meantime am still looking for the electronic games section, which I finally find. I ask the associate if they truly do have any WII in stock and she tells me they just got some and they still have some. By this time, Mom and Yvonne found me and Mom says that she wants a WII too. I shake my head in bewilderment wondering not only why does a 72-year-old woman want a WII, but how does she even know what one is. Mom knows exactly what one is and thinks it will be something good for Anthony to use when he comes over - as well as looking really good on her new 37" HDTV. Color me surprised, but she ended up getting one.

While we are in the store, we find out that Darlene is running late, so we can take our time and meet her there in a bit. We have lunch and we head back to Mom's place where my next task is hooking up the WII to her big screen television. Fortunately, there is nothing overly complicated about setting up the WII and we are playing games before long.

Mom decides that she would like to have a television in her bedroom, so we head out to her regular store and start looking at smaller sets. She finds this nice 20" LCD HDTV that is in her price range and they have it in stock. She gets the television and homeward we go for me to setup the new television. The first thing I need to do is disconnect the old CRT television. The challenge in doing this is that the plug for the television is behind her heavy dresser. The dresser is not all that heavy, but it is bulky and challenging to move, as we had to take most items off and make sure the mirror was connected securely,which it was. After getting the old television removed and connecting the new HDTV in Mom's bedroom, I changed the channel to 60 and Mom was again able to watch television in her room in high definition.

While I am unplugging the television, I find that her printer is also connected to the outlet behind the dresser and her USB cable for connecting the printer to the laptop is not nearly long enough to reach the laptop where she currently has her laptop setup so it can connect to the big screen. My mind starts to churn again for a possible solution.

Later in the week, we go to the local mall and start bee-bopping through the mall. Mom decides that she wants to be connected to the internet again so she can make good use of her laptop computer. We cruise the mall and find Mom's phone carrier and ask about getting her connected. For $19.99 a month, Mom can have wireless access to the internet from the convenience of her home. She is sold. The only issue is that hardware is not going to arrive until after Yvonne and I are home. The salesman and I both assure Mom that it is not very difficult to hook up. Again Mom is happy that she has more technology at home.

While we are walking through the mall, I see a computer store that I can peruse to get some ideas to make Mom's life easier with her new technological advances. Since Mom likes to sit in her recliner across the room from her television and do pretty much everything - watch television, make phone calls and take a nap, to name a few of her favorite activities - I figured that her recliner would be a pretty good place for Mom to use her computer as well. I decide that Mom needs a wireless keyboard and mouse so she can use them from the comfort of her recliner and that we can get a longer USB cable to connect to her printer so she can print stuff and not have to worry about trying to move her printer to where her laptop is or vice-versa. She was again giddy with this idea. One final stop at her regular store to get her a laptop desk to put her keyboard and mouse on to use from the comfort of her recliner and life is grand.

Before I left I had to give Mom a tutorial on how to access all of her old and new toys so she could use them. After a couple of times through the list of what to do to access her VCR, DVD, WII, and computer, she was a natural.

On a side note, Mom and I need to have the rubber match game for bowling, as we are tied at 2 games a piece in the best of 5. Mom beat me one game 221 to 183. I need to be on my A-game to beat her.

More on my adventures with my WII at a later time.

Make someones day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple, or complicated, as bringing them up to the 21st century.

Are you a ladder or an "adder"

Sometimes you are the person that is struggling. Other times you are the person that the struggler is going to for help.

When that someone comes to you explaining/complaining about what is happening, are you an adder or a ladder for that person?

An adder is one who throws more gas onto the fire, agreeing with all that the person is complaining about and stokes their emotions, as sort of an emotional support.

A ladder is someone who tries to lift the person out of their predicament by offering words of encouragement and ways to resolve the issue.

Being an adder is really easy. It makes the complaining person feel righteous in their complaint and it makes you feel good because you are standing behind that person.

Being a ladder can be a bit more challenging. It does not mean that you don't support the person that comes to you. It just means that you find ways to make the person truly feel good and productive about themselves. What you say to that person may or may not be receptively received. The person is angry about a situation or another person and wants instant satisfaction and/or gratification. If you disagree with what the person's issue is, the person might walk away without hearing a word you have to say. In the long run though, you are helping the person out far more by being the voice of reason for them and helping them resolve their problem rather than just egging them on.

Being a ladder is not easy.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple (or complicated) as being a ladder for them.