TMI

As I walked into the liquor store to buy some beer, I saw a woman in her thirties with bleached platinum blonde pixie-cut hair fringed in red and green. Multiple piercings adorned her face and navel. The man accompanying her had a shaved head with multiple piercings adorning his face.

She walked up to the check-out counter carrying a bottle of booze. She said to the clerk, "I lost my virginity with this stuff."

That was more than I wanted to know.

Sarah and Zack

My granddaughter Sarah (3 1/2) plays with her neighbor friend Zack. Here are two incidents related by Sarah's mom.

1) Sarah and Zack were playing tea party. Sarah, dressed as a princess, told Zack that she would turn him from a frog into a prince. After the transformation, she said, "Now I will call you Zachariah!" .

2) Sarah and Zack were playing with a toy computer. Zack said, "Since I'm the husband, I get to use the computer. Sarah said, "Well, I'm the wife and need to send an email."

Success

A young NBA star related that his father used to tell him that when he was asleep, someone else would be practicing. I can relate to that.

When I was in college, I did well in engineering school--only because when my fellow students were asleep, I was studying. My mental short comings were strengthened with hard work and running scared.

During my career at Hewlett-Packard as a designer and manager of computer stuff, I at times awakened at night, realizing that others, much smarter than I, were hard at work. High anxiety. They soon became my boss's boss.

Looking back at my successes in life, they have occurred when I have gone the extra mile. Most of my failures have been aided by a lack of effort.

My most painful failures are of a different type, coming when I did not admit (or sometimes even realize) that I just couldn't do it. Even though I was putting in excessive hours (at least excessive worry), my energy was misdirected. Truth was too painful. The boat was sinking; I did not have the insight to bail out nor ask for help.

The maxim: "Follow your dreams," can lead one to spending $150,000 on NYC acting school to secure a career as a Hollywood restaurant host. Believing that I can do anything has been both my forte and foible.

Today my dream is to run half a marathon in a few months. After I complete this 13.1 mile race, I will be in super shape with beautiful 68-year-old runner's legs, weigh ten to fifteen pounds less, and have an overall better feeling about myself and the world. However, if I continue to sit in this chair watching NFL playoffs all day, I will not to have to endure the pain of running six miles in the cold..

I feel much better being a guilty couch potato rather than feeling better about myself.

Learning about Sarah

My granddaughter Sarah is two years old. You learn something about who a child is when they are one; but when they are two they begin to reveal more about themselves: they just tell you.

Sarah was having a difficult day as a two year old. At nap time, her mother askded her which book she wanted read, "'Let's be Kind', or 'Let's be Happy'?"

Sarah said, "How about 'Lets be Frustrated'?"

High pressure

A fellow member of our local Toastmasters club, Byron, made it all the way to Toastmasters' "World Championship of Public Speaking" last month. The night before the contest, Byron could not sleep. He had to get up by six to get to the microphone check at seven. He kept one eye on the clock.

At two in the morning he got a text message from another contestant from Kentucky. The message said, "Byron, are you asleep?"

Byron texted back, "No."

I'd Rather Do It Myself

During dinner last night, my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter Sarah told her parents that she liked playing the piano at her grandparent's house.

Her father Sonny asked her if she wanted to learn how to play the piano. She told him she did.

Sonny told her that he wanted to learn how to play the piano and maybe they could take lessons together.

"But there is not enough room for both of us on the seat," she replied.

Mis-communication

This morning I went to McDonald's for a dollar sausage burrito and a fifty cent senior coffee. Gabriella waited on me. She is from Mexico. I have known her for several years as a waitress in another restaurant. English is her second language; she speaks it very well.

"I want a sausage burrito and a senior coffee."

Gabriella said, "That will be $3.50."

"No, it should be about a buck and a half plus tax."

She asked me what I wanted again--and I told her. "A sausage burrito."

She came up with the same amount.

We went back and forth--and kiddingly, I said, "Gabby, we are't communicating."

"It's your language," she said with a bit of frustration and a smile.