3am Thoughts
It was about 3am this morning when I realized that once again I wasn’t happy with the direction my life was taking. Since coming home from camp I haven’t been doing much. I sleep, surf the web, eat snack type food, and now work nights. I’ve got out of shape, barely making “height and weight†for the Guard, not passing my diagnostic PT test. I’ve pushed away friends, and haven’t been truthful with certain people in my life.
I’m going to change. I know I’ve said this before but I’m going to do it this time. I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t change. There are some things I can’t change for this semester. I can’t switch jobs; I have three more months before I start my internship and feel its best if I keep this flexible security gig.
What I’m going to do:
1) I’m going to spend more time with family and friends. To those few that I’ve been avoiding I’m going to connect with and tell them the truth.
2) I’m going to plan my days in advance. Instead of sleeping until I wake up, I’m going to set the alarm clock.
3) I’m going to check out the Fitness Center at my mom’s Condo, if it sucks I’ll just do resistance exercises. If it’s decent I’ll work out there a least every other day.
4) I’m going to limit my internet activity. I’m still going to push ahead with my business ideas and websites but before I work on them I’m going to have specific goals to mark progress.
Things have to change. They have to change now, or they never will!
Katrina Response
Fortune Magazine has a series of articles on its website about various business responses to the aftermath of Katrina. Besides the fact that I enjoy reading these types of articles there are some perils of wisdom within them.
The Washington That FEMA Forgot
The people of Washington Parish were forgotten (or maybe even ignored) by FEMA, but they didn’t just sit around. The people pleaded for help over the radio waves, and probably got a better response than FEMA could provide. A doctor flew in bottled water, a water distributor delivered 75,000 bottles of water. A church relief team set up a disaster center providing hot meals for the parish. A local large employer sent tarps, water, lumber, and engineers to get the water system back online. Police agencies sent officers and provided relief. A pretty good response for this small parsih.
‘The Only Lifeline Was the Wal-Mart’
Walmart is getting a lot of credit for providing relief supplies before FEMA and in some cases even the Red Cross. This article shows their response and pro-active moves to Katrina. I found one piece of the article very interesting. It seems Strawberry poptarts are one of the items they bring in with the generators and bottled water before a storm strikes.
When a storm is on the way, customers stock up on bottled water, flashlights, generators, and tarps. Afterward, they buy chain saws and mops. But there have been surprises too. Customers also load up on Strawberry Pop-Tarts. Why is that? “They are preserved until you open them, the whole family can eat them, and they taste good,” says Dan Phillips, Wal-Mart’s vice president, information systems division.
Too bad I can’t stock up on Strawberry poptarts, if they are in the house I will eat them. They make a good snack at work in the middle of the night.
Hogan’s Heros
Well I went to Target today to pick up a lamp for my “dark” room. I’m sick of having one lamp that barely lights up the space 5 feet away from it. Anyway, I didn’t find a lamp that I liked so instead of just leaving with my budgeted $30 I stopped by the DVD section and found a season 1 set of Hogan’s Heros. I used to watch Hogan’s Heros all the time my Freshman year of college, before TVLand stopped showing it. Now I’m the proud owner of Season 1, not a lamp. Oh Well…