Rodney M Bliss

February 23, 2022

My Dad Told A Joke Today

Let me be clear, my father passed away June 12, 2008. Fourteen years ago. And he wasn’t raised from the dead. Still he told a joke today.

My coworkers and I go out to get drinks each day. We typically go around ten o’clock. . .in the morning! And we go to get soda. A couple days ago we were talking about beards.

A couple people in our company has very full beards. Some of us are clean shaven. One coworker explained that he had trouble growing facial hair. One is bald, but has a beard. I’m the newest member of this drinking club. I don’t speak much. But, I chose to offer this to the conversation on facial hair.

It got a good round of laughter and groans from the rest in the car. I added,

My coworkers never met my dad. How could they? And yet, for just a moment this week, my dad told them a joke.

Stay safe

February 22, 2022

22022022

Happy Twosday. This posted this morning at 2:20am on the 22nd day of the 2nd month of year 2022. Written in the European date format, or actually every place outside the USA date format, we get 22 02 2022. Stick them all together and you have a palindrome. A word or sequence that is the same backwards as forwards.

We have a weird fascination with numbers. I remember December 31, 1999. As the calendar rolled over to 01 01 2000, it seemed important. The start of a new century. A new millennium. Except it wasn’t. Because our calendar goes from 1 BC to 1 AD, the new century, new millennium started 2000 years later on January 1, 2001. (If it’s still confusing, think about children. The first year they are not 1 year old. They are 0 years old.)

I have a car that has 297550 miles on it. I’m counting down the days until it hits 300000. It’s just a number. But, I’ll celebrate it in 2450 miles when it comes up zeros.

Today, the calendar comes up all twos. And there will be gallons of electronic ink spent writing about it.

And tomorrow the date will be 23 02 2022 and the symmetry will be bone.

But, for today, we can enjoy the meaningless arrangement of some numbers on our phones.

Stay safe

February 21, 2022

Book Review: The One Thing

“The One Thing” makes an ambitious promise: That by reading it and following its advice, you would achieve extraordinary results in every area of your life – work, personal, family and spiritual.

It’s a business/self-help book. Of course it makes that promise, they all do. Unlike many books I’ve read on the subject, “The One Thing” delivers.

You probably think that’s impossible. (BTW, this is a review, not a sales pitch, although they may seem similar.) After all, if I’m a writer and you’re an IT guy how is one book going to help both of us achieve extraordinary results in different businesses? If I’m Christian and your Jewish, how will the same advice help both of us achieve extraordinary results in such different religions?

Gary Keller, doesn’t lay out a program that will lead from step one through step twenty-one and then help you achieve your results. Basically, it boils it down to a single question:

That’s it.

I hear you, “If it’s that simple why does it take 225 pages to present it?

The rest of those pages are doing two important (but slightly less extraordinary) things. The first third of the book is spent debunking the lies we tell ourselves that sap our energy and derail our productivity. They are:

Everything Matters Equally
Multitasking
A Disciplined Life
Willpower is Always on Will-Call
A Balanced Life
Big is Bad

Some of these were easy to accept, others didn’t resonate as much with me. Keller’s main point was that we need to get out of our own way. And he gives personal examples on how to avoid sabotaging our own success.

The final third of the book is how to put the One Thing into practice.

The middle section, like the contents of a sandwich is the good stuff. It’s not enough that Keller explains the question. He applies it to EVERYTHING.

What’s the ONE Thing I can do in my job such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

What’s the ONE Thing I can do in my marriage such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

What’s the ONE Thing I can do in my spirituality such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

He explains how the ONE Thing can applied to every aspect of our lives. And that’s why this book can be equally useful to a Jew, or a Mormon, or a Program Manager, or a Writer, or you.

What I Liked

I liked the message, of course. It was something I could apply immediately. And I didn’t have to reorder my entire life. I could start with one thing. I also like his “voice.” The book reads a lot like a conversation. Often authors will try to hide “the thing” that is their thing. One popular book about a certain number of concepts, doesnt’ share the first concept until page 100. The ONE Thing strikes a good balance of addressing the concepts in a structured order, but still not making the reader feel cheated.

What I Didn’t

Keller is a wealthy person. I know that because he spents time telling us about it. And he credits the ONE Thing with helping him achieve his riches. It comes across a little like a money making scheme. “Do this thing and you too can get rich.” But, it’s a minor issue.

What It Means To You

The ONE Thing will either cause you to change your habits or it will make you very uncomfortable as you see how you could improve but choose not to. The book will not just tell you that you need to focus it will actually help you do it. I recommend it highly.

My Rating

Four out of Four Stars

Stay safe

February 18, 2022

What Makes You A Pagan?

Are you religious?

I’ll bet you are. But, probably not in the way you think.

The Bible says “by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20) And I think we could all agree, Christian or not, that this is true. If someone reads the Bible and attends church, and partake of sacraments, we would call them a Christian. If someone reads the Koran, prays 5 times per day and plans to make a trip to Mecca for Hajj, we would call them a Muslim. Same for Jews, if they keep Kosher, attend synagogue and study the Talmud.

By that definition, you are a Pagan.

We all know about the Pagan origins of Christmas. (Okay, most of us know about it.) The Pagans had a winter solstice celebration. The Christians decided to make their celebration of Christ’s birth line up with an established Pagan celebration.

Same goes for Easter. The Spring Equinox is a time for Pagans to celebrate fertility and rebirth. Oh, but, you have it wrong Rodney. Christ may not have been born in December, but we know when he was resurrected. Easter is about Christ’s resurrection.

Except. . .bunnies? Easter eggs? How do those tie into the crucifixion and resurrection?

They don’t. But, you know what they DO tie into? Celebrations of fertility. You know, the Pagan festival.

We probably don’t need to even talk about Halloween. Christians didn’t even try to co-opt that holiday. Just go with the Pagan parts.

What about wedding rings? Not the ring itself, but where you wear it. The ring finger, in Pagan traditions had a vein that led straight to your heart. Ever wonder why it goes on that finger? Now you know. You Pagan.

Bridesmaids? Yup. Pagan weddings had the bridesmaids and the bride dressing exactly the same. That way the evil spirits would attack the bridesmaid instead of the bride.

And have you ever knocked on wood? You do it for good luck, right? But, why? Because Pagans believed that spirits lived in the wood. Knocking on the wood called forth those spirits to aid you in your efforts. (That’s why it doesn’t count if you knock on plastic or metal. The spirits only live in wood.)

So, by their fruits you know them.

You Pagan, you!

Stay safe

February 17, 2022

World Famous. . .In A Small Town

Gail Halversen died today. He was 101. He lived just down the road from my little town of Pleasant Grove, Utah. He passed away in Provo.

Gail was world famous. He was a retired Colonel from the Air Force. Halversen did a lot of important things in his life. He was a career military officer. Later in life he worked for BYU.

But, that’s not really why the world will remember Gail Halversen. You might know him by another name, The Candy Bomber.

During the Berlin Airlift of 1948, Halversen was a pilot flying food into Berlin. One day he noticed a group of children near the airfield. He handed one of them a couple of sticks of gum. The children took the gum and tore it into several pieces so that as many children as possible could share. The children who didn’t get a fragment would smell the wrapper.

Halversen was touched. He promised to bring them more candy the following day. But, he decided to tie handkerchiefs to the candy and drop it from his plane. He told the children to watch for him “waggling his wings” to know it was him.

Soon, the effort spread. First his crew and then his squadron joined in. At first it was unofficial. But, it quickly became an official effort. Candy companies in the USA became involved. Volunteers started sewing handkerchiefs.

It’s estimated that in the few months in 1948 and 1949 that Operation Little Vittles was in operation they dropped over 23 tons of candy and 250,000 parachutes.

Later in life Halversen organized candy drops in Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia. He also participated in reenactments all around the world.

I never go to meet Halversen. But, we both did volunteer work with Follow The Flag, an organization here in Pleasant Grove.

Halversen will be missed. He was someone who left the world a better place for him having been in it.

Photo courtesy of Follow The Flag

Stay safe

February 16, 2022

I Found The Halftime Show Boring. . .And That’s Just What the NFL Wanted

You either saw ir, or you’ve undoubtably heard about it. The Super Bowl was last Sunday. People typically watch the Super Bowl for one of three reasons:

1. The commercials

2. The halftime show

3. The 22 guys on the field in between commercials and the halftime show

Like 110,000,000 other people, I watched the game. I saw it with my 21 year old daughter. It was a pretty good game (except that obvious offensive pass interference at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.) And I guess the commercials were good. I didn’t really notice them this year.

But, the halftime show was why many people tuned in. I knew how Snoop Dogg was, but the rest were mostly unknown to me. (I fell asleep before Eminem appeared. But, even with that, I couldn’t name a single Snoop Dogg or Eminem song. I kept asking my daughter, “Who is that?”

In case you are like me, the other performers were:

Mary J. Bilge
Kendrick Lamar
Dr. Dare
50 Cent

I don’t know the performers and I don’t know their music. I fell asleep just a few minutes in. These are not people I’d pay to go see. I wouldn’t buy their music. And if it came on, I’d probably change channels.

It’s not for me.

It wasn’t supposed to be.

Social media sites are full of people (mostly my age) complaining about how terrible the show was. How the NFL totally blew it. Horrible. Terrible. Awful.

Personally, I think the NFL knew exactly what it was doing. You know who was excited about the halftime show? People my daughter’s age.

Guess who the NFL wants to attract to the game?

Exactly, people my daughter’s age. The NFL is hoping they come for the show and stay for the game.

Did you know that halftime performers don’t get paid? In fact, it costs them money to perform. Why? Because the halftime show is a ticket to increased sales.

So, if you didn’t like the halftime show, that’s okay. Just realize that the NFL intentionally picked a show you didn’t like.

Stay safe

February 15, 2022

A Most Disappointing Day

Nothing happened today.

That was disappointing. I really was looking forward to today. I’ve been looking forward to it since November 2, 2021.

February 15 is always a day to look forward to. It means you survived Valentines Day. My lovely wife and I celebrated on Saturday, so I didn’t have a lot of stress on the actual day of Valentines.

But, that’s not why I was looking forward to today.

Today was supposed to be the start of Spring Training. It’s called Pitchers an dCatchers Report. The position players would report next week. Games would start in 13 days and the season, baseball season would start on March 31, 2022.

That’s not going to happen, because today nothing happened.

Here’s the front page of mlb.com today.

There are some articles about the CBA, that’s the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Basically, the contract under which Major League Baseball runs. None of the articles are dated today. Like many contracts, the CBA has a start and a stop day. The CBA expired on Dec 1, 2021. On December 2, BARELY December 2, the Major League Baseball owners locked out the players.

Why? Because they didn’t want the players to strike.

Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense to me either.

The CBA was signed November 30, 2016. It ran for five years.

No telling when the new one will be finalized. But, the current agreement is actually better for the players than the last CBA. Why don’t they sign it? Because there’s a lot more money in play now than there was 5 years ago.

MLB has avoided labor strife since 1994 when a player strike wiped out the end of the season and the World Series.

I understand baseball is a business. And that a team is simply a collection of assets that an ownership group hires to represent them. Sure they are.

But, for years I’ve found enjoyment through the Spring and the long dog days of Summer watching men try to hit a round ball with a round stick.

I look forward to it every Spring.

Stay safe

February 14, 2022

Don’t Worry About Someone Stealing Your Ideas

“Where do you get your ideas?”

The genius isn’t in the idea.

Every writer has been asked that question. But, it’s the wrong question. The real question is “Where DON’T you get your ideas?” Story ideas are literally everywhere.

Isaac Asimov was once challenged on this point. “Story ideas are simple to come up with,” he retorted. “In fact, I’ll come up with one right now and you can have it.”

He thought for a moment and said, “A society has become so dependent on computers that they no longer understand how to do simple math. The machines do it for them. A young scientist rediscovers mathematic principles and uses this knowledge to win the war.”

Asimov was so taken with his “throw away” story that later that night he called up the person he’d “given it” to and asked for it back. He published it in 1958 as “A Feeling of Power.”

I’ve never met a writer who was worried about someone stealing his ideas. The power isn’t in the idea, it’s in the ability to record it.

Stay safe

February 11, 2022

Book Review: Muddling Through – Perspectives on Parenting

Muddling Through is written by Bil Lepp. Bil Lepp is a liar. He’s from West Virginia and has won the West Virginia Liar’s contest five times.

So, any advice that Lepp dispenses in his book can be dismissed as the ramblings of a liar. They can be, but should not . Some of the stories and lessons he offers are useful and valuable. All of them are funny.

I’ve heard Lepp speak at the Utah’s Greatest Liar’s Competition. He’s a very engaging speaker. Or “teller” as participants in storyteller systems are called. In Muddling Through, Lepp does not try to being anything he is not. His book is loosely organized. His lessons are simple and illustrated by stories from his own experience. . .which may or may not be true.

Lepp, like any good liar, pushes his stories just slightly past the point of ultimate truth and into the realm of the absurd. But, a genuine shines through. A deep love of family and his children. And practical and humorous lessons. At 110 pages (many with illustrations) Muddling Through is a book that can be read in a couple of hours at the most.