I entitled this post “Traffic Report Accident” because it is only by accident that any of the South Florida “Traffic Reporters” get anything correct. With video cameras smothering I-95, the Florida Turnpike and all the other major arteries in the Fort Lauderdale Miami area, you would think reporting on rush hour traffic would be a breeze. It is a breeze, but the hot air sort of breeze. In other words – a scam. Sure, the radio station will have “live traffic reports” every ten minutes. At best, they will cover one section of the two county area, and what they report is read from one of those mystery 8 balls. These idiots are sitting at home phoning the report in!

There are no traffic helicopters. No advance traffic computers. No listening to the police radio. These jokers are sitting back in their lounge chairs in their boxer shorts slurping coffee and staring at the knees of Kiran Chetry from “Fox & Friends First”.

I’m driving home today, northbound on the Turnpike and I see a strange event. Southbound (Toward the city) is flat-assed stopped. All four lanes. Stopped. Not moving slowly. Parked my friends. For how long? I measured about two full miles of solid non-moving steel. Was this reported on the radio traffic report? Nope. Not for 45 minutes, and then they just said there was an accident at the toll booth southbound on the Turnpike. Didn’t offer the fact that by now the backup would be five miles, or offer alternative routes.

Numerous times they have reported massive tie ups at a location where I am entering. Nothing. No debris. No tow trucks. Nothing but clear lanes.

I’m not sure what the real reason is for these scam traffic reports. Maybe it is marketing or just radio stations being cheap. Of course, maybe it is something more! Maybe the locations of the accidents reported, when laid out on a grid linking to the time of the reported incident when multiplied by the radio station’s frequency will reveal coded messages! Why, these could be terrorists passing instructions along, or the Jehovah Network Neighborhood Street Walking Organization. Or, just the locations of the best donut shops.

Whatever they are, they have nothing to do with rush hour traffic, I can assure you of that!

Peace out people.

I’ve spent most of my working life supervising people. I now supervise over 24 individuals. Sometimes I think trying to herd 24 cats into a building during a lightning & hail storm would be much, much easier. If they let me smack people on the back of their heads that might make my job easier. It sure would relieve some of my stress. Sadly, this is only done on TV shows such as “Navy CIS.”

A good manager walks a tight wire between supporting his or her staff, providing morale and incentive and mentoring, and at the same time being loyal to his/her supervisor and support the stated and unstated objectives of the organization.

Sometimes this tight wire is difficult to walk. You either fail miserably at one, or you appear to be talking out of both sides of your mouth, thus failing miserably at both tasks.

I’m a control freak and a long term planner. Thus it is inevitable that all my life I was promoted to positions where among my responsibilities was walking this stupid tight wire. This causes my work persona to deviate from my real persona. Naturally, I am a light hearted non-conforming fun loving rebel. The last person you would expect to wear a suit and tie and boss 24 people about. More and more there is a transformation that must occur as I drive to work, a Dr. Jekyll turning into Mr. Hyde as I speed down Interstate 95.

To be honest, I think I would prefer to be a Wal-Mart greeter. But I’ve become addicted to paying my mortgage, car payments, eating, etc. Salaries of managers are often times much higher than those of Wal-Mart greeters. Sadly so.

Peace out people.

The longer I live, the more I realize the value of persistence. Those who are successful in this world are helped by education, but it is sheer persistence that is absolutely necessary for any long term success. I see so many people who are very well educated, have all the tools of success in their pockets, but fail after one first attempt. Or two. Or three. Successful people don’t have a Plan B. They have plans all the way out to Z.

If you are walking through a meadow and come up against a large stone wall with a thick wooden door, and you try the door and it is locked…..half the people would walk away. In fact, many would not even test the door.

Some people will test the door, try to pick the lock, see if they could climb over the wall. Then give up.

Really successful folks will get passed the wall. They will try the door, try to climb over the wall, try to dig under the wall; try to purchase a trampoline to see if they can jump and propel themselves over the wall; try to pole vault over it; check every stone for a secret opening; attempt to go around it on both sides; call out for someone on the other side to open the door; attempt to spiritually teleport themselves over the wall and so forth.

Me? I would set fire to the wooden door.

Success is persistence. Be it in business, careers or your personal or spiritual life. Persistence.

Of course, by persistence I guess I mean creative persistence, or intelligent persistence. If someone were to try the doorknob on that door in the stone wall, then try it again, and again, and again, well….that is dumb persistence.

Smart persistent people just love it when their plan D fails, and there appears no options left. Smart persistent people do some of their best work when that occurs.

Persistence.

Peace out folks…..

I bring forward to you today a most serious concern. I speak of one of the most horrible difficulties that plague our culture. The lousy stinking CAPS LOCK key!!! What box of rocks for brains idiot decided to place the CAPS LOCK key right near the SHIFT key, as well as the “A” key??? Do you realize how many times the “A” key is hit??? The SHIFT key??? Both are among the most frequently smacked keys. So, you stick the stupid CAPS LOCK key there? So that when I am typing, unbeknown to me, suddenly I START TYPING IN ALL CAPS LIKE I AM SCREAMING AT YA!!!

I hate when that happens.

I mean it. I really drives me freaking whacko. (More than usual.)

I learned how to type on a totally manual typewriter. Portable too, so long as you were an Olympian weight lifter. These things were made out of cast iron I think. Heavy! No batteries though, and no electrical cord! The original typewriters in the late 1800’s developed the QWERTY keyboard so that when typist typed real fast, the mechanical keys would not smack together. There are other keyboard patterns available, including XPeRT and Dvorak,

There are also computer tricks to help you out, like this one here.

As for me, I say they move the CAPS LOCK key way over to the edge of the upper right part of the keyboard. Or better yet, lose it entirely! When was the last time you used the CAPS LOCK, deliberately?

I’ve modified my keyboard so that the stinking lousy crummy CAPS LOCK key won’t be such a pain in my rear.

Photo of enhancement here: