The Weekend Was a Zoo

Two weekends ago I went over to the cheesy state to the house of Jax.  Jenx, Shax, and Bex were present as well.  We were meeting there to do a 5K mud run/walk/obstacle course, hang out, and go to the zoo.  I think that about sums it up - I'll let the pictures (and comments on pictures) do the rest of the talking.  No bullet points today.  I know, it's quite possible I may be sick.

All fresh and clean - ready to start the race (Shax, Jax, Jenx, Bex, and Mex)

Dirty Girls - that ain't no big thang because......

....I'm an old hand at that.  Sort of a Throwback Tuesday here.

After we cleaned ourselves up and possibly plugged the drain in Jax's showers, we headed to the zoo for the late afternoon/evening.

This guy was cute.

So was he.  (Thanks to Bex for sharing her pictures)

They were doing some a la carte stuff at the zoo, so I tried the poutin.  I hear it's all the rage in Canada:  french fries with fresh cheese curds and gravy.  It was decent I thought.  Good enough to try it again sometime anyway.

This elephant did acrobatics to get the the greener grass "on the other side".  Apparently he hasn't been watering his side well enough lately.

This sea lion did acrobatics too.

The camels were frolicking.  True story.  If you look closely, you can see a tiger in the background.

One of the camel's humps was kind of sagging, so that prompted some research to be done.  Contrary to what you might have heard, it's fatty tissue in those humps, not water.  But it is true that camels can drink a whole bunch of water (50 gallons) at one time and then don't need to drink for a long time because they can store water in their stomachs.  And, they are super efficient water users.  Their urine is barely a liquid.  Their nose tissues capture water when they exhale and recycle it.  And, they are one of the few mammals that can lose 25% of the water in their body and still be alive.  Most mammals can only lose 12-14% before they go into cardiac failure.  In mild climates, camels can get enough water from the vegetation they eat that they don't need to drink water.  They also have a transparent third eyelid.  Pretty cool, huh?

I just can't do it captain!  I don't have the power!  The harbor seal had to take a little rest before going through the door.  Give him a break - it was a really hot day.

A few interesting and nerdy facts.  Make special note of #2 - Infrared images.....nerdy!

Bye Bex!  We promise we'll come visit you.  Or is it us that were in the cage?  That's the thing about zoos.  Sometimes it's hard to tell who is looking at whom.

 
Not shown here:  the warthog.  Guess what song we sang when we saw him?  Of course we saw all kinds of other stuff.  Lions, tigers, bears......jaguars, rhinos, penguins, llamas, monkeys, gorillas, caribou, bongos, etc.

2014 Bushel Basket List, Weeks 31 & 32

Checked off the list:  #14 - Run in a 5K event.  I did a 5K mud run on August 16, 2014.  I ran most of the way.  But....I did walk a little bit and stopped to wait for my friends sometimes.  I'm counting it anyway.  :-)  Flat MelBMarvis came to help cheer us on.

Stuff and Things

A couple thoughts from the day will be posted here.

Have you seen that video floating around facebook about "this is what a McDonald's burger does to your body"?  Where they put a whole McDonald's hamburger into hydrochloric acid (HCl) for a couple hours?  The half of the burger actually in the acid mostly dissolves but not completely, and it kind of turns the HCl a dark brown/black.  Is this supposed to scare me?  I don't understand how.  First of all, most people chew their food before they put it in their stomach, which makes very tiny pieces, which increases surface area of the food and makes it easier to digest.  Secondly, have you ever seen what color someone's puke is?  Yeah, it's usually some shade of brown if it's been partially digested.  And, as they say at the end of the video, pure HCl is not completely representative of your stomach because it's missing some of the enzymes, etc. that help dissolve fat when it's in your stomach.  To me, that seems like bad science in that video.  Make an experiment that is partially representative of the situation, and then extrapolate recklessly.

On a totally different subject, I was thinking about what makes kids so precious.  I was thinking about this because of several texts I received with pictures of my nieces.  And because of a situation near my parents where someone lost a child recently.  In addition to all the care and labor (pun intended) it takes to create a child in the first place and the love God puts in the hearts of parents when their children are born, I think what else is so heartbreaking when a child dies is to see all that potential taken away.  Kids have so much potential, don't they?  They're so innocent and haven't become jaded yet.  They have great hope, faith, and trust in their parents and the future.  How could we not be sad to lose something like that?  Even though we know as those children become adults they will change and may not reach their full potential, we still love to dream about what could be.  If they do reach their full potential, that is beautiful as well.  And, we probably love children because it gives us a glimpse of how we want to be spiritually....full of hope, faith, and trust in our Father and the future.

That is all for today.  Until next time, readers.

Book Review: Sliding on the Snow Stone

A year or more ago, in an e-mail, my friend Charlie recommended reading the book "Sliding on the Snow Stone" by Andy Szpuk.  It went on "the list" of books to read, but wasn't all that close to the top.  Over the year I've been whittling away at "the list", and it was kinda sorta near the top for the last few months, and I actually downloaded it to my Kindle.

Then I went on vacation to Ukraine, and what better book to read on the way home than "Sliding on the Snow Stone?"  The book is a memoir of a boy who lived through Holodomor and WWII in Ukraine.  It's a very gripping tale for sure.  It highlights the hardship and heartbreak that many Ukrainians saw in the 20th century.  The last chapter or two slow down some, but I still considered it a very good read to the end.  I don't want to be a spoiler by giving too many details and I don't even have any good quotes from the book, but I do highly recommend reading the book.

It made me think about how fortunate I am to live in a place where I can see my family almost any time I want to.  Or at least at a minimum talk to them any time I want to.  It made me thankful that for the most part, human life is valued in this country.  It made me thankful to live in a land of freedom and liberty.  It made me thankful that I live in a land with plenty of food.  I guess you could just say it made me thankful.

Observations for the Day

At work today, I realized the sales rep paradox:  The sales rep always wants to talk to the engineers who are too busy working on important projects to talk, and they don't necessarily want to talk to the engineers who have time to talk because they aren't on the important projects.

It was kind of a strange day today.  First of all, the weather was 60 degrees F and spitting rain all day like it was April instead of August.  Despite that, I was in a fairly good mood at the start of the work day.  Then I got a little bit owly before lunch.  I was in a better mood after lunch (probably the food helped).  Losing at softball made me a bit down, but then I came home and did some exercise and felt good again.  Weird.

Also, today I wore one of the shirts I purchased last Thanksgiving.  I had worn it once or twice before, but not to work.  But when I put it on this morning, I thought it probably looked enough like "me" that people might not notice it was new.  That was a bad assumption.  Several people did notice.  One CAD guy and our docs management lady thought it almost looked sparkly without being shiny.  That sounds about right for an engineer.  One of the other CAD guys took the opportunity to make comments about how the shirt was reminiscent of chain mail.  I punched him in the throat.  ;-)

The softball and beach volleyball seasons are over for the year.  We got eliminated in both tournaments this week.  So now I will have a couple weeks of less "scheduled" week nights.  Which is a good thing as long as it doesn't last too long.

That's it for today.

Conflict Resolution

I was reminded of elementary school the other day.  Sometimes the school counselor would come into the class and give guidance sessions.  If I remember correctly, one of those sessions involved teaching us about conflict resolution.  As part of that, she taught us a little "script" that can be used to help.  It goes like this:  "When you __________ I feel _________.  I wish _________."  At the time I thought it was ridiculous and kind of corny.  And up until about 4 or 5 months ago, I still did.  However, recent events have given me a greater appreciation for it.  I haven't specifically used this, but I've realized how critical it is to have all three elements as part of the conflict resolution:

1. State what the person is doing specifically that you don't like.
2. State how it makes you feel / how it affects you (and others)
3. Suggest a better plan of action.

If you leave out the first part completely or give kind of a general statement like "I think you're doing a bad job", you rob the person of the opportunity to understand what specific actions he or she needs to address.  And if they don't know specifics, how can they change?

Stating how it affects you is also necessary to help the person understand why a change would be necessary - helping them be more empathic toward you I suppose.  If you leave this part out, I think the person doesn't see why they need to change.  They need motivation.  But, you can't do only this part.  Saying only, "I feel like you're not doing your share of the work", doesn't really help much either.  They might feel like they're doing plenty of the work.

And finally, suggesting a better plan of action.  I think this is one people often leave out, at least based on my limited, recent observation.  It seems many people like to criticize or complain about your actions, but when asked what a better plan of action would be, often they can't/won't give one.  I'm not sure why this is - maybe it's just human nature.  And only giving suggestions on how to change isn't all that effective either.  If you just tell someone what they need to do differently, they might just think you're trying to be bossy if you don't tell them the other two parts of the statement.

I know this one statement isn't the be-all, end-all of conflict resolution, but I think it is a very good place to start with some dialogue.  Also, be warned that this fall I'm starting some leadership training at work, so you may be getting more of this type of post for the next year or so.  That's it for today.  Now go resolve some conflict!

Brief Stint

Ummm...yeah....you may have noticed I'm falling behind on my 2014 bushel basket list.  I'm not sure if I will have a recovery plan or not.  But I suppose the list is a tool, and one shouldn't allow themselves to be controlled by a helpful tool, right?  I'll still try to get back on track, but I'm not going to kill myself trying to get back on track.

I looked up one of my Google profiles, and based on my internet activity they estimate I'm a 25-34 year old male.  Hmmm......half right ain't bad.  I wonder what they will say in 6 months......

Monday is almost over.  Have a good rest of the week!