Do You Have Starved Glands?
This is from a 1935 magazine, but doggone it, it sounds like a good thing to me! Without a lot of effort–just taking concentrated cod liver oil and minerals a few times a day–I could gain ten pounds and look more appealing!
Until I can order a supply of this product I’ll bet Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream with hot Hershey’s syrup, twice a day, would accomplish the same thing. Still, I think Vitro-Min Plus should be recommended to almost all Americans since so many of them are skinny. Besides that, who could pass up chocolate flavored cod liver oil? I know I can’t! Yum!
October 27th, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Food, Fitness, Fun |
8 comments
Robert Nelson Adams–Pastor Bulldog
1927-2009
This is a good-news post that will give you a chance to get a free PDF of a delightful group of Blessays (short, devotional essays and sermonettes) written by Robert Adams, who went by the nickname of Pastor Bulldog. The essays were compiled in a book Bob wrote a few years ago, Off My Chest–From My Heart. Thousands of people have read Bob’s essays on his website and they have enjoyed his faith testimony, his reminiscences and his puckish sense of humor.
Bob’s focus was on having hope in spite of infirmities, debilitating illnesses and disease. His motto was: “Bulldogs are survivors!” He certainly proved it as he overcame many health conditions and worked through them to assist and support others. So, the good news is that you can get that book for free in PDF format, to read, share, and print to give as a gift. The sad news is that it is being done in memory of a good man in every sense of the word and he his not here to be part of it.
Bob fought the good fight and kept the faith. He finished the race with valor. You can read more about Pastor Bulldog in the post written by his eldest son, Dr. Jeff Adams, senior pastor of Kansas City Baptist Temple.
Bob’s Internet ministry is over now and so are the emails he sent me almost daily with ideas for developing it–ideas that would have required him to have another twenty years of good health to make them happen! In the last few weeks, even though he was exhausted and dealing with the effects of his cancer and the treatments for it, he wrote Blessays, responded encouragingly to emails from readers who were much less ill than him, wrote blog posts, organized his website, commented on posts of mine and continued to smile and joke to help others feel better about what he knew was imminent.
There was so much about Bob Adams that was funny and so much that was infuriatingly frustrating, that one day I’ll be able to laugh about him and his antics. Right now I just miss him. However, what does make me smile is being able to offer you a free PDF of his book, Off My Chest–From My Heart. It can be read with an Adobe reader on the computer or printed on regular paper and placed in a three-ring binder. It would be a nice gift or good to place in a reading room or forwarded to friends who can use the inspiration and spiritual encouragement it provides.
How to get the free PDF: Use the comment form or the “Contact me” tab. Be sure your email address is correct. I’ll send you the PDF file of Off My Chest–From My Heart by Bob Adams. If you didn’t know Pastor Bulldog you can meet him through his writing and enjoy him as much as I did. If you knew him, you’ll almost hear his voice and see his smile!
October 23rd, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Pastor Bulldog's Devotional Book--A Free PDF |
29 comments
Training is supposed to be helpful and focused on motivation, improvement and expanded thinking. I think my training and presentations accomplish that–but the people who really need the training are never there. All the participants in my classes are incredibly high performing people who are carrying the load for everyone else and who are great team members while constantly striving to be an example of excellence and service.
I’m not complaining, because I almost always really, really like everyone in my classes–I truly do! But, I also would like to talk to a few of those people I’m always hearing about. For example, I want to meet these types:
Drama Queens (I’ll even settle for Kings). I know there are Drama Queens because I hear about them all the time, but they never come to anything I teach. The people who tell me about how vicious and evil their coworkers are and how they almost throw up every time they have to work with one and how that has been true in almost every place they have worked, have said those are the people who fit the description of Drama Royalty. However, so far I’ve been out of luck on meeting any of them.
Speaking of vicious and evil–where are those people when I’m teaching? I don’t want to have a demonic spawn of satan in every class. Nevertheless, since so many coworkers and bosses are described to me as being evil, vile, malevolent or sadistic, you’d think just one of them would give me a break and attend training now and then. But noooooooooo…I only get people who are nurturing, supportive and pleasant in spite of provocation. Sure, I love’em, but a little variety would be fun.
Are you unethical, uninspired, unenthused and disloyal? Send me your email and I’ll give you a discount on my next class. I want to meet you! I have met and admired many participants who are above reproach in every aspect of their work life and I’d like to see what the weasels they work with look like.
Lazy malingerers who lie and gossip apparently never get sent to training for any topic at all and never volunteer to attend. Instead, the rosters get filled with hard working people who speak up when they hear gossip or see unfairness and put a halt to it right away. They’re the same considerate people who never forward virus warnings or talk on a cell phone while driving–and their kids were never allowed to act-up like some of the brats you see in stores nowadays. No wonder I have a fun time teaching–I’ve got the cream of the crop in front of me!
I guess one reason I like all the participants in my classes so much is because they are like I always was in my career–diligently doing their best but held back by incompetent supervisors, managers who don’t have a clue, and weak, spineless so-called leaders. I feel a kinship with every one of them.
Still, in the introductions I would like to have someone openly admit they are treacherous, diabolical backstabbers or even just boring, milk-toast, managers who are afraid of their own shadows. If you aren’t practically perfect, please sign-up for a class or two. Why be content to make life horrible in your workplace when you could have a captive audience and a trainer to practice on?
See you soon, I hope!
October 19th, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Challenging and Problematic People, Personal and Professional Development, Supervision and Management |
15 comments
A friend told me about a meeting she attended last week in which a coworker, Greg, was looking at his wireless smart phone and texting with both hands–as he always did in meetings. (In the past, people had commented about this rude habit of his and wondered why his boss allowed him to get by with it.) Greg would only look up occasionally. Most of the time he was texting or scrolling. Finally the manager stopped the meeting to tell Greg to put the #$#@! phone away and pay attention.
Greg was shocked and a bit angry and hurt. He showed everyone the screen, which contained notes of the meeting. He said he always took notes that way and used them for the follow-up memo which many had thanked him for producing. He hadn’t intended to be rude; he intended to be helpful.
That reminded me of two similar situations: In one situation a normally courteous person caught the negative attention of others in a training group by repeatedly looking at his smart phone, as though looking at emails or a text message. Toward the close of the session it became apparent he had been keeping track of the time for a timed activity in which they were involved.
The other situation was reported to me by a supervisor who was talking to an employee about a work problem. In the middle of the conversation, the employee took out his smart phone and studied the screen, then scrolled and did some texting. He seemed distracted when he responded to a question about some statistics. The supervisor finally said, “I would appreciate it if you would show me the courtesy of listening and not reading a message while we’re trying to figure this out.” The employee was surprised at the remarks and showed the screen–he had a spreadsheet with data about the problem and was reading along as the supervisor discussed the situation.
After these incidents I did a small survey to find out how people felt about the use of mobile devices in meetings and training. I’m going to continue to gather those opinions and will report them some other time. This post will be focused on the issue of reducing, at least a bit, the appearance of rudeness when you use a mobile device or smart phone.
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Do you actually need to take notes? If notes are needed, could a few hand written notes suffice? Are you the one who is designated for note taking or could you be more useful as an active contributor? For many people “taking notes” is a way to avoid participating.
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Explain your intentions. Tell others you will taking notes on the mobile device you use, but emphasize that you will be listening closely. Especially talk about it ahead of time to the group leader or to the trainer. They may tell you they would prefer you not do it.
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Make eye contact and respond to remarks. If you only look down at the screen you can’t communicate effectively, especially not in groups. Put the device down now and then to listen attentively and respond.
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Explain your specific purposes for using the mobile device. “Let me see if the emails I received about the project had the information we need. Give me a second to scroll through them.” When you are done, put the phone or device away.
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Pay attention to how you look to others. Most adults stare intently at a mobile device because of the size of the screen. Their facial expression is one of concentration on the device, not on the meeting. They use both hands to text and scroll. If they need glasses, they will tend to hold the smart phone out at arm’s length to see it. All of those things add to the distraction.
Many people are so frustrated about the use of mobile devices in meetings and training that no explanation will make it seem right. However, a brief explanation combined with care to ensure you listen and respond appropriately, may help in many situations. At least it will show that you are concerned about others in the group and that your intentions are positive.
October 12th, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development, Training, Technology, Blogs, A/V etc. |
7 comments
An At By Any Other Name Still Gets Email Delivered
Checking the library and the Internet will provide you with several histories of the @ symbol. Each of the sources state their version with complete confidence and authority. (That’s how false history and urban legends get started. )
I am putting my trust in this well documented account: In 2000, Giorgio Stabile, a professor at La Sapienza University in Rome, found correspondence written in 1536 by a Florence merchant, Francesco Lapi, describing three treasure-filled ships that had recently arrived from Latin America. Lapi wrote with mercantile script which had been developed prior to that time and which often involved wrapping a letter with a flourish to indicate a longer word. He used a wrapped a to denote an amphora, which was a measurement based on the size of terracotta containers and which was also used as an equivalency measurement. The wrapped a might have been used before then, but no earlier examples have been found.
Over time the wrapped a was used in commercial transactions to mean at the rate of, at each or for each. (12 @ $2.00). The first Underwood typewriter in 1885 contained the commercial symbol @, which most referred to simply as at, at each or commercial at. The symbol is also sometimes used in casual handwriting as a way to shorten the two-letter word at to one letter.
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer was working with a team to develop a network between computers. Although developing a mail system was not the specific purpose of the project, it was part of the work. He needed to find a way to separate an electronic mail recipient from the host computer name. (The two large computers were actually side by side in his research area). The word at made sense and the at symbol on the keyboard seemed obvious. It’s been used that way billions of times since then.
So, that is how the @ symbol evolved. Quite an evolution! For the story of what the symbol is now called in other languages, check out an article about the various names for Señor Lapi’s quick version of amphora, which started it all.
October 8th, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development, Training, Technology, Blogs, A/V etc. |
7 comments
Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
When you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you musn’t quit.
There needs to be another line in there somewhere:
If you’re tired of losing and you want to win,
Figure out what went wrong and don’t do it again.
When there is a problem with work or with your personal or professional life, there is usually more than one issue involved–and all of the issues need to be identified and dealt with, if you want to move forward and make things better. They may not all be your fault, but you nearly always can change some aspect of your actions or reactions.
What’s your problem? Look at a current issue with which you’re grappling–you know, the one that you’re having so much trouble with and it seems as though you just can’t make it better. Take the time to list all of the elements of it, not only the essence of it. What contributes to the overall problem? By eliminating one issue, then another, then improving something else, you will often find that the HUGE problem was actually six or eight other issues that were working against you. You could have never eliminated the big problem as long as the other problems were present.
Here are some things to consider when you analyze the situation:
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Who are people who have the most effect on this situation? Even if you feel you are mostly responsible, see if there are one or two people who may purposely or inadvertently add to the situation or make it difficult for you to stick to your life or work plans. What do you need to do differently about your relationships or interactions with them?
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What is the Instead factor? Anytime there is a problem there is an instead. What are you stuck doing instead of the thing you need to do or want to do? What is happening instead of the positive things that need to be happening? What are the results instead of the results that are wanted or required? When you need to get something accomplished, what situation presents a barrier–and what would be better instead?
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If you track back, where did it start to go wrong? When you are thinking about something that exists now, thing about how it got that way. It may be so many years ago that it’s hard to figure it out, but it’s an interesting exercise. You can’t change the past but you can keep from repeating it an hour from now. Or, at least you can start to change long-term habits or improve a process or activity that has failure designed into it.
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Think change instead of blame. When you have a situation that is dragging you down, wearing you out or driving you crazy, it’s a temptation to quickly assign blame–to someone else, to yourself or to a giant conspiracy of factors. Take blame out of it and instead think change. What needs to change? Even if the situation is primarily caused by others, what do you need to change about your actions or reactions? It may be time to speak up, take over, get out or do something else instead of what you are doing now.
The Edsel Problem: Many studies have been done about what went wrong with Ford’s Edsel in 1957. Actually, nothing went wrong with the Edsel. But dozens of things went wrong with the processes, programs and plans leading up to it and while it was being produced and marketed. The poor Edsel just got the blame for all of those failures. Even then, had Ford fixed some of those peripheral problems the Edsel design could have been a success, even if the actual model and name had been phased out. But, when it seemed the car was failing, the easiest solution was to stop making it–which completed it’s downfall in auto manufacturing history. People quit, so the Edsel failed.
Right now you are probably dealing with several long-term problems. Mixed in with those will be short-term issues and a few brief crises points. Look at each of them as having several elements. Do something about the elements and see if that doesn’t help you with the essence of the problem. You might be forced to do something quickly to avert disaster now, but take the time to figure out all the things that contributed to it and deal with those. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with the same problem again, real soon!
October 1st, 2009
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development |
9 comments
