Lessons Learned

Of course this picture has nothing to do with this post.
I have not been married to the man on the left for almost 22 years.

1) ALWAYS back your photos up to CD's. I need to go out TODAY and buy CD's to do this. I lost about 9 months worth when my computer died last fall.

2) If you love something, DO NOT sell it on Ebay even if it sits on a shelf and you only look at it occasionally, I had an antique version of Little Red Riding Hood by Will Gibbons. I loved that book but for some bone-headed reason sold it on Ebay. I found another copy online and purchased it this morning.

3) It's okay to change. The earth will not break asunder. It's even necessary to change at times.

4) Don't make fear-based decisions. "What would I do if I weren't afraid?" is a helpful question for me to ask when I'm trying to make big decisions. The question that comes from "Yes" or "No": The Guide to Better Decisions.

5) People don't always want to do a good job. This is an interesting one to think about. Sometimes when I'm out and about in life dealing with businesses I think, "Why don't they do this? Why are they doing that?" I've been in a few businesses lately and had non-customer based experiences. They were all about making it easier for themselves. They were not looking at things from the customer's perspective.

Side road here related to No. 3...

One of my husband's pet names for me is "The Roving Consultant" (TRC). Well, TRC came out yesterday at a local ski mountain. A group of kids were waiting for lessons and the instructor didn't show...so they started the lessons 15 minutes late. The business didn't know the instructor hadn't shown up until a parent went to tell them. The ski lodge is a huge concrete building filled with picnic tables. These work well for people who are dropping their stuff and then going out to ski. But the business has apparently not noticed all the non-skiing moms and dads that are hanging out waiting for kids for an hour or so.

The Roving Consultant said to another mom with RC tendencies, "I wonder why they don't make a coffee shop here with comfortable chairs? I would pay a cover charge to sit in a nice chair near a wood-stove right now to unthaw my toes and drink some good coffee."

They sell bad coffee. When I asked for milk in my coffee instead of cream they answered, "We don't keep milk here." And last week one of the ski guys yelled at me because I put skis where I wasn't supposed to. Huh? Okay, I'm done.

6) People don't set out to do a bad job. Sometimes they're just focused on the task at hand and they can't see beyond the task. These people need to employ The Roving Consultant" to give them feedback.

7) My opinion isn't always wanted OR needed. Sometimes you just have to let people choose their own path and let it go. This is one of the hard things in life to realize. Even if you truly have some legitimate feedback, sometimes you just have to swallow it and go back to your own house and let the Roving Consultant roam unfettered in your own areas of influence. ;-)

I do not object to people
looking at their watches
when I am speaking.
But I strongly object
when they start shaking them
to make certain they are still working.
--Lord Birkett

Note: The Roving Consultant is a trademarked name owned by Dixie Redmond ;-)