Did you see Jacki Robinson hit that ball?
Did he hit it? Boy, and that ain’t all.
He stole home.
Yes, yes, Jackie’s real gone.
– lyrics by Buddy Johnson
Baseball marks the start of Spring for me. It doesn’t matter what the calendar says. This year Opening Day was April 1st. No joke. (You know, not like last year.) In 1947 teams played a shorter schedule; 154 games rather than the 162 regular season games played currently.) That meant a later Opening Day. In fact, I can tell you that Opening Day in 1947 was April 15th.
I don’t know what day of the week it was. I really couldn’t tell you much about it at all. Except I know it was on April 15. In fact, yesterday, everyone knew celebrated Opening Day for the 1947 season. That might seem like a strange thing to celebrate.
They aren’t celebrating the day. They are celebrating first basemen. Okay, not all the first basemen. Just the Dodgers first baseman. Not the LA Dodgers, they played in Brooklyn 74 years ago. And on April 15, 1947 the Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman was a man named Jackie Robinson. And prior to that game he was about to do something that hadn’t happened for 63 years, since 1884. A black man was going to take the field for a Major League Baseball team.
Robinson was already a star in the Negro Leagues. His first season with the Dodgers he played for their AAA team, the Montreal Royals. By 1947 he was ready for the Dodgers. The league was not always ready for Robinson. His first year he batted .297. He led the league in sacrifice hits at 28. He lead the league in stolen bases with 29. He also won the Rookie of the Year award. It was the first year it was offered.
Today, the Rookie of the Year award is called the Jackie Robinson award in his honor. Robinson wore number 42 when he put on Dodger blue that Spring day in 1947. Nobody wears number 42 in baseball anymore. The last player to wear 42 was the great Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. When he retired in 2013 the number 42 was also retired for good.
In 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s MLB debut, MLB took the unprecedented step of retiring his number throughout all of baseball. No one would ever be allowed to wear it again.
Except. . .
Except that today, everyone wore #42. Every player, every ballboy, every manager. Every single player in the Major Leagues today wore #42 to celebrate that day three quarters of a century ago when the Dodgers brought up their new first basemen.
Happy Jackie Robinson Day.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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The worst thing about graduating from Harvard is that if you make a simple mistake like miscounting your change, people say, ‘And YOU went to Harvard’!
– Conan O’Brian Harvard class of 1985
The Internet made writers of us all. It also made us all editors. Some of us are better editors than others. Many Internet and facebook “discussions” feature the Grammar Police jumping in to correct grammar or spelling.
I once had a guy working for me named Mark. Mark was really smart. He was a great engineer. He, like many people wanted, to promoted. He certainly had the skills for it. Unfortunately Mark was a poor speller. His sentences were fine, but, like many of us, he’d mess up the spelling on simple words.
As his manager, I could recommend him for promotion, but the other managers in the department had influence as well. And there was no way they were going to recommend someone who sent out misspelled emails.
Mark and I worked on it for months. He turned on spellcheck. He started asking me to review his department-wide emails. And the next time promotion boards came up, his name was at the top of the list.
Mark was the same engineer in both scenarios. But, people judged him, as often happens, on his ability to spell. Mark is now a Global Architecture VP for a large bank.
I have a friend who is a New York Times bestselling author. He’s sold millions of books and earned a lot of money and more importantly a lot of fame as an author, editor, and instructor.
My friend is offering a class on writing that I’m taking. We meet once a week via Zoom. He has a PowerPnt and goes through the writing, editing, publishing process. The course, is the same one that Stephanie Meyers took before she wrote Twilight. It’s a really good course and he’s a really good teacher.
However, during every class there is at least one slide where my friend says,
Sorry, it says ‘hot’ on the screen, that should be ‘not.’
Or something to that effect. His slides are full of typos. This man who makes his living writing for a living, and teaching others to write, has multiple simple spelling errors.
How would you feel about paying money to take a class on writing and the instructor’s slides are full of errors? Would it influence your opinion of the class? Of the instructor?
Our class yesterday was all about agents and publishers. The course is normally about an hour, but this one went much longer. Finally, as he completed the last slide, my friend looked at the clock and without a hint of sarcasm said,
And I covered all of that in 24 minutes.
He literally thought that he’d been talking for less than 30 minutes.
Wait, is my clock right? Is it really 8:24?
He lost track of the time. He has taught at universities. He gets paid to travel around the world giving speeches and presentations and he honestly mistook 84 minutes for 24.
I’m a reasonably talented public speaker. I’ve done it at times and been paid a lot for it. I know how to avoid all the “ticks” that presenters should do. Don’t giggle your keys. Don’t snap your pen. Clean the white board by erasing up and down, not side to side. (Otherwise your butt wiggles.) One of the big ones is to avoid awkward words or pauses. Don’t put in “um,” “ya know,” or “ok.”
My friend ends nearly every sentence with “Ok.” It’s not even a true question. It’s a filler word.
All of these might make you think that my friend’s course probably isn’t worth the money. After all, it’s full of mistakes. It has poor presentation. He loses track of time.
But, just like Marc, the engineer that worked for me, my friend is extremely talented. And spelling is not what he’s necessarily talented at. The course fills up instantly. It has a waiting list. He could teach twice or three times as many courses.
Too often we use the wrong criteria to evaluate people. I know a young man who just became a Journeyman electrician. He’s 20 years old and running crews much older than he is. But, he doesn’t even have a high school diploma. He got a GED and then learned to be an electrician in Job Corps. It would be wrong to judge him by his lack of a diploma.
Just going to Harvard doesn’t mean you never make a mistake. Being a world famous writer doesn’t mean you can spell. Look at what people can DO. Stop using the wrong metrics.
Oh, that also means that you are qualified and capable at what you do!
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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I used to travel a lot. I spent a lot of time in airports. I spent a lot of time on planes. I had an entire routine for when I got to my seat. I’d put my carry on in the overhead. I’d put my computer bag under the seat in front of me. I’d pull out my water bottle and stick in the seat back pocket. Put the knock pillow behind my head. I’d turn on my iPod and put on my noise cancelling headphones. Then, I’d lean back, close my eyes and enjoy the flight.
I’d often miss the in-flight beverage service. I like to sleep on planes. Occasionally, I’d watch a movie instead of listen to the iPod; on my noise cancelling headphones, of course.
I really like those headphones. I’m partial to Bose. But, I also had Parrot headphones. My first set of Bose headphones were great. I really like them. They were $300. That’s a lot of money to drop on a set of headphones. A friend of mine asked me if they were really worth it. I offered to let him borrow them. He was a gamer. The next morning he came into my office and tossed the headphone case back on my desk.
Thanks a lot! You just cost me three hundred bucks! Did you know that in the Star Wars game you can hear the ice clinking in the glass?
At one point I broke my headphones. I called Bose to see, even those they were old if it was possible to get them repaired.
Mr Bliss, were you happy with your previous set of Bose headphones?
I cried when they broke.
I’m a huge fan. And they work great. It’s why I won’t fly without them.
You might think that I don’t mind sitting by crying babies because my headphones block out the crying baby sound.
Nope.
Bose headphones block out ambient noise. It’s a frequency thing. But, they allow the frequency that human voices use. So, that crying baby won’t be drowned out by the airplane engines.
So, why am I okay being seated by the crying baby?
I raised 13 kids. They all cried. Some a lot. Some a little. And like all parents, I stressed over their crying. Sometimes, several would all cry at once. It was nearly overwhelming at times.
What changed? Why am I so calm now when I hear a crying baby?
Because, I just think, it’s not my crying baby!
And that thought makes me smile!
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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We’re playing the trade-up game and wondered if you had anything you might be willing to trade that’s bigger and better than this softball?
They looked about 13. Just a couple teenagers out on a Monday afternoon. Did I have anything? Sure. Did I have time? Yeah. Was I going to gain anything from it? Nope.
Oh sure, a softball. I’ve got a box of them that haven’t been touched in years. I don’t need another softball.
I traded them a scooter. Also not been used in years. The boys were pretty excited. I never played the trade-up game. But, my boys did. We spent years with an old kids electric car in our backyard from one of my boys games.
Of course, I didn’t have to participate at all today. I could have told the boys I was busy. I mean, I was working on stuff. You know. . .stuff. . .in the garage. Stuff.
I have a friend on facebook who is a young woman in the theater business in New York. She’s working like mad to make it as a member of the crew. Honestly, I’m not sure what she does. She’s the daughter of a good friend, who passed away a few years ago. I’ve stayed in contact, but honestly, I’m not really part of the circles she moves in. I’m old. I’m married. I live in Utah. Some of my kids are her age.
I have a few friends in the theater industry and when she was looking for work, I put in a good word for her. I think a job came out of it. (He was a pretty influential friend.) Did I have to help her out? Of course not. In fact, she would never have know if I didn’t call my friend. What’s there in anything in it for me? Not really. Just helping out a friend’s daughter.
Why do we help people that can do nothing for us?
Psychological egoism: The view that humans are always motivated by self-interest and selfishness, even in what seem to be acts of altruism.
Is psychological egoism correct? Do we always look for what’s in it for us? Why did I help the boys? Maybe so I could feel good about myself. Maybe so I could get rid of a scooter?
What about my friend’s daughter? Maybe so that someday if she becomes a big important Broadway producer I can score free tickets?
Karma: A belief in Hinduism and Buddhism that the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence decides our fate in future existences.
Also, the idea that our actions cause our fate.
I’m not a huge believer in karma either. I don’t do nice thinks for people so that somehow the universe will reward me.
I’m a believer in just being a nice person. I think if more people stopped looking for what’s in it for them, and instead looked for opportunities to practice random acts of kindness, the world would be better.
Maybe I am thinking there’s something in it for me, after all.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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I love baseball. I like baseball more than anyone I know. I attend games whenever I can. I used to travel around the US a lot. This gave me the opportunity to attend a lot of baseball games in the evenings. I would often drive 3 hours one way for a game. Shreveport to Dallas, Columbus to Pittsburgh, Port St Lucie to Orlando.
The only item on my bucket list is to watch a game in each of the 30 Major League ballparks. I’ve been to 12 so far. I got zero added last year, not surprisingly. Eventually, I’ll get to the remaining 18.
In the meantime I pay $25/month to watch the games on mlb.tv. I’ve caught just about every Mariners game this year. They are 4-4. Their ace pitcher has an ERA over 10 and their number 3 pitcher is out with an arm strain and might need Tommy John surgery. It’s okay, they aren’t supposed to be good for another couple of years on their rebuilding schedule.
I would prefer to go to the ballpark. But, in the meantime, I make due by watching it remotely. There are been a lot of close plays this year. Baseball instituted instant replay a couple years ago. Not every play is reviewable, But, many are. And the games have turned on a couple of the calls this year.
During the time that the umpires are reviewing the play, the broadcast shows the replays. They show them from multiple angels. They slow it down. They talk about it. And then finally, they agree or disagree with the official call.
But, you know what the fans in the stands get to see during a replay? Not much. They see a little bit on the big screen, but mostly they get to watch the umpires with headsets on and their head under a hood.
The home experience is actually better in that respect. During the game, there’s an app that shows the location of every pitch. You can see in game stats. You can check previous year stats. You can check other scores. You can pretty much find anything. You can switch between the home broadcast and the away broadcast. You can pause. You can rewind.
In nearly every way the at home experience is superior. But, superior doesn’t mean better.
For many years I was a corporate trainer. I would teach classes of people who to use Microsoft, or Novell, or various other products. I loved classroom training. I enjoyed the interaction between myself and the students. I enjoyed the performance aspect of it.
Before COVID, most corporate training was done in person. During the pandemic, we all started consuming training remotely. Now, it’s possible to teach from and to anywhere. I attend a writing class. Sometimes I’ve had a conflict. I just find the recording and watch it and don’t miss any of the experience. Also, during a class, I can be doing research. I can chat with other participants. We can post questions and get answers. The PowerPoint presentations are available before and during the class.
As a remote learner I can do nearly everything in a superior fashion.
But, I miss the classroom experience. Superior doesn’t better.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
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LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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We moved into our home about 9 years ago. I don’t remember the date. But, Facebook does. It showed me this picture of our library that we setup shortly after moving in. I like books. My lovely wife likes books. My kids love books. We own a lot of books.
We also have lots of computers. And Kindles. And, of course cell phones, both Apple and Android. We have multiple ISPs. So, we have access to lots of electronic reading material.
But, we also have books.
Lots of books.
Our books span the gamut. We have Westerns, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Reference, biographies, Young Adult, Children, Mysteries, Technical, non-Fiction, Historical, Religious, Comedies, Plays, Picture books, Hiking, Camping, Classics, boring books, thick, thin, small, large, Art, Photography, Computer, Landscaping, Woodworking, Graphic novels, Travel, Dictionaries, Scout. (Admit it, you quit reading a couple of lines ago.)
Recently, we ended up with a free room. When you have eight kids at the time you move into your house, and three of them leave, you end up with extra rooms. We converted one to the library. I didn’t think it would take that much room. I was wrong.
I enjoy reading online, but my first love is and always will be the dead tree editions.
Hopefully you have plenty of books in your space.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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I went to Charlotte today. Several times. In between I went to lunch in Pleasant Grove. I watched my granddaughter this evening. Also in Pleasant Grove. But, I had plenty of meetings in Charlotte. And the rest of the people in the meetings were in Texas, or Florida, or Utah.
Of course, we were all connected via a Zoom meeting. The meetings were part of a site visit. We called it a virtual site visit. We used to do them in person. We have a lot of sites. Two years ago, I achieved Gold Status on Delta Airlines. And as soon as I did, we plunged into the pandemic and everyone went home. For over a year.
It’s like someone told us all “go to your room.” And now we are waiting to hear if we can come out.
Our meetings were with various teams and groups. People joined and left. We did troubleshooting and we gave presentations. At the end of the day, I was exhausted.
I’m not sure we’ll ever go back to normal. This is normal. Now is normal. We can jet across the country and be back in time for lunch.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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My boss is a lifeguard. But, we don’t work at a pool. I’ve never seen him a swimming suit. In fact, I’ve never seen him in person at all. He lives in North Carolina, I live in Utah. But, he absolutely is a lifeguard. Or maybe an umbrella. Or a shield. He might be a shield.
When you work in business, it’s important to be good at managing your team or teams. it’s equally important to manage up as well as down. Obviously your immediate supervisor is the most important person in the entire company when it comes to how well you are going to do. But, there is more to being a good manager than proper coaching and helping you overcome obstacles. Your immediate supervisor is also your connection to the rest of the organization.
Not everyone knows how to be a good manager. It’s not an innate skill. Like everything it takes practice. It takes aptitude. And it takes courage. We’ve all had managers who were only out for themselves, who took all the credit and shifted all the blame.
Or, we’ve had micro-managers. Managers who told you exactly how to do every little thing, and then became upset when you did it wrong.
But, an effective manager also needs to be courages. He (or she) needs to have the courage to let you do your job. They need to have courage that letting you take credit for your work won’t reflect badly on them. In fact, ironically the more credit you give your team, the better you look as a manager. But, that takes courage.
And your manager has to have the courage to stand up to upper management, including his or her manager. That’s were lifeguarding comes in. Think about a lifeguard’s job. The lifeguard lets you swim, or play on the beach. You can surf. Or you can go out beyond the breakers. The lifeguard will warn you if there are sharks, or riptides or rocks. And if you can handle the waves and the rip tides and the sharks, the lifeguard lets you.
But, if you get into trouble, only then does the lifeguard step in. (Or typically swim in.) They will help you anyway they need to. Maybe it’s a simple tow back to shore. Maybe it’s CPR. They will provide you support at the level you need.
And when you are recovered. They let you go back to swimming with the sharks.
As a manager, you should try to be a lifeguard. As an employee appreciate it if you happen to work for one.
I know I do.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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“I have been in the revenge business for so long that now that’s it’s over I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”
– Indigo Montoya
I was strangely nervous. We have been careful for so long. I was afraid of jinxing it.
Did you know that the American WWII General Patton was famous for putting himself in the battle? He was part of some of the bloodiest, and most successful campaigns during the war. Clearly, he was a big part of the Allies winning the war.
Do you know how he died? He was killed in an auto accident shortly after the end of the war. Survived the bloodiest conflict in history only to die from a car crash.
Maybe that’s what I was thinking about.
I got vaccinated today. (Do I even need to say vaccinated for what?)
Our local Walgreens got a shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine today. And they were taking walk-ins. I gave them my information and then the pharmacist asked me to have a seat for a few minutes while he helped some other customers. While I was sitting there, my reaction was surprising to me.
I was nervous.
I don’t like needles. But, that wasn’t why I was nervous. I just look away and think about something besides the piece of needle piercing my skin and jabbing into my muscle. Yeah, anything but that.
And it wasn’t the vaccine itself. I have some friends and family who are anti-vaxxers. They wouldn’t describe themselves that way, but everyone else would. We don’t discuss vaccines much. The discussion typically ends after I ask how many people they know who have been infected with smallpox or polio. No? Yeah, vaccines work.
No, I was nervous because of the story of Gen Patton. I’ve managed to avoid becoming infected for over a year. My lovely wife is still dealing with the after affects of her bout with COVID. My son had it while living at home. My daughter and her family had it while she was giving birth to my grandson. He was COVID free. I’ve had friends and family who had COVID. Fortunately none died. I was always worried that I would get it and bring it home to my family.
I remember as a teenager when Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited the Seattle area. This was shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin was the first democratically elected president of the new Russian republic. While in Seattle he announced that the soviet missiles were no longer targeting locations in the United States, including Seattle.
All my life I had lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation. Living in Seattle, we had
- Boeing aircraft factory
- Microsoft
- Bangor Submarine base
- Fort Lewis Army base
- McChord Air Force base
- Hanford Nuclear facility
- Everett Shipyards
- Bremerton Navy base
We lived in what you would call a target rich environment. And being the state in the lower 48 closest to the USSR, we knew that if a war ever broke out we’d never hear about it. We’d already be dead. It was a fact of life, like hurricanes in Florida, or Tornados in Kansas. It was something that you just accepted.
And then President Yeltsin said, “We are not targeting you anymore. We have pointed all our missiles at locations out at sea.” Of course, they could retarget them, but no one was going to accidentally blow us up.
It was a weird feeling. Later North Korea announced their nuclear missile program and as Dory in “Finding Nemo” said,
Good feeling gone.
But for a while it was as if a weight was lifted that we didn’t even realize we were carrying. That’s how I felt waiting for my shot.
The pharmacist delivered the Johnson & Johnson shot a few minutes later. It’s a single shot rather than the two stage vaccine with some of the other manufactures. Frankly, I would have done whichever one was available.
He warned me that I may experience flu like symptoms for a few days. And I won’t be considered fully vaccinated for a couple weeks.
But, in the meantime, it’s good to know that the cloud is starting to lift.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Today’s a special day. Well, it will be a special day 42 years from now. You might wonder how I can predict such an event so many years in the future? I can predict it because it’s already happened.
April 5, 2063 will be First Contact Day. The day when citizens of planet earth first make contact with an alien species. The events are depicted (documented?) in the movie Star Trek: First Contact.
So, what makes me so sure that an event depicted in a movie will actually happen? Because it’s Star Trek.
Did you know that the first Space Shuttle was named Enterprise? It was named after the USS Enterprise in Star Trek. Incidentally, the USS Enterprise was/will be named after the first space shuttle.
One of the most uncool things you can have is a flip phone. Smart phones aren’t flip phones. Do you know why flip phones actually flipped? Because on Star Trek the communicators have flip up screens.
The iPad was the initial tablet PC. Did you know that when the iPad was first announced Apple and Steve Jobs were ridiculed for the name? We had seen tablets before the iPad. Star Trek is a paperless society. But, several times we see them use tablet devices.
We are experimenting with teleportation. We are a long ways away from the transporter, but we continue to work on it.
We all know what warp drive is. Is it possible to travel faster than light? The Enterprise can do it. And physicists are doing some tantalizing theoretical experiments around faster than light. The theory might prove impractical or impossible, but we are working on it.
So, don’t be surprised when Star Trek and science fiction fans celebrate First Contact Day April 5 for the next 42 years.
Stranger things have happened.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
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LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved