mooblog

The world does not support visionaries. Well, not usually. I’ll be the first to admit, I am ambitious. I’m an idea person. But I am also a person of action, a person that gets things done, a person that does not know the meaning of impossible. Ok, so sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, but more often than not, it turns out great. My idea for an automated order tracking system for my business, was super simple and a killer success. It saves us a ton of emails and worker time and our customers can check it 20 times a day to their hearts content even though it is only updated once a day. Don’t tell them that. The simple fact that they can check it 24/7 makes them so happy.

My idea for a change to our return policy? Only 2% of customers want a refund, so instead of asking why they want to return it and putting all theses conditions on returns, lets just do a time limit. Rejected. I must have presented this policy change 10 times over the past 8 months, explaining that it was so worth it for increased customer satisfaction, would save us tons of money on employee time by cutting the work load significantly (you would not believe how much time a single angry customer can eat up! or maybe you can…), not to mention the time limit has no gray area, making it cut and dry unlike our old policy (if it is our fault refund, otherwise maybe exchange). Our fault is apparently very gray. Guess what, this month, my policy is adopted!!! Happy customers way up!! Everything great, but the damage from before is already done. Hopefully those 2% from before do not ruin us. Why doesn’t anyone listen to me? Oh, well, celebration now!!

So what now? I want to develop a simple database to replace all the stupid excel sheets we use. We have to share them, so it is done through Google docs and let me tell you Google docs has its problems. Ok, so it allows several people to work on the same document at the same time. Way cool and absolutely what we need, but talk about limited. It has no where near the functionality of a regular excel sheet, it is slow, and it frequently looses data. Repeat Looses DATA!!! Not a good idea when the data involves which customers still need to be charged, and which orders need to be canceled, or requests for order changes and updates. I hate it, but it is the best available… for now. What do I want? How about a simple database that has all the information for all our orders and a easy to use interface? Not as hard as it sounds, really, because it just involves imputing data and then displaying that data and some rudimentary editing tools. This simple system would integrate all our information in a way that would drastically cut mistakes and employee manpower needed. I offered to do it in my spare time over the next year. REJECTED!! Why? Who knows, but I am upset! This is not a hard project. I plan to spend a little free time on it here and there and the implications for it completion are HUGE!! But I can’t get no respect! *Sigh, vision is wasted on some people. But never fear, I am persistent!! Think “can I have it? can I have it? can I have it?” and repeat as many times as needed!

So there is a fine line between impulse and genius, but I think if you have a great idea, look into what is involved, do the research, and if you are still totally into it, go for it and don’t let anything stand in your way. Inspiration is only 2% of the process, even if it is the most fun. Follow up with relentless persistence and you will get it. I am making my database with or without my bosses, because it will make my job easier and once they see it, they will be blown away. Even if they are not, it would be stupid not to use it, so they will. I’ll make this company successful with or without them, cause I plan to make my retirement money off them. Did I mention I think big?

The flash drive, a pinnacle of convenient portable information storage, and completely inadequate to survive a single day in my home. Now I am not throwing them around, stepping on them, driving over them (see below), or abusing them in any way. I simply plug them into a computer, walk away for a little to handle whatever is demanding my immediate attention at the time and when I return, it is inexplicably bent!

((PHOTO COMING SOON))

After this happened to my first flash drive, I told myself, it was just a cheap thing anyway and decided to invest in the kind that safely retreat into their casing when not in use. This lasted a full two days before it was borrowed and once found again, sticking out of one of my workers computers, was inexplicably bent and refused to retreat into its housing again. Of course, no one was near it when it happened, not my employees, and not my boyfriend.

This brings me to one inescapable conclusion… The CATS!!!

more cat pictures

They hate flash drives and are on a mission to secretly destroy any I purchase. But they have yet to meet “SanDisk Cruzer Titanium”. I wonder if it was cat tested….

Do I have ants on the brain? The war with the ants in my house went better than I could have ever hoped. I have not seen a single ant today. But it seems I may have gotten them out of my house only to get them stuck in my head. The fable of the ant and the grasshopper is one that fixed itself in my imagination. There was the hard working ant, the all work and no play ant, slaving away through summer. Then there was the lazy, carefree grasshopper, playing his fiddle and enjoying his summer without a worry in the world. The ant lives through the harsh winter because of his diligence, while the grasshopper starves for his “crimes” of idleness and negligence.

What does this story tell us? Some people say it is a lesson to prepare for the future and I will not disagree. It is a good idea to be prepared for the worst and to put away something for the future in good times. But I think perhaps I see it a bit more cynically. I see it as promoting hard work, conformity, and self sacrifice at the expense of enjoyment of life. The ant works hard all summer and never gets to enjoy the beautiful weather and bountiful food, because he is too preoccupied with preparing for winter. There is a struggle in there that we all must face. The struggle to deny ourselves now that we may have more later and to do the safe thing to ensure a comfortable and long life versus the need to find enjoyment and joy in life, to take risks, to treasure the moment and take advantage of the “summer days” of life. I just cannot bring myself to believe that we should entirely sacrifice our identity and our happiness, for the safety of conformity and work. I think to say you should be the hard working ant or the happy grasshopper is too limited of a view, as both perspectives are too extreme and so bring about their own inadequacies.

Somewhere in between delayed and instant gratification is the promised land. A balance between being happy now and being secure in the future. The truth is that the lazy grasshopper does not always die. Sometimes he strikes it rich, incurring the envy and wrath of all the hard workers around him. Life does not always deal out a just reward based on how hard or long you labor, instead some people are born into security or stubble upon it and others will never achieve it, despite noble efforts to overcome their state in life. Security is a fleeting illusion that we like to hold onto and comfort ourselves with. It is all well and good to plan for the future and prepare for it, but not at the expense of the present. When there is a difficult journey ahead of me, I always tell myself “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Confucius) It helps me keep moving when I am overwhelmed by all that life has laid at my feet. Sometimes it feels as though I will never reach the end, there is a weight upon my shoulders and the labor of each step is too hard to bare. When do you stop torturing yourself for some future ideal? The truth is that even though it is hard, it should not be torture. You need to make the time to enjoy the present. You need to find ways to enjoy and appreciate the journey and not just the reward. It is not always pleasant or easy, but if it were, it would not be worth the effort. The trick is to find the balance and make peace with the journey. Take pride in your accomplishments and industriousness, but also know when to stop and enjoy some of the fruits of your labor. Easier said then done. I know I have not yet found that equilibrium, but in the end, I think it is worth the effort. As a great Ferengi once said, “The greater the risk, the greater the reward.” It is not for the faint of heart, but if you take a few risks, it can be its own reward in self discovery and fulfillment.

There is nothing quite like waking up tired and groggy, dragging yourself out of bed, making the long journey to the kitchen to round up a bowl and cereal, and sitting in your favorite chair to have your breakfast and begin the slow process of coming back to reality, and opening your cereal to discover…. ITS MOVING!! Oh what a lovely way to start any day “The Klingon Way” with cereal that is alive and crawling! Needless to say, I was not happy this morning, when instead of having Sugar Puffs, I got to enjoy a protein bar that I keep for mornings I feel ambitious enough to run on.

Now I am not perfect. I have been very busy recently and have not always emptied the trash cans promptly and there are usually a few dishes in my sink at any given time, but not enough to support a colony of ants. It started with one or two in the bathroom. They seem to come from the sink? Mike hates killing anything, so I just threw them outside and doubled my efforts to keep my house clean. Took out all the trash, did all the dishes, vacuumed all the crumbs, swept the floor and went for a weekend trip, satisfied that those ants would leave my house with empty stomachs. Alas, it will not be so easy for me. Before I left last week, I had an unpleasant feeling between my toes as I was doing the dishes and looked down to find an ant crawling up my leg. Breakfast this morning was the last draw! This means war!! And I intend to be victorious. Trespassers beware!

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
Greek Proverb

The older you get, the more naive it seems to express wonder, awe, amazement, and admiration. Yet wonder opens the mind to new possibilities and connections. It is a great way to expand beyond your normal way of thinking and increase your enjoyment of life. I invite you to share a few of my wonders and comment with some of your own.

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
e e cummings (1894 - 1962)

MUSIC

Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!
J. K. Rowling

Music at its simplest, is vibrations in the air which our ear drums and brains then translate into sounds. Yet these vibrations have the ability to provoke powerful emotions. They can lift you up when you are feeling blue, make you want to move in ways you would normally find mortifying in public, keep you going when you are tired, or amaze you with complexity. The ways in which music effects people have often astonished me. That and perhaps the fact that out of tiny little headphones on my MP3 player, I feel as if at a concert for one. Speakers, though simplistic in design have also amazed me with their ability to recreate so many different sounds as an orchestra or jazz band can provide.

I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.
George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

SPACE

To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before!
William Shatner

Ok, so I give myself away as a sci fi fan from Star Trek to Star Wars to Stargate and everywhere in between. When life on earth has got you down, why not be whisked away to another planet far, far away. And lets not forget the writers Arthur C. Clarke whose 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Childhood’s End kept me spellbound, Orson Scott Card whose Ender’s Game and sequels are brilliant, and Isaac Asimov one of the most prolific science fiction writers of all time (I know I have left many out, but perhaps in a future I will go into detail). The truth is that space is vast and wondrous in and of itself with only a telescope, but it is also the amazing birthplace of many fantastic stories since the beginning of man and our own travels into it both real and imagined are an equally amazing story.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong

CATS

There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.
Dan Greenberg

Cats are a great source of entertainment, love, cuteness, and wonder. To watch a cat stalk a piece of string or fight over a window seat is better than TV most times. Their delight in a mouse shaped toy, a laser beam, or a mouse cursor is an unending wonder.

Cats do not have to be shown how to have a good time, for they are unfailingly ingenious in that respect.
James Mason

FROGS

I’d kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs.
Cameron Diaz

Frogs are truly marvelous! They come in a variety of sizes from as small as a fingernail to over a foot (Goliath frog without legs extended) and they are found on every continent except Antarctica, but who really counts that anyway? Some frogs are even capable of cryogenically freezing themselves for the winter and thaw again in the spring! Frogs also transform from tiny water bound tadpoles to mostly land loving adults. As if that were not enough, frogs are also good luck. Because of the large number of eggs they lay, they are often a sign of fertility and abundance. In Egypt, frogs were so important, that they were often embalmed when they died. Irish folklore uses frog symbols to attract good fortunes. In the Orient frogs are believed to bring money and wealth. In Rome, the frog was a mascot believed to bring good luck to the home. In Latin countries as well as in Europe, frogs have been a subject of inspiration in the arts as well.

If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion.
Adrian Forsyth

We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.
Mao Tse-Tung

That’s 4 wonders for today. I’m going to try for 10 total. Well, as Kermit once said, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”