For the drinkers who enjoy their Starbucks...

So it has been a while since I have thrown a drink up here, but I am feeling it today.  As everyone ran in seventeen directions yesterday trying to find a new television or couch or the perfect toy to keep Timmy happy, many of you found your way to Starbucks.  While many of you need your pumpkin spice lattes with double soy light foam whatever, I usually am pretty straight forward...either a vanilla mocha or a Denis Leary coffee flavored coffee.  I know, I know...coffee flavored coffee.

In any case, someone recently had bought me a caramel macchiato and while it was okay, it was just aching to be a liquor inspired martini and I think we are pretty close drizzling caramel into the glassware and then mixing vodka, chocolate liqueur, and butterscotch schnapps.  You know the story...chill it, shake it, strain it into a martini glass and top with whipped cream.  Part of me thinks it needs milk chocolate shaved on top as well, but that could be the result of another bad dream.

Anyway, it has some punch, but not as much as say an AK-47, so instead it's named an AK-38.  In any case, good Saturday to you...I hope you are staying safe and warm.

The Success Of Greener Grass

I am regularly amazed at the comments people make to me about what I get done as opposed to how.  Everyone has the same twenty-four hours, right?  So the question is how are you using you time I think. 

Perhaps it is the post Thanksgiving shopping spree, the people anxious to see their families only to get away as soon as possible, but if you want to get things done, show me where you spend your time.  That will tell me what you care about or if you just are fickle about your life and the people in it. 

First, I get things done because I have a “To Do” list for every day.  People joke about me scheduling time for this person or that, but the way I know I can spend time with people I care about is to pull time out of the schedule specifically for them.  It sounds like relationships are able to be scheduled and they are not, but when you don’t care enough about people to make them a schedule priority right next to picking up groceries or completing a chapter, you will not get tasks done. 

I do consider myself more people focused than task focused so when someone stopped by my bunkroom at work a few weeks ago to talk because they had something going on, I put down what I was doing so I could focus on what they needed done.  I focus on people, but I still had tasks to get done which meant I didn’t watch the football game later that day.  It’s a choice then of taking care of the person and their situation and getting back on the horse to finish the task list. 

It seems silly for some, but I hate watching people flit around trying to pursue twenty different things because they write down accomplishment lists after the fact instead of realistically planning what they need to get done.  They ultimately drop the five balls they are juggling in the air not because they can’t juggle, but because they can’t prioritize which one is allowed to be dropped.  They can have their success diaries post event, my diary is in ink before I start the day…know what you want to accomplish and go get it. 

The other version is people who say this professional goal or that is important to them and then the effort you see is less than one hundred percent, or less than ninety, or less than…  You know what I mean…EMTs who say I am going to go to paramedic school, but who never put in the hours to prep themselves for the next step, they don’t visit the local college programs, they just hope.  They wait on success to come to them as if it will find them and then they complain about other people being lucky when they complete the tasks they need to so they can be successful.  Odd.  It remind me of the quote by Thomas Edison, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”  Yes it does because success isn’t accidental.  It isn’t luck.  Step up to the plate or get out of the box.

Debts That Are Hard To Pay

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. American will never forget their sacrifices. - Harry Truman


When I think of heroes, my grandfather always came to mind for the sacrifices he and his generation - The Greatest Generation - made for each of us.

I didn't get to know any of my great grand fathers so it was a blessing for me that at least my eldest son got to meet one of his.  Somehow I think they would have gotten along very well if my grandfather had me it another few years.  When you consider the effort and work that goes into serving our military, remember those wrinkled faces and gray hairs.  Those that said yes when they might have said no, or gone to Canada, or any number of other things to avoid service.

Stats

Don't worry about your individual numbers. Worry about the team. If the team is successful, each of you will be successful, too. – Branch Rickey

Any guesses as who had the highest batting average this past year? Home runs or RBI? Who topped in wins, ERA, or strikeouts. Well the answers are below, but my question is who cares? Stats celebrate the individual. Okay, granted they can show strength and weakness, but stats fundamentally are fundamentally about did I get enough home runs to deserve a contract extension for more money? Did I improve my trade value so it will be easier or harder for me to go from my current assignment? We all love the home run or the perfect game, but fundamentally do they matter?

All the stat leaders listed below for the categories above don’t matter. Yes, I just said Miguel Cabrera’s .348 batting average doesn’t matter any more than Chris Davis’ 53 bombs or 138 RBI. Clayton Kershaw was ridiculous this year and I tried to catch at many of his games as I could on TV. His ERA of 1.83 showed his dominance of hitters across baseball and Yu Darvish was filthy with 277 strike outs, though he did get to face Houston a ridiculous number of times. Still…doesn’t matter.

Moneyball, but if you don’t win the last game of the year, it doesn’t matter. I have the same message, even for little guys learning the game and playing at a competitive level. It doesn’t matter if YOU record a strike out or not, did your team win?  It doesn’t matter if YOU get a home run, how did the team do?
I just laid out why they do I guess; we celebrate that success, but in none of those cases did the individual stat leader’s team win the ring. I hate to agree with Billy Beane from the movie

The same issue comes up in business and even EMS where I see people willing to cut their “team mates” neck – almost literally – to protect their own paycheck. And they do so at the expense of the team, their character being exposed, and usually whatever rah rah they claim to have for their organization. I remember a teacher way back in the day who remarked she would be out the next several days and she knew that we would comport ourselves with the substitute like we would if she were there. It says a lot to see how a team reacts when the boss isn’t there and something shows up to challenge you.

Do you run to your own stats or do you support the team and keep it going towards the World Series? Play safe and play nice in your sandbox. Your stats might get you noticed by a scout, but your me first attitude gets you noticed by your team mates too and there might come a time when you need us too. You might find one day that the stat that matters is not how many IVs you have accomplished or runs completed, but who is your team and who wants you on their team.