Chessmates

We’ve been unusually busy this month and had little time to post an overdue blog…Julie puts me to shame with her blogs...she is the best, and on a daily basis too...

But these days I love working a lot...I love working.

I was browsing thru some of my old pictures on computer a few days ago while eating lunch and found one that I consider one of the cutest photos ever of my granddaughters Sunny and Thea playing a serious game of chess in Hawaii over two years ago…Sunny was then around seven and Thea nearly six…I’m not totally sure about the ages…I’ll hear from the Moms…Grandpas have bad memories…

But I DO remember shooting a 73 once at Western Hills Golf Course!

Doom and gloom headlines? Not today

Yesterday I posted a semi-doom and gloom-ish blog…it was somewhat depressing although comments I received via e-mail were not…

But here are some reasons to be thankful for the times we live in...(Portions of this post were taken from Reader’s Digest and my children’s and friends’ comments…

Free Time:

As much as we complain about being busy the average American has more free time than ever…actually five hours a day…you may feel busy doing so many things other than working…

Peace:Wars and terrorist attacks always make headlines but remarkably 6.7 billion people on earth live in peace…

 

A Roomier American Dream:

While some people are struggling to keep their homes the vast majority of      Americans still have plenty to be thankful for when they walk thru their front doors.

The Reader’s Revolution:

In 1970 barely half the people in the world were literate and many could only afford a few books…remember encyclopedias? Now the internet…

Today more than 80% of the world’s people can read! And some of us really do some reading!

 

The Horns of Plenty:

Food is really so plentiful that in many countries the old concerns about hunger have been replaced by worries about obesity…

More Wilderness:

In recent decades America has gained 70 million acres of wilderness which is more than all the land occupied by cities and suburbs…ironically more people than ever can get out to that wilderness because of technology we routinely curse…

The modern car:OK…cars can omit greenhouse gases and create maddening traffic jambs but consider what else they do…Compared with cars in the 70’s today’s cars burn less gallons per mile and emit 98% fewer pollutants…Today’s cars have more creature comforts and fatality rates have gone down sharply…

The Platinum Age of Television:With hundreds of channels today TV producers don’t have to please everyone, so they can appeal to special audiences with sophisticated dramas and do documentaries…When children are happily learning about Mayan engineering on the History and Discovery channels TV is no longer the boob tube…

Memories:

We have digital cameras, VCR’s and e-mails and much more to recall our best personal memories…

We ought to be happy and thankful...

BIRTHDAY BOYS

The older I get the sentimental-er I get...

Periodically my blogger buddies post  pics of their kids and family and they are all cute...

Today I'm posting pics of two of our five grandsons who almost share a birthday...Thatcher 1/07/on the left and Sidney 1/09, Gina and Leesa's sons...

Thatch turned 15 Wednesday and Sid is 3 today...

 

OUT OF BULLETS? TIME TO GET IN GEAR?

Welcome to the New Year and let’s hope it’s better than 2008!

In the future, like it or not, we’ll all look back and recall the economy, the forced layoffs, huge losses in personal savings and devaluations of property…or worse!

But in spite of these difficulties we have to move ahead and try to make things better…

Here are some bullets I’ve gathered from my industry  recently…these apply to almost everyone:

·        First of all be good to yourself.  See this time as an opportunity to work on personal development.  This could be anything from joining a gym. (don’t just drive by them once a week as I once said, jokingly), Take time to increase your knowledge...We all have room for improvement and taking advantage of so many opportunities around us…

·        Need ideas for setting goals?  How about taking a course in Spanish that may give you a competitive edge?

·        If you’re not into that have you considered stepping up your professional qualifications?  Re-write your resume?

·        If you’re looking for employment try to hand deliver it and not simply faxing it…call possible employers back letting them know you are really serious and would like a second interview…and blah, blah, blah on how to dress for interviews, know what to say and not say, etc.

·        How about helping someone who needs a helping hand, like providing a job reference or offer to review a resume?

·        Stay active in your organizations and clubs.  People trust and depend on people they know…

·        Keep in touch with friends especially ex-customers or clients…

·        Focus on what you can do to improve yourself and your future…

  Get out there and do the best you can…

 

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!

From a friend:
If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
With their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were
growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning
Uphill... barefoot...
BOTH ways

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
There was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap
like that on kids about how hard I had it.
And how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty (plus)
can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.
You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my
childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you
don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to
know something, We had to go to the damn library and
Look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write
somebody a letter, with a pen!
Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the
mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3' s or Napsters! You wanted to
steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift
it yourself!
Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ' d
usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting ! If you were on the phone
and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school,
your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections
agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video
Games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600
with games like ' Space Invaders ' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little
square! You actually had to use your Imagination!! And there were no multiple
levels or screens, it was just one screen.
Forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting
harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off
Your butt and walk over to the TV to change the Channel and there was no
Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning .
Do you Hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!!!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat
something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about!
You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted
Five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,

The over 30 Crowd






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That loving feeling…

Home sweet home and turkey sandwiches...

Thanksgiving day our home was ‘entertained’ by family and friends…

Saturday we put on another gig for Bum’s side of the family...most of her family, nieces and a grand niece... four of our daughters, sons-in-law, grandsons and grand daughters and lotsa friends…27 in all…and ex-next door neighbors…

For two days we had some guests I related to quite closely: those with annoying habits, sarcastic wits…

Most had loving natures who spoke the truth; some spoiled, totally out of track with reality, slightly bitchy, passive-aggressive and crazy…

A great bunch that made the entire weekend the best in a long time!!!

I loved them all...

Turkey sandwiches are the best...

Juju's got a brand new phone...

After months of telling me how much she wished she had a BlackBerry phone like mine Julie finally and happily bought one for herself...I'd been telling her how great it was that I could read e-mails and blogs as well as write and respond to important e-mails while away from my computer...

My version BlackBerry is four or five years old while her new one has neat new gadgets like allowing her to add phone numbers and addresses to her computer that automatically enter her phone..
on mine I have to attach a cord and go thru too many configurations...and I can always wait tillI get home or the office to write someone...

Congrats Julie...nicely done...BUT I intended to buy her the phone for Christmas and now didn't know what to do...so I wrote Emily Post:

Dear Miss Post,
Can you help with my dilemma...I intended to buy a BlackBerry phone for my daughter's Christmas present but she went and bought it herself...what should I do?
signed: Peter D.
Dear Mr. D:
Nothing!