Not that you asked, but I have some things to say.

My father did everything he could to teach me what he knew. One lesson he ALWAYS pushed was how to have patience while doing something you don't necessarily want to do. "They wouldn't call it work if it was fun, numbnuts." The nickname is not embellished, he often drove his points home with this one. I would spend countless hours of my youth on some project that he had assigned. I would curse him under my breath the entire time. Why would anyone care about leveling a part of the backyard that was deemed "a little off" ?!?!?!?! It's a yard. Damn. It was his nature to create work for himself....he enjoyed it. As I became an adult and entered into the working world, I saw many around me that had a different approach. "If you don't want to do it, don't do it." It was revolutionary and freeing. I also noticed these people didn't get very far in life. They seemed to be lacking in many areas. There had to be a middle ground. As I have beco...

"Hi John...I'm (fill in blank)....nice to meet you." "Ummm...yeah....we've met....a few times actually..... *i casually ignore offered handshake*" 2 thoughts on this one. I didn't do a good job making an impression. Me?? I tell dick-jokes to nuns. You could easily say I've made a bad impression, but impression made. or The clueless joe has the attention span of a tsetse fly. I recently saw a guy that I hadn't seen in 15 yrs and had only met about 3 times total. I detailed the party bus that the group of folks rented that night (leave the previous sentence alone, please). He vaguely remembered, but it had been 15 yrs...I can live with that....funny side note....I said to him "It must have been 10 yrs or more." ..... he replied " has to be over 12 yrs, I've been locked up since '98" So moving forward unless you can say 100% that you've never met the person, shake their hand and say "Nice to see you." It...

Let's say a random issue arises. Three parties involved (in this case I'm breaking it down to carrier, equipment, and end user). The answer to the problem lies somewhere within one of the three parties, or some combo of them. How do you approach this issue? Do you: A) Immediately assign blame, based on no actual facts? B) Think to past events and try to see commonalities in this problem and any past issues? C) Start at the "Is the power on" beginning, and try to troubleshoot with little to no assumptions or emotion? I'm a big fan of option C. I seem to often be in a minority. Option A is, of course, the most counterproductive option. The ability to troubleshoot all three parties requires flexibility and the desire to fix. The desire to assign blame, in my experience, creates an environment of hostility, defensiveness, and lost focus. Angry, unhappy people generally use Option A....some even enjoy the problem. These people are the types that smile while at funerals...

Today marks a special day in history. The United States (currently the only country to use nuclear weapons during war) tested it's first bomb on this day, in 1945. The greatest minds in the western world were gathered together to solve a problem. They did. The impact changed our world. Robert Oppenheimer (one of the primary scientists studying the technology) was at the Trinity Test Site when the first test occurred. He was rumored to have quoted a line from the Bhagavad Gita...."Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." He knew that in that bright flash, the world had changed. It is said that the resulting attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Some scholars even suggest that the Japanese required a massive and immediate attack that would allow them to surrender in a manner that would save face. Had the US not dropped the bombs, the required land-force attacks would have created massive casualties on both sides, taking years to bri...

There is an old fable about a young knight who goes into a small town. Everyone is hungry as food production is minimal, and each family only has a few items from their own tiny gardens. The knight assesses the situation and decides to take action. He builds a large fire and fills a large pot with water and a very large stone. Several of the villagers pass by and ask what the knight is doing. 'Making stone soup' he replies..'it's really filling, but could use a little flavor.' The villager replies 'It's not much, but I have a few meager onions. They could improve the flavor of the soup." The knight agrees with a smile and promises the villager a heaping helping of the end product. Several other villagers see the interaction and come to the knight with the same offer. Some have a few potatoes, some a few handfuls of wild greens, one villager even has a small ham bone to offer. Before long a roiling, gurgling pot of soup is on. That evening the knight and...