ISO 9001 Certificated

My friend works at a company where they get these shipments in.  The shipments come from a company that uses ISO 9001 certification which is a way to ensure certain quality standards are met for products. ISO 9001 uses parameters within the normal parameters to measure the quality of a process (think of it as a set of football goal posts within the regular goal posts) and when the measurements veer out of this  standard the process is checked.  Even though the product is still within acceptable manufacturing parameters, the process has a problem and can be detected and fixed through these ISO 9001 measurements.The best part is that that the box that these parts come in says ISO 9001 certificated.  If they used ISO 9001 on the box they may get more customers.    

Herd Mentality in Texas

I went to Texas for Spring Break, and let me just say…it is a big ol’ different world there.  Yeehaw!  So, there are apparently a whole lot of gangs in Texas, but in most parts, people are extremely polite.  I wonder if this is because the gangs keep people in kindness.  If you get shot for being rude, I imagine the reinforcement leads the general society to be polite.  I would also imagine that the break ins of houses are relatively lower.  The Mexican food really is ten times better than most everywhere else, though it is Tex-Mex.  The thing is though, that many other places use ingredients that have never even been near Mexico, so it really does taste a lot better. Something else that is interesting is the way that people drive there.  Many people there speed, and on the interstate everyone clumps together like a herd of cattle.  There may be 15-20 cars riding in one big lump doing 90 down the interstate.  What they hope for is that if the cops decide to pull someone over, they will only get the slowest of the herd, leaving the rest to move on.  When I asked my friend about it, she actually agreed and told me that the cops started pulling the whole crowd over after a while of experiencing this herd mentality.    

Back in the swing of things

Well…

Sorry for the HUGE interval of time between posts.  Christmas turned into school and then Mardi Gras and so on.  That being said…

I am still a nonsmoker thanks to Chantix!  (Thanks Chantix!!!) and have been starting to work out a little bit a few times a week!  My friend and I are slated to run the 2k race in the Azalea Trail Run (the full race is 10k) which is a huge deal because I haven’t run more than a block since age 12 or so.  I weigh 268 lbs (already down from 280 just a month before quitting smoking!), so running far is taking some time.

One of the nicest parts of this blog is knowing that you aren’t alone in the world when you are trying to achieve something.  Anyone out there who is trying to quit smoking, contemplating weight loss, or taking any other steps to improve their lives:  I ask you to  respond to this story, or write one of your own!

Fail Blog

This is such a great blog.  I hope it does well.  You guys and gals out there may be able to relate to some of these FAILs.  I had a great time digging through the pics.

Personal Victory

I have been smoke free since Christmas Eve 2007 (about three weeks) and I have discovered that I really like running.  My lungs feel like they are on fire when I go too far, and my legs burn a bit if I ever manage to outpace my lungs, but I feel like a difference in my life is finally showing itself.  Improvements in fitness are hard, as I can now see, but they seem to open the door for other opportunities.

Today I ran 3.5 tenths of a mile.  That sounds like not a lot to those of you who have a set of lungs, I am sure, but to a 270 lb guy who has never run more than a mile, and not more than a block in the last 14 years, I think that it is a victory in itself, and the start to larger victories to come.  My friend that I run with wants to run a 10k race (6.2 miles) that happens every year in my city.  I have always heard about it and even been inwardly jealous of some people that I know that are in it every year, and I finally have a chance.

Going from 3.5 tenths of one mile to running 6.2 in two months is probably not feasible, but I will be able to run at least half of it and walk the rest by the time the race comes.  That is my goal, and I believe that I can make it.  Chantix…I owe you.

Momentary Lapse Has Begun!

The online book collaboration between my long time best friend Kevina and me has begun.  We have started writing the first bits of the  chapter on our other blog Momentary Lapse.  It is the first time we have ever tried to work together on a project like this.  We have both long been interested in the oddities of imagination.  We hope that you enjoy the work!

Police Should Have Paddles

As I was speeding through a neighborhood on our way home at 9:45 p.m. on a frosty evening, my wife started telling me:  “Slow down.  You are going to hit someone.”  I argued that it was both late and cold and so no kids should be out, and that I had been driving all day on our return trip, and being 3 minutes from the house, was ready to get home.  A minute or so later, she said one of the best things I have ever heard:  “The cops should have paddles and spank people when they are going more than 9 miles over the limit.  Not so many people would speed if they got paddled in public for it.”

I think that it is funny, but it is also very true.  I would rather pay $180 bucks or sit in some traffic school than be held up by my beltloop and paddled by some big officer and his boomstick on the side of the interstate for all to see.  This got me to thinking of other things.

We were visiting her family in Southern Georgia for the Holidays.  In Southern Georgia, at least in the country part where her family lives, almost everyone has a gun.  They use them for hunting, putting down sick animals, and shooting at cans and the like.  I noticed a while back that you never see anything on the news about forced entry into homes, or rape, or murder.  This may just be because it is a small town, but I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that everybody has a gun.

In the city where I live, I would estimate that maybe 1 out of every ten households has a gun.  I would also think that the households that have one gun also have an average of three more in that house, where the ones without guns have valuables but no real defenses (dogs or security systems maybe, but no guns). W e see break-ins, murders, fights, thefts, robberies, and such all the time.  I think that if we saw more deaths and shooting injuries while getting robbed there would be fewer incidents like that.  It seems to work in South Georgia just because the average person would estimate that 9.5 out of every ten households has at least one gun, and each that has one likely has at least 7-10 more in the house.

Hunters, rednecks, hillbillies, whatever they are…they have safe houses because they have an arsenal.  I am no huge gun advocate.  Guns are dangerous when people do not respect them.  I don’t think that every person should have a gun.  A friend of mine shot himself in the foot and carries his gun to weddings, church, and funerals because he is afraid someone will kill him on the toilet and can’t admit that he doesn’t need a gun.  I think he is stupid for that, but he has a gun anyway.  However, if more people had them, fewer crimes would occur.

I also hate the idea that I can shoot someone who is robbing me blind or threatening my family in their beds and get sued by that losers’ family for their loss.  If you are stupid enough to go int someone’s house without permission (or a real job to do), you deserve what you get.  Police break and enter (hopefully always with a warrant), Dog the Bounty Hunter asks permission, but robbers go in when you are sleeping.

I don’t know the right way, or the wrong way.  I don’t think that people should get sued for doing their jobs (especially protecting others) or defending their households.  I do know a  few things though:

1) If someone breaks into my house, they get what they get.

2) If police publicly gave three licks for speeding and minor traffic violations there would be a lot fewer idiots on the road.

3) Michael Fay will never vandalize another car.  I bet his ass still hurts on cold mornings.

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to say to everyone:

Happy New Year!  Have a good one.  Thanks for reading!

Quitting Smoking is Easier Than Ever!

I know that the title of this piece seems upbeat and perhaps crappy, but I must say that it is true in my case.  I wrote an article before I left for Christmas saying that I was quitting smoking.  I am taking Chantix and it is working wonderfully!  All the times that I tried to quit before I ended up talking myself into having “just one” and ended up smoking again.  With Chantix (and a real drive to quit) I actually don’t even think of cigarettes much at all after only seven days.

I tried Chantix before (the first two weeks of this prescription) and it didn’t work.  I think that part of that is because I never put them down, was taking them irregularly, and because I didn’t really want to quit.  This time I actually do.

I saw my son pick up a dirty old smoke butt and stick it in his mouth trying to smoke becase Daddy did it.  He is 18 months old.  That was the worst thing that I have ever seen.  I also remember being very mad at my father when he died because he was so selfish and inconsiderate (something that I have written several articles about) as to keep eating unhealthily, drinking like a fish, and smoking, even though he had a shaving kit full of pills for diabetes, high blood pressure, open heart surgery at 43 years old, and 6 children that he was leaving behind.  You may be thinking: “If Ihad six children, I would smoke, drink and eat like crap too!”  All of his children were grown, except myself and my two younger brothers. He died when I was 14, my younger brothers were 9 and 5, and my older brothers and sister were in their thirties.  My dad was 54 years old when he died.

So back to Chantix.  I took the second round and actually wanted to quit.  I kept smoking for two more days because I started in the middle of the script (Chantix lets you smoke for a week into taking the meds) and by the second day I barely even wanted a smoke.  I quit on Christmas Eve, and haven’t really had any trouble with wanting them or anything, even though I have been around them.  When I want one, it is just that: a want.  I don’t feel like I need it, or will die if I don’t get one.  I don’t even get all internally frustrated and start being grouchy like I normally do when I can’t smoke.

I sleep a lot better, food tastes better, I am no longer tired all the time, I can walk up stairs without running out of breath.  I feel great, actually.  The only thing wrong now is that every morning I wake up and get rid of the crud that I have been putting there for so long.  That has actually lightened up a lot and will continue to until it just quits.  If you are thinking about quitting smoking, I must say that it has truly never been easier.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still want a cigarrette now and then, but I find other things to occupy my time.  THe first two or three days I was bored stupid after I ate or any time that I would have been smoking, but I started to have a coke or go outside and check the weather after I ate.  It hasn’t been a cake walk, but it has been damn close.  I still think of smoking often, but more and more it is because I feel like a huge burden has been lifted from my life, and now I simply have to refuse to allow history to repeat itself.  Every time I think of picking up a smoke, I juts think of my little biy with that butt in his mouth, or I take a deep clean breath and appreciate the lack of rattling lungs, and I am happy not to smoke.

The average chance of success with quitting smoking was around 3%, but Chantix has a success rate of about 44%.  That in itself is amazing.  It blocks the nicotine receptors in your brain, so even when you are smoking, you are not really smoking.  It has truly been a whole lot easier than I ever imagined.  Now I just have to get used to living the lifestyle that I want.  I thought that it would be like losing a friend but instead it has truly been like taking a wonderful opportunity to live a happy life.

Something About You

I have been involved in self improvement and reading management guru books for a few years now.  These books show a lot of common sense items that are easily overlooked and they are full of great ways to improve your relationships with others and become more effective, however there is a trap that is hard to see involved with becoming involve in these books.

They always focus on you.  What can you do better?  Here is how you can be more effective.  This is what you can do to help others.  Often, the reason to get into these books is for you to help others better, while helping yourself through becoming better at what you do.  After reading so many, or listening to them on audiobook, you may forget the reason you got into them, that you are bettering yourself to help others.  It is easy to end up focusing so much on what you can change to become better that you may end up just focusing on one person (yourself), instead of the many that you are supposed to be helping.  It happened to me that way.

There is a natural cycle that I experience every year about the month of October in which I evaluate the year and decide whether to be satisfied or not with the job done over that year.  It just naturally happens, I don’t intentionally try to shift my thoughts to that evaluation.  I used to always be disappointed in whatever I had done that year; usually because it wasn’t much.

When I got into school, got married, had a son, and basically got my life in order, I was much more pleased with the results of my looking back.  Now, being one semester away from graduation (I still can’t believe it!), this years results weren’t quite as good as I had hoped they would be.  Realization came that I was a bit self absorbed.  Not good.   So I thought hard about how I had gone from being 80% focused on others to 80% focused on me.

It turns out that a small portion of it is simply because of a confidence boost in college (from good grades, people complimenting me, and finally being able to achieve some things) and some more of it is  because I let myself fall into a trap with these management books.  I still reserve the largest portion of the blame simply through my own ignorance.

There is something called locus of control in management theory.  It involves how “in control” of their lives people feel, and whether they feel that things happen to them or through them.  If you get a promotion, was it because you worked hard and angled yourself for that position or because you just happened to be in the right place when they were deciding who to promote.  Entrepreneurs generally have an internal locus of control (”I made it happen”) instead of an external locus of control (”It happened to me”).  I have learned through college and events in the last few years to move my own locus of control from very external to very internal.

In all honesty, I used to think that I had almost no control, whereas now I feel like I have almost all of it.  Perhaps this is another aspect to falling in that trap.  They say that with power comes abuse or responsibility, and internal locus of control gives you the power.  You are in the driver’s seat of your own life, just be sure to manage all aspects of it carefully so that you don’t fall into a tower of mirrors with no view outside.