What Moves You?
I’m not sure if I’m going through a mid-life crisis or if I’ve just been touched by certain people or events lately. Either way, as a man, husband and father approaching his mid-forties…in a couple of years…or at least that’s what I tell my wife, I feel like I’ve found some clarity around what’s important and what’s not. Daily I’m reminded how blessed I am as I watch my children and am able to spend time with them and my wife. No matter how crappy life is around me, they continually raise me up and leave me thankful for all that I have.
So for today, I thought I would share two stories that moved me and although they’re somewhat similar they moved in very different ways. I hope they move you too.
The first is the Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who recently died of cancer at 47. Much important than Pausch’s passing was what he accomplished after receiving the news that he only had a little time left to live. His story makes me want to do more, to be more. You can read the entire story here.
The second story is that of Mike Guglielmucci. You can see and hear Mike’s story here. Mike is a worship leader and song writer. He too is battling cancer and has found a unique way to deal with his illness and inspire many at the same time. I challenge you to listen to his story and music and not be moved. Be sure to have Kleenex close by.
Until next time…
My Country Tis of Thee…
I know it’s a bit early for casual dress Friday, but in light that it’s a long weekend and I’ve been sitting in sales meetings all week (more on that next week), I thought I’d close out the week a little early. And since it’s the 4th of July weekend, I thought we’d finish on a patriotic note.
As most of you know immigrants are required to take a citizenship test prior to becoming citizens of the US. Have you ever wondered what kind of stuff is on that test? Further, how do you think you’d do? Well, wonder no longer. MSNBC.com has published a sampling of the harder questions perspective citizens are required to answer. If you’re curious to see how you’d do, here’s the link to the citizenship test, good luck.
Btw, I scored an 85, which I was a little disappointed with, however some of my friends did far worse. How did you do? Have a wonderful and safe 4th!
Until next time…
Work From Home, Save the Planet
Most of you know that I’m an avid fan of tele-commuting. As fuel costs continue to rise, it just makes the whole work from home argument that much stronger. Recently I stumbled across a great post on the Rebel Dad (yeah, it’s a great blog name) blog that summarizes a recent study by Sun Microsytems, which essentially says that working from home, in addition to being great for employee moral, is also a very green way to work. Here’s the summary from the Rebel Dad himself. To read the entire article click here.
- Employees saved more than $1,700 per year in gasoline and wear and tear on their vehicles by working at home an average of 2.5 days a week.
- Office equipment energy consumption rate at a Sun office was two times that of home office equipment energy consumption, from approximately 64 watts per hour at home to 130 watts per hour at a Sun office.
- Commuting was more than 98 percent of each employee’s carbon footprint for work, compared to less than 1.7 percent of total carbon emissions to power office equipment.
- By eliminating commuting just 2.5 days per week, an employee reduces energy used for work by the equivalent of 5,400 Kilowatt hours/year.
- Working from home 2.5 days per week saved the employees in the study an average of 2.5 weeks of commute time (8 hours/day, 5 days/week).
I rest my case.
Until next time…
