My endless list

A few things on my mind.

—Nails on a chalkboard. I have a pet peeve: People who drive without cleaning the snow off their cars. Snow turns into ice and when on a moving vehicle, it often impairs vision or flies off and ends badly for other drivers. It’s that simple. Everyone has to deal with it. Pull up your big boy or big girl pants and take care of it.

—Fight or flight. If you had to pick one to be your spirit animal: the head-strong, straight-forward bull or the amazingly fast gazelle, capable of reaching speeds up to 100 km/60mph?

Here’s the question, put another way. Which is better, facing conflict head-on or running from it?

A few weeks ago, I agreed to a strategy in a meeting. However, when I got into the weeds of the project, I ended up going with a different plan that I liked better. Oh, I meant well in my original decision. I have to admit though that I love that the second option avoided a bunch of hassles with the powers-that-be. Was I running for cover?

Oh I’m sure I chose the path with the least resistance, but sometimes the easy way out . . . is really the easy way out, right?

—Moving Mountains. Wisdom comes in many shapes and forms, but when you see something that makes sense, you soak it in. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill.

—Please pass the salt. I find Economics to be an amusing subject. Let me explain. It’s the simple things like Supply and Demand. The foundational Economic principle holds that as prices rise, supply increases while demand decreases; conversely, lower prices boost demand but reduce supply.

For example, last weekend we went to three places looking for road salt to throw on the driveway. Three places. We couldn’t find it anywhere. We came up empty. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. In the summer and fall, the stores couldn’t have given salt away.

In a few weeks, the salt will go back to being useless. In the meantime, however, I was at the hardware store’s mercy. I picked up some yesterday and probably would’ve paid a small ransom for it.

Yes, the perfect example of Supply and Demand and I was the sucker!

And oh yea, the weather people are talking about more snow and icy rain this coming weekend. Yikes!

—Getting the old ticker pumping! We all need things that inspire us. You might be inspired by a piece of art, an interesting piece of dialogue in a movie, or an athletic feat on TV. Think these Winter Olympics. I might be inspired by a turn of a phrase or something I’ve found in a book. The differences don’t matter. Personal taste doesn’t even matter. What matters is that we all need something that gets our heart beating.

Thump a thump, thump a thump, thump a thump.

—Now or ever. “It’s better to move forward at a snail’s pace, than backward at any pace.”  —Rhonda Begos. One step at a time. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

—When did that happen. I was running an errand the other day and turned on the radio. The DJ announced that the station was playing an hour of oldies hits. I automatically thought of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Au contraire, she was talking about the 80s, 90s and 2000s. Umm, hello, when did the classic music I love turn into old geezer music?

Whats more, when did I turn into an oldie?

–Second chances. Developers in a nearby county where I live are moving forward with plans to demolish a 900,000 square foot mall. In its place, they plan to build an open air retail and mixed use space. There’s talks too of a new medical office complex and apartments. I’m no land management planner. It’s boring stuff to me. If I were one of the developers, though, I would raise my sights.

They have a chance for a second start.

Heck, it’s like getting your own personal makeover. Wanna be a movie star? Wanna be refreshed and feeling good? Wanna have a new perspective on life?

The sky is the limit.

—Dressed to the nines. The world is a business casual world now. It’s quarter zips and button- down blouses for everyone.

There’s a small part of me though that misses wearing a jacket and tie. I miss a crisp blue suit and a bright red tie that pops and looks larger than life. I miss the boost of confidence.

I miss looking good.

—Keepin it real. I learned young about being honest and truthful. I learned that you treat everyone — the bank president to the janitor —with respect and dignity.

The message drilled home was a simple one: say what you mean, mean what you say and everything else will work its way out in the wash. Yes, everything comes out in the wash.

Thank goodness for a little truth and Tide, All, and Gain and all the other laundry detergents.

—Bright spots. Here’s two thoughts to end this rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, rambling post.

• “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out.” —Art Linkletter
• “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” — Robert Frost

Make the most of today’s opportunities and challenges and forget the rest!