We all secretly desire to be someone heroic. Even the heroic amongst us (firefighters, police officers and soldiers) would like to be more like the TV and Movie heros. Here is a little quiz to help you find out which fictional hero you would be most like.
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=92013And my results - which I whole heartedly agree with:
You scored as William
Wallace. The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English
oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the
hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul,
Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he
gave it up to help his country in its time of need.
Here is the list of the other heros I am most like based on my personality. I good bunch I might say!
William Wallace | | 92% | James Bond, Agent 007 | | 67% | Indiana Jones | | 63% | Maximus | | 54% | The Amazing Spider-Man | | 50% | The Terminator | | 50% | Lara Croft | | 50% | Captain Jack Sparrow | | 42% | Batman, the Dark
Knight | | 42% | El Zorro | | 38% | Neo, the"One" | | 38% |
Which Action Hero Would You Be? v.2.0
created with QuizFarm.com
  There is nothing, our dairy-obsessed cat, Emily, will not do for cheese. When our 2 year old dropped cheese into the rabbit's cage, Emily put aside her fear of the bunny (who is really a piranha with soft fur and big ears) to climb into the cage and eat the cheese. As you can see, Cinnamon Bun (yes, that is his name) was too stunned to do anything but watch.
I have just finished listening to Keith Ferrazzi's wonderful book on business and life "Never Eat Alone". One of things I found interesting about it, is the way he is moving away from the traditional business meeting over meals that is so common in our society today. Keith will often take prosepective employees, friends and clients on a run, to a gym or to his favorite workout location, Barry's Bootcamp. He feels that doing business during a workout is a much more personal way of getting to know the people his dealing with. Currently, I work as an I.T. manager. This means I rarely have the time to workout, however, my weight is not a problem since skipped meals are frequent. Lunch is something users go on, right after they call the help desk to report a problem, so that when a tech gets there, no one is around to explain the problem (see also other things users do that I.T guys don't: "Leave work on time", "Vacation") As I continue to move up the corporate ladder, I am definitely going to try and put this idea into practice. More importantly, I need to get into shape. It would be a sad, sad time for me, if I went to meet with a client and had to run anything more than my mouth. Check out a New York Times article on this new phenomenon: http://tinyurl.com/avlteYou can visit Keith Ferrazzi's blog at : http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/blog/
 This weekend my family were guests of friends of ours at their horse farm in New Jersey. We had a wonderful time, but the biggest surprise of all was my baby daughter's blossoming horse obsession. I expected that, at best, she would be shy and, at worst, totally petrified. Boy was I wrong! She loved it! She followed the miniature horses around their field making sure she petted every one and she had several rides. Towards the end of the evening when her siblings were riding and she was waiting, she kept yelling to them to "Get off HER horse". I guess I should not be surprised, my wife spent a good part of her child hood riding and my eldest daughter has always loved horses as well. Almost as impressive as the baby's comfort with the horses, was that of all of my boys, who without hesitation saddled up, climbed on and went for a ride. Kyle, my eldest, who has alreay flown planes, wanted to ride by himself after just a few minutes in the saddle. It was a great weekend and I am very thankful to our friends for the opportunity and the hospitality.
For more reading about "Getting Things Done" please check out the following blogs: http://www.davidco.com/blogs/david/ - David Allen's Blog http://www.davidco.com/blogs/jason/ - Jason Womack's "In The Life" Blog. http://www.davidco.com/blogs/kelly/ - Kelly Forrister's "Simply Kelly" Blog. Jason and Kelly are coaches at the David Allen Company. All three of the Blogs are about their life and how GTD helps with their extremely busy schedule. For more great tips and tricks, please also see the David Allen Comany forums: http://www.davidco.com/forum/The David Allen Newsletter can be subscribed to at: http://www.davidco.com/productivity_principles.phpAnd finally David has written a series of excellent tips that you should check out: http://www.davidco.com/tips_tools.phpGood luck in "Getting Things Done"
I spent the better part of yesterday waiting in a hospital waiting room. My poor wife was undergoing a procedure in the short stay surgical unit. There probably isn't a worse place to be for everyone involved, except in the surgical unit itself as the patient. I am not a people watcher and I think I rank pretty low on the "Emotional IQ" scale, however, I did take good notice of everyone there. There was another gentleman who, like me, was trying to work as a distraction, he really wasn't doing any better than I was. An older gentleman, waiting for his wife, nervous about her outcome. A mother waiting for her daughter. Another mother with a bored teen-aged son. It was obvious that at his age he could not understand the seriousness of everyone there, and has not developed the ability to focus his attention into situationally-appropriate behaviour. We all sat around making small-talk about the big news issue of the day. We live outside of Philly, so it was the Terrell Owens situation. We waited and waited. All things being equal, we were not there long, just over an hour for most of us, but it did seem like forever. It was a good day for everyone there. All of our loved ones had successful outcomes from their surgeries, while certainly everyone's lives are a little different from what happened that day, I am thankful that God was watching over everyone there.
I recently gave up drinking soda, (again). This time I finally have managed to make it through the withdrawl and then the cravings to have it with some of my favorite soda-necessary foods, ie: Pizza, Burger King. I have not had any in a month and my resolve becomes stronger every day. I used to drink a lot in a day, not as much as many people I know, however. I was always certain it would be the death of me one day, and my body was rebelling quite a bit, telling me that this was not what it wanted. Now there is a website that will tell you if soda will be the death of you. From the pull-down menu you put in your choice of caffinated poison, then enter your body weight. It will tell you how many sodas you need consume, in a short period, before you will self-terminate. While I don't think I ever came close. I would need to drink 325 cans of Cherry Coke at once, there are a few people who will be getting warning emails from me because, they are in the ballpark. Check it out at: http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine/Make mine water! Bottoms up!
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, and by far the most accurate mirror of corporate life has started his own blog. Its still in its early posts, so you can read it all without a serious commitment of time. Check it out at : http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/If you are interested in a satirical view of the news, check out this fantastically written blog. I love the artwork and the layout, even if it wasn't as funny as it usually is, just looking at the website is a visual treat. http://watleyreview.com/
Getting Things Done The second most life changing book (Bible #1) I have ever experienced is "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and his follow-up "Ready for Anything". This life-changing methodology for managing the flow of work and personal life is simply amazing. There are now dozens of websites, email newsletters, productivity products, etc devoted to Allen's teaching. GTDers as we are called are considered "cultish" by those who have not yet been able to experience the transformational impact of doing things the way David recommends. For example, he recommends breaking down the next actions for any tasks or projects by context instead of the ABC, 123 methods recommended by so many other productivity experts. Phone Calls go on a @phone list, things to do at home are on @home list. He recommends reviewing these whenever you have a moment and are in the right context. If you have 10 minutes away from having to go to a meeting, need tires on your car and are a near a phone, make the call, schedule the appointment, now you have used a nearly useless block of time and removed something from your to do list. One of the most telling examples of the productivity I have gained from these practices is in my email. I now keep a clean inbox, I process everything as quickly as I can. Reference email is filed in folders releveant to the subject. Anything that can be responded to immediately, is. If it requires action that is going to be longer than 2-5 minutes, I will drag the whole email into a task in Outlook, set a reminder and move on, not letting myself got bogged down. Most of my peers and my immediate managers constantly complain about how many emails they recieve, and how clogged their inboxes are, and while they have expressed their envy at how I run mine, they just assume that they cannot do it. Someday, I hope to achieve super-organized. I still slip from the ideals I am setting for myself. But someday, I will truly have a "Mind Like Water" Check out David's website at: http://www.davidco.comMore links from some of the better blogs and websites related to GTD to come in the next few days.
As far as I am concerned, today is the most important day of the year. A day I can never honor enough. It is the birthday of my best friend, closest confidant, #1 cheerleader, all around better half, pain in the side telling me I could do better when I want to be lazy, mother of all of my wonderful children........... my wife. We give gifts to our loved ones to celebrate their birthday, but in reality they are God's gifts to us. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if He had not gifted her to me. I know I would not be the person I am today. Happy Birthday Sweetheart, and I selfishly pray for many, many, many more :).
I had the opportunity over the weekend to take a participate in didgeridoo workshop this weekend with Ash Dargan ( http://www.ashdargan.com). If you have a chance you should check out some of his music. I was completely blown away, I had no idea that so much could be done with this instrument. If you enjoy the music, maybe you can try it. It easier than you might expect to start. Check back here, if I start making music of quality perhaps I will post it.
I just found out that my favorite actor from any Star Trek, James Doohan, has passed away. I am one of the many Trekkies that believe that his was the best character in the Original Series. In addition to being a fine actor and master of many accents he was also a bona fide war hero fighting with his Canadian brothers during the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day. My favorite memory of him was from the very first Star Trek Convention I attended. Using his gift of accents he gave a long demonstration of what the Chief Engineer would have been like in every nationality imaginable. "Mr. Scott, the word is given"
My wife has been, for several minutes, making faces at me. My grandfather used to tell me not to make faces because my face would freeze and I would have to go around for the rest of my life with a ridiculous face and my tongue hanging out. I wonder if I have to worry about her face being like that forever...
I have been reading, (ok listening thanks to Audible.com) two books about customer service and the ways good companies are run. "The Wal-Mart Way" by Donald Soderquist and "Customer-Mania" by Ken Blanchard, Jim Ballard and Fred Finch. The books are about how Wal-Mart and YUM Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silver's) create a culture of empowering employees to make the ultimate shopping / eating experience. Each book illustrates the way all of the locations manage their employees and expectations. How they strive to keep the stores clean, well stocked, and full of polite helpful employees. Unfortunately, at my local Wal-Mart shelves are often empty, however the aisles are full of unattended carts of merchandise waiting to be unboxed and go onto the shelves at all hours of the day. The employees are often surley or at best will just ignore you when you need assistance. My KFC often forgets to pack items in the orders, the food is often less than hot, and if you go through the drive-thru you often have to go back into the store to get your order corrected. The staff is in such a hurry to rush you through the drive-thru that they give you your total and order you to pull up to the window before you have finished ordering. I certainly hope that the policies and procedures these books enumerate will soon trickle down to my local stores. It is more comforting to think that perhaps my little corner of the world has been forgotten by the corpoate trainers and coaches than the local employees are just don't care to be nice to their neighbors.
I truly hope and pray that last week's suicide terrorist attack in Iraq, where an "insurgent" attacked a Humvee around which children were standing receiving candy, will be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back. It would appear to me that there are many people in Iraq who, while they hated the old regime, don't like the current situation, and cannot think of the future are standing quietly by and allowing these attacks to happen. I cannot imagine that there are many people who don't know someone who is involved with the "insurgents" or knows someone who knows someone. I could even understand if they said nothing when they were just attacking our troops, as wrong as it is, maybe they just wanted us to leave and thought this might help move us along. I can understand when they said nothing when they were blowing up new Iraqi police stations and training facilities, because they thought a thoroughly trained police force with the intent of carrying out just laws in a just manner was just too alien to their culture, and that the possibility of roundups, rapes and tortures of their friends and neighbors was really the best way to keep order, but I just cannot fathom the thought of these people standing by and letting little babies get murdered and not doing something about it. I pray that this will be bring home to these people, that the insurgents are not freedom fighters, they are just murdering thugs who care nothing about who they hurt as long as they are hurting. Hopefully, this will lead to real cooperation from the average citizen of Iraq in finally getting rid of this blight on their bright future.
I recently discovered a magazine called "Mental Floss" which is a dedicated to mostly useless but highly interesting trivia. This month's edition has a feature about commonly used Latin phrases. The one I found most interesting was "E Pluribus Unum", "Of Many, One". According to the article the first use of this phrase was in Virgil's poem "Moretum". It was used to describe the flavoring of a salad dressing. A very fitting way to describe a salad, salad dressing or our great melting pot. Now I am hungry, look out lettuce!
Happy Birthday - USA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have always loved the Fourth of July, it is the best of all the secular holidays. It is a day to remember the early Americans who made so many sacrifices in order that we may have all the freedoms we so take for granted today. I have also loved the Fourth of July because I am one of the blessed to be born on the Fourth of July. There were many famous people who were born on the Fourth. Many more who were not, those who weren't include: George M Cohan (I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, a Yankee do or do or die, A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, born on the Fourth of July), He was born on the 3rd. Tom Cruise (Actor, Movie: Born on the Fourth of July) was born on the 3rd of July. P.T. Barnum (Greatest showman on Earth) missed by a day also, he was born on the Fifth of the July. Happy Birthday America. Happy birthday to my birthdaybuddy Eric. Happy Birthday to everyone else born on the Fourth.
Lance Armstrong, after completing the first leg of the Tour de France, was subjected to another drug test. This is his second of the tour and his sixth this year. Lance, not surprisingly, was the only rider forced to submit to a retest. I guess the French strategy is, if they cannot beat him fairly, drain him of so much blood he is too weak to win. I am confident he will win again. Desptite the despicable tactics of the French. Let's hope the race officials will now go off and eat some cheese and maybe surrender to Vanuatu.
 Driving through my hometown the other day, I spied this new sign along the main street. Dozens of bad captions come to my mind, but I will leave this one to your imagination.
Recently, I have wanted to be a Talk Radio host. Not because I feel everyone needs to know my opinion on everything, (though more people should), not because I need the respect and adoration of a large population (but I wouldn't complain about being a celebrity) but because they get tremondous freebies. Sleep Number beds, car leases, furniture, etc... they get them..., they pitch them all through their shows. Recently all of the radio personalities have been talking about the Purina One Challenge, how their old dogs have new zip, their coats are shinier and the dogs just seem better. Belle, our 10 year old Golden Retriever has been eating standard quality dog food for several years, she has always been fine, a bit lazy, and had a nice not exceptional coat. The last batch of dog food that I bought at the local big box store was being rejected. Every morning for a week she ate a few kibbles to keep from starving then scrounged around the children during meals (Actually, with the amount of food they drop, dog food really isn't necessary). My wife and I decided to try a bag of Purina One and now, a month later, Belle does have more zip, her coat is shinier and she has an overall healthier presence. I really had not noticed, but it was brought to our attention by the older children who were not aware we had changed her food. I have to admit, I am impressed. Even if we are not getting a lifetime supply of dog food for free, I will be letting all my dog-owning friends know that Purina One really delivers on it's promise.
In this entire world there is nothing more beautiful than the site of a baby sleeping. Especially, if she spent the previous two hours screaming from her crib, throwing her toys and trying to climb out! Good night!
One of the most relaxing sounds in the world is that of a rain beating down on the roof. As I am writing this, I am in the kitchen of my house (the only part without a second story) updating my checkbook and listening to songs in ITunes. I could hear the the rain just above me. It is so overwhelmingly relaxing, I turned off my MP3s just so I can listen and remember the simple God-given pleasures of the world.
In case you are wondering, what is Uinseann? It is the Irish form of Vincent, which of course is my name. Vincent is the Roman word for conqueror. The Irish is pronounced Win-shen. I may adopt "Win" as my new nickname. It certainly goes along with the positive mental attitude I am trying hard each day to maintain!!!!!!
The last time I went to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, I was 4 years old. The only thing I could remember from that trip was the giant heart exhibit. I took my family there today, as part of my ongoing first real vacation in years. My five year old, Corry, came running out of the heart obviously as excited as I had been at his age. He insisted that I go back in with him, which I was happy to do, as I wanted to relive my earlier childhood memories. The first thing I discovered is that it was a little harder to get through at 36 than 4. Obviously, I am a not quite as small as I used to be. Thinking about it from a different perspective, I imagined that the arteries and veins were smaller from the buildup of plaque and cholesterol Pondering it from that point of view makes me want to swear off double cheesburgers for life. (Okay, not really, but I might cut down a bit). The biggest things at the Institute were Corry's eyes when we entered the "Train Factory". The Baldwin 60000 locomotive is a permanent exhibit. He has always been a fan of trains, especially Thomas the Tank Engine, but he has never been this close to one. He studied the big drive wheels, the pistons, the coal tender. I don't think he realized that he was actually walking all around it, it seemed to me that he was floating. Kristy was chosen to be the engineer for the 24 foot round trip the locomotive makes and Corry sat in her lap attentively watching her push the throttle, break and horn. I wonder how much of this he will remember 30 years from now. Of course, I will take him back several more times before then.
I don't usually plug products. I will, when asked, offer my opinion about nearly anything, but I rarely find anything I want to tell people about. This is one of those exceptions. In this month's issue of Business 2.0, there is an article about OpenX. It is a tool to easily extract items from those awful clamshell packages that everything is packaged in these days. Check out their website http://www.myopenx.com. This is the gift to give before giving anymore gifts!
Everyone who loves baseball knows the story of Babe Ruth's called shot... Game three of the World Series. Wrigley Field. Fifth Inning. The Babe is at the plate. He gestures towards the outfield predicting his home run. Charlie Root delivers the pitch. Wham... Out of the park! I experienced a legendary moment yesterday. My son Ciaran and daughter Kristy were competing at the first ever Celtic Fling Feis. Ciaran had two competitions, he performed with grace and ease and kept absolutely perfect time to the music for the first time ever in competition. My daughter was competing in 5 events. The amount of challengers in each event was significantly more than Ciaran had to face. She did well in the first two events but did not place. When she checked the results board she was clearly disappointed. The day started to drag on, one event for which she had been waiting was delayed. A last minute change of shoes and a run across the grounds to get to where she had another upcoming competition. In one event she had a slip, I don't think even the judge noticed but she was beating up on herself. She completed the two events that were close in times to one another and then began the wait for her final dance... ... it was slow going, there were a lot of other competitions being judged on the stage ahead of her's. Her final dance was to be the Hornpipe, the most complicated and longest dance step. It was also the one she had been doing for the shortest amount of time, having only recently learned it. We continued to wait...The temperature climbed close to 100 degrees...Finally it was time for her dance. She was competing with two other girls who had previously placed higher than her in other steps. They went first, usually two dancers compete at the same time, and they did very, very well... Here is where the legend begins... I had moved to a small hill overlooking the stage so I had a better view. The other dancers were awesome. Kristy posed waiting for the starting beat, and she was off. I could tell in the first three steps she was going to win. She had never been better and she has always been very good. I had the same feeling watching her dance that the people watching Babe Ruth must have felt when they knew the ball was going over the fence. The knowledge that they were experiencing a great performance. Like the Babe's hit, Kristy's performance was a home run. She took the gold medal and I had the honor of being able to tell her, as I had snuck away later to check the scores. Maybe it was a Cinderella moment only in my mind. The wait, the heat, the fact that she had not placed in the first two events, and did not yet know she had placed in her third and fourth events, the competing against the same girls, the poise, the dance, the championship performance. I cannot wait to get back to work... There are a lot of people who are going to hear this story!
Today was the first ever Celtic Fling Feis (Irish Step Dance competition), held on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim, PA. I think it was a rousing success. All of the parents to whom I spoke agreed and we are all looking attending the event anually. Congratulations for an event well done to all of the producers, promoters, staff and volunteers who made today's event so much fun. In more important news, my daughter placed 1st, 3rd and 4th in her events and my son placed 1st in both of his! Way to go guys!!!!!!!!
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