2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

My Fragile Self-Concept

Over the Thanksgiving meal, our family conversation drifted to family genealogy. It’s an interesting topic in my family because we don’t know a lot about our ancestry, especially on my father’s side. The conversation started, as it usually does, with comments that one or another of us remembering Big Mama, my grandmother, having said about our heritage. In this case it was my sister recalling Big Mama’s frequent rant that Debbie was “just like those Whitlocks!” As best we can figure, the Whitlocks were some of my grandfather’s relatives and they were prone to emotional outbursts.

The conversation then tends to cover Big Mama’s statements about the Indian blood that leads to a noticeable lack of body hair and then on to other topics. This time the conversation stayed with that Indian blood thing. My sister proposed that our father may have been half Native American. It was a thought line that had never been considered before in my presence, but it somehow made sense … and then it caused me more concern than I would have guessed. You know how people find out  as adults that they were adopted into their family and the knowledge knocks their world off center? Well my reaction wasn’t that strong, but it was much stronger than I would have guessed.

My father’s background is a mystery because there is no record of who was his father. His mother would never tell out of fear that the man would be lynched. Now we’ll never know as she took the secret to her grave. Before my sister’s Native American theory, I always assumed my paternal grandfather was black, and I really didn’t give any more thought to him than that. Now I’m obsessed with knowing more and have no way to find out.

I sure hope they don’t tell me later that I was adopted.

Stop Blaming Others for Your Wanton Distribution of Personal Info

I have been bombarded with links and comments lately from people who are lamenting how Facebook or Google or Microsoft or whoever, is stealing their personal data and using it against them, or worse, selling it for a profit. I look at each and every one of them and ask them how exactly it is that these companies are stealing their data. Without exception, what these people describe to me is the process thru which they GAVE their personal information to these companies, especially Facebook and all of the companies that use their Open Graph technology. When I tell them that no one stole their data, but instead they gave it away in exchange for something that it turns out didn’t end up being worth it to them, they roll out a litany of denials and describe dubious tricks like “cookies” that are used to follow them around.

These conversations remind me of a statement by Dr. Robert Anthony: “When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” How can you blame others for your willingness to allow a company to have access to your personal data in exchange for letting you post a picture to your Facebook wall or vote in their online poll? This is a choice you get to make. If you don’t like the trade, pass on it. There is a Deny button right there next to the Allow button.

Man Up people. Accept the responsibility for putting all of your personal business out there online for others to mine for profit. It isn’t there fault that we can be sold so easily.

On Changing Priorities

I promised myself that I wouldn’t write anything about the death of Steve Jobs. Too many people took advantage of the opportunity to eulogize him. His 2005 Stanford commencement will become one of the great speeches of the last decade based on the number of people who hear excerpts from it. So, this is not about Steve Jobs, but rather about the kinds of retrospection created in many of us by the death of an iconic figure.

The mass appeal of Jobs’ speech is the truth about the reality of death. Jobs read, “If you live each day as if it will be your last, someday you will most certainly be right.” On the other hand, if you treat each day as if it’s not your last, you’ll only be wrong once. So what’s really the smart bet?

I’m not putting my money on either. Yes, I believe that facing one’s own mortality tends to clarify priorities, but it doesn’t take a near-death experience for that to happen. It just takes time being present. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean.

- A couple of years ago, doctors discovered that I have a slight pinch in my spine (C5,C6) that causes pain in my shoulder. To avoid long term dependence on pain meds, I tried traction and it worked as a temporary relief. I’ve spent 20 minutes nearly every morning since in a home traction device. Woe for me, having to sit every day. No woe, I spend that time meditating, which I was unable to do before because sitting still for that long was hard for me. Use the moment instead of harping on it.

- I have this recurring pain in my back. Once every couple of years while doing something completely routine, I throw out my back and have to spend the better part of a week in severe pain. My most recent bout started this past Saturday. As I hobbled into the grocery store on Monday, thinking about how painful it was to walk, a man in a wheelchair came rolling out. Appreciate what you have instead of what you don’t have.

Effort is Necessary for Growth

Yesterday I took my middle school Cross Country runners from the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School to their first meet, the very large Westlane Roundup. My runners are out of their league in this field. I take them so they can see what’s possible if they are willing to commit to the effort required to excel at running. Many who have coached longer than me tell me that I am deflating my team’s spirit by subjecting them to this kind of embarrassment. I don’t agree.

When we have practices, these kids, who collectively think a long run is from one end of the basketball court to the other, have only each other with whom to compare. It feels OK to walk when half of the team has already started walking. And it feels OK to walk today because you walked yesterday. It’s only when they see the rewards of not walking that they can begin to make the commitment to tough it out tomorrow. And if I keep them sheltered from the hard working runners by picking meets where they compete only against similar teams, they will never get to see how real effort can pay off.

One of the biggest mistakes my generation made in child rearing was to instill a belief in our children that most things are easy. That’s just not true. Most things worthwhile are hard, at least in the beginning. I want my runners to know that early in their carreers. If they can’t internalize the notion that they will only get better thru hard work, they have no hope of getting better. No amount of technique or strategy will make them champion runnners if they don’t train hard.

We finished at the back of the pack, yet every one of my runners set a PR at the Westlane Roundup. More importantly, they all know that they can be much better if they are willing to do the hard work. I look forward to Monday’s practice. More than that, I look forward to our next meet. These afe not the same children who signed up for Cross Country a few weeks ago.

Your Gait Predicts Your Longevity

Recent research reported in Scientific American suggests that one may be able to predict the life expectancy of older adults simply by measuring the pace at which they walk. The researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that measuring a senior’s walking speed is as accurate a predictor of life expectancy as a full battery of medical tests.

Now, before you go out and start power-walking everywhere, recognize that this is based on the natural gait that most of us keep fairly stable throughout our lives. The correlation isn’t causal so walking faster won’t make you live longer (other than the aerobic benefits it will impart). However, watching the rate at which grandma moves might give you some indication as to when she needs to see her doctor. A change in gait may indicate a condition that needs attention.

Another Good Reason to Eat Chocolate

Recent research from the University of Reading in England demonstrates that consuming dark chocolate creates an improvement in vision two hours later. In the study (which I would love to have been a part of) subjects were given either dark or white chocolate to eat. Two hours later they were tested for visual contrast sensitivity, motion sensitivity and direction detection time. The dark chocolate participants improved while the white chocolate (not really chocolate, you know) had no change.

So now in addition to the improvements in mental processing and heart protection, dark chocolate also helps vision. I’m going to add more to my diet. How about you?

Common Sense Often Misses the Mark

I often hear people promoting the virtues of common sense, or lately, the wisdom of crowds. These concepts seem to follow the logic that if enough people believe something, then it must be true. I beg to differ! I still remember my mother’s response, “If everybody jumped off a bridge, would you do that too?”

Just because a lot of people believe something doesn’t make it true, or right. I offer one exception: When EVERYBODY believes something, then it is as good as fact because everyone will act accordingly. My favorite example is when everyone believed the world was flat. For all intents it was flat … until one guy stopped believing and did something that broke the spell.

So, I come to my point. Many executives in industries that are under attack by the rapid digitalization of everything (music, television, movies, books, magazines, newspapers) believe that they can beat back the onslaught by way of copy protection and lawsuits. What if that’s the wrong approach? What if, in reality, they can increase their sales by allowing the copying of their material? It turns out that’s what happens in most of the instances where the idea has been tested. Letting people experience your work for free will expose it to some who would never have paid for it — no revenue loss there. Some of those people will like it enough to buy it, or a future work by the same person — new revenue there. It turns out, this new set of buyers is generally large enough to offset the handful who took the work for free but might otherwise have paid for it if it weren’t freely available.

Stop fighting the urge to follow your “common sense” executives. Quit making it hard for those of us willing to buy your stuff to use it in a meaningful way. Get rid of copy protection. Stop suing little old ladies. You’ll survive. Just like that guy didn’t fall off the edge of the world.

Daydreaming Can Be Depressing

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of mindfulness. I have tried, on-and-off, for years to reach that empty mind state that Buddhist monks find during meditation. My problem is that my thoughts don’t ever stop! When I examine one and then release it, another one barges right in on its tail, leaving me to deal with it instead of the nothingness that I desire. I must admit that I come closer all the time, but I’ve only experienced the true in-the-moment feeling during long runs.

Now research from Harvard University indicates that the monks are onto something. Apparently, daydreaming has a correlation with depression. Subjects in a recent study who reported being most distracted throughout the day also reported being more depressed. How depressing is that!

Microsoft is Playing Both Sides of the Fence

Say what you will about the new Windows Phone 7 operating system, Microsoft put a lot of effort into creating an interface that fit the small screen better than the mouse-heavy, finger-unfriendly Windows interface. But just in case things didn’t work out, Microsoft is also the holder of several patents used in the Android OS. As such, they’ve been cutting licensing deals with the various Android device manufacturers that yield anywhere from $5 to $15 per device sold. Given that about half a million Android devices get activated daily, Microsoft may not care too much whether their Windows 7 OS takes off. Android will generate over a billion dollars for them.

The only way to describe this is … SWEET!

Celebrating Good Times

On July 1st, Port-to-Port Consulting celebrated its 20th anniversary. We had a big Open House party out behind the building and invited everyone who has been a part of our two decades to come out and celebrate with us. Many people did, and they covered the entire 20 years from one of the last employees to leave here to my last boss before starting the business. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who have done their part, large or small, to keep my gainfully employed for such a long time.

This past weekend, I threw a backyard party in honor of Susie’s upcoming 50th birthday on Wednesday. Again, we invited people from all parts of her life, and many came out to wish her well (and make fun of her entry into senior citizenship). There were some of her friends from high school, and there were many of her co-workers today. It was another chance to reflect on how much we are loved and how many people are putting in efforts to make us successful.

This coming weekend, I get the chance to help others. I’ll be riding the 160 mile Ride Across Indiana to raise money to outfit the Cross Country teams at the Charles Tindley School. I’ve been the volunteer coach for all but 1 year of the school’s existence. We’ve gone from scrubs to mediocre and now it’s time to get serious.

As I looked at all of the people who played roles in Port-to-Port’s existence and my and Susie’s lives, I refocused on this bike ride. Hopefully it will be one of those small things that impacts some of my student athletes enough for them to reflect on it 20 (or 50) years from now.

Feeling My Age

I started riding my bicycle again in 2007. It had been so long since I rode regularly that my children wondered aloud about my ability to ride a bike. I have since ridden them into the ground on numerous occasions. I set my sights early on repeating the Hilly Hundred, which I rode regularly when I was in my teens. It turns out that the 2007 ride was the 40th anniversary ride. The last one I had ridden was the 10th anniversary ride. Finishing the Hilly was easier than I had expected it to be, so the next year I decided to take on a century (100 miles). I carefully selected a mostly flat ride in Battle Creek, the Cereal City Century, in September.

I managed to weasel out of it in 2008, then again in 2009, and for a third time last year. I figured out that my difficulty came from starting the Cross Country season in July. Once I’m running daily with my student athletes, my cycling mileage goes way down so that by September, I don’t feel confident that I can handle the century. This year I knew that I needed a ride earlier in the year. I found one, but it had a catch. Instead of just a 100 mile ride, the ride that fit my schedule best was the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN). This is a 160 mile trip from Terre Haute to Richmond. I paid my registration right away — I’m too cheap to let that money go to waste — and started training.

I must admit that I’ve done better with my training regimen than would be normal for me, except that I kept putting off that 100 mile day in my training. Finally, last Sunday, I set out at 7:00 AM in hopes of completing a solo, unsupported 100 mile ride thru Hendricks, Boone, Hamilton, and Marion counties. My plan was to be back home by 1:15 so I could shower and get to my brother’s house for an Independence Day celebration.

I did it! I finished only two minutes slower than my projected time. Not bad for 100 miles. And then I showered and we made it to my brother’s house by 2:00. That’s when my age came calling. When I did rides like this 30 years ago, I did them faster and then I went about my life just the same. On Sunday, I spent the afternoon in a strange sort of funk. I wasn’t exhausted and I wasn’t sore (except for my butt which gave up at 85 miles). No, I just was there.

My legs felt heavy. My mind couldn’t hang onto a thought long enough to process it. Everything was just a little bit out of sync. I was … OLD.

Those Words that Keep Inflaming

The other day, Susie and  watched The Man with Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy. It was one of those movies that had been in my Netflix queue for so long that I couldn’t be sure exactly why it was there. All in all it was entertaining and forgettable. Except for the conversation between Levy’s character and Jackson’s on the topic of foul language. Fidler (Levy) tells Vann (Jackson) that cursing doesn’t make him cool or scary and that he should try to stop, particularly using the F-word. He suggests that a good way to stop is to add “crying out loud” after each utterance until he found himself saying “for crying out loud” instead. We’ve tried it around our house and it has a comic effect but doesn’t feel anything like the real thing.

Add to that the story in this month’s Scientific American proclaiming a new record for the F-word in music. Apparently, there was a week this spring in which three of the top ten songs on Billboard’s pop music chart featured use of the word (two in the title). It’s enough to make one wonder what’s happening to our civility; or is it? I think fuck has been so overused that it’s lost some of its vulgarity. The impact is nothing like it was in the good old days when the word was only used in cases where real venom was required. I’m certainly more cavalier about using it than back in the days when it would guarantee a taste of soap if any adult in my life heard the word creep out of my mouth.

Yet I understand those who are still deeply offended when they hear the word. That word for me is the N-word. I don’t care what color the speaker is, the word is offensive to me. No matter how much it gets used, it still offends me and reduces the speaker in my estimation from that moment on. It is this deep disgust with a word that works to keep me more cautious with my use of other foul language. I’m sure there are others who are equally upset by some of them.

Chew Gum for Stress Relief if You Can’t Take a Walk

Lots of research has been done to show that taking a brief walk during the day is a great way to relieve stress. Sometimes you can’t get away for that mid-day walk though. No worry, a recent study at the Swinburne University of Technology shows that chewing gum can do a lot to relieve mild to moderate stress. Gum chewers demonstrated 17 percent less anxiety under mild stress conditions and 10 percent less under moderate conditions. Moreover, their alertness increased by 19 percent under mild stress and 8 percent under moderate stress. Gum chewers also performed better on multi-tasking assignments. So there’s something to that walking and chewing gum analogy.

These improvements may not make the difference between a bad day and a day on which you go postal. You see there are no study results for intense stress. They are significant enough to keep the dog from getting kicked in the evening.

Give it a shot. See if you feel better. Try my latest favorite chew, Wrigley’s 5 Cobalt gum.

Corner Your Market with Basic Customer Service

I just returned from a beach resort vacation. Of all the industries around, none is more customer service driven than the hospitality industry. The difference that a single person can make in a traveler’s pleasure is immeasurable. At the resort where we stayed, our poor concierge was a textbook example of the Peter Principle in action. This guy didn’t have the skills or temperament to successfully accomplish his duties. He was probably a great assistant to someone before getting promoted into his current post.

I won’t go into all the details of his incompetence. Suffice it to say that he did all of the big parts of his job well, but he missed on every single one of those “moments of truth.” And my vacation suffered from it a little bit.

I don’t want you to think that poor customer service will ruin your vacation. Only you can do that. I take a good time with me wherever I go just in case the person who was supposed to bring it forgets. That way, I always have a fallback plan. We used my Plan B several times while in Belize. Darwin notwithstanding, I’d recommend a relaxing or adventurous vacation there — perhaps not at the Costa Maya Reef Resort.