"Cyber Monday"--the Monday after "Black Friday" (for Shopping)

Today is "Cyber Monday"--the Monday after "Black Friday" (for Shopping) (that is, the day after Thanksgiving in the USA).  This was "self-proclaimed" last year as the equivalent day for Internet shopping as "Black Friday" is for retail "brick and mortar" stores.

Sales have been promoted over the last few weeks--both in physical stores and Internet stores--and retailers are "letting out the stops" to encourage purchasing any way they can convince shoppers to buy.

I shop regularly via the Internet when I have something that is offered in that medium.  Cyber Monday did not influence me to make any purchases and the ones I'm making now are my routine purchases that I would be making regardless of the day or promotion.

The media is tracking "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" and reporting the ups and down in shopping compared to last year.  The economy is still having its own ups and downs and there will be more demand for the available dollars than there are dollars.

The "best buys" and "steepest discounts" don't have much meaning if you cannot use the money for shopping the "latest and greatest" (in whatever form it takes.)

Aging, Medicine, Continuous Care Retirement Communities and "Old Dogs"

For almost 17 years my Mom has been living in a Continuous Care Retirement Community (CCRC).  My Dad was with her for the first three years before he passed away due to complications related to cancer.  Mom coordinated volunteers at the community's shop for thirteen years.  I frequently helped her create the calendars and send them to all the volunteers involved.  We used a Macintosh computer and had lots of fun with it.

Mom lived in her own apartment with her dog for the first thirteen years at the CCRC and has lived in an assisted living unit for the last four years.  Two of her former volunteers live on the same floor she does and I saw the names of two more volunteers living in the medical wing of the CCRC on the floor below Mom's apartment.

Innovations in medicine contribute to the extension of quality of life and I have seen it with my parents.  Last year Mom was accidentally given a dose of medication for another resident.  I was there almost as soon as it happened.  I contacted the pharmacy and was relieved to learn that most of the medicine would not have a negative impact on Mom.  She was "out of it" for about 24-hours, then recovered well as the foreign medicines left her system.

The movie Old Dogs I found to be very funny and fun to watch.  Part of the movie has the two main characters, Robin Williams and John Travolta, accidentally taking the wrong medicine and shows side effects that made me laugh out loud.  I take my own medicine (more vitamins than prescriptions) twice a day and have set-up my Mother's medicine for years.  (Her medicine is now packaged by a local pharmacy for distribution at the CCRC.)

Mom will be 95 in December and her medicine and the CCRC are contributing to her high quality of life at this point in her life.  I am happy to be sharing this quality time with her.

BARD Website provides Digital Audiobooks for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

The Library of Congress provides the National Library Service (NLS) for the blind and physically handicapped.  Recently the NLS has begun switching from audiobooks on recorded cassettes to digitally recorded audiobooks--available on a special cartridge and for download.  These digital audiobooks are available for eligible subscribers only and must be played through the Digital Talking Book Machine (DTBM) player provided by the NLS through state libraries or by an equivalent machine purchased by an eligible subscriber.

The NLS now has a Braille and Audio Recording Download (BARD) website which subscribers can use to download digital audiobooks in a compressed (Zipped) format.  These downloaded digital audiobooks can be extracted to a file on a computer system, then the extracted file folder can be copied onto a USB drive that has no other pre-loaded software.  The DTBM need to see the file folder and can access the book files.

While these books have been released as recently as October, 2009, there are already some updates to the software.  These can be accessed at a special DTBM update website.    These updates are also in zipped format and need to be downloaded and extracted on a computer.  Then the extracted file folder needs to be copied to its own USB drive so the DTBM can read the update and initiate it immediately.

My mother received her "advanced" DTBM (which allows bookmarking of downloaded books) in early November.  We needed to update her software before her machine played downloaded audiobooks.  After updating the machine, we have discovered that the PNY 2GB USB 2.0 drives available from WalMart at $9.98 work well for both downloaded audiobooks and downloaded updates.  BARD will be adding to its collection throughout the year and beyond.  It currently makes books and magazines available in digital audio format in multiple languages.

My mother (who has macular degeneration in both eyes) started working with the cassette tape players provided by the NLS earlier this year.  She had many problems with the recorded cassettes because she is also hard of hearing and, though we have external speakers that let her hear what is played, the combination of the narrators voice and the cassette recording made it extremely difficult for her to understand the audiobooks received on cassette.  The cassette player also works with audiobooks from public libraries and she was able to understand many of those.

The DTBM player is both easier to operate and has a much clearer sound quality.  It is much easier for Mom to understand digital audiobooks played on this machine.

Mom lives in Carol Stream, IL, and is supported by the Voices of Vision Talking Book Center based in Geneva, IL.  Her online membership registered with Voices of Vision transferred to the BARD website in one working day.  Mom needed an e-mail address and had to complete two online forms to be able to open her BARD account and download digital audiobooks.

The mission of the NLS is "That All May Read" and they are doing a terrific job at making that happen for thousands of blind and physically handicapped individuals, free of charge.  The materials mailed to the people using the service and being returned to the Talking Book Centers move through the U.S. Post Office free of charge ("Matter for the Blind and Physically Handicapped").

This service and the new BARD service and DTBM are keeping Mom connected to the world in ways that she would otherwise not have access to.  I am very thankful for the support of the Library of Congress, the National Library Service, and of the Voices of Vision Talking Book Center and all those involved in adding to the quality of life for their patrons.

I first saw the DTBM at the July 2009 Annual Conference and Exhibition for the American Library Association in Chicago, IL.  The Library of Congress had an exhibit at McCormick Place and their representative showed me how the player worked.  At the time he said that they were being made (in China) and would be avaliable soon for distribution in the USA.  We received a letter in early October allowing Mom to request the player as soon as it became available and she was one of the first to receive one in this area.  The cartridge is "wrapped around" a USB drive and the DTBM reads one book at a time.

The DTBM can access multiple books on the same USB drive by holding down the green PLAY button as the machine advances through the folders on the drive. I will still have a few drives available for Mom can free space on the drives by erasing the books when she is finished with then, then can load other books on the same drive.

Black Friday--Start of "Official" Christmas Shopping Season in the USA

"Black Friday"--the "official" starting date of the Christmas Shopping season in the USA is the day after Thanksgiving.  Retailers prepare for that date because, historically, sales on that date put the retailers "in the black" (on the positive side of the ledger) for the year--rather than being "in the red" (on the negative side of the ledger).

With the economic downturn in the USA in 2009, retailers have been concerned.  Some opened on Thanksgiving and some have been pushing "Black Friday" sales earlier than the official "Black Friday" to make sure consumers bought merchandise in their stores rather than finding them somewhere else.

Shoppers participate fully in the event, sometimes camping out in the parking lots before major retailers until they open their doors at special hours set aside for "Black Friday" shopping.  Smaller amounts of merchandise on special sales are expected to be made available this year, making the competition to get the desired product at the best price even keener among consumers.

Though many items may be on sale, many consumers, experiencing the economic downturn directly, may not be in a position to take advantage of the sale prices until their personal economies become more stable--putting the consumers "in the black" in their own ledger books.

I didn't shop today, though I was in and around shopping areas.  I did not see the crowds the media had led me to expect and it was a beautiful, sunny, day--a little cool (good to be indoors) with little traffic congestion  on the roads.

I shop online for many things and go to discount stores and membership shopping clubs (Sam's Club and Costco) for many of the things I purchase for gifts and for personal use.  I'm not rushing to spend money this year and my gift budget will be for smaller items than in prior years.  "Quality over quantity this year" is a good perspective to have.

I did hear my first Christmas music for the year.  I'm glad I like the music because I'll be hearing it until December 26th, 2009.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November.  It is celebrated in Canada and in a few other countries.

It is traditionally celebrated as a time of thanksgiving for an abundant harvest and for all the blessings we enjoy.  The holiday itself has, from time to time, had political significance and, these days, it is the marker for the official beginning of the holiday shopping season (which starts on the Friday after Thanksgiving--"Black Friday" because so many shoppers buy that the retailers move into the "black" [positive side of their ledgers] for the balance of the year.)

This year some retailers are staying open on Thanksgiving to get a "jump start" on "Black Friday."

Regardless of the uses to which the holiday has been put, Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect and be thankful.

I'm thankful for the quality time I am able to spend with my mother (who will be 95 next month).  I am also thankful to be in a warm house with abundant food and close friends in a country which is at peace (at home, anyway).  I am thankful for my life experience and the blessings I have enjoyed up to this moment and for the future I can see from where I am standing now.

I'm also thankful for my understanding of God and spirituality and for the choices I have to make my life a positive difference for myself and for others.  I am thankful for the support I have in my work with Spirit and in my daily physical life.

Life, Art, and the "Golden Ratio" or "Divine Proportion" (Phi)

An earlier post dealt with life imitating art and art imitating life.  The "Golden Ratio" or "Divine Proportion" (Phi, 1.6180339877. . .) was introduced in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.  Amazingly, this ratio or proportion applies to nature, music, art, and is a sort of "universal principle."

Another group of numbers introduced in The Da Vinci Code is called the Fibonacci numbers.  Leonardo de Piza (son of Bonaccio--and therefore "Fibonacci") shared these numbers with the western world in his book, Liber Abaci, in 1202.  These numbers are reflected in nature and, once introduced to the world, in many works of art.

In the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, mankind attempts to communicate with other species by mathematically sequenced musical notes.  In this regard, mathematics is seen as a sort of "universal language." 

These concepts certainly demonstrate that certain mathematical formulae reflect critical processes in nature and art and provide a supporting structure for a link between the two.

Reviewing Second Languages--Audio and Visual Method

This week I am reviewing my Spanish, bringing myself more "up to speed."  Today I started a new approach in my review.  Working with the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, I started listening to the unabridged audio in English and reading along in an  unabridged Spanish companion book.  This way I hear the English and see how it has been translated into Spanish.

I have suggested that audiobooks and companion books are a great way for English language learners (ELLs) to build their English skills.  This was by listening to unabridged audiobooks in English and reading the unabridged companion book in English.

Now I am exploring a different arrangement.  Listen to an unabridged audiobook in one language and read the unabridged companion book in a second language.  Currently I am practicing by listening to the audiobook in English and reading it in Spanish.  In the car I am listening to the same audiobook in Spanish.  For another book, I will listen to the audiobook in Spanish and read it in English simultaneously.

This is a challenging way to advance in second languages and to put practice into practical use.

Life and Art--Blind Side Movie--Life Embedded in Art

Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses.  She is very versatile and normally plays authentic parts.  I recently watch her in The Proposal in English and in Spanish and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  Recently I saw her take on a new role in The Blind Side, a movie based on real life.

In The Blind Side,  Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a no-nonsense southern Mom who sees Michael Oher and brings into her family.  At the conclusion of the movie, the still pictures are all about the real Michael Oher and the Tuohys.

The movie is compelling and brings home the plight of young people facing the same challenges Michael Oher did before getting into high school.  Sandra Bullock's portrayal is moving and feels authentic.

Mac vs PC--Marketing at the Apple Store

Mac vs PC takes on a new dimension at the Apple Store on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  I went there with two friends today for a series of workshops on how to work with the Macintosh computers, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch.  While there I received free tech support at the iPod bar (across from the "Genius" bar) regarding using Netlibrary with iTunes.

The workshops, also free, provided a good introduction into how to work with the Macintosh and its integrated programs.  I first worked on an Apple computer in 1979 and have always been "addicted" to the Macintosh while working with multiple PCs.

The advent of the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the latest generation of Macintosh computers and Snow Leopard are moving me to return to the Macintosh at last.  I have recommended the Mac to friends and family just getting started on computers and have consistently found that they enjoy their computer experience tremendously working on the Macintosh.

A few years ago I flew with an Apple executive from California to Chicago and almost switched then.  My problem at the time was that I had too much invested in software that only ran on a PC.

With the new Macintosh programs, those issues have largely faded into the woodwork.  I enjoy my iPod Touch (3Gs, 32GB) and look forward to getting an iPhone (3Gs, 32GB or 64GB) in the near future.  Shortly after that I expect to transition to a MacBook Pro laptop and, later, an iMac with a 27-inch flat screen display.

Language Exams Preparation and Public Libraries

I am preparing for a comprehensive examination in Spanish that I expect to be taking in a few days.  While I am bilingual and have studied Spanish for six years, it has been a long time since I reviewed Spanish grammar and irregular verbs.  These days I normally relax into Spanish and engage in conversations.

Today I went to the St Charles Public Library and checked-out several review books and CDs for Spanish language.  I also picked-up two novels in Spanish, one in an audio book and a companion book--both unabridged and another in both Spanish and English.  Because I will need to be translating English into Spanish, part of my preparation will be to listen to an unabridged audio book in English and to read it in Spanish at the same time.

Fortunately for me, the public library had all of these resources.  I am also watching DVD movies in Spanish--and sometimes in English--and am taking advantage of the Spanish language learning program I have subscribed to online.

While I do not know what will be on the battery of tests in Spanish I will be facing soon, my immersion in the language and its grammar will undoubtedly help me do better than not taking the time to become immersed in the language.

Coincidence--Serendipity--Celestine Prophecy--Opening our Awareness--Goals and Intentions

I had a chance to go to downtown Chicago today and took a Metra train from La Fox to Ogilvie Transportation Center.  On the train ride, a person sat across from me--coming to the train from another stop along the way.  For about fifteen minutes prior to arrival in downtown Chicago we engaged in a conversation that made me remember some of the "insights" documented in James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy.

Coincidence and serendipity are some of the first "insights" James Redfield introduces in his book.  I had been trying to find some information regarding credit for prior military service in employment by the federal government.  The person sitting across from me was a U.S. Attorney and just celebrated his 31st anniversary in that position yesterday.

Not only was he able to answer the questions I could not get answers to yesterday, he was also able to give me insights into federal employment including two opportunities I have been working on for more than a month.

I took that train to be on time for my downtown meetings and had arranged to go with two friends who also had business in downtown Chicago.  Another part of the "coincidence" was that we all arrived at the train station early and took the 7:01AM train rather than the 7:16AM train.  Had we arrived a few minutes later we would have missed that opportunity.

I went downtown for two meetings.  My intention was to build business for myself during my visit to Chicago and my goals were to introduce some business relationships in these two meetings.  I was able to accomplish that intention and those goals.  Along the way I found out how to use my AT&T wifi service using my iPod Touch in downtown Chicago.

The very best part of my visit was the fifteen-minute conversation with the U.S. Attorney just before arriving in Chicago.  We were both open to chat and to share about ourselves.  This led to having my questions answered and having more insight into the government positions I am exploring.

Workforce Development--Determining Training Needs

Workforce development--this is a critical concept for today's economy.  What are the training needs of people in the workforce?  How are community needs assessments conducted?  In the Hispanic community, to what degree is more training in English or in Spanish important to the workforce and to the families of workers?

DrM-Resources is conducting a project on Community Needs Assessment.  There is a need for new chambers of commerce to be involved.

Chambers of commerce have access to their members and can gather important information that can be provided to community colleges, universities, and other vendors to support custom-designed workforce training appropriate to the needs of member organizations.

Global Positioning System--Finding Our Way, Finding Each Other

Global Positioning System (GPS)--consists of a network of satellites linked together to pinpoint locations on the planet.  GPS Navigation Devices--produced by Magellan, Garmin, TomTom, Nextar, and others with applications for the iPhone--allow almost everyone to take advantage of the GPS to navigate from place to place using maps.  Multiple users can even find each other using two GPS navigation units.  Many of these (like the iPhone) are hand-held devices and, while they may be used in vehicles, they can also be used by pedestrians.

The Astrolabe  and the Mariner's astrolabe allowed ancient astronomers and navigators to determine positioning using triangulation.  The GPS of today brings this process to pinpoint accuracy.

Language Tests, Language Practice, Language Learning and Review

In previous posts I have talked about the importance of maintaining second language proficiency.  Today I ordered some DVD movies in Italian from WalMart.com and was watching another DVD movie in Spanish that I had ordered from Netflix.  I have also been watching several DVD movies in French--some from my own library and some from Netflix.

I received a call today concerning a business opportunity I had applied for on October 29, 2009.  Today was the first I had heard about that application.  In the next few days I need to take a battery of tests in Spanish to compete for the position.

I had signed-up for the online language program to review my French and will now be reviewing my Spanish grammar while watching DVD movies in Spanish. 

It is amazing how many business opportunities can come forward when second-language proficiency is attained and maintained.  I am happy that practice is as enjoyable as watching DVD movies in the target languages and that these DVD movies are so readily available.

Life and Art, Science and Faith--Multiple Points of View

One of the culminating activities in my senior year, majoring in  humanities at Florida State University, was to write a personal essay regarding science and faith.  In the years since then I have seen  that while art often imitates life, life, indeed, imitates art from time to time.

 While some people polarize on each of the four areas, I see all four as integrated parts of a whole.  Sometimes it may be like looking at a diamond through its facets to look at our life experience through the perspective of one or more of these areas.

Sustainability--Retirement--Extended Lifetimes--Quality of Life--Relative Terms

Sustainability has become a key word this year.  President Obama mentions it in connection with the economy and preserving the ecology of the planet by developing alternative fuels and lifestyles that do not destroy our environment.

In this context we need to pay attention to the long-term impact of our solutions.  We don't want to begin relying on new car batteries that will further harm the environment when they wear out.  One aspect of sustainability is keeping in mind an extended time frame.

Sustainability is important to keep in mind when thinking about retiring--especially in today's economy in the USA.  Improvements in medicine, nutrition, and health have extended life expectancy.  To maintain a high quality of life (not necessarily a very expensive lifestyle) to age 100, for example, it is important to create a flow of income adequate to support that quality of life (including inflation) either before retirement age or to supplement any retirement income that a person has access to.

After World War II, social security was developed to make sure that wage earners could have some supplementary income in case their pensions from work plus their savings were not enough to provide basic needs.  Medicare came out of a similar concern.  More recently, most companies have decided not to fund pensions directly and have turned to 401K plans where companies and employees purchase stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to plan for retirement.  In the last few years, when the stock market took a nose dive, on paper, people have lost between 75% and 50% of the money they had invested.  Of course they did not realize these loses yet because they do not manifest until the stocks, bonds, or mutual funds are actually sold.  While the concept of dollar cost averaging (the concept that every dollar invested in the stock market will increase in value over an extended period of time) is still valid, some people do not have 40 more years to wait for the value to rise to the point where they need it to be.

News reports in the last few days have talked about "a jobless economic recovery."  Claiming that while there are indications of economic recovery, new jobs--or jobs of equal value to the jobs that have been lost--are not being created.  These same reports speak to a 10% unemployment rate for the country.  Unemployment rates do not include those whose benefits have run out and who, while possibly still unemployed, are now "off the radar."

My mother's highest salary in the public school system was about $22,000 per year as a supervisor.  When she retired, two supervisors were hired to do what she did and they each earned about $60,000 per year.  The economy shifted and her generation operated under a much lower ceiling for pay.

In today's economy we may be facing a reversal.  Excluding the super-high-incomes of certain executives of what have historically been multi-million dollar companies, many salaries have been in a six-figure range.  There appear to be fewer six-figure salaried positions available today.  The salary for many jobs seems to have dropped significantly.

As baby boomers continue to age and as the next generation advances in their careers, openings for leadership jobs will continue to shrink.  While no one practices age discrimination, some people are calling for a particular type of training or experience that older workers will not have.  Other companies are paying only entry-level wages for higher responsibility positions.

A challenge for baby boomers happens when, for whatever reason, the job or business they are used to ceases to exist and they have to begin planning for a sustainable retirement.  Social security (for as long as it lasts) will help and needs to be supplemented.  Supplementary income can be much less than baby boomers used to get in their previous jobs.  At the same time, many of these baby boomers are especially concerned with the quality of life they experience--at home and at work.  With age comes a desire for less stress, a shorter commute, regular hours, and quality time outside of work.  Six-figure jobs frequently don't offer these added benefits. 

Some people work best as employees and others enjoy earning their income directly--through sales or running their own business.  Planning for retirement differs for these two types of earners and both need to create effective, workable, and sustainable plans to enjoy a good quality of life for the lifetime left to them.  Planning for a 100-year lifetime does not seem to be too unreasonable in the near term, especially if the person planning is currently age 50 or less.

All of these terms are relative--we will each be thinking of what quality of life means to us and how much income we will need to cover planned and unplanned expenses as we age.  What we do need to plan for is a network of income resources that will be sustainable as we age.  This usually means that we need several streams of income, each of which can last for a long time.

Shared Values and Priorities--Requirements for Successful Relationships, both Business and Personal

Shared values and priorities are critically important for successful relationships in both business and personal life.  When values and priorities clash, the people involved pull in opposing directions and progress toward any goals becomes very hard--like walking through deep mud or molasses.

When values and priorities are shared, especially when perspectives can also be shared, it is much easier for the people involved to work together to achieve the desired goals, often encouraging each other when anyone encounters resistance or difficulties.

In a business setting, when I hear someone speak highly about a value I do not hold, I am immediately alerted to pay attention to how much (energy, money, etc.) I want to invest with the business or people adhering to that value.

In a personal setting, if I find someone speaking highly (or acting on) values I do not hold, I am immediately alerted to pay attention to how much (energy, money, etc.) I want to invest in that relationship or with that person.

While at first glance, this may seem a little harsh, over time I have discovered that these are lessons I need to keep in mind.  Ultimately I will act on these priorities, so I may as well act on them immediately.

My family commitments are currently more important to me than business opportunities.  I frequently hear of business opportunities that would split me away from my family priorities.  Regardless of how good they sound, these business opportunities are not for me--at least in the near term.  If I see a contradiction in values within the opportunities, they are not for me in the long term either.  The good news about that is that I can free up my energy and time to consider or create business opportunities that are aligned with my family commitments, business priorities, and values.

Movies, Culture, Language, Time, and New Perspectives, Tradition, Holidays

Movies provide amazing insights into time periods and cultures.  Movies in different languages offer perspectives that are otherwise invisible.  Turner Classic Movies provides a wealth of films that reflect some of the best America has had to offer.  As a teacher, I used the movie It's a Wonderful Life to introduce ideas about American culture--the great depression, World War II, small-town life, the evolution of industry.  The film is rich in all of these things.  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington offers English language learners a glimpse into the history of politics in the United States.

While fiction, many movies have become traditions and capture much of the culture of their times.  In my family, Thanksgiving (near the end of November) is the time for Miracle on 34th Street which begins with the Thanksgiving Day parade of Macy's department store in New York City.  We also watch White Christmas and Holiday Inn (two versions of the same movie), and are sure to see It's a Wonderful Life before Christmas.  Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol is also part of our holiday fare.  I saw a delightful new version in "Real 3D" of Disney's A Christmas Carol with Jim Carey earlier this week.

When I was learning Italian, I lived in Italy as a graduate student for six months and went to lots of Italian re-runs.  As the audience laughed themselves silly, I was struggling to keep up with the folow of the words.  Before long my Italian improved and I laughed along with the rest of the audience.  Many of the Italian films and much of the Italian humor differed greatly from what I was used to in American films.  It was delightful to get to know the movies in Italian.  One title I remember was very different in Italian and in English.  I believe it was an Italian western.  The Italian title was Giu la testa (keep your head down).  The same movie's title in English was Duck, Stupid! later changed to Duck, You Sucker!

Recently, to bring back my French fluency, I began watching French films from Netflix.  One movie is entitled Une hirondelle . . . a fait du printemps (The Girl from the Spring).  The English title for the same movie is The Girl from Paris.  The French title is much more in keeping with the theme of the movie though the girl does come from Paris.  Another French movie I have recently watched and enjoyed was Priceless.  Again, the culture and humor of the film is very different from typical American movies.

Watching familiar DVD's in other languages is also a great way to bring fluency back.  Many DVD's have sound tracks and closed captions in multiple languages and it is a great way to review and refresh fluency by working with a combination of oral and written languages with viewing the DVD's.   Some of my favorites to watch in multiple languages are Dave, French Kiss, One Fine Day, and Groundhog Day.

Secure Websites, Identity Theft, Internet Purchases, DrM-Language

In setting-up Internet payments through PayPal, I was advised not to use a logo if the site was unsecure.  That would result in error messages saying that some content was not secure when someone wanted to make a purchase.

PayPal and many other websites are secure and protect payment information from clients and customers.  More and more products and services are available for purchase via the Internet.  Most of these payments are secure.

A few months ago I responded to an e-mail ad and purchased a service.  Shortly after that someone made an unauthorized purchase on a MasterCard, using data I had provided for that service.  My credit-card company refunded the unauthorized charge and I was reminded about the vulnerability we all have for identity theft.  In this case, I believe that the information gained about my card came from a telephone call follow-up.

Now I need to have the credit-card number changed and a new card issued so that no more unauthorized charges can be made against the card.

DrM-Language has some links for people to purchase an affordable, online language learning program. On those links there is an Enroll button which goes to a secure site for purchase of the online language program. 

As an Internet merchant who has experienced unauthorized charges on my credit-cards, I am even more sensitive to the need to protect my clients and customers.  At present, I rely on vendors to provide the secure websites for payments.

Armistice Day--Ending of One Conflict and Beginning of Another--21st Century Applications

Armistice Day, 11/11/1918 at 11:00AM--marked the end of conflict on the western front during World War I (WWI).  Referred to as Rememberance Day in the British Commonwealth and National Day in many other European countries, it was changed to Veteran's Day in the USA after World War II (WWII).

Unfortunately, the terms of the peace agreement on 11/11/1918, did not sit well with Germany  and marked the beginning of what eventually became WWII. 

In the 21st Century, there are many similar examples in terms of multinational conflict.  To take only one, the experience in the USA of 9-11-2001, was the trigger that has prompted billions or trillions of US dollars expended on conflicts in the Middle East.  Iraq, Afganistan, Islamic terrorists who operate across borders, Pakistan, Iran, the USA, allies from the British Commonwealth, Europe, and throughout the world keep taking one next step or decision which eventually foments more conflict elsewhere.

Sacred texts to the Hebrews, the Christians, and the Moslems all point to conflict in the Middle East that dates back to about 3,000 years before Christ (5,000 plus years ago).  While personalities in this conflict reflect the 21st Century, many of the traditions of the conflict have deep historical roots.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  We need to pay attention to the lessons of Armistice Day, 11/11/1918 and what came out of it.  How can we apply what we learn from those lessons to decisions about funding current conflicts today.

There is a lot of violence in the streets in the USA and elsewhere these days.  Hundreds of school-age children are killed in Chicago and its suburbs.  Some gangs are inspired by what they learn of terrorists.  Some terrorists can extend their influence to people who might not otherwise be connected with their goals and ideals.  Even officers serving in the U.S. Military are not immune to seeds of violence and distruction.

What can we do to end the conflicts in the world around us in ways that do not lead to more conflict later?

Organizational Culture, Comfort Zones, Support, Trust, Norms, and Change

Organizational culture contains norms of accepted behavior, comfort zones, and processes to find support and to develop trust.  There is an Organizational Performance Change Curve (slide 9) that shows how organizations move through a process of change.

Some organizations have created habits of looking internally for support--a kind of "inside the box" thinking.  As organizations grow and mature, some learn to look outside the box and outside the organization for appropriate support.  It is difficult for people enmeshed in the culture of an organization to seek outside support unless it is endorsed and encouraged by the culture.

In many small to mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, all employees turn to the business owner for support.  This can create problems for the entrepreneur.  He or she can get bogged down by the number of daily challenges and problems brought to him or her for decisions and advice.  Instead of putting his or her energy toward the improvement of business processes and in growing the business, he or she is invested in putting out innumerable small-fire-problems brought by the employees.

Often the entrepreneur can seek outside support for the business owner, the business, and the employees.  By finding a trusted advisor outside the business, he or she can suggest that employees take many of their small-fire-problems to the consultant who is not going to have his or her support for the business interrupted by dealing with the problems and the employees.  When entrepreneurs can use these consultants more effectively, they can choose a few employees to be the "go-to" people within the organization and the outside consultant can coach those people to be effective in helping employees with small-fire-problems and in improving their own ability to make daily decisions and to put-out the "small-fires" themselves.

Developing Professional Competence for the 21st Century--Consultants, Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Pizza Chefs

"For a boy with a shinny new hammer, all the world looks like a nail." "If we have only one tool in our toolkit, while we may find creative new applications for that tool, we won't be able to do what we could if we had more appropriate tools for the requirements of the job."

In the early days of America, shortly before the Revolutionary war of 1776, many jobs were based on the master-apprentice model prevalent in Europe.  A boy would be apprenticed to a trade.  The owner would be a "master" craftsman and there would be other stages including journeyman and down to the level of apprentice.  Variations on this model still exist today, including a popular concept of an "internship."

One of the purposes of such a model for acquiring professional skill over time was to have a wide variety of work experience allowing the learner to develop a repetoire of skills and tools with which to approach the professional challenges the learner would experience.  The apprenticeship model also allowed people to move through the personal performance change curve (see slide 8).

In sales, many people rely on scripts developed to allow more junior sales personnell to cover key aspects of a sales transaction.  When someone is obvious in using a script when trying to make a sale, the person who may be buying may be put off by the script.  On the other hand, in professional management training, checklists are often used to make sure that managers follow the key steps in managing the appropriate interaction.  While some employees may not like that their manager follows a script, others have claimed in the past, "Please follow the checklist.  You are a much better manager now that you have one to follow."

That could be true for sales people and sales scripts as well.

Consultants, doctors, lawyers, teachers, pizza chefs, and many other professionals are expected to develop by practicing over time and by becoming reflective practitioners (learning by reflecting on their experience and improving their performance and outcomes).

Often someone comes up with a good idea that everyone likes and trys to implement.  Peter Senge and the Fifth Discipline had a major impact on the consulting world.  Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers) and Michael Gerber (eMyth Revisited) are both popular authors whose books have inspired many consultants and many follow-up ideas.  Eliyahu Goldratt (The Goal, Critical Chain) has developed a series of books and concepts and teaches consultants to work with a Process of Ongoing Improvement ("Poogi").

Professional consultants can benefit from all of these authors and need to integrate relevant tools into their professional toolkits so that they can bring out the most appropriate tool for the situation in which they find themselves. 

A problem with consulting firms with massive teams of consultants is that most of the consultants were university trained and focus on relatively low-complexity tasks.  The firm brings a wide variety of resources with multiple consultants with varying seniority to meet the challenges of their clients.

When someone works with a smaller consulting firm, the consultant needs to be more flexible, with a solid background of expertise and a network of professional contacts who can be called on to supplement the consultant's skills and tools as needed. 

LinkedIn is a good social network for consultants to connect with peers.  Sometimes consultants with websites provide links to others in their personal network and sometimes contracts are written so that networked consultants can be brought-in on appropriate pieces of client work.

These ideas are all part of evolving the concept of developing professional competence in the 21st Century.

Coaching Supervisors--the Supervisors' Dilemma

In conversations this weekend, I was reminded of what I call the "supervisors' dilemma."  Traditionally, supervisors are usually very good in performing whatever tasks they were doing when they were selected for promotion to supervisor.  Once they are supervisors, only rarely do they receive training or coaching in how to be effective in managing others.  Frequently they are good problem-solvers and are eager to help the people they supervise.  When they step-in to do what they "did best" before they were promoted, they frequently forget to help the people they supervise learn how to perform better.

Years ago I worked with many organizations to train supervisors to be instructors and instructor-trainers in a program designed to help supervisors learn to manage the people they are supervising.  As I worked with more than 100 supervisors from many organizations, it became clear that the "supervisors' dilemma" is a common problem.

Some organizations recognize the problem and provide supervisory training similar to the training I worked with years ago.  Once supervisors received the training, they were frequently left on their own to apply it.

Another feature--rarely offered--is ongoing coaching for supervisors to be more successful.  Some of this coaching can be one-on-one, perhaps helping supervisors acquire the learning they need without having to take a formal training.  At other times this coaching can be on an "as needed" basis, helping supervisors to have a support person in place to help them move to a new perspective in their lives.

Yesterday's post dealt with "unintentional intolerance."  The connection between that post and today's post is that life-experience (slide 3) is what we bring with us to face any new challenge or decision we make in our lives.  Frequently we are not aware of all of the components of this life experience and make our decisions based on a very limited "sub-set" of our life experience--frequently what we are aware of "in the moment."  To be more successful as supervisors (and as coaches), we need habits of reflection (slide 2) to be able to access more areas of our life experience as we make our daily choices and decisions.

Coaches need to be "trusted advisors"  so that the people they are coaching can be honest with them and bring forward their real experience and thinking for assistance in reflecting on new performance choices and comfort zones.

Untentional Intolerance--Influence of Life Experience on Unintended Behavior

"Several years ago, Steve L. Robbins, PhD, coined the term 'unintentional intolerance' to define biases of which people are unaware," (JAVMA News, October 1, 2008).  Many researchers have documented various components of life experience which serves as the filter by which we find value in our experience--both tacitly (unconsciously) and with conscious awareness.

In my 1992 dissertation, I explored the components of life experience (see slide 3, then slide 2) and showed how these components of life experience are a factor in how we reflect on our experience and add to our integrated life experience.

While research such as that completed for this dissertation show how these often tacitly held beliefs influence our behavior, that does not mean that we remain aware of these influences in the moment of our action.

How often do we allow unintentional intolerance to influence our speech and behavior?  We often act in the same way a personal computer or Macintosh computer allows us to have operations working in the background of our awareness while we focus our attention on something in the foreground.

Becoming a Trusted Advisor--Independent Consulting for Businesses, Not-for-Profit Organizations, and Schools

Syms, in its advertising, says that "an educated consumer is its best customer."  There is a problem about having educated consumers as customers in the consulting services marketplace.  While there are multiple markets, three serve as practical examples--businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and schools.  When leaders in any of these three markets feel a need for consulting services, they go to trusted providers.  Businesses usually go to consulting firms rather than to individuals.  Not-for-profit organizations look for consulting firms specializing in their kind of organization.  Schools frequently look to universities as their source for trusted advisors.

Regardless of how much education and practical experience consulting professionals may have, there is no "instant" way to become a trusted advisor.  Another challenge is that, once someone becomes a trusted advisor the relationship may be considered more personal than professional--making it more difficult to charge and to collect an hourly fee.

LinkedIn.com encourages members to solicit recommendations from others in the member's network.  Recommendations can help begin to build trust between professionals.  Rather than mastering the "Google Ad Words" promotion, it is challenging to create an electronic footprint that allows for people to discover a new "trusted advisor."  Videos on YouTube may be one source for initial connections.

Ninety-first post to this blog

When I began this blog on August 10, 2009, I was committing to a daily post of reflections and ideas.  As I write the post tonight, I notice that this is the ninety-first blog.  One or two days had two posts, especially if I missed the midnight deadline for a post.

I want to write and publish several books.  A few are in various draft forms.  One of the purposes of a daily blog was to have the discipline of writing.  Indeed, another possibility for a book is to combine the daily blogs once I have enough of them written.

Reflection on daily thoughts and activities has been very worthwhile.  I don't know who is reading this blog and I refer to it in various posts and websites.  The process also allows me to make connections between activities and reflection that I might otherwise miss.

Sometimes I wait until almost 11:00PM to make my entries.  It seems that it takes that long sometimes to focus on what I want to post.  The good news is that throughout the day ideas for the blog are percolating in my mind, waiting for me to write them down.

Today has been an unusual day.  Lately I have been involved in contacting business professionals around the world to find people who want to work with me in enrolling language learners in a new, affordable, online language learning program.  I have been asking for people who are interested to contact me and have been responding to their e-mails with information.  There were fewer e-mails today and I find myself challenged to find innovative ways to encourage business professionals to check-out the programs and the business opportunities associated with them.

I need to explore new ways to connect with people who can and who want to benefit from the language learning these programs make available.  Anyone with any ideas, please comment on this post.

True Goals and Distracting Goals--Keeping Focused on True Goals

In her book, Shaman's Crossing, Robin Hobb introduces a task challenge made to several teams.  Each team is provided with building materials and has to choose a leader and to find a way to cross a stream.  The goal is for everyone on the team to be on the far side of the stream.  Team leaders can trade materials with other teams and, once traded, cannot claim it back.

As the teams explore ways to build a bridge across the stream, one team of nine has three people ford the stream so that they can anchor the bridge on the far side.  They explore several types of bridges and create one that almost works.  The next to the last team member crossing the bridge falls into the stream and the leader (the last one to cross over the bridge) realizes that the goal was not to build a bridge.  The true goal was to get every member of his team to the other side of the stream within a certain time.  He and the team help the next to the last man get to the top of the bank and the entire team reaches the far bank before time is called.

This reminds me of the importance of keeping focused on true goals and not on distracting goals.  Many times we choose a vehicle to try to accomplish a goal.  We can get so tied up with working with the technology (vehicle) we can forget the actual goal.

Support for "Flying Outside the Box"--Lifting beyond the limits of gravity

In the 1960 movie, High Time, Bing Crosby (playing Harvey Howard, 51-year-old widower and stakehouse tycoon) goes to college.  The movie tracks his college career from arrival on campus for his freshman year through graduation.  Along the way he falls in love with Nicole Maurey (playing the French lecturer, Madame Gautier).  He affirms that he is locked into his past--family, career, etc. and could no more fall in love again "than he could fly."  (Of course he does fall in love again and she does with him.)  As the commencement speaker at his graduation, Bing demonstrates that he has changed his mind and has gone beyond his  pre-existing limits of thought and behavior--and declares his love. 

As much as I am an advocate for "out-of-the-box" thinking, I believe that there are times when I need to learn to "fly"--in much the way Bing does in this movie.  I was a paratrooper in the Army and loved the feeling of floating to earth under a parachute.  While that's not quite the same as flying, it does compel moving to a new perspective of thought.  "Tree-top level" is the moment when a paratrooper needs to relax and to get ready to land.  (My experiences were all "combat jumps" at about 1,200 feet above the ground rather than long free-fall jumps.)

Finding new ways to do things, using technology to help us to fly, all of these are important habits to cultivate, along with reflection and recognizing when we are "bumping our head against a glass ceiling."  It is important to develop strategies to move beyond these pre-existing limits. 

I enjoy watching High Time in the Fall to be reminded to lift off beyond the limits of gravity as I move into new projects and work.

Making Connections between Schools, Parents, and Students

Teachers are often challenged to make connections between schools, parents, and students.  Many times parents regard their children and school work as unrelated to the "real world" of their day-to-day lives.  The Library of Congress of the United States of America has suggested that students capture oral histories of their families.

Last year I had two projects that I introduced at the middle school (seventh and eighth grade) level that could be adapted up and down and is relevant to adults as well.  These two projects were a Family Migration History project and a Footprints Project.  You can find out more about these projects on my digital portfolio for education on YouTube.  (Follow this link for the same video on Teacher Tube.)  You can find the details for the projects on these websites:  http://drmontgomery.wikispaces.com/ and http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/.

In the Family Migration Story we used the National Geographic Human Genome Project as our starting place for everyone's stories, then picked up personal family stories as far back as the parents could remember, talking about family members and reasons for moving from one place to another across the globe.  Using a collaborative writing technique guided by the teacher students in each class created a series of questions which they translated from English to their native language.  They asked their parents the questions and recorded the answers.  They also gathered family pictures, souvenirs, and other family treasures to support their stories.  (These are called primary source documents in historical research circles.)  We made digital copies of these treasures and returned them immediately to their parents.  Our goal was to have the students write a script from their answers and to digitally record their Family Migration Stories--accompanied by the digital photographs of their family treasures.  Ideally they would make the recording in both English and in their native language.  Our goal was to record their scripts onto DVDs which the parents could then play at home.  Due to technological difficulties the audio in our recordings didn't work last year, though the rest of the project went well.

The Footprints project takes the end of the Family Migration Story and talks about what someone has done with their lives.  Middle school students can talk about what they want to do with their lives and what kind of footprint they want to leave on the planet.  Parents and teachers can talk about footprint stories from the point of view of what they have done with their lives and of the footprint they are leaving on the planet.

These are very engaging projects and are good for the beginning of a school year, though they could be a focus point for anytime during the year.  Parents could come to the school to view multiple Family Migration Stories as part of a celebration of learning.

The key to integrating parents into the school life and the life of the students is to make the connections with the real world.  Parents and students studying language together can be a help as well as parents becoming involved as subject matter experts about their own families.

Finding Quality Professional Connections around the world--LinkedIn Social Networking

I need to find quality professional connections around the world.  Looking to social networking for a solution, LinkedIn.com seems to be a very good solution.  There are millions of people connected via the site.  Many of the discussion groups put me in touch with professionals in the areas I am looking for.  Alumni networks put me in touch with professionals who share a corporate history with me from the global workplace.

LinkedIn offered me the opportunity to start my own discussion groups.  I created three to gather together people interested in three different projects I am currently working on.  I've just dissolved one of these groups due to apparent lack of interest (at the moment) and have sent an announcment to members of the Audio eBooks for Learning to see if people want that group to continue.  My newest group is DrM-Language-Network so that people who choose to work with me on my latest project, making affordable online language learning programs available to learners throughout the world, can join with me to share ideas and to celebrate sucesses.

I've joined several pre-existing LinkedIn discussion groups so that I can invite people to work with me or to refer me to others who may want to be involved in my current project(s).  Some of these people have also joined my "primary" LinkedIn network.

Many of the people who are already in my primary LinkedIn network are the type of professionals I enjoy working with.  LinkedIn is one place to find quality professional connections.  Presently this seems to be the most direct and effective means, though I am open to learning about more.