Lint. Paperclips. huge dust rodents.
A giant green foam letter “G”.
Subscription cards from TV Guide and Newsweek.
A whole TV Guide from late 2004.
Seventy three cents.
Three catnip toys.
Some yarn.
Hardened Tigger fruit snacks.
Three dried leafs.
Pieces of baby books.
A red ribbon that was part of a cat toy.
One of Chuck’s old socks.
Two bottle caps.
The three of spades.
Memories.
The pages containing Marcus' and Cassandra's pictures have been updated. The links are to the left. If you see any problems, please email me privately.
Enjoy!
[entering numbers to get information, and then entering my American Express account number.]
“American Express, how can I help you?”
“I’ve looked all over your website and I can’t see where it states how much the yearly fee for your reward program is.”
“It is $35 per year, sir.”
“Oh, okay. And the corporate card is the same?”
“No, Sir, that is $75.”
“Oh. Well, is there any difference in benefits?”
“No, Sir, there isn’t.”
“But the corporate card rewards program costs more?”
“Yes, Sir, it does.”
“Can you explain why?”
“No, Sir, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know, Sir.”
“Can you connect me with someone who does know?”
“One moment Sir, I’ll get my manager.”
[one minute later]
“American Express, how can I help you.”
“I was told that the rewards program for your regular card costs $35, but for the corporate card is $75. Can you tell me the difference, please?”
“The difference is $40, sir.
“No, I meant what the difference is in the rewards program itself, not the cost.”
“There is no difference, sir.”
“And why is that?”
“Because that is how the rewards program is set up. The corporate card rewards program costs more.”
“But there are no additional benefits?”
“That is correct, sir.”
“Wait, you mean to tell me that you charge more for the corporate card because…you can get more money from your corporate account holders?”
“That is correct, sir.”
“Well, at least you are honest.”
“Is there anything else, sir?”
“No, you answered my questions. Thank you.”
“Thank you for choosing American Express. Have a nice day.”
Yes is one of the best words in the English language. Especially when it comes from my son.
For a long while, all he would say is “no.” It didn’t matter if he meant yes, he would answer in a negative.
“Marcus, do you want a big glass or a small glass?”
“No big glass!”
Now, though, he is saying yes, and it is the best!
“Marcus, do you want a hug?”
He thinks for a little while, smiles, then answers, “Yes!”
It is the best word in the world.
Added to this is Cassandra. Over three months old now, she is smiling and giggling. These aren’t just gassy smiles. These are real ones. She loves it when we interact with her, and giggles when she’s happy. Her smile is awesome.
They aren’t the only one doing new things. Today, for the first time in my life, I mowed a lawn.
One would think that I’d have mowed a lawn before, but nope, never had to. Even when young, we had a small garden in the back yard, so while I had to water plants and lick aphids off of lettuce leaves, I never had to cut the grass.
It wasn’t too bad. I got a new lawn mower over the weekend and bought the gas today. It was a snap to set up, and the pull starter was incredibly easy to use.
I even just mulched the grass instead of bagging. From start to finish it took me forty minutes to mow the front and back yards. Hopefully I won’t have to do it every week.
If I’m lucky, the snow we are supposed to get on Sunday will kill all the grass.
Hey, I can dream.
It is true. I hate Matt Furey.
Not in the way that I hate, say, liars and hypocrites. Or how I hate string beans. Or even how I hate doing the dishes.
No, I hate Matt Furey in a very special way.
You see, he gave me a tool to enable me to not rely on motivation, and get what I want done. Because of him, I make decisions that help myself.
I really hate him for that.
Let me give an example. At work I can easily go to the cafeteria and get a chocolate bar. A nice big sweet chocolate bar. I could eat the whole thing in one sitting, and have a great feeling in my tummy.
However, I also want to lose weight. But I’m hungry. And maybe I had a bad day. And the chocolate is comfortable. I don’t have the will power to stop myself from eating the chocolate bar, especially if I’ve picked up extras the day before and they are sitting in draw in my office.
I don’t have the motivation to diet and eat healthy, or get the glass or water instead. It brings me more immediate joy to have that smooth creamy texture in my mouth.
But then that demon, Matt Furey, writes in one of his daily emails (sent to anyone who has bought his goods – and you can opt out if you wish) something to the effect of: it isn’t about motivation, it is about wants. Or, to quote directly, “I want people to exercise their want muscle.”
It is a simple process. When you are faced with a decision, ask yourself what you want. Here are some examples.
• Do I want to eat the chocolate bar or do I want to lose weight? The answer is obvious to me: I want to lose weight. So I don’t eat the chocolate bar.
• I forgot to brush my teeth before going to bed, so I ask myself if I want to stay in bed and have smelly cavity ridden teeth, or do I want to get up and brush them?
• Do I want to skip my exercises and play World of Warcraft, or do I want to get in shape and then reward myself with a game?
See the problem? Because of him I’m drinking more water, doing my exercises again, and getting work done.
The bastard.
Thanks to him, I now keep thinking about what I want. What I truly honestly want. And while I sometimes want both things, if I realize that I can’t have everything. that life is full of decisions, I can turn the question into a choice between two things that makes the answer extremely clear.
Do I want to make excuses, or do I want to get on with my life and improve it?
So, what do you want?
Say it isn’t so!
With joy in my heart, I watched the Disney Channel movie Kim Possible. It was fun. Kim was doing her wonderful super hero things. Ron, the sidekick, was, well, Ron, which is a good thing. Rufus was also good.
It had my favorite villain, Dr. Drakken, and my favorite henchwoman, Shego. They are fantastic and fun. And, best of all, Dr. Drakken was very smart in this episode, and had Kim fall for his evil plan.
Which means that this television show may have jumped the shark. Isn’t it a superhero rule that they don’t get completely tricked out by the bad guy? And even worse, Kim kissed Ron!
Actually, that was, if I can be a teenager, totally awesome (at least, if I can be a teenager of the 1960’s). They were meant for each other, and I’m glad they got together.
So I was all excited about what would happen next! And that, gentle readers, is when I found out that the movie was, in fact, the last episode.
Impossible!
But true. Sixty five episodes and the show is no more. It actually is a rule at Disney animation. They do 65 shows, just enough for a good slate of reruns, and then move on to something else. Thus, they could make a lot of shows allowing their fans to like at least some of them.
Whatever.
That explains why she could kiss Ron. The movie could change things all they wanted to because the show is over.
It was a fun show. It had a good run. It was entertaining to both adults and kids. Maybe it will go to the same place in the afterlife that “The Family Guy” went to.
And that’s the sitch.
Last Sunday…wait. I think it was last Sunday. I’m not sure. It has been a long week.
Anyway, a short while ago Elaine and I went to the movies and saw Hitch, staring Will “ugh, Miami, yeah yeah yeah” Smith. The movie was pretty good. The commercials were a bit misleading, so we were pleasantly surprised. It was a basic, nice, fun, romantic movie.
Something odd happened, though, which is the point of this entry. Towards the end of the movie, Smith and Kevin James’ characters are having a big argument. They still cared about each other, but they were fighting.
I was sitting there, holding Elaine’s hand, totally absorbed in the movie, when all of the sudden I snapped out of the trance-like mode I was in. I realized I was in a theater, and I was watching the characters in an analytical manner, figuring out their ‘wants.’ That is, I was using some skills learned in improvisation class and understanding what was driving the characters and how those traits affected the story and the relationship.
I was amazingly cool and totally weird. I got a jolt when I realized what I was doing. I wasn’t enjoying the movie like before. I was instead using it as a learning experience.
That isn’t why I go to movies, dangit.
I do this now with sitcom reruns that I watch, but my attempt is always on purpose. During the movie was the first time that happened without me wanting it too.
While it is amazing that I can do this, I hope I have more control over it. It would be … disappointing … if I can no longer just enjoy a movie for its entertainment value.
Nevertheless, I guess it means I’m learning something!
Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.
Which Disney Princess Are You?
My family misses me. Marcus Man wants me home, and even says so. The cat misses me. Elaine misses me. And, so I'm told, Cassandra misses her evening time with Daddy.
I love my family. I miss them soooo much.
I’m in San Diego at a business conference. Left Monday morning, and hopefully I’ll be back sometime on Friday. Thing are going … well, they are going.
I’m not longer silver elite, so no chance of a first class flight. We also didn’t get a direct flight, and I had to get up at 4:30 AM to make it. During the second leg of the journey I have a two hour long nightmare which was almost impossible to break out of. Needless to say, I’m still tired.
I was not excited about the paper presented I had to deliver. I did the best I could, used improvisation tricks, but when your heart isn’t in it, there is only so much you can.
Some good news is that I am making good contacts, and I set up some meetings for Thursday that I’m very excited out.
The best news, though, is I got to see an old friend of mine from graduate school. He has one child also, who is a bit older than Marcus man. We have a history together from school, and still kept in touch occasionally, but I hadn’t seen him for years (at my last San Diego conference!).
It was wonderful. Tons to talk about: family, cost of living, philosophy, technology, hobbies, etc. I could have talked all night if I wasn’t so tired. It was good to catch up with him.
So Marc, I got to see you. I’ve “fulfilled my mission!”