Postcards From Myself

You have one life. Whether you believe in rebirth, reincarnation, or just darkness after death, you still have just one life to lead. You do not get a life for work, a life for family, and a separate one for everything else. This has always been true, but increasingly it is becoming more evident, and people are starting to wake up to the fact that it is this oneness that can help bring happiness or despair.

There is a saying that you can only be content when what you say, what you do, and what you believe are all the same. Mind, body, and spirit in agreement. When you try to say one thing but do another, you introduce stress and discontentment into your life. For proof, just look at Elliot Spitzer, Ted Haggard or John Edwards. Not only did these men all have great public trials to face when the news of their actions came out, even greater was the inner turmoil they faced.

Other examples can be seen in companies that talk about fiscal responsibility but still cling to wasteful ways of private jets and corporate perks. Or groups that preach green behavior but still waste paper, food, or gasoline. Or the individual who goes to church and prays for the poor on Sunday and then walks silently past the Salvation Army bucket on Monday. And how many people are there who say we should help the immigrants but still won’t hire them or who recoil from them in social situations.

All of these actions create turmoil within us and cause us to be less than content. And in no greater place is this evident than the Internet. As social media becomes more and more pervasive, our different roles in life become increasingly visible without borders. When I go to hire a new employee and Google her name, I do not separate that this Facebook profile is personal while this LinkedIn profile is professional. Which one should I use to evaluate this future employee? I am going to use both. And when I look up a new acquaintance on MySpace and see what he is talking about there and then follow him on Twitter and see what he is saying or doing, I do not separate these things into different areas of my mind. No, it all goes in there together.

I find it interesting that some prospective employees still find it hard to believe I would use Google or other methods to look them up on the web before doing an interview. Wouldn’t you investigate a prospective employer before going to an interview? If no, you should. Shouldn’t you know if the company you are looking at has any good or bad press? What about civic awards or criminal prosecutions? Or maybe since those things happened in a different area of the company then they don’t apply to you. Nope, didn’t think so.

See what I am saying? The Internet makes what few walls there are between parts of are lives increasingly transparent. I have always prided myself, for better or worse, on being one person. The Michael you see at works is the same one you will see at the soccer games and the same one you will see at home or church. There is nothing on my work related sites that my friends shouldn’t see and nothing on my personal sites that I wouldn’t want an employer or colleague to know. And I will tell you what, living that way makes life a lot less stressful.

Technorati Tags: facebook, google, happiness, myspace, twitter

OK, I am sorry to all you people who love the winter and skiing and the skating and the thrashing around in the snow, but it is cold. I live here in the, usually, sunny South for a reason. I don’t do cold well. When I was a kid I went with a church group on a retreat to go skiing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. That didn’t last long. First the van broke down on the way up, and then I nearly killed a small child on the bunny slope. Needless to say I gave up, went inside the lodge, enjoyed myself in front of the fire, and was still able to watch the snow patrol carrying foolish victims down the slopes.

I have friend who is going out to Lake Tahoe skiing, and he told me the place he is going is called Ski Heavenly. It looks pretty cool. (Get it? Cool?) You can do the Lake Tahoe casino thing, all the normal winter activities, and even some adult nightlife activities. Of course the problem for me is that at the moment it shows the temperature as a mere 38 degrees! Good thing they have some nice lodging and shops. They also look like they have snowboarding – which some places do not. Though the buddy going there isn’t a boarder, I have a different friend who is. No, I still don’t know why, but Tammy is a great person so snow boarding must not be that bad.

Of all the things that might appeal to me, the Lake Tahoe hiking is the close. Like I said, i am not much of a cold climate person, but it looks like even in the warmer months there is some good scenery for those who chose to hike, not slide. I really do enjoy a good hike in the mountains when the weather is in the 50s or 60s. Please though, not any colder than that.

So, for the winter time, you go ahead and ski, or skate, or take sleigh rides. I will stay in the lodge all warm and snug and make friends with the snow bunnies. And another hot buttered rum.

I was tagged by El Vigilante to complete this meme. The rules of this meme are:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are six random things about me (that you may not know) :

1. I actually like and enjoy opera.
2. I have never seen “Titanic” or all of “Gone With The Wind”.
3. I have sat on the thrown of Ireland at Dublin Castle.
4. I have the same birthday (day and month) as Zelda Fitzgerald.
5. I am very resistant to pain killers.
6. I love a good cigar. Ok, so that’s not a secret, it is just the only thing I could think of.

Cool. Now it’s your turn. Your participation, of course, is completely voluntary.

And here are the new targets.

• Kate – The Suburban Sweetheart
• Lyn Mettler – New World PR
• Heather – Home EC 101
• Lisa – Lakenvelde Muse
• Kari – Chalice Spark
• Susanne in Charleston

I have a real crisis of action and conscience on my hands. This will affect not only how I appear, but how I am perceived by other people. The question is this – how long do I leave the Obama bumper sticker on my car? Don’t laugh! This is serious. We have all seen the people with bumper stickers from an election two or three presidents ago, and it just makes those cars look ridiculous. Is the problem that the sticker won’t come off? Is the driver thinking there might be a recount? Was that the last time the car was washed? Or is the owner just living in either euphoria or denial?

I want to leave the Obama sticker on my car long enough for people to know who I supported for President and that I am happy that he won. But I don’t want to gloat either. That would be bad form and not at all in line with the bridge building we need to do. And the election is over – for the most part. Maybe I should leave the sticker on the bumper until the Electoral College does its thing. That would be the surest end, right? Or maybe I should just wait until the inauguration in January. That way during the end of the current administration my car would point to the next administration.

Or maybe I should just do it now. Get that sticker off the bumper, give the car a good wash, and move on with my life and my work. What do you thing? How long until you get tired of seeing all the election paraphernalia?

Actually, as odd as it sounds, I really do enjoy fixing cars. Maybe it is the fact that I get to hit things with hammers. Maybe it is that working on a car, at least the old ones, is so different from the computer, database, and web work I normally do. Hey, I get the chance to get really filthy dirty! In fact, at the moment, what I am really looking to find is a 1971 to 1974 MGBGT. I love them, had one as my first car, and am anxious to get another one. So, if you know where one is close to Charleston, SC, please let me know!

The only thing I don’t like about automotive work is paying for car parts! How do all my hobbies somehow involve spending money? Yes, I am always looking for discount car parts. Oh, you can find cheap parts – you know the ones that may last you until you get to the end of the driveway, but what I really want is good sources for quality parts. And the right ones too! If you are looking for Toyota parts, you don’t want to have to “just alter it a bit.” I was told this numerous times when working on my old BMW 2002. It was even worse when I was trying to find some parts for a 1986 BMW 325e! People would say, “Oh, this part will work fine if you just reroute this wire and shave a bit of metal off here with a grinder.” Pardon me? That wasn’t the way the part or the car were designed.

Recently I have been looking for a few odds and ends for the 2001 Ford Escape that I drive. It has just reached that age, meaning out of warranty and paid off, when small things start to break. First it was the solenoid for the tailgate release. Then the heater knob. Now a vacuum connection. None of them are very large parts, but they can be hard to find and at times expensive. Other than scrounging through junk yards – which is actually great fun and I do a good bit – I find myself prowling the web for parts.

While doing that web prowling, I came across a site called Go-Part.com. They have all kinds of discount parts for everything from the aforementioned Toyota to my Ford Escape. And for those wild children who care, yes they even have Jeep parts. Now they don’t have everything but they have the most commonly needed parts, and they carry good quality brands like DEPO, Koyo, and Modine. They also carry accessories and have and toll free number to help you if you can’t figure out or find what you’re looking for.

So, give them a try, let me know if you find my elusive MGB GT, and also let me know if you find any good salvage yards that have that elusive heater knob for my Escape.