Real People, Real Blogs :o)

I had mixed emotions this morning as Beth started working on her entry. I am not one for memes and such, but relented on this new Blog honor since it would only be a matter of time before SpotterVille came knocking. I have a hard time with "tagging" others because I have no real favorites, or lots of favorites, and read different Blogs for different reasons.

So here are the seven I decided to give you a glimpse of, hope you enjoy and visit :o)

The Marie-Antoinette A Real Person, A Real Award These are the rules:

1. Please put the logo on your blog

2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award

3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs

4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog

5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them (admission, I skipped this step).



So, here are my seven, please visit and leave a comment, and if you like what you see, then consider following.

Wildcat (while Frank is not real, Wildcat is, and I look forward to his twice per week entries :o)
Dan (a.k.a. Slapinions, can not get much more real than this :o)
Sonya (a.k.a. My Southern Home, pictures, pets, and antics :o)
Lippy (a.k.a. Jimmy at The Stupidsheet :o)
Sherry (a.k.a. Sherry's Weightloss Journey :o)
Barry (a.k.a. Whaffle & Whinge, life and times of a UK postman :o)
Wes (a.k.a. Life Is What It Is Sometimes :o)

And I'm spent. Hope you visit my friends above.

And, my friends, hope you had a great weekend and that the new week finds you in good health and even better spirits.

Our Studebaker/PAC Dinner Last Night :o)

Here are some pictures from the great night we had last night at our Political Action Committee (PAC) appreciation and solicitation event last night.

We heard nothing but good things about the venue and the food. Beth did a great job, and she was given appreciation several times during the welcoming speeches (yes, one of them was me).

If you look close at the pictures, you will see Beth in several of them, and there is also one of us together. It was nice to get dressed up.

After the dinner, a small group of us went to a local Irish Pub and had some good cheer and good company.

All in All, a fun evening.

Sunday Silliness - Bitterness :o)

Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.

Intervention!

At work, we have had a rash of injuries this year, and while we have managed to turn our culture around, the behaviors have not followed. The funny thing about that is normally it takes years to turn around culture, and behaviors are typically easier to modify in the short term. We seem to have it backwards.

To try and reinforce expectations and behavior, we decided to have a human performance intervention yesterday. What we are starting to recognize is that while we have had a strong focus on safety and have internalized that message in the last year - hence the culture change, we have not had the same focus on human performance.

It all starts with situational awareness (be aware of your surroundings, and take two minutes to think about what you are going to do before you actually start), stopping when uncertain, trust but verify, and taking the time to do it right the first time (it takes more time to do it over than to slow down and not let false time pressure cause you to make errors). These aspects of human performance are applicable to all aspects of your life, not just an industrial situation.

So yesterday, my assignment was in the outside area of the plant, stopping and introducing myself, asking the workers what human performance tools they are using to perform their work safely, and to show that we care about them and their safety and performance. Isn't that what interventions are all about? They were receptive and friendly, and it actually felt good to show that we care :o)

What area of your life are you not completely satisfied with, and what type of intervention will you implement?

Better Day :o)

Thanks for your kind wishes for a better day today. My meetings went well, there was even some laughing and joking. Still lots to do, but no highly visible deadlines looming tomorrow.

Looking forward to the weekend, as I am sure you all are as well. We are looking forward to the ND vs. Navy game, then our evening at the Studebaker Museum for the PAC dinner. We will take pictures :o)

May your Friday be speedy, and your weekend slow...

Phew, Long Day :o)

This will be a quick post, as we are getting ready to sit down to dinner [note the time stamp :o)]

It has been crazy at work, especially with my little business trip at the end of last week. Alas, any time I take a few days away from work, it seems it takes me a week or so to "Ketch-Up".

I have several meetings tomorrow with Senior Management, and today I had to "spend" my time in the field observing work activities, to meet expectations. So instead of focusing on my core responsibilities today, I had to focus on ancillary responsibilities. That results in a mini-rant, because after a 10 hour day at work, and a two hour total commute, I had to spend another 1.5+ hours here at home trying to get ready for tomorrow. If I did not comment on your entry, please give me a pass :o)

Happy Hump Day, and hope you can slide into the Weekend.

American Widow Project - Honor a Veteran

Today, on my way to work, I heard a Veterans Day story regarding a new group called the American Widow Project.

Six recent widows, all in their twenties, have formed this group to provide support for all the new service member widows from the two wars.

Tonight, when I got home I traveled over the the American Widow Project website and made a donation. If you want to learn more, click their link, or go listen to the report at NPR.org.

Spotter Notes :o)

Donna over at Dust Bunny Protector made a reference to a Blogger welcome to J-Landers. I was not aware of this welcome, and did some clicking, and also found a cool site, BloggerBuzz, showing changes and tips for maneuvering around this Spot :o)

Hope your Monday was not to bad, not sure if there is really such thing as a good Monday LOL.

Sunday Silliness - Beauty :o)

If you're attractive enough on the outside, people will forgive you for being irritating to the core.

Glad to Be Home :o)

I called Beth from the airport this afternoon, and she guessed correctly where I was - in an airport business that happens to serve cool amber beverages :o)

As we were talking, I told her I took a picture of the Iowa mountains (LOL), here they are. She had a quite quizzical response :o)

Yesterday was a fairly productive day at the Project Management Meeting. After the meeting ended, I got in a quick workout, and then we headed out to downtown Cedar Rapids for a very nice dinner, and then a group of us went across the street to a piano bar. Both businesses only reopened in the last two weeks as a result of the Cedar River flooding after the June 2008 Midwest flooding.

At dinner, I sat next to an older black gentleman from Chicago. We discussed the recent election results, had a great discussion about wine selection and storage (he was a bit of a novice, but was extremely interested in learning more), and Ball State. He was very excited about the football team still being undefeated at 9-0, and the potential for a BCS bowl bid :o) He played right offensive tackle there as an undergraduate.

At the piano bar, it was interesting how the pianist, who was very entertaining, did not take a break for the whole three hours that we were there. He played up a storm, and made a boat-load of money by taking requests, and by stopping playing certain requests (like country music, just does not get the piano bar crowd going LOL). It was a fun evening, but I was in no shape to do any Blogging or such when I got back to the hotel.

After my two presentations this morning, it was off to the airport for the journey home. No bad travel events to report. I got home shortly after 7:00 P.M., and watched a pitiful Notre Dame game at Boston College, they got shutout. Nothing more worth being said.

Beth and Sheeba were very happy to see me when I got home. A busy few days, and it is nice to be home-sweet-home. Hope your weekend is going well :o)