Have a hat full

I was reading the morning headlines, something I do right after reading the comics, and saw that North Korea has its own software for its computers - sort of like Windows 7 except with a communist twist and probably technologically closer to earlier versions of DOS.

Anyway, it got me thinking.  How can an entire nation live, voluntarily, in poverty and fear?  The people of North Korea can just about peek over a fence and see the promised land.  I think there are two reasons they don't peek.  First of all, I think they shoot people that peek.  Secondly, and I am just guessing here, having wealth and being happy are not the same thing.

They can wake up with their families and that is enough.  I know it would be enough for me.  Everything else is like the sprinkles on a cake; nice but not mandatory for me to enjoy the cake.

I actually like the fact that they are not rising up against their regime.  It means that they found contentment within.  Or at least, it's not so bad that they would risk it all to overthrow.  In the United States, we have television people that want to overthrow the government simply because it improves ratings on their shows and they make more money.

Now, I may sound critical but actually, I am celebrating.  I am glad that people watch and read the same things I do and reach different conclusions.  If we were all the same, I think I would be either really, really bored - or maybe really, really scared.

There are Muslims that kill because they think they are right.  Within the last week, a family of Christians was apprehended because they wanted to kill - because they thought they were right.  Also, a man was sentenced to jail for killing an abortion doctor, thinking he was right.

I hear that there are universal truths - things that are clearly right and clearly wrong.  I wonder if this is actually the case.  There is a lot of evidence to the contrary.  People think Glen Beck is the best thing on television.  I think he should be in jail.  Who is right?  Both?  Neither?

In Hungary, it is considered rude to "sniff in" if your nose is running.  In public, it is better to break wind with gusto than sniff.  When I go there I always take a lot of tissue to blow rather than sniff.

It's just different.

Men are different from women.  Dogs are different from cats.  Cold is different from hot and I am different than you.

So, as I near the end of my babbling, you may be thinking, "What about the title of today's blog?"

Here is the answer.  In the United States, when someone is getting ready to perform, we often say, "Break a leg."  Think about it.  How can such a phrase be meant as encouragement.

In Hungary, instead of "Break a leg."  They say, "Have a hat full."  This is short of the encouraging complete phrase which is, "Have a hat full of shit."

God Bless the differences - everywhere.

Try http://worldgratitudelist.com   Leave a list.  Read a list.  Be happy.

j

The Downside of Blinking

Blinking must be important or we wouldn't do it automatically.  If it were less vital, I suppose our body would leave it to our conscious mind - sort of like saying, "Blink when you get around to it."  But it's not up to us.  Automatic responses are our body's way of saying, "I don't trust you to do the right thing."

So we blink.

However, there is a downside to this phenomena; in spite of the high priority our body gives to it.

When we blink, there is always a chance that we will miss something important.

This seemingly ridiculous topic occurred to me this morning as I considered how rapidly the world is changing and how that rapid change is affecting me directly.

I have been doing the same job for the last 20 years.  I have been married for the last five years but with the same woman, under the same circumstances for the last 14 years.  She lives in Hungary and I live in California.  We are next door neighbors really, if you are measuring distances in light years.

Anyway, in the last 3 months, our company has started offering Webinars.  The idea is that instead of traveling, I get to sit behind my desk.  I like this idea, although it has yet to catch on with our clients.  There are some growing pains and when they are ready, I will be ready.

We are also starting to offer software.  This is software that helps companies manage their workforce using SMS, emails, telephones and social networks.  People say when they want to work and the company looks at what they need.  The software does the rest.  Pretty cool.

Back to the wife.  We video conference for about 45 minutes every day on Skype.  When I get a haircut, she knows about it.  I also talk to her at work from my computer to her desk.  For the privilege of calling any land line in the world from my computer for 12 months, I pay $132.  Here is the deal - the quality is better than if I were using a land line or cell phone.  I can also call cell phones but that costs $.17 a minute (to anywhere in the world).  So, when I call cell phones, I use my own cell phone.  This saves me about $1,500 a year in telephone charges.

I get frustrated with things like politics so what can I do?  I set up a blog, this blog.  It is part of my daily to-do list to write something here.  I call it my "rant and rave" blog.  Although, I seem to be ranting and raving less lately.

I want to publish a book that is just about finished.  Do I need to go find an agent and get a publisher?  I suppose I could if I were completely clueless.  No, I can self publish and self promote over the internet with very little financial risk.  An agent/publisher is just a middleman that no longer offers any benefit unless you consider sharing your pie with them a benefit.

I am going to coach freestyle wrestling this summer.  This is a style of wrestling I am not overly familiar with.  What do I do?  I go to Youtube and start watching instructional videos.

Speaking of Youtube, I got pissed at Sears for failing to give me a promised rebate.  What did I do?  I made a youtube video and sent a link to Sears.

Northwest wasn't going to give me an $1,800 refund.  What did I do?  I bought the domain name www.Northworst.net and told Northwest I would tell the world.  I gave them 4 hours to reconsider and I got my money in 20 minutes.

Things are changing so fast, if you blink, you may miss something.  How we work, communicate, play and complain are all in a state of flux.  I love it.

I have not yet joined the world of Apps.  I must have blinked.

Try www.worldgratitudelist.com  Leave a list.  Read a list.  Be happy.

j