NO WINNER NO CHICKEN DINNER

Last night I couldn’t tell if I was watching Game 6 of the World Series or a throw-away game in mid-June.  The Cards just didn’t have the spark or the intensity required to win any World Series game—let alone one against a high caliber team like the Red Sox. 

It was almost if the Cardinals were thinking, “Ehh, if we don’t win tonight no biggie, we’ll get them tomorrow to even out the series.”  Obviously flawed thinking.

The Cardinals had the benefit of knowing it was do or die…to win or go home for the winter.  We’re not so lucky—we never know when it’s going to be our last game.  This is why it’s so important to live to the fullest every day.  I’m not talking about running a marathon every day or basing jumping during every lunch hour.  I mean we never know what tomorrow holds so enjoy today as much as possible.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to quote some cheesy inspirational poster or start talking about YOLO, all I’m saying is it’s important to keep things in perspective.  From time to time I have to take a step back and remind myself of this—to stop waiting for the “next big thing” and start living in the now.

And right now I’ve got better things to do than ramble.

HOME DEPOT OBSTACLE COURSE

Seeing as how I fancy myself as a handy-man and have an over abundance of (sometimes mistaken) self confidence in my ability to tackle home repairs I find myself in Home Depot quite a bit. 

Typically on the first trip of the day I never notice how distracting the place can be.  As the project progresses and the number of trips taken increases so does the distraction level.

Starting at the second trip of the day the store starts plotting against you. 

It starts in the parking lot.  All of a sudden there are twice the number of cars than spots.  Once you make it inside it gets even worse.  The aisle you need is full of people...and they're all in the exact four-square-feet you need to be in to get your supplies.  Enter backing up forklift.  It is always in the aisle next to you (or if you're lucky its in your aisle) and based on the duration of the backup alarm, will never reach its destination or move in any direction other than reverse.  But wait, its not over yet.  Next you get to pay for all your goodies.  And the way it works is you are destined to be behind the person paying in pennies or arguing that the 2x4 is only 3 feet rather than 3.5. 

I can hear the store taunting me and talking trash..."You think this is going to be your last trip of the day?  You better think again.  And oh yeah, don't let all of this stress cause you to slip up and be rude to your helper, cause you know, without them you'll have no shot at getting this project done today.  Have fun sucker." 

Luckily I won this round...but next time I might not be so lucky.

DIFFERNET CLOTHES...PSSSH

The need to have "winter" clothes and "summer" clothes is outdated could be avoided if office buildings were constantly kept at 70 degrees.  When I take over the world this will be one of my mandates so be ready.

No longer would people have to stand in front of their closets and say, "Hmmm, it's only going to be 32 today, what should I wear?"  32 or 102 wouldn't matter...wear whatever you'll be comfortable in at 70 degrees. 

Think about it, if you work in a typical office the actual time spent outside in "actual temperature" is pretty low...house to car, car to office, office to lunch (assuming you don't bring your lunch), office to car, car to house.  That's it.  Most cars have heat and AC, so no need to adjust your wardrobe for that part of your daily journey.  That just leaves the walking to and from the car...which isn't a huge deal. 

Nothing makes me madder than when someone cranks up the heat because it is cold outside...guess what?  We're inside! out of the elements.  If buildings were kept at a constant temperature all year everyone would know what to expect everyday and would dress appropriately.

This is a win-win for everyone...extra closet space for storage, time spent shopping for clothes would be reduced, money would be saved due to not having to buy clothes only to wear them a couple months of the year.  I guess that makes it a win-win-win.

Hopefully with green and LEED building practices on the rise this can become a reality in the nearish future.

BIKE LANES

I wish every major road had a bike lane adjacent to it.  I'm not talking a bike lane that is simply painted on the road (which are totally safe...no way a car could cross that reflective line and hit ya).  I'm talking about an honest to goodness lane built for safety.  A lane which is separated from traffic via a concrete wall. 

It would be interesting to know the number of people who don't use bikes as their major mode of transportation due to unsafe riding areas. 

HIPSTERS: THE SAME...BUT DIFFERNT

Last night I went to grab a few drinks and watch the game at a new watering hole.  The bar was in a cool area of town, had good prices and food, and had the game on....a win in my book.

One thing I noticed was the amount of hipsters in the bar.  I wasn't surprised since, as I mentioned, the bar was located in a cool area of town and everyone knows that's where hipsters congregate.  I'm sure it could be argued the hipsters made the area of town cool...and I would typically agree.

Up until last night I always thought of Hipsters as people who were totally different and always doing their own thing.  Then I looked around and realized all of these people had the same definition of "doing their own thing".  Sure, this thing may be a little different than societies norms, but the subculture all seems to adhere to the same set of norms...therefore making it all mainstream. 

(Don't get me wrong I am in no way passing judgment or making a statement about this group.  After all, on paper it looks like I could very well be a hipster...I wear clothes from thrift shops, have facial hair, ride my bike, have a vinyl collection, listen to bands no one has heard of, appreciate the arts, work in a creativity industry, think outside of the box, etc. Point being, a lot of people have hipster qualities but aren't necessary hipsters) 

This realization made me think back to another popular counter-culture--the hippies of the 60s.  They were protesting against "The Man" and "traditional society" and dressed in a way that was different to set them apart.  But, if you look at most hippies they all dressed similar to each other.  I guess its important, on some super deep human level, to be able to look at a group and quickly tell, "Yup, these are my people" or "Nope, I better keep walking".  Maybe that's what has kept humans relatively safe for all these years.

This realization makes me feel better about listening to popular bands, wearing clothes from traditional stores, and sometimes going along with the mainstream. 

RAN ON THE ROCKS

This past weekend I participated in the Run The Rocks 5K which supported the American Lung Association.  The run was held at Red Rocks which made for some spectacular views.  But, these views came with a hefty price-tag...hills. 

This might have been the most grueling 5K I've ever ran.  I'm a runner.  I have ran a marathon, I have ran a half-marathon, and I log some decent mileage each week.  This run flat out whipped me. 

The first 2 miles were mainly downhill...nothing tough about that.  Just had to keep my legs moving and let gravity take care of the rest.  The last mile was a different story all together.  It was all uphill, so much so that I should have used a ladder to get to the top.  I'll admit it...I walked almost all of the last mile. 

Even though I can't say I ran the whole thing I can say that it felt great to be physically pushed to the limit. 

Who cares about sore legs...after all, it was for a great cause and allowed me to run with some friends and co-workers.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend morning.

TIME

I think the way most American's view time is skewed.  It's almost like we try to cram as many things as possible into a specified time frame with little regard for reward and personal satisfaction.  Where is the good in that?  I mean, other than getting to do more things--which isn't always a positive.

If success was measured differently, say on the fact that a job was done well and in a timely manner rather than by the sheer amount of tasks completed, I think plenty would still get done and personal satisfaction would be higher.  Which would make people go above and beyond, which increases quality and quantity, which provides a high sense of satisfaction, which...well, you get the idea.  It is all related and circular.

Just for grins, I'll use one of my typical Saturdays for an example.  Each Saturday I have a list of chores/errands that need to get done.  All combined, the total amount of time to complete the list is about 5ish hours.  Since I know that once the list is done I can relax and have fun, I tend to tackle the chores in a fairly aggressive and efficient manner.  Quality isn't ever an issue because if I don't do them correctly the first time, I'll have to spend more time fixing the mistakes which means less time having fun. 

Now lets change it up a little bit.  If I completed the list of chores and then, rather than having the option to relax, I was given another list of chores, what incentive do I have in completing the first list in a timely manner.  If I were to complete it in 5 hours that doesn't mean I can have fun any sooner than if I completed the original list in 9 hours. 

I feel the same argument can be made about business.  Rather than rewarding an employee with more work for being efficient, why not reward them with time off or time to work on personal growth projects?  Again, quality would not suffer because if it wasn't done correctly the first time, more time would be required to fix the wrong.  I have a feeling this would also strengthen and streamline procedures and practices.  Which would strengthen the business as a whole.    Happier employees and an efficient company.  Seems like a win-win to me.

LAZY NIGHT

Last night I had what I like to call an "old man night".  I got home from work, ate dinner, watched about 4 hours of TV, read for an hour or so, then went to bed.  That was it, nothing productive was accomplished from the minute I stepped through the front door.  It was good but not great...they never are.

Every once in a while I get the urge to do absolutely nothing...and I do.  But by the end of the night I feel bad about it, like I wasted the night.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that my schedule allows for these nights on occasion, but I never feel as refreshed after them as I would if I were productive for a few hours and then watched 1 hour of TV.  I mean, was it really necessary to watch 4 episodes of Law and Order: SVU? 

Oh well, we've been traveling at break-neck speed for a quite a while now, so I guess a lazy night is good for you every so often. 

BROKEN

I think the gas gauge in my truck is broken.  And when I say I think it's broken, I mean I know it is.  I ran out of gas yesterday and the gauge showed just shy of a quarter of a tank. 

Luckily I was close to home when it happened and my lawn mower has a 4-stroke engine.  So I didn't have to wait long for the misses to bring me some gas. 

Guess I shouldn't have been surprised, I track my mileage per tank and right before she ran dry I was impressed with the extra mileage this tank was giving me.

Lesson learned. 

NICELY DONE

It is a safe bet that many of the closets in the small farming town I grew up in had something with the Carhartt label sewn onto it.  Carhartt, typically known as the Cadillac of work wear has been a staple on jobsites and farms for years…so seeing the brand shouldn’t strike me as odd.  But it does.

Now I live in a metropolitan area where the majority of people go to work in offices rather than fields.  Yet I see the brand everywhere.  On college kids, on preppy looking guys in smart glasses carrying briefcases, and on hipsters…groups people who I’d assume have never set foot on a job site judging from the relative cleanliness of their coats and clothes. 

Hats off to Carhartt and their agency—reinventing the brand and moving it into the mainstream is no easy task.  As long as they remember who, and what, made them the industry leader.  If they continue to produce a quality product (remember when a main skate-shoe brand tried to move into mainstream, forgot about the skater kids who made the brand profitable, started making cheaper shoes for the masses that were not a quality and functional skating shoe…resulting in near bankruptcy) I see this as a win. 

Kudos.

RUNNING UPDATE

My old iPod is still going strong.  I have been listening to playlists my 8 year ago self made.  Interesting (and sometimes questionable) picks, but it has been great listening to all the old stuff while running.  It is amazing how quickly you will be taken back down memory lane by listening to music.

Also, I've started getting really bad side cramps.  This is a new thing for me, and I don't like it one bit.  I know it has to do with your breathing, so I need to do some research about how to fix it.