Born Free

mikemjensen Uncategorized, Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I attended a naturalization ceremony for a staff member today.

It’s the second time that I’ve had the pleasure to do so.

I remember having similar thoughts the last time but this time my thoughts were a little more defined and specific.

The group of new Americans numbered around 120. They represented 47 countries and every continent but Antarctica.American-Flag-in-the-Sun (1)

The main speaker was a well-known local news anchor and reporter. She has left television news to pursue her own on-line magazine. She only went through the naturalization process just last year. She shared the story of her family coming from Iraq to Sweden and then eventually landing in the US. Her father is now an engineer and runs his own business.

The MC also welcomed five of the new citizens to speak. A few of them struggled to express themselves in English but they were each proud to try. All five told of their happiness to now be a citizen and the feeling of having endless opportunities and possibilities for them and their families.

I take so much of this for granted. It made me feel like a slacker for not trying harder. And yet pleased and relieved that I live in a place where at forty-nine years of age, my future is still nearly limitless.

An employee used to tell me a saying his daddy taught him.

“I used to complain about having no shoes, until the day I saw the man with no feet.”

I realized today, I have feet and shoes. And always have.

Now get to stepping.

 

NaNoWriMo: 26,909/50,000

Day 266

My Way of Thinking

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Watching football tonight, a scenario presented itself.

1:03 left in the game. Seattle, down 10 points to Arizona, drives deep into Arizona’s side of the field. It’s third down. The field goal unit trots out on the field and kicks a field goal.3stooges

What?

According to mathematics, they needed a touchdown and a field goal. In my thinking, you push until you get the 7 points from the Touchdown and then go for an on-sides kick and kick the field goal as time expires.

That was my thinking, my expectations; not that of the professionals.

In reality, it doesn’t matter what order you get the 10 points. To kick the field goal early, it gives you more time to work on the touchdown. Never thought of that.

How many times is my thinking just my thinking and not always the best thinking? Probably more than I would care to know.

That being said, Seattle made the field goal but failed to recover the kick off and lost the game.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter.

 

 

NaNoWriMo: 25,125/50,000 (Caught up!)

Day 256

NaNoWriMo Catch Up

mikemjensen Vanity, Writing Tags: , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Write, write, write.

That was the order of the day today.

We had a bunch of things to do this morning, and it included getting into the gym for a quick work out but after lunch, it was time to write.Writing-furiously

I feel behind 500 words on Thursday night and then failed to write at all on Friday.

I know that for some, coming up with 3,800 words (the amount I started out behind) in one day doesn’t sound like a huge task. However when you figure those words have to fit into a 50,000 word goal, it is tougher than you think.

In comparison, Stephen King, whose work is nothing but prolific, writes about 1500 words per day. 3,800 words all of a sudden sounds like a bunch.

I failed to reach that number. Instead I finished at 2700. I’m still behind, but if I can put down an equal effort tomorrow, I’ll be caught up.

The trick is not to get behind and if you do, it might take a few days to make up the difference. And if you do fall behind, it’s better to do it in the first two weeks of NaNoWriMo than in the last two.

Wish me luck.

 

NaNoWriMo: 22,222/50,000

Day 264

My City of Lights

mikemjensen Life's Truths Tags: Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

You know that you spent a day in a bubble when it’s late at night and you find that Paris has suffered a major terrorist attack and you knew nothing about it.

There’s enough news out there about what has happened and there’ll be more that comes of it in the next few days, so I won’t try to be CNN.

Instead, let me tell you of the Paris I know.Notre+Dame

I spent two separate stints in Paris, both of only two days and one night. Paris was the city I always dreamed of. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Sacré Coeur, Les Champs-Elysées; they all lived up to and exceeded my expectations.

The city is beautiful. It has a look and a charm that is so French, so Paris. No other city is like it.

I’m saddened to hear of the tragedy, but I hope no one runs scared. If you want to see Paris, go see it. You will not regret it, nor forget it.

And by the way, shortly after my first trip to Paris is when several bombs exploded on the trains. I still went again.

 

NaNoWriMo: 19,504/50,000

Day 263

The Day Before the Day After

mikemjensen Worthless Observations Tags: 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

Today was the day after.

Actually tomorrow will be the true day after but today felt like it for most of us at the zoo.

Er, site visit.

Er, site visit.

The past several days, we’ve been visited by our professional accreditation group. They come, they ask questions, write notes, and evaluate our ability to do our jobs, at least on the facility level. They call it a site visit instead of an inspection, but it feels more like the later.

It’s a grueling task to prepare for it and an anxious few days while they tour around.

The visitors were still around today but mostly with administration people, so for us normal people it felt like they had moved on.

We’ll know tomorrow morning whether their impression was a good one, or if we can expect to do a lot more work to correct any deficiencies.

And with a sigh of relief, it’s over.

NaNoWriMo: 19,317/50,000

Day 262

Chilly AM’s

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , 3 Comments

Hey Kids,1711529046_1cb1673cd1

The snow has receded back to the mountains but it left its cold behind. The mornings are the coldest and tomorrow, we’re expecting possibly down into the 20’s.

It’s funny. Leaving in the morning on the bike, it has been in the mid to upper 30’s and I think, “Damn this is cold!”

Yet come January and the middle of winter and I see a 35° day in the forecast. I’ll be thinking, “Heat wave!”

NaNoWriMo: 18,691/50,000

Day 261

Bad by Any Other Name

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

Long story short:

I’m reading the recall notices at Walmart.

A certain gun manufacturer has a recall on one of their models made within a time frame dating back into last year.

The reason for the recall lists a problem with the firing pin that may cause it to “unintentionally discharge while chambering. But the paragraph is concluded by the statement that they have the utmost confidence in their product.recall

The next section is “What to do”. It starts by printing in bold letters not to use the product. And that using it may “cause injury or death.”

I’m not exactly sure how the phrase “utmost confidence” fits between “unintentionally discharge” and “injury or death” but they worked it in there.

This is an example of the difference between what corporations say and what real people say.

A real person would say: “Oh hell no!”

 

A link to the post by Seth Godin (genius) who inspired my thinking when I read this recall: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/11/the-simple-way-to-get-better-at-business-writing.html

 

NaNoWriMo: 17,009/50,000

Day 260

A Little About Nothing

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I have erased this blog post three times now.

I wrote about NaNoWriMo. In short, it feels good to just let loose on a first draft. Editing is the hardest part of writing and first drafting in the most fun. A month long forced habit of free writing feels liberating. I love it.

I also tried to write about the reveled policy changes my church leadership made Friday. The wake of it has my Facebook feed lit up like a Christmas tree. Many of my Friends are very upset, and many others are towing the line and defending the leadership, willing to give the benefit of the doubt in terms of intentions. I don’t understand it but I don’t think it was done in hate. I do feel it came across as lacking the compassion and I don’t agree with the reasoning. I’m also not really willing to debate.utah-drum-lg

So in the end, I am left to what was left for the rest of the weekend: football.

My college team won and moved up in the polls. Go Utes.

My pro team lost in a close one. Raiders still on the rise.

For not much of a blog post, I seemed to have filled the page.

 

NaNoWriMo: 13,567/50,000

Day 258

Alarming Volumes

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Here’s an observation for you.noise-emission-md

Things at the same volume sound entirely different given the time of day.

Ever turn on the TV when you first get up after watching a movie the night before?

Or a car alarm that goes off in the middle of the day as opposed to one that goes off in the middle of the night.

Once every hour.

All night long.

For two nights.

Believe me, it makes a difference.

 

NaNoWriMo: 10663/50,000

Day 257