Digging to China

Whenever digging a deep hole, we would say "We're digging our way to China".  So I began to wonder - if I could dig to the other side of the earth where in China would I be.  Naturally this thought is not unique and there are numerous web sites with this capability.

First - where exactly is my front door?  Well that was easy - with the GPS Visualizer my front door is N 39.15509 and W 84.32427.  I wonder when we will begin to address the mail that way.

Next it was off to FreeMapTools.com. There was really no need to fix it so exactly to my front door - since tunneling to the other side of the earth would plop me somewhere deep into the Indian Ocean to far to swim to any land!

Click for larger view.

Really?

Are you a realist or an idealist? Daniel Gilbert's book "Stumbling on Happiness" talks about the actual blind spot in your minds eye - the spot on the back of your retina where the optic nerve connects your eye to the brain.  You don't see that blind spot because the brain fills in the spot - sort of a touched up picture.

"We feel as though we are sitting comfortably inside our heads, looking out through clear galss windshield of our eyes watching the world as it truly is" - the realist.  Instead, the brain is filling in the blanks - assuming things, jumping to conclusions, using memory to readjust, and imagining - the idealist.

Yet it takes realism to practically survive day to day where the idealist could endlessly spin in a conflict of perceived fraud.

"Perceptions are portraits, not photographs, and their form reveals the artist's hand every bit as much as it reflects the things portrayed"

What are you painting today?

Life Changing Events

For her social studies class, Ellen is developing a pamphlet about herself.  So like a good reporter she began asking fact about herself - birth facts, early childhood etc.  Then tonight she asked me about what life changing event she should document.  Hmmm  since she has only been around 4749 days (of which she probably remembers only 25%), she wanted some ideas from someone that has been around for the duration - namely me.

So I began the challenge of giving her choices - a key memorable trip; making the tennis team; overcoming a fear (e.g. recital; bicycling; speech in school; etc.); a class or a new skill learned; a medical emergency; getting a new pet; losing a pet; getting lost; first trip away from parents; first day of school and the bus; a teacher, coach, friend or family member and the list goes on.  It will be interesting to see what she picks.

What would you pick for yourself?  Graduation, wedding, birth of child, death, religious conversion, career (first hire, fire or retire), medical emergency, first car, a move from home, first house?  Michael Gates Gill's book "How to save your own Life" is basically a narrative of his own life changing events which he describes in 15 inspiring lessons of life. Most of those events involved a relationship - other people.  The key is to remember your event - and learn from it and apply that learning continuously.

The game of Life has events we can choose that become life changing or events that just happen to us without our choice.  How we accept and/or deal with the change is what defines us - it becomes our story.

Tell your story to others - not only is it life changing for you, it can be life changing to others.

Wait a Sec

As Ellen and I returned from the mall with her friend, the cell phone provided the instant synchronization of the rendezvous point.  I said "We're only two minutes away".  But how well do we estimate time and when do we fudge the time to keep someone emotional calm while waiting?

One of the most irritating things is when your time (and inner duty of promptness) is different from the connecting parties time.  How patient are you in waiting for someone when they don't appear at the designated time?  I think normal etiquette is to allow for 5-15 minutes but it depends on the circumstances and the person.  When I am meeting someone for lunch, I usually allow 30 minutes.  Wait times while on hold with customer service reps can seem like eternity. 

Naturally when you are waiting for someone or something, time slows down.  When you are late and rushing to rendezvous time speeds up.  Hence the mind is creating greater divergence in emotions for the wait-ee and the late-ee.

So there is no need to say wait a second - since the time has already passed.

Visual Touch

"You are the only person whose life touches all the people you know, work with and meet every day"

I wrote this down on a piece of paper and forgot to identify the source.  It brings to light the importance of each and every connection you make with anyone you see and interact with.  Like a ripple in the water, your impact looks small at the beginning but expands exponentially in size the moment the touch begins.

While this "responsibility" addresses "all the people you know", your impact of touch has a broader audience.

Take the example of a smile to a stranger.  It's impact is unknown to you but the small invisible visual touch received by the person unknown previously to you could change that person's immediate attitude, outlook, and next interaction. Even eye connections can touch people.

Your visual touch extends beyonds an actual connection with eyes.  When someone (or two) sees you from a distance, stop to pick up some litter and place it in the trash, you have touched them without knowing.  As Mom would say - "Remember to set a good example". 

On whose watch are you?

Rainbow raining

Ellen is now 13 today and a smile came to her face when she opened the final present with the Disco Magic Showerhead. After a quick installation, her regular shower was transformed into a brilliant display of innovative LED colors.  The colors change (by only using the water pressure) about every 30 seconds from red, pink, lavendar, green, blue, orange, yellow and cycles back again. 

The key question was - did she pin it?

Segway Fun

It was a morning of Segway fun through the streets of Cincinnati.  After some brief training and a near fall, it wasn't long before the mind and body figured the gyroscopic logic inside the Segway.

The Cincinnati tour was suggested by K.C. and it lived up to the hype.  There were areas of Cincinnati that I had not seen (even after living in the area over 35 years).  The German architecture and traditions in Cincinnati were all described by our tour guide - Chris.  Key to Cincinnati's success was the Erie canal and Ohio River commerce.  In fact the only reason Chicago became the Midwest largest city is because of the railroads - a key reason to change with the technology!

Mark Twain was rumored to have a quote about Cincinnati - “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it’s always 10 years (sometimes quoted as 20 yrs) behind the times.” 

So let's see ---  the Segway was introduced Dec. 3, 2001.  I guess 10 years is about right for me to try it out in Cincinnati. :)