Category: Everything Else

Want to Try Time Travel? Go to Cuba

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Cuba is a very different world. It is a land of contrast, prospects, and lost opportunities.

 

We have just returned from a week in Cuba. Like many Americans, we were curious about a place so long hidden from us and we wanted to see it before too many changes took place. With the death of Fidel Castro and the first openings by the Obama administration (since tightened a bit by Trump), we expected change was coming fast.

Not so fast, actually. For reasons discussed below, any meaningful change on a wide scale is likely years,

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Quotes & Quips – Don’t You Wish YOU had Thought of These? Me, too

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Humorous or insightful thoughts to help start the New Year

 

As regular readers know, about once a quarter or so, this site provides a short list of quotes that I find really good, worthy of sharing. Some are profound, some are funny, some are both.

Herewith, the latest offerings to help launch your New Year.  A baker’s dozen for your edification and reflection. Enjoy!

  1. “In our democracy, we govern either by leadership or by crisis. If leadership is willing to take the risks that come with the responsibility of power,

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Is it Time to Turn a Life Page?

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Knowing When It is Time for a Change is an Important Life Skill

 

I enjoyed an opportunity a few days ago that I see more often late. It might be a coincidence of the people around me, or it might be a trend more generally. Either way, it’s a good thing.

This was a farewell for someone who was leaving a job she had enjoyed for years. It turns out she had been thinking for some time that it was time for a life change. She had a good position and enjoyed her coworkers.

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Make a Decision! Bill’s Guide to Better Decisions

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Sometimes We Make Decisions More Difficult Than They Need Be

I am always interested in how people make decisions. Not so much the decisions themselves, but how they prepare themselves mentally. What processes they use to come to a decision. It is often a tortuous and cumbersome thing to behold. This is unfortunate. Life is full of decision points. We would do well to give some thought about how we make decisions.

Over a lifetime of decisions large and small, I have come to use a “template” for decision making. It eliminates much of the angst and gnashing of teeth associated with decision making.

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In Praise of Preparation

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A Plea for Getting it Right the First Time

 

Four Tales of Woe

I have had occasion over the last few days to attend two ceremonies and two meetings. Two involved ceremonial candle lightings. One required mounting a plaque The fourth entailed showing slides from a computer.

Four very different activities. All four failed to execute in small but unfortunate ways. The organizers for each were likely a bit embarrassed. This posting is not to embarrass anyone further (some involved in one or more of these events may read this blog).

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So, Here’s The Thing About Loyalty…

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Some leaders and followers have it backwards.

 

Leadership and Loyalty

The study of leadership has been a life-long passion of mine. I have watched it in terrible crucibles and in beautiful opportunities. I have strived to practice what I have learned. There are, of course, many types of leaders. But about loyalty, there seems to be only two mindsets from which leaders may choose.

Loyalty is an important quality within an organization and among its members. In military organizations, it is often a matter of life and death. But even in less dangerous environments,

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Had Fun, Did Good, Gained Wisdom – What a Deal!

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Habitat for Humanity Has Given Me Far More Than I Have Given Them.                                         Now I pass those gifts to you.

 

My good spirited crew has finished our latest work supporting Habitat for Humanity. We did so on the day before Thanksgiving. This was our second house on this site. Habitat will finish the whole neighborhood in a few weeks. The first half, including the first house we helped build, is already occupied. It’s a terrific little community.

Thanksgiving inclines us to reflect on what merits our gratitude.

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“Life Saving is in My Blood”

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You Know the Value of Blood Donations. Ever Think About Dog Donors?

Welcome to the World of Guide Dogs

A little over a decade ago, Lizzie the Lab joined our household. We were to raise her as a guide dog for Guiding Eyes for the Blind (https://www.guidingeyes.org). This is a wonderful outfit deserving of your support.

The plan was for us to raise Lizzie for about a year. We were responsible for her socialization. We were also to take her through an excellent and rigorous training program.

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Let’s Fire Daylight Savings Time – Forever!

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Time Measurement Should be Scientific. Instead, it’s a Global Hodge-Podge.

“What time is it?” may turn out to be more of a trick question than one might think.

For quite a while, the world, for the most part,  had a pretty good approach towards time. Ground Zero for time keeping was set up at Greenwich, England. Twenty-four one-hour time bands spread out from there around the world. These matched the 24-hour cycle in the dance between the Earth and the Sun.

Simple, right? But of course, we could not leave well enough alone.

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Veterans Day Reflections: Service and Sacrifice; Gratitude and Community

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Veterans Day  provides opportunities to ponder big issues

Today we celebrate Veterans Day, at a time of national division.  We do so when the president flew half way around the world to commemorate the end of World War I. He then chose to sit out the first ceremony. Because it was raining.

We could use a little reflection on what Veterans Day means. Herewith, my take on it.

Service: We live in a society with oddly mixed motivations. Volunteerism is, in many places and for many causes, at near record levels.

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