"Everything important about life..."

... I'm still learning. (Betcha thought I was gonna say "I learned in kindergarten", huh?) The skill set, however, I got at private school.

In many ways, I'm the product of a classic British public school education - all the more amazing considering I've never been to England. Grades 3 through 9 were at the same all-boys' school, and 10 - 12 at an Episcopal boarding school. I can empathize with Harry Potter quite a bit. While there are many who would classify me as elitist because of my education, I prefer to think of myself as someone with high standards.

I was reminded of this at the Alumni Council meeting for the first of these schools, and of which I am a proud member. For many of us, the old place (newly renovated with capital campaign dollars) was not only where we spent our formative years, but where we spent most of our school lives. I can't think of one major success in my life that I can't trace the origin back to something I learned at my old school. Given that we're talking about late 60's - mid 70's, which as a time of major social change was an interesting time to grow up, this is saying something. It gets harder to hold on to those higher standards as one grows older and wiser, if not world weary, but hold on we must. We all go alone into that good night, after all - and what they will remember when you've gone is not what accomplishments you achieved, but by which standards you lived your life.

Standards which, in my case, got their true birth with Ms. Perry - my kindergarten teacher.

'Til next time,

Working the Weird Windows of Time

Probably the next to last thing I want to see when I'm doing massive amounts or computer related work is the "Automatic upgrades ready to be loaded; your computer will shut down in five minutes and counting" notice (The last thing would be the blue screen of death one minute before the automatic save kicks in).

You guessed it. So, while I'm waiting for the computer to reboot, I shift to my "At Phone" list and start handling/returning calls. About forty-five minutes later, I was done with the calls I needed to make for the day - a full half-hour earlier than I expected. And the computer still hadn't rebooted!

I was able to get things back online, but that's not the point I want to share with you. The point I want to make is this:

I hate making phone calls. I am very much a face-to-face person. Yet, I not only made calls regarding about six of what I call "frog matters" calls (you know the saying, "Eat a frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse can happen to you for the rest of the day"?) , but with a whole lot less pain than before. How?

I knew that making calls was the only thing I could do, so I concentrated on them and put my full effort on them. And suddenly, they weren't so painful after all. I think I've got a ways to go before I reach "enjoy maing calls", but I'm getting there.

Concentrated focus and decisive action combined with persistence will get you over. Having a time-management system (one you devise yourself, or a "store-bought" one such as David Allen's Getting Things Done - Fast!!) that keeps you on course when life hands up one of those unexpected periods of soentime - what David calls "a weird window of time" - keeps you productive. Combine all three and you'll soon be known as a miracle worker.

Even if your computer doesn't reboot.

'Til next time -

Class Act is as Class Act does

"Exactly *why* am I putting myself through this?"
"'Cause you promised and a Class Act keeps his word, that's why!"

This is the conversation I was having with myself around 6:15 this evening as I rode the elevator up to the contest. But let's go back to the beginning:

Earlier that afternoon I was talking with my Division Governor in Toastmasters on the phone. We were trying to set up a meeting to discuss my plans for my area, as a 24-hour bug made me miss the Area Governors' meeting. The irony here is that I helped set that meeting up - but I digress. She was coming into the city for a speech contest. I had rehearsal from 7 to 9:30 pm so I couldn't make the contest and help judge.

"But," I reasoned, "if we can meet at 5:45 for about fifteen minutes before the contest starts, we can have our meeting and I should still make rehearsal on time!" She agreed and gave me the address for the contest.

Our District Governor likes to joke that for an organisation that stresses the benefits of effective communication, it's amzing how little of it actually goes on between the District officers. To make a long story short, the subway stop I was given was wrong, the directions were nonexistant, the address was off slightly (there's a world of difference between 33 Maiden St. -the address I was given - and 44 Maiden St., which is where the contest actually was - which for those of you not familiar with lower Manhattan is the home of the FEDERAL RESERVE - yikes!), and by the time I finally got to the contest site, my Division Governor herself hadn't yet arrived! It's now 6:30, which means that even with my Transportation Angels working overtime, I was not going to get to rehearsal on time. (To be fair, my TAs got me to within 5 blocks walking distance by 7 pm - thanks, guys!)

Still, I tried. And that's a large part of being a "Class Act": carrying on, regardless.

Held hostage, but lovingly so

Today I was held hostage by our cat. If you've got a cat in your household, you probably know what I'm talking about.

Dusty, our cat, was clever about it, too. She waited til I was coming out of the bathroom to pounce on my sympathies. Out of that little frame of hers came a long, drawn out wail that I don't think I've ever heard from her, that said "I need to be comforted 'cause I'm not feeling well and you're not sitting on the couch so I can sit in your lap and be stroked and skritched AND I NEED MY STROKES AND SKRITCHES!"

Okay, so I'm a sucker for an animal in distress. I put away my notes for tomorrow and gave her my lap. Feeling put upon all the while. Pulling a book from my briefcase to read while absently skritching her behind the ear. And I open to a section talking about covenants and fellowship.

Ouch.

How many times do we, as humans living in modern society, turn away from those who just need a little comfort - and here I'm talking about people we know, not strangers. Do we even notice the toll that particular little debit on the karma card takes over time?

Dusty obviously formed a convenant with me. As I stroked her with a bit more love than previously (it's an amzing thing to be holding a cat when it burps), I conceded I could honor my part of the bargain.

Til next time -

"And So It Begins..."

Today is Labor Day: the unofficial end of summer, the last long weekend for a good while, the start of school for many (tomorrow), and for many the last good grilling weekend.

It also used to be the day when the Labor Day Parade would regularly happen here in New York City. This year, there is no parade - at least, not in Manhattan.

Say what you like about Unions. I've heard arguments from both sides and seen excesses on both sides, and have argued both sides (a testament to the benefits of Toastmasters Interational if ever there was one). The fact still remains that many of the benefits - if not all - that we as working-class Americans enjoy were hard fought for and are still protected by the various trade unions across this great land.

That having been said, I still think that every rank and file member of every union should read "A Message to Garcia" by Elbert Hubbard and take it to heart. Moreover, I believe that management everywhere should adopt a "Boxing Day" program in their companies - even if they're not British.

Me, I tend to do some work on hooliday wekends - sometimes to catch up, other times to get ahead, still other to insure not falling behind. Starting this blog is my "work" for today. The majority of items will be either job-related or business-related (and no, they are not the same thing. Stay Tuned.), with other items thrown in. through it I mean to connect and re-connect with the things that affect me deeply. There's a chronic shortage of passion in most peoples' lives, and that way lies stagnation and death. The title to today's blog is a nod to the creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczinski. We share a spiritual mentor in common in Goethe, whose quotes you'll see from time to time.

Til next time -