So, is this about marriage, zombies, research or none of the above? Yea, I am on a zombie kick, so what! =/

Lets start with the marriage part. Yes, I am happily married and with the “happily part” comes sacrifices. The benefits FAR outweigh the sacrifices. What was my personal sacrifice? – the solid stream of blood and guts on the idiot box. The benefit? – my wife cooks, cleans and smiles a lot. It means missing a slasher here and there but its worth it. So what – I slowed down on the horror flicks.

The misses and I do agree that Zombies are cool. She will suffer the Walking Dead Series, Left4Dead game and Bill Murray as a pretend zombie on the big screen. The other stuff requires a blanket to pull over her head and a few drinks. She does not have to suffer those often. Desi and I were walking the mall on our last road trip. The place is deluged with Zombie merchandise. Even I was in overload after leaving Spencers. Kids these days are so messed up. I had Superman and Spiderman growing up. Today’s breed of child is so, so different. Anywyay, this weekend I hear, “Mommy, what kind is he?” The mother responds, “the putrid type, I think.” Was this something she sits at home and mulls over in her spare time or is it from constant exposure? Yep, freaky names for different types of zombies. How many can you come up with without Google? More than three? You are part of the Zombie Apocalypse generation. There is a new pop culture term for you. Lets name a generation of kids. I was the Pepsi Generation / Generation X. Today’s survivors can be Zags (zombie apocalype generation). =/

I came home and did a little digging. What did I come up with? First -Wired Science- has been thinking about this way too hard with their article titled, “Mathematical Model for Surviving a Zombie Attack.” There was some serious analytical work put into play dated 2008. That means that I did not make it (if my survival depended on research). We saw books in the mall, one was my old soldiers manual from bootcamp. They replaced the word “soldier” with “zombie” and made a fortune. Zombocalypse, as of this weekend, is now in my vocabulary. I found that by comparison, I know very little about zombies.

Sit back and eat some tasty and soul-satisfying cookies before your inevitable gruesome demise.

And I quote, Zombie wikia (yes they did), “One should never assume a zombie to be intelligent unless there is overwhelming evidence in support of this idea. Countless zombie victims owe their demise to hesitation when they wrongly perceive that some vestige of their transformed loved one remains.”

My head hurts.

NO, NO, NO… this did not just happen to me.

/**
* For the brave souls who get this far: You are the chosen ones,
* the valiant knights of programming who toil away, without rest,
* fixing our most awful code. To you, true saviors, kings of men,
* I say this: never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down,
* never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry,
* never gonna say goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.
**/

I got “RICK ROLLED” in the comments of a PHP script. This has gone to far and on for too long …. YOUR TURN. =)

Let me make it up to you! You Twitter fans will get a kick out of this! This original version and idea is not mine. If anyone knows the original author, I want to shake his hand and give him credit.

Lets play guess the country!? I love my trackbacks and comments. Heavily moderated and mostly spammed.

“I had been accomplishing a search on this quite topic and identified yours. I was wondering in case you uncovered a solution and if so if you’d mind sharing. Numerous so a lot for the super-excellent post!”

His return email was .ru, the IP was Washington, the url was medical equipment.

Signed,

Thank God for Twitter

Those close to me understand that by simply walking away from this post, at this very moment… without elaborating on the French… I am taking the high road. Nothing wrong with stating facts though, right?! I love french fries! =/ Good wine and cheese.

Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are ‘limbs;’ therefore, painting them would cost the buyer more.

Hence the expression, “Okay, but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.”

Sometimes it pays off being a dismembered Zombie!

As events occur, our mind interprets it and creates an emotional response. Something like that. Growing up, we called that jumping off the barn. Our mind interpreted the event, followed by a bunch of screaming and a trip in an ambulance. In the social and business world, it’s important to recognize and regulate these emotions in order to be able to relate to others and make the best use of your leadership efforts. Don’t just jump! This process requires both rational and emotional intelligence and it is one of the differentiators between good leaders and great leaders. As you lead your blog, company or department into the future, get the skills and behaviors associated with emotional competence. Take the time to develop strategies for your personal and relational competencies. Straight out of a brochure, right?! Therapy could pay off big here.

For you new managers, I highly recommend checking into some of the following topics: Critical, creative and strategic thinking, problem solving and decision making. How many times have you heard someone start a conversation with, “Here’s the problem” and then proceed to give you a point of view about what’s wrong? We’ve all been tempted to label something as a problem or rush ahead with a decision. In today’s business world, we can’t afford to perpetuate unresolved problems and make poor decisions. By using critical thinking and proven problem solving and decision processes we can make change and create success together.

Out of that group of leadership topics, my favorite is strategic thinking. People that know me would say otherwise. Yes, I am technical, but I love the arts. To me, coding is art. Charting the future of a company or blog requires creative as well as logical thought.

Strategic thinking is about synthesizing information and ideas in order to determine a company’s competitive advantage. Maybe not so much with an online diary… still… It leads to establishing objectives, planning courses of action, and allocating resources in a constantly changing environment. This is especially true for online endeavors. If you want to become a strategic thinker you must be prepared to think with your heart as well as your head. In summary – That is why strategic thinking is one of my favorite courses and or seminars. It encompasses many of the other areas of leadership. =)

Desi and I have spent the better part of two years looking for a TV “stand” with storage. We did not want a typical glass stand. Those are everywhere. Stores are shoving them down our throats. Another option was to hang it but we HAVE SEEN the nightmare of bolts breaking. Plus our room is wood and windows. After all this time, we were on a road trip to Abilene and walked into an antique mall just before closing. There it stood… a very heavy black buffet. Desi turned to me stating, “tv?” I simply staired and said, “you bet.” Less than 10 minutes later, the monster is in the back of the truck.

We can now empty the built-ins upstairs and bring the movies downstairs where they belong. Due to lack of storage downstairs, this was a big deal for us. This fantastic piece is black with brass hardware and four very large drawers. It dwarfs our big screen and still allows room on top for all my clutter.

So the story goes, In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls.

It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem, how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a ‘Monkey’ with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make ‘Brass Monkeys.’

Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, ‘Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.’

(All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn’t you?)

The latest venture was a sofa seat that wraps under the windows in our spare room upstairs. Carpentry portion is complete to include adding a top cut-out with a double piano hinge to allow for storage. The trim and fascia decor is still under discussion. We want the project to look like a built-in instead of an add-on. Suggestions welcome!? No Texas stars. 1X4 trim to form boxes on the face with two tone paint. Half-moon on the trim along the top. Final decision up for grabs but that is where it stands for now.

As a side note: top half of the room will be a dark red by Eddie Bauer (Valspar). The bottom half of the room is going to be a pallet wood design stained dark. Lots of windows to off-set the dark tones.

The new sub-floor was put in place first (duh!). We finally decided on reclaimed tounge-in-groove for the floor covering. It will be sealed and stained the same color as the bottom half of the room.

TV room, dressing room or library? If all else fails, we have a nice quiet room to sit and stair at the gorgeous trees.

We are hoping our meager beginnings will end up looking something like the following this:

What I don’t remember – Caring about the type of car my neighbor drove or the brand name on my clothes. But as we grow older, we get anxious with the things that surround us, loved ones, success and failure. Each day we find new people and events that bring happiness or stress into our respective lives and sometimes both. Nevertheless, always keep this in mind, do not take things as if they are responsible for the way you feel. Events or situations do not trouble you. How you look at them is the sole cause of all stress. If you miss those carefree days, you just have to look back at how you used to view things then, and you will know what to do now.

Here are few ways to help you along the way in recapturing your childhood views:

#1 Cherish the simple things. Trust in the power of a smile and laughter. My Desi is the queen when it comes brightening other peoples lives. Believe in kindness, honesty and imagination. Live a positive life.

#2 Loosen up. Laugh at your mistakes. We all mess up occasionally. Admit it, take responsibility and move on.

#3 Surround yourself with what you love. People and pets are tops. Family game time and trips to the park are great for rejuvenating your life. A hug is never, just a hug. Cherish it and let it linger.

#4 Don’t put things off. Go on that trip. Start classes. Change careers. It is never too late to do what you love.

#5 Don’t push yourself too hard trying to please everyone. If you want to make somebody’s day, start with your loved ones.

#6 Keep fit. Cherish your health.

#7 Do not assume. It’s good to expect the worst, but don’t end up expecting only the worst.

#8 Alter your way of thinking. When you are being ridiculed, criticized, or condemned for mistakes, you know yourself better than anyone. Move forward and don’t wallow in self-pity.

#9 Lastly, Don’t get upset over the little things. When you find yourself being negative, down, jealous, you unknowingly drain your energy and enthusiasm for life. Giving in to these emotions will make you unreasonable at times, and could lead to making bad decisions.

Happiness is always in your grasp. Cherish the little things in life.

One of the nicest gifts that a person can receive is a family bible. It is a joy that can be shared with the whole family plus it could be passed as a family heirloom. I have my dad’s bible that he carried for thirty years. Family trees, in-depth historical notes, red letter… nice to have around the house for study.

I have received two such bibles in my lifetime. The first was given to me by my church during my senior year in high school. The second was received 20 years later, it is this King James Masonic edition given to me by my lodge after being raised as a master mason last year. Both are treasured.