Can you follow instructions?

I had a library patron recently that kept having me help him with online applications. Most of the time people have problems with how do do things on a computer. For this gentleman that was not the case out of the 15 times he asked for help, I'd have to say 12 were for things that basically amounted to not being able to follow the instructions on the application.

Later that day I heard stories from other people at both jobs the library and Barnes & Noble about people that filled out applications incorrectly or asked a question during an interview did not answer the question. It brings me to a story of when I applied for UPS back in 2001. I showed up and there were 100 people applying. The HR person told us to carefully read ALL instructions and fill-in every box. If something did not apply to the applicant put "NA" or "not applicable". She told us that if we did not completely fill in the application or did not follow the instructions on the form she would put us in the back of the room and would be interviewed last. Only a few moments after handing out the applications five guys shot up and walked to the front of the room. The HR woman looked them over, said these are not correctly filled out, and handed them back - pointing to the back of the room. I was one of 20 asked to come back for a tour and additional interview at 3am the next day. Of the 20 people, 4 showed up and during the tour one said that she was no longer interested. They hired the three of us that finished the tour and a year later I was the only one still working there.

I know that there are a lot of people that need education or additional training for better jobs, but some people seem down right unemployable. Not being able to follow simple instructions or perform the basic task of filling out an application legibly makes it hard for you to get a job at even the lowest of playing places, and on top of that I hear people turn down jobs for manual labor. Hmmm

As I was writing this the same guy came up and asked again for help he had typed the website address in the Google search box. When we got to the website he needed he didn't know his zip code to find locations near him.

Perception is not Reality

I recently heard a book review and skimmed through the same book, and for the life of me can't find the title or a link to it right now, it discussed how we perceive things incorrectly and even create false memories. All of this is to reinforce our own beliefs and preconceptions, and the mind can do funny things. It does not mean that we cannot know the truth or reality it is just made more difficult by our own mind playing tricks on us...

This brings me to what I have been thinking about recently. I am constantly obsessed with my weight. When I was young I was heavy, at one point I weighed as much as 330 pounds. In 2008 I started a plan that I concocted that helped me lose 150 pounds (my lowest weight was 173). I was highlighted by a website which you can checkout here: (with before and after pictures). I have gained some of that back and average 185 lately I have been around 195.

There are times when I try not to be and give myself some leeway, like on vacation or trips. Otherwise I try to stick to an eating plan and keep a running total of the calories eaten in a day and about how many I have expended exercising. If I eat a little extra or have something not on my eating plan I try to compensate by more exercise or less food later in the day. I weigh myself once a week, usually...

But when I came back from my last trip / vacation My weight was 200 and I freaked out and have been on and off trying to keep better track of my eating, exercise, and weight. My wife was pointing out that my waist size hasn't changed and my clothes all fit the same. I haven't checked body fat percentage and it is possible there is more muscle.

It's hard to shake the fears, insecurity, and feelings of being overweight, obese, or just plain fat. I still see myself as fat, although I know that I am not. I try to keep it healthy and I remind myself what I did look like by looking at old pictures. I really have changed, even though my brain does not always remember that. Perception is not always reality.

Shoot for the moon

One of the most memorable phrases I received in sales was from my friend David Sather, he said "You shoot for the moon so you can land on the roof".
I'm sure he stole that from somebody else but I go back to it over and over again. I was telling my brother about the importance of setting goals; all the data and studies that back-up their importance. We set some year-long goals together;
but, like most people I'm sure I don't take my own advice.

Over the weekend I ran in the Gasparilla Distance Classic 5k and 5+3k. In the 5k, I didn't try my best but tried to put forth a decent effort 28:52. I really did try my best in the, let's just call it 8k, ending with a time of 44:12. That is like 8:40 per mile, which for me was disappointing so...

Time to set some goals, work on a plan, and shoot for the moon... it's the only way for me to PR (personal record).

It could always be worse...

Yesterday was going, OK then 2pm came and after that it was all down hill. I found out that a friend of mine passed away, which was unexpected and sucks. That in and of it self would make for a bad day. But THEN...

I get called into work which was sorta OK because I need more hours. But THEN...

I have this jerk that I sold an item to on EBay send me a message:
"Hey! You sent my package to Georgia! I am putting a stop payment through Paypal until this is resolved." I respond, "Whoa! Talk about jumping to conclusions I just put down the wrong tracking number. Here is the correct one" EBay buyer then leaves negative feedback later in the day saying that I shipped the hat in an old oatmeal box (I was trying to recycle and not buy a box) and charged $8 when it only cost $4 to ship. I explained that I was not trying to rip him off or anything but that I let Ebay automatically calculate shipping and that I would refund part of the shipping fee. He then complained about the hat itself and said that what I was offering was not good enough. I told him I refund all his money and that he could keep or throw away the hat. He still has not changed his negative feedback. and THEN...

I found out that I had to work with a manager that night at my other job that keeps us late and is disagreeable and THEN...

That manager kept us 40 minutes past our usual leaving time, in my opinion finding things for us to do that could have waited. Also at one point we were just standing around waiting to go. I was talking about hiring some kids to come mow her down with paint balls in the parking lot some night, but the more I thought about it the more I thought; I'm not that mean. (but I did think up a cute little short film idea for a Don Corleone scene where the guy asking is an adult and Don Corleone is a kid sipping milk and petting a tea-cup chihuahua. The guys shooting paint balls do it like they got Sonny in The Godfather.) I ticked my brother off by scaring him as he sat in the truck waiting to pick-up my sister (didn't mean to piss him off). It was after 11:30 by the time I got home.

All of that makes a normal day like today seem down right nice. And hey, it could always be worse... (I could be that jerky Ebay guy)