Though I try how can I carry on?

 

Once more we step into the 1970s

On the news

 Many reports claim black families feel like they need to have a talk with their sons after the Karmelo Anthony guilty verdict. They should. White, brown, and purple parents need to have the talk too.

Murdering someone because they pushed you in an incident you provoked is not a proper response. 

There, it is easy, and it has nothing to do with race. 

Boo Hoo Scott Pelley.

I've been reading about the histronics from fired journalist Scott Pelley. Things may be different inside a newsroom (I doubt it), but the reported insuborination would get 99.999% of workers fired on the spot. When the boss says to do something, you might respectfully offer an alternative and then you go and do exactly what you are told to do. 

Here is an example. I'd been in sales a good while. I was respected in my industry and considered an expert in a specific application. I was appointed a new boss to oversee my activities. He knew nothing about the industry. 

He went on a series of sales calls with me and my largest customer was first on the list.  We had discussed before the meeting the topics and agenda before we went in. I thought the visit went well. After we got back in the car he asked me how I thought it went. I told him it was a productive meeting. He agreed with me and then asked if I ever created a script and read from it during a sales call. 

With great restraint I did not laugh in his face. "Did I miss somthing we should have discussed?" 

"No."

"Did I not express myself clearly?"

"No, you were great. I was just bothered that you did not bring notes or take notes during the meeting." 

"I learned in college that if I concentrated on note taking I wasn't listening, so I have learned to work that way. I usually make extensive notes after the meeting or later that day." I explained.

"I always read from a script." 

I thought the idea was ridiculous,  my customers would laugh me out of the place. Do you know what I did? After we got to the hotel and before the next day's customer visit I wrote out a script and laid it out on the table during our meeting and pretended to glance at it occasionally during our next sales call. I wrote down random notes during the meeting.

I never did it again unless he was with me because a script is for telemarketers and morons. But he was the boss and my mom didn't raise an idiot. I was convinced his did though.

What I DID NOT do was tell him he was ruining my reputation, he was an idiot, that he was unqualified to be my boss. I did not go off on a rant about the stupidity of the management that put him in charge. That would have gotten me fired. Instead i started looking for another job.

Scott Pelley did those things. He was fired and rightly so. 

On Philosophy

 As I poured a bowl of cereal this morning I had a three decade flashback to me telling my son "You can't just eat the Charms, you have  to eat the Luckies too." 

Much older me realizes this sentiment pretty much sums up life. 

On this day

Today is one of the most important days in my life, because clearly everything is about me. It is my wife's XXXX birthday.  What? I'm not stupid. Even though she does not read this one day someday she might. 

She claims it always rains on her birthday. It is supposed to rain today. Guess what? According to AI:

In Indianapolis, June 8 has the highest probability of rain of any single day of the year, with a historical 42% chance of a wet day. [1]

I don't say it's true, the internet does, and the internet is always right. In any case there is high probability it will rain today. 

Shopping for a present was easy, she picked out an outfit. She came home with the bag and said "You can give me this for my birthday." 

Okay. I'm good with that.

I will go get her a card. I might make her a cake at lunch. 

Anyway, it's my girl's birthday and if she wasn't born I wouldn't be, well,  me. I wouldn't have my kids or grandkids and my bank account would be full and my life empty. 

Reviewing the review

 An old friend sent me some fair and honest reviews of my two efforts at novel writing.

He says Hoosier Flats is a better story, it has the twists and cliffhangers that keep you reading. Suburban Moon is better writing. The prose is stronger and more complex.

Sububurban Moon needs some strong editing (both books do); there are some redundancies that need to be cut. There is no  "twist" until late in the book, and it is rather weak. There are some very strong scenes however.

Hoosier Flats reads like three short stories linked together. He says it works, but can be jarring or confusing for a few pages. He liked each part or era for different reasons. He said the first section is a coming of age/crime drama, the second part feels like a post-war movie plot, and the third section reads almost like a western (in theme, not locale).

My friend thought the double timeliness in Suburban Moon offered great contrast and each showed a different side of a unique character. 

In all, he said the books are not bad for an amateur effort.

I'm sure if you suffered through the books you would agree this is a fair assessment. 

D-DAY, The Sixth of June

 

Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months... We will accept nothing less than full victory! Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Older than oldies