Superiority Complex

On my first job there were two or three people who I encountered that had what I later coined as a superiority complex. They had no qualms about telling you how good they were and what weaknesses you had. It was quite intimidating to encounter these peers and they were not fun to work with. As time went on (I worked there for four years), I came to realize, quite surprisingly at the time, that in fact these people were quite insecure. Their actions were a way to cover that insecurity.

TBL: When you encounter these people, don't be intimidated. And GEEZ O' COW don't be one of them!

Energy Conservation

Here is a compilation of the ideas I've collected so far (I'm still looking for more):

solar panels for water heating
solar panels for electrical generation
walk to work
bike to work
buy a hybrid
drive a motorcycle or scooter to work
canoe or kayak instead of speedboat
recycle
conserve water - doing so conserves energy
buy the new low energy lightbulbs
get a wind generator

Yahtzee

Following are some theorems I have developed about Yahtzee after years and years of playing both regular and electronic versions of the game:

1. If you want to get a Yahtzee, you have to roll for Yahtzee.

2. Don't try for straights and full house, they'll take care of themselves.

3. Nothing takes the wind out of a game of Yahtzee, like a bonus Yahtzee.

Now, what could this possibly have to do with TBL. Well, if you get a little philosophical, the Yahtzee rules apply to life. I hadn't done this until receiving an email from Abby last year saying she was applying the Yahtzee theorems to life.

TBL: Think about it.

Alternate Forms of Energy

It seems evident that, as a society, we need to reduce our consumption of oil. This, of course, either means use less energy or start looking for other forms of energy. To do it as a country, we need to start by doing it as individuals. Are you thinking about what to do? I am. I haven't done anything, but am spending a lot of time thinking about it. I request that you send me your ideas about what you are thinking about along these lines (either as comments to the blog or as emails to rulseth@itascacc.edu). As soon as I get a few, I will add them to mine and put as a text box on the bottom line blog.

Not finishing an assignment

There are two types of people. Given the following situation:

Your supervisor has assigned you to complete some task by a certain time, say the end of the day Friday. The end of the day Friday comes and the assignment is not finished.

People in one group, afraid of disappointing the supervisor, will do nothing and tell nobody.

People in the other group will contact the supervisor, explain that the task is not done, take responsibility for not completing the task, and give an estimate for when it can be done.

While it is quite obvious which group is the right one to be in, it is easy to fall into the first group.

TBL: DON'T! Professionals communicate to people when expectations are not met and take the appropriate responsibility.

And More

The temptation when traveling for work can be to spend days at work and evenings in the hotel. Don't do it. Get out and about and see the sites. Go for a hike, walk in the parks, go see the ocean, visit the monuments....

Tonite we are going out for lobster 20 miles away on the coast. We could get lobster around the corner, but we want to go see the ocean.

TBL: Somebody else is paying your travel expenses, build your life experiences at their expense.

More on Travel

When traveling for work there are a couple of temptations. One is to eat too much. I know lots of folks who are unhappy with their current weight and attribute it directly to too much travel for work. I know that when I am on per diem the temptation is to eat out and eat a lot.

One key is to get to a market and buy some fruit and nuts to snack on during the day, thus minimizing the overeating at the restaurants. A second key is to eat big salads for every other meal. A third key is to hold yourself to dessert only once per trip. I have found these steps to be quite helpful.