I Haven't Broken Any New Year's Resolutions...Yet

Okay, so 2016 is only a week old.

Okay, so I didn't make any big New Year's Resolutions.

This year, I'm going to work on small stuff.  I mean, unless your name is Jack and you traded your cow for magic beans, a seed isn't going to become something big overnight.

I'm looking at small changes, small challenges, small random acts of kindness.

Small stuff.

It's already paying off, even though I didn't intend for it to. My favorite Starbucks barista currently works in the Starbucks inside Food Pyramid in Stillwater, OK.

A week or so before Christmas, we were talking about birthdays close to Christmas. She mentioned she was going to turn 20 on December 23. That's Christmas Adam! (You know, right before Christmas Eve?). She also said that she was going to have to work all by herself that day. Dang! Working by yourself, with no backup, on your birthday which is two days before Christmas kinda sucks.

Well, being in the Christmas Spirit, I gave her a bigger tip than usual, telling her to save it for her birthday. Then, on December 23, my daughter and I went back to the store to pick up some last-minute items for baking Christmas goodies and, sure enough, there was the Starbucks gal, shivering in a blanket because every time the automatic doors to Food Pyramid swooshed open, a cold Winter wind blew in, right toward the Starbucks spot.

I didn't get any coffee that day, but I put a couple of dollars in her tip jar and wished her Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas. She was delighted that we remembered her birthday, and thanked us for remembering and for the tip.

I felt pretty good as I was shopping, and when an elderly lady dropped a package of frozen food before it reached her cart, I scurried over and picked it up for her.

Small stuff.

And I've carried it over to the New Year. I've gone a little out of the way to help others, to compliment people, to pick up litter when I get out of my car, to spend more time actually actively listening to people, and to, for lack of a better term, be a Boy Scout towards others.

And the payoff?

Yesterday, I went to the store with my daughter. Our favorite barista was there. We ordered our usual drinks, and she put an extra shot of chocolate in our order at no charge. When her coworker asked her about the extra chocolate, she replied, "Hey, these are my people! I gotta take care of them."

My people. Your people. I think if we take the time to do a little extra for our people, the world will be even better.

Small stuff. Start there.

Oklahoma State Football is Only One Facet of the Gem

The Cowboys have had a rough season. It started bright enough, playing a close game against powerhouse Florida State, and some victories early on. But even then the injuries and inexperience had begun taking their toll. 
As the competition grew tough, the question marks and uncertainties became concerns, and the Cowboys lost a game, and then another, and many fans, particularly those who had expected a near-flawless season with the youngest team in Division I Football, began to lose hope and started to lay blame wherever they could.
Enter the Boo Birds.
The Boo Birds for most teams show up after two losses (after one loss at OU), and they increase in numbers as a team loses. Too bad their energy couldn't be directed in more positive pursuits.

Maybe a tough season can be turned into learning opportunities and will result in a better season next year.

As a student I had a terrible semester once, but instead of feeling like a failure and/or blaming my professors for my lack of success, I figured out what went wrong, and followed up with back-to-back 3.75 GPA semesters.

I wouldn't write Mike Gundy off yet. I think the future is still shining bright for #LoyalAndTrue Cowboy Football fans.

And, as I've said before, Oklahoma State University is not a one-trick pony.

In athletics, we (and I can say "we" because I went there, graduated from there, and teach there) have high-caliber programs in wrestling, baseball, men's and women's basketball, equestrian, cross country, track, softball, soccer, and others. We're a dominant NCAA force in some of these, and contenders in the rest. 

We also have some of the best academic programs as well, and as one of America's Healthiest Campuses, a healthy body, mind and spirit are encouraged for all.

So go ahead and boo because you expect a perfect no-loss season to define your happiness.

But most of us don't think that way.

Even Though I'm Not Captain America, I Voted As If It Matters

A funny thing happened on the way back from voting. Perhaps this note to my students explains it best...
"Dear Class,

I'm without a car this morning. Normally, that's not a problem.

However, I walked up to where I vote when the rain had let up, and on the way back (and it started sprinkling again), I decided to take a shortcut.

Again, normally not a problem.

I jumped off a small wall and, thanks to all the rain the night before, right into grass-covered muddy spot (the grass was longer than it looked, probably because the tips were just peeking out of the silty puddle). My shoes are muddy, as are my once-clean pants, and I'm still laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

At least I voted, so there's that.

I'm going to get cleaned up (NOTE TO SELF: Just because most of the Avengers (except the Hulk - he's a mess) can jump off walls and buildings and not get muddy, it doesn't mean I can do the same thing), and then work from home.

The lab, of course, will be open for you to work on your projects. If your teams want to meet elsewhere today, I'm okay with that.

I also think that perhaps you, too, might be debating on whether to vote or to come to class. I'm not really a political animal, but I do think elections are important, even if my vote only counts as one among millions.

We will have class Thursday.

And I will not be muddy.

Thanks,

LD"

I hope you vote today, even if it's just to cancel out my vote. I'm okay with that.

Umbrella? What Umbrella?

If you live Oklahoma, you get plenty of opportunities to experience the wind that comes sweeping down the plains. If, like me, you grew up in Oklahoma, you learn to deal with the wind and, during those rare extended periods of no wind (to me, that's a wind speed less than 10 mph) you actually start to miss it.

One of the ways I've dealt with wind is to not carry an umbrella. I'm not sure how many umbrellas were blown inside-out before I learned this coping skill, but at one time I reached a point where I stopped buying new umbrellas.

The down side is that I have to think ahead for dealing with rainy days. Usually, I try to park close enough that I can dart from building to tree (yeah, I know, bad idea if lightning is involved) to building to get to work.

Today, though, I couldn't use that strategy because my car went into the shop for repairs. Sure enough, a thunderstorm rumbled into town just as I was leaving for work.

No umbrella, of course.

I stuffed a couple of garbage bags into my backpack, knowing that I could use them as ponchos (for some reason, I forgot to buy emergency ponchos when I had the chance). But I knew that my head would still get wet. And besides, wearing the garbage bag poncho over my backpack would make me look like the Hunchback of the Garbage Heap.

In a flash of inspiration and a rumble of satisfaction (or maybe it was the lightning and thunder that did the flash and rumble thing?), I grabbed an unused storage tote lid and headed out to the bus stop.

Awesome! It kept my head dry and was big enough to keep my backpack dry as well. Not only that, but I knew that a gust of wind wouldn't turn the thing inside-out.

After I got off the bus (people looked but didn't say anything about my tote lid), I still had a few blocks to walk to get to my workplace.

The rain had more or less stopped, so I carried the lid next to me.

I discovered its next use when a car drove though a puddle in the street next to where I was on the sidewalk. With my "totebrella" at my side, the water didn't splash me. 

Yess!!

I made it to my office and from there to my class (it had started raining again by the time I'd ascended the stairs from the basement to emerge outside), using my rain shield.
.
.
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I wonder if I could make any money marketing the Totebrella?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Losing My Mind

I just re-read my April 1 post and had to laugh.

If I'd waited another day, I would have had more to add to it, as the stress level grew.

It turns out that not only did I have to move from my apartment (they graciously gave us until mid-May), but I also had to move my office because that building, too, is slated for destruction.

Needless to say, I survived the moves, and Finals Week, and posting grades, and attending my kid's Spring Concert (the little goober didn't tell us he was getting an award for the Young Men's Ensemble's Superior rating).

We're in our new place, still unboxing things, and I'm contemplating renting a bigger storage unit because we keep downsizing where we live faster than we downsize the stuff we have.

But all is well for now.

And on the up side, I'm teaching two classes for OSU this summer, which means I won't have time to screen jerky for Ralph's Packing down in Perkins, OK.

By the way, I just uploaded my first YouTube video. It's a walkthrough of Hanner Hall, which is where my office was located for the past couple of years. I've embedded it below. I used a Canon PowerShot A2300 to film it, so it's probably not going to be noticed by next year's Oscar committee, LOL

Everything is Just Ducky!

Yep, that's me. With a goofy grin on my face.

Earlier this semester, I let time slip away from me and was 25 minutes late to class. My class. The one I teach.

It was a weird experience. The campus seemed deserted, even though it was a very pleasant Fall day. When I got into the Classroom Building (Really! We have a building named "Classroom Building" here) I noticed that the halls were nearly deserted. It was 2:20 in the afternoon and there should have been students and faculty scurrying about as classes let out and before the next classes began.

Something was wrong. My first thought was that somebody had pulled the fire alarm and everybody was outside waiting for the all-clear. But there weren't that many people outside as I had approached the building.

I made it upstairs to my classroom, noting other classes were filled as I walked down the hall.

Then I walked into my classroom, looking at my watch and noticing that it was not quite 2:30pm.

Hold the phone! 2:30!?!?! This was my day for my 2:00 class, not 2:30!

Of course, nobody waited around long enough to see if I was going to show up. I don't blame them. I was a student once and there was a kind of rule of thumb that you only stick around so many minutes if the professor was late and then assume he (or she - but for some reason it was never a she in my case) was not going to show up, then leave.

I could insert an excuse like "but then my Astrid app was bought out by Yahoo and dumped so my favorite to-do app that kept me on time for everything was no more," but I won't use that as an excuse.

I vowed to not let it happen again.


Fast forward to today - the end of the semester.

I was gleefully filling my little Christmas bucket (it's okay to mention Christmas on the Cyberwebs, right?) with candy canes to hand out in class today. It's the last day of my class for these students, and, being Dead Week at OSU, the only new material I had for them was candy.

Then I decided to put my Christmas Ducky bow tie on, so I went down the hall from my office to the restroom to make sure the tie was reasonable straight.

I came back to my office, where I had Christmas music playing on my Kindle Fire and I saw a post online that the Annual Stillwater Christmas Parade was canceled. What?! 

After the shock wore off (I mean, they've held the parade in colder weather and when it was actually snowing!), I put my bucket in my backpack, grabbed my textbook, and went to class, blissfully unaware of the time.

I walked outside into the late Fall crispy cold air and noticed that there weren't very many people out and about. But it was a pretty chilly day. 

I think I counted about three dozen snowflakes blowing around before I reached the Classroom Building. Certainly not enough to cancel a parade. Yeah, I'm a grown-up, but I still love parades!

Deja vu struck as I noticed the halls of the Classroom Building were noticeably empty. I walked up the stairs to the third floor and glanced at my watch - 2:25pm. Not a problem.

Whoops! It's Thursday. I am late for my 2:00 class. Again.

I chuckled as I walked into the empty room. I wrote an apology on the class web page, and uploaded my final PowerPoint presentation - three slides, wishing them good luck and congratulations to those graduating this Fall.

Apparently I don't always learn from my mistakes.
 
But I have plenty of candy canes. And a Ducky bow tie.

An Act of Kindness to a Stranger

   I gave a man $10 today.  
   I was in Tulsa, and he approached me, asking if I had "anything against a brother from Stillwater."  
   I smiled and said, "Well, I'm from Stillwater and no, I don't have 'anything against a brother.'"
   He needed to pay off a bill in Tulsa before he could head back to Stillwater when he had just landed a fulltime job.  He showed me the bill and said he still had a ways to go.
I took a ten-dollar bill out of my billfold, handed it to him, and said, "Now you're $10 closer."
   He shook my hand and hugged me and said God must have sent me (actually, my wife had sent me to pick up some batteries on the way home from teaching in Tulsa, but he was so joyous I didn't mention that).
   I said, "I have confidence you'll get the rest of what you need."
   "Thank you for believing in me," he replied and hugged me again.


   Maybe I was played, but his troubles seemed genuine to me.  And who am I to judge?  I've had a bit of a struggle myself (massive understatement) for the past few years, so I'm probably more sympathetic to the plights of folks with misfortunes.  I'm all about good fortune, and if I can help it along, so much the better. 

I'm Gellin'

   Shameless plug here, but I love my Dr. Scholl's shoes!
   I like working at O-State sporting events, but as one of the behind-the-scenes personnel, I'm often there long before the first fan arrives and until the last fan is gone.  It calls for several hours on my feet and, especially during football games, many miles of walking around the venue, doing my best to ensure things go smoothly for the fans.  Afterwards, I'm usually pretty tired.
   A few years ago I was so tired and achy after some football games (the ones where my workday lasted 14+ hours) that I could barely walk to my car.  I learned quickly that good insoles were essential.  Then a year or so ago I found some Dr. Scholl's shoes at reasonable prices.  To my surprise, they weren't just comfortable, but sturdy as well.  And they are made with the Dr. Scholl's insoles as part of the shoe.
   Today I bought some insoles to go inside my already-comfy shoes.  With the heat we've had lately, tomorrow is going to be tough enough to deal with.  Might as well make sure I can "stand" it for the duration.

I Gave Blood

   Yesterday I gave blood at a local blood drive being run by the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI).  I try to give as often as I can, although circumstances sometimes delay things.  For instance, the last time I was eligible to give, I was in the midst of fighting a nasty cold, which may have actually been pneumonia.
   Yesterday morning though, I was running an errand (which eventually multiplied into four errands) before heading to Tulsa in the afternoon, when I saw the Blood Mobile sitting in the parking lot of a shopping center in Stillwater.  I kept it in mind as I went about my tasks, and wound up back at the Blood Mobile before heading back home. 
   Nobody seemed to be around, and I never saw any advertising, but being curious, I went inside and found three OBI people waiting for donors.  It was almost noon and I signed in as the third donor of the day.  Less than half an hour later, I was heading home, having donated a pint of blood (I'm A+, by the way) and getting some cookies and Gatorade.
   As usual, it was a pleasant experience.  Many people don't like to donate blood.  I read somewhere that only about 5% of potential donors actually give blood.  I know people have lots of reasons why they don't want to donate, but I blow right past the biggest reasons, because: 

• I'm not afraid of needles.  Yeah, I was as a little kid, until I accepted the fact that doctors and nurses were trying to help me.  The people who draw blood are professionals and very good at what they do.  They also use sterile needles, and they make sure the area is clean and sterile before poking.
• It's not that painful.  I've had sprains, broken bones, jammed fingers, bee stings, mosquito bites, paper cuts, cat scratches, dog scratches, stubbed toes, paper cuts, and many other little injuries that hurt far, far worse and for a longer time than a poke for giving blood.
• I may not have the time at a given moment, but I will make the time when I can.  My donation may be the one that helps save a life.  I hope that if I'm ever in need of blood, somebody else will have donated the type I need at the time. 

   Oh yeah, I also got a T-shirt and a pass for two to the zoo.  That's not the reason I gave blood, though.  I gave because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Just When I Thought it Couldn't Get Any Hotter...

   Hot, hot, hot!  I don't recall July being this hot this early.  I know we've had some hot summers (the hottest officially was in 1936 - well before I was born), but jeepers!  The first picture below is from when we had some clouds for a little bit today.  The bottom picture is from half an hour later, when the sun was back out.  Good thing the wind was blowing, so it didn't feel unbearable when sitting still.

   I don't know what the official high temperature will be for today here in Stillwater, but at my house it was just too darn hot.

Fresh Produce...Yum!!

I don't know about where you shop, but the produce section of the grocery stores around here seem to have bland-tasting veggies.  Today I decided to go to the local farmer's market here and get some locally-grown produce.  I bought cucumbers, yellow squash, and jalapeño peppers.  Most likely, they will not go into the same dish.  But I have been known to be creative when cooking, LOL.