Interesting days

Today -  World Honey Bee Day, Relaxation Day and International Homeless Animals Day. I'm going to take a break from relaxing and celebrate Corn On The Cob Day. I Think I might go to Hometown Buffet, they might have corn on the cob. If not, then KFC

Tomorrow - Tell A Joke Day and Airborne Day. There was a time that I wanted to jump out of an airplane, but I think I've gotten over it. Although I still love riding rollercoasters, but I won't be able to celebrate Rollercoaster Day this year since I'm having an early dinner with Nick

Next Saturday - Be An Angel Day and Take Your Cat to the Vet Day I'm pretty sure your cat won't think you're an angel

September 15 - International Dot Day encourages people to harness their creativity. And  Make A Hat Day is one way to do that. How about making a felt hat since it's also Felt Hat Day? It's also Get Ready Day Are you ready in case of a natural disaster? Normally in California we only need to worry about earthquakes, but these days we need to worry about running out of water too. What kind of natural disasters should you be preparing for where you live? And it's Greenpeace Day Starting with 17 people in 1971, Greenpeace has grown onto a global organization with nearly 3 million members

The Friday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish!

"Friday Fishwrap" is a term that Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle (as well as others I believe)  used to describe his Friday column. The term comes from the fact that Friday is a huge day at the fish market and it was common practice to wrap that big cod or flounder in a newspaper.

Starting this week, my Friday column is going to be a wrap-up of the current week's columns. There will also be a Periscope broadcast of it. Almost from the time I started this blog last year I'd been thinking about doing a podcast that wrapped up the current week, but I never did. But now with Periscope you'll be subjected to me at least once a week.

The week in review

Monday - Monday's post was on "Who are you?" and was about what makes you uniquely you. This was the topic of Tuesday's Connecting with Caren and Nancy's Google Hangout

Tuesday - "Where were you in '62?" This was a celebration (?) of my 35 year anniversary with AT&T

Wednesday - "Try to remember" paid homage to that song, the play "The Fantasticks" and the "Brothers Four"

Thursday - "1% better" about the small things you can do every day to have huge results in your life

Interesting days

This week

Saturday - International Cat Day, Odie Day, Garage Sale Day and let's not forget Happiness Happens Day

Sunday - Rice Pudding Day and Book Lovers Day

Monday - Duran Duran Appreciation Day, Lazy Day and S'mores Day

Tuesday - Play In The Sand Day and Son and Daughter Day

Wednesday - Vinyl Record Day and Middle Child's Day

Thursday - International Lefthanders Day My sister is left-handed and the middle child!

Today - Social Security Day and Creamsicle Day Although I'll be having an Orange Cream Shake at Arby's instead

Next week

Tomorrow -  Corn On The Cob Day, World Honey Bee Day, Relaxation Day and International Homeless Animals Day

Sunday - Tell A Joke Day and Rollercoaster Day

Monday - Black Cat Appreciation Day and Thrift Shop Day

Tuesday - Bad Poetry Day and Mail Order Catalog Day

Wednesday - Photography Day, Aviation Day and World Humanitarian Day

Thursday - Lemonade Day, World Mosquito Day and Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

Friday - Poet's Day and Spumoni Day I've never been a fan of spumoni ice cream. How about you? And it's Men's Grooming Day I'd originally planned to get a shave and a haircut on this day but I'm in the middle of the 30 Day Beard Growing Challenge and I really can't wait that much longer for a haircut...I'll probably get one today

Next month

September 8 - World Physical Therapy Day, Iguana Awareness Day, Literacy Day, Another Look Unlimited Day and Pardon Day

September 9 - Wonderful Weirdos Day and Teddy Bear Day

September 10 - Swap Ideas Day

September 11 - Of course it's Patriot Day As well as Make Your Bed Day, No News is Good News Day, Hot Cross Bun Day and finally Stand Up To Cancer Day

September 12 - Video Games Day and Chocolate Milk Shake Day You know I'll be there. Red Robin and Black Bear Diner both serve the remainder in the tin...although Red Robin charges extra!

September 13 - There's a lot! Programmers' Day, Fortune Cookie Day, Positive Thinking Day and Hug Your Hound Day. And that's only about half of them!

September 14 - Eat a Hoagie Day Where's your favorite place? Subway, Togo's, Quizno's or someplace else?

1% better

How would your life change if you got just 1% better every day? Just make a small change in one thing each day. Exercise a little harder. Work a little harder in your business. Eat a little better.

Here's an article from The Art of Manliness called "Get 1% Better Every Day: The Kaizen Way to Self-Improvement". This article focuses on achieving the big goals by working towards them a little bit every day. It also has links to some books on the subject "The Compound Effect" by Darren Hardy  and "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson. I've heard of both of these books but I haven't read either...guess I better get busy!

And here's an article on 21 small changes you can make to your life.

Also, Jordan Adler, a network marketing top earner and trainer, talks about it here.

Here is an excerpt from Jordan's training call:

DECIDE TO GET BETTER:

Let’s say you focus on getting 2% better each week. What can you do this week
to be 2% more productive in your business. What can you do this week to be 2% more skilled this week
in your business. Do this for 1 year. You are 100% better after 1 year. 500% better after 5 years.
What can I do better TODAY? Get 2% better each day and in 60 days you are over 100% better and in
1 year you are 500% better. That’s 5X the person you are today. If I asked you what can you do to become
2% better today . . . if I asked you that question each day, I’ll bet you could come up with something. Like
meet one more person today. Or follow up with one more person today. Or read 2 extra pages in a personal development book today OR listen to a call on www.thecoolbuzz.com today OR book myself for convention today.
Just 2% a day can completely transform your life!

The exact numbers don't really matter...just try to do a little bit every day, or even every week, and you'll be amazed at the results in a year. Just realize that you may not notice any improvement in the beginning, but it's a compound effect. At the end of the year you'll see massive improvements, You're going to be a year older anyhow, so why don't you become a year better, too!

Interesting days

Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lefthanders-day/ Are you left handed? Do you feel discriminated against? And why does the word sinister mean both left handed and evil?

Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/social-security-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/creamsicle-day/ Yum! Or maybe a milkshake version?

 Next Thursday - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lemonade-day/ When life hands you lemons...

Eat brownies instead! Of course, you also get lemonade mix. And it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-mosquito-day/ (Yuck) and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/chocolate-pecan-pie-day/ This sounds yummy!

September 13 - There's a lot! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/programmers-day/, https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/fortune-cookie-day/, https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/positive-thinking-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/hug-your-hound-day/. And that's only about half of them!

Try to remember

This is kind of a continuation of yesterday's theme of reminiscence.

Try To Remember is one of my favorite songs. It's from the play "The Fantisticks". I've never seen the play but I've always liked the song. The original off Broadway show ran from 1960 to 2002, making it the world's longest running musical! The song was originally performed by Jerry Orbach. Here is Jerry singing the song:

Although the 1965 version by the Brothers Four is the one that I remember:

This is a more recent recording. I saw a similar recording 4 or 5 years ago on PBS during a folk group reunion and it really struck me how much more poignant this song is 50 years later.

And it's even more appropriate since next month is September, so try to make it "the kind of September, When life was slow and oh, so mellow."

Interesting days

Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/vinyl-record-day/ Just take those old records off the shelf!

It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-elephant-day/ And if you don't have a memory like an elephant, it's ok because I'm here to remind you that it's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/youth-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/middle-childs-day/

Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lefthanders-day/ Are you a lefty or a righty? I'm very mixed up. I'm not ambidextrous...I can't use both hands equally well. I'm mixed handed. I do some things right handed, some left handed and some with either although I think my left hand is dominant.

Next Wednesday - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/photography-day/ It's a good thing I dug up my camera from the storage unit. And it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/aviation-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/humanitarian-day/

September 12 - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/video-games-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/chocolate-milk-shake-day/ Two of Nick's favorites! And Danny too...except he likes vanilla milkshakes. IKR! I love chocolate shakes, although I'm not a video game player\

Where were you in '62?

Where were you in '62 was the tag line in the 1973 film "American Graffiti".

In 1962 I was 6 years old, living in Oakland California. That was the year we moved to our house on Monticello Avenue and I started attending Maxwell Park school in the middle of the first grade.

This post isn't about cruising the strip in Modesto (which is where I'm looking at apartments), but about where I was on this day in 1980. Until August 10th I had lived with my sister in an apartment in Salinas but on the 11th at 7:30 AM PDT I started working at AT&T in Redwood City, CA. That's 35 years ago. 420 months ago. 12,783 days ago!

A lot has changed in the telephone, later the telecommunications, industry. When I first started, the switch I worked in was made up of relays. Then we went to switches that were big, specialized computers. Somewhere along the line cell phones came in. Now we have smart phones. We went from phones that could just carry voice and attached to the wall by a cord to phones that could receive voice and data. Mostly data these days. If my phone rings, it takes me a second to figure out what that sound is.

So, where were you in '62? And where were you in '80?

Interesting days

Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/ingersoll-day/ I still don't really know who he is. It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/play-in-the-sand-day/ Now that sounds like a good idea. And it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/son-and-daughter-day/ I think I'll reach out to Danny and Nick today

Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/vinyl-record-day/ This was pretty much the only way you could own music back in '62. And vinyl is making a comeback! It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-elephant-day/ We can't forget that! And it's a double celebration for some of us because it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/youth-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/middle-childs-day/

Next Tuesday - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bad-poetry-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/mail-order-catalog-day/ Back in college I combined these two days without even knowing it. I wrote a song called Damaged Merchandise. I'll see if I can remember how it goes and embarrass myself next week.

September 11 - Of course it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/patriot-day/. As well as https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/make-your-bed-day/,  https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/no-news-is-good-news-day/, https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/hot-cross-bun-day/ and finally https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/stand-up-to-cancer-day/

Who are you?

The topic of tomorrow's Connecting People, Changing Lives Google Hangout is "What Makes You Uniquely You. What sets you apart?"

What makes you...you? All of your physical characteristics such as eye color, hair color (or lack thereof), gender, height, weight, etc. contribute to who you are but they are only superficial. I think what sets you apart are the things you are passionate about. What is it that makes you light up when you talk about it? These are the things that you want to share with your friends, family, customers and prospects. 

Are you passionate about women's rights? Veteran's rights? Animal rights? But it doesn't necessarily have to be related to rights. Some people are passionate about wine. Health and fitness. Business.

I've been passionate about many things during my life. Some passions fade away. Maybe they're gone forever. Maybe they'll burst back into flame when the time is right. My biggest passion right now is network marketing in general and SendOutCards in particular. Part of the reason I'm doing this blog is to share that passion with as many people as I can. And it's also the reason I'm joining Caren Glasser and Nancy Ferrari again this month on their Google Hangout.

Be sure to check it out at https://www.facebook.com/events/432048880321250/ to sign up or listen in at 9:00 AM PDT on Tuesday, August 11.

Interesting days

Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/duran-duran-day/

Not quite in the spirit of https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lion-day/ but it is a song about a carnivore that's hungry. And you can ride up and down the elevator to celebrate https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/skyscraper-appreciation-day/. If all of that elevator riding sounds too strenuous to you, you can celebrate https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lazy-day/ instead. And last, but far from least, it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/smores-day/ Since I'm pretty sure I won't be sitting by a campfire, roasting marshmallows, I may have to settle for s'mores ice cream or something like that. To those of you who read the blog yesterday you'll see that I copied this verbatim!

Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/ingersoll-day/ Who was Robert Green Ingersoll? It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/play-in-the-sand-day/ I'm sure I can find some sand around here...maybe at Pt. Pinole. And it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/son-and-daughter-day/ I guess this is a good day to reach out to my boys and maybe set up lunch or dinner this week

Next Monday - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/black-cat-appreciation-day/ The only unlucky thing about black cats is that they're considered unlucky! It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/thrift-shop-day/ I haven't been in about 3 years although I used to like to stop in and browse. You can usually find something interesting there.

September 10 - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/swap-ideas-day/ This day sounds pretty interesting. What do you think?

Funday sunnies

Interesting days

Today - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/rice-pudding-day/ Here are some recipes. It's also https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/book-lovers-day/ Are you a book lover? Here's an interesting table showing the results of a poll on how many books Americans read broken down by various demographics: http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/vfk903riks/tabs_HP_reading_20130930.pdf By most of the demographics that apply to me, I shouldn't be reading any books!

Tomorrow - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/duran-duran-day/ 

Not quite in the spirit of https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lion-day/ but it is a song about a carnivore that's hungry. And you can ride up and down the elevator to celebrate https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/skyscraper-appreciation-day/. If all of that elevator riding sounds too strenuous to you, you can celebrate https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/lazy-day/ instead. And last, but far from least, it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/smores-day/ Since I'm pretty sure I won't be sitting by a campfire, roasting marshmallows, I may have to settle for s'mores ice cream or something like that.

Next Sunday - Did you hear the one about the Airborne Ranger on the rollercoaster? Neither did I but it's https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tell-a-joke-day/, https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/airborne-day/ and https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/rollercoaster-day/ 

September 9 - https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/wonderful-weirdos-day/ To send a card to the wonderful weirdos in your life, just click this link: http://www.sendcere.com/cards/113612805/20758/17633141. But Ben is really looking forward to https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/teddy-bear-day/ No, talking to my teddy bear doesn't make me weird. There are many other things that do that!