Totally Random 3.0

You might be able to call this post 'sex, drugs and rock & roll.'

- I saw a TV commercial today for a drug used to treat acid reflux. It’s called aciphex. Would you use a product pronounced ass-effects? What were they thinking?

- Saw this one in Consumer Reports: a sleep aid product called Calms Forte. Look at the picture: on the box are the words “Non-Drowsy Formula.” A non-drowsy sleep aid?

- The Beatles Rock Band, an interactive Wii game, is now available. Think about this: most people who buy Wii games are in their twenties or teens. Some of their parents are in their upper thirties or lower forties. The Beatles broke up in 1970. If you have any doubt about the lingering power of the Beatles, just do the math.

- Paul McCartney could be your father. Or grandfather.

- Back to drugs for a moment … have you ever heard the disclaimers in ads for prescription drugs? Especially the one relating to risks involved with a certain condition that could last for four hours. You know what I’m talking about. Is the risk because of the condition or because of what you might attempt to do with that condition for four hours?

- While putting those last random thoughts together, a slightly disturbing image popped into my head: Hugh Hefner and his seven live-in girlfriends.


- The bookends in the picture are two of his current girlfriends, 20-year-old twins. Hef is 83. OK, a fiftysomething and a thirtysomething might be a stretch but it’s not odd. An eightysomething and a twentysomething? That’s just odd.

- I’m all for no-limits aging, but there really are some limits.

Don’t Tell HIM or HER

If you ever climb the corporate ladder, try to remember what it’s like on the first few rungs.

Here are some trends I’ve observed in large companies in many industries: Companies fire workers but still want all the work done. Fewer employees handle more duties and increased responsibilities but have less time to pay attention to details. Management strategy still encourages delegation but there is no one left to delegate to.

High quality productivity and improved morale could probably result in more profitability, but who is going to tell top management that productivity and morale are suffering because there is too much on our plates?

There are so many things going on in some workplaces that no one has the time to focus on any one thing; quantity trumps quality. Back in the day – and I’m talking about less than ten years ago – workers had what is now considered an obsolete luxury: time to do things carefully and correctly.

Sure, there was waste in the past. We could all have done more and done it faster. Haven’t we gone too far the other way now?

But who is going to tell upper management? Do you want to be the person who tells the regional or national managers that we’ve got too much to do? You’ve got your own job to protect so you are likely to pick your battles and that isn’t one you can win. Your local managers might get the point, but they have their own jobs to look out for so they’ll pick their battles too. The regional and national managers? Same thing.

It is like they forgot what it is like down here. Or maybe not. Maybe they’re just picking different battles.

Obeying the Law of Averages

I used to brag about how it’s been more than twenty years since I was in a car crash and that the three accidents I have been involved in had all occurred at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour. Now one of those statements is no longer true.

Tuesday night I was the middle car in a three-car wreck.

The short version: drizzling; three lanes of bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic heading north at 30 mph or less; driver in front of me hit their brakes, I hit mine, driver behind me didn’t; it happened fast enough that I had nowhere to go to avoid being hit but slow enough that I had a second to brace myself; he sort of knocked me forward, which means I was almost stopped when he hit me; I might have hit the car in front of me but there is no damage to the front of my car and that night I saw no damage on her car either.

A few ironies: all of this happened as we were driving past a police car stopped in the shoulder dealing with an earlier crash so the police didn’t have to be called; another accident happened next to us while we were exchanging information; the drivers in the other cars in my accident are ages 20 and 19, which means neither of them were even born the last time I had a traffic accident.

Some good news: nobody was injured, no air bags deployed in our cars and the damage to my car mostly involves broken plastic parts and a dented trunk lid.

Some bad news: I’m even more paranoid about my daily commute. In a post a few weeks ago I mentioned that I had witnessed two serious accidents this year from only a few car lengths back. I said I planned to not obey the law of averages. Apparently I obeyed that law after all. Hopefully this is the only time.

Random Thankfulness

Even though I’ve had many ups and downs this year, I have a lot to be thankful for and I’m happy we have a holiday dedicated to giving thanks.

Here are just a few things:

I’m thankful for my sister, who has also become a friend over the years.

I’m thankful for my friends, from my oldest in suburban New Orleans to my newest in North Carolina and all the others who have enhanced my life along the way.

I’m thankful that the traffic accident I was in a few nights ago was relatively minor (more on that in another post later).

I’m thankful for a great job, a great boss, great co-workers and the opportunity to make a living doing things I love to do.

I’m thankful that my wife is still speaking to me after I’ve been uncharacteristically direct and blunt about how I’m feeling these days.

I’m thankful that my dogs love me unconditionally.

I’m thankful that I live in the greatest country on the planet and have the freedom to live the life I want to live.

And I’m thankful to you, whoever you are and whether I know you or not, for reading my ramblings.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Fitness Update

Down to 188; first time under 190 in ten years. That strategy of trying to lose one to two pounds a week is still working. After three years in a row of failed attempts at losing the twenty pounds my doctor said I needed to lose, I might finally succeed.

I say all of this to encourage you or anyone you know who has tried and not succeeded in getting into the shape you/they want to be in. Keep trying.

Eight pounds to go and six weeks to do it in. The holidays might be a challenge. I'll keep you posted.

Another Perspective

Twenty years ago I did a lot of ‘self-help’ exploration. I read books and articles and listened to tapes. That six-month period of self examination began a positive pattern that continues to this day. The two biggest influences were Alan Loy McGinnis’s book “The Power of Optimism” and, are you ready for this, the Tony Robbins “Personal Power” series. Sometimes Robbins is as obnoxious in those cassettes as he was in the infomercials, but much of the advice was solid and effective.

The biggest takeaway: you get what you focus on!

Lately I have focused on the gloominess of winter and my occasional holiday depression. I wrote a pretty depressing post about it on this blog recently and I posted some very gloomy pictures on another blog.

Upon reading all of that, a dear friend reached out to remind me that there is more to winter than short days and dead trees. She provided me with a different perspective and some other aspects of winter to focus on: such as curling up with a good movie, eating stick-to-your-ribs food, watching that beautiful first snow, throwing a beach-themed party.

Oh, in that same email she called me a melodramatic poophead. Fortunately, in other emails she has called me a warmhearted man and she says she enjoys our friendship as much as I do. So I guess I’m a warmhearted poophead friend.

I like that … it’s an interesting perspective. :)

My holiday depression will still come and go this season, but thanks to her and other friends, maybe the blues visits will be short.

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And now that I’m in a better mood, I posted some pictures on my photo blog showing off a more cheerful focus on fall.

Cookie Monster Turns 40

I can’t believe I let this go by without a comment. Cookie Monster turned 40 a few weeks ago!

The milestone made national news. This friendly monster is a television icon as well as an educational icon. His influence, along with that of his Sesame Street cast mates, is an indelible part of growing up for people in at least two generations.

Cookie Monster has taught many lessons and I think he is a good role model for my thirtysomething friends who fear turning forty … look at how good he still looks!

In the era of health-conscious eating, even a cookie monster has to adapt and get creative. During the past year he has been extolling the value of eating fruits and vegetables and mostly avoiding the cookies. Childhood obesity is a growing problem and Sesame Street has always been an effective teaching tool, evolving along with societal changes, so this new attitude makes sense.

But don’t we all still like cookies?

So I’ve got two words for Cookie Monster when it comes to combining the health benefits of veggies with the taste of something sweet: carrot cake.

Life Lessons in Lyrics 2.5

So damn easy to say that life’s so hard.
Everybody’s got their share of battle scars.
As for me I’d like to think my lucky stars that
I’m alive, and well.

It’d be easy to add up all the pain
And all the dreams you set and watch go up in flames;
Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain;
But not me, I’m alive.

And today you know that’s good enough for me.
Breathing in and out is a blessing can’t you see?
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
And I’m alive, and well.

sung by Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews

Tis The Season, Dammit

Dark, bleak, gray and hazy, a quiet November morning signals the beginning of holiday depression season. Happy family holidays punctuate the remaining six weeks of the year with periods of joy. Those same days are also the root of gloominess in late fall and early winter.

As adults we try to recreate the happy holidays of our youth. However, as children we didn’t have to make choices about family obligations, work or other socialization invitations, infinite gift choices with finite resources. We are supposed to be joyous as we jostle through the crowded malls or try not to spill a drink on the boss at the company party.

Some of us battle the disconnect between expectation and reality. If we get out ahead of the inevitable feelings, face them head on, plan for them and lower our expectation, we survive months eleven and twelve and start month one of the new year with new perspective and optimism.

I predict my own holiday depression this year will resemble the roller coaster my life has been on, but overall it’ll be just slightly worse than average. As long as I think it through and don’t overthink it, I’ll be fine.

If you know me in real life, you know how reluctant I am to show my depressed side. I always want to be the friend you count on and the shoulder you cry on when you need your spirits lifted. I’ll still do that. But this year I might need your shoulder a few times too.


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Sometimes gloominess leads to visual creativity. Check out a few new 'solitude' photos on my other blog.

Not-so-random Lyrics: Some Days

Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, but most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor

Some days just drop in on us
Some days are better than others

Some days you wake up with her complaining
Some sunny days you wish it was raining

Some days are honest, some days are not
Some days you're thankful for what you've got

Some days you hear a voice
Taking you to another place
Some days are better than others

Performed by U2