Get the Mind in Gear

I've been trying to organize and de-stress my world. While it is not exactly what a 90 minute deep tissue massage would do, I have found a few things that help me.

1. Get organized. I know this sounds like kindergarten talk, but it really is the Starfleet General Order 1.  I have tried every "new and improved" system, gimmick, idea, and all-around well-meaning suggestion. None of them work. I finally went back to the organizational system I used in college --- a series of file folders, some lose leaf paper punched with a 2 hold punch, and a clipboard and legal pad. Yep. Back to old school. The legal pad for daily note taking of ideas; the divided file folder for my notes of various projects; and the paper records of things I need to keep. It makes sense in my brain and it works for me.
2. I spent a whole month watching YouTube videos of tips and tricks and ideas on how to use Googe, Gmail, Google Docs, Chrome, extensions, etc. A whole month. Granted, the 2 hours at the gym each day helped accomplish this but I got some fantastic ideas. Check out DottoTech on YouTube for some things that may change you life.
3. Forget the TV or music in the background. Use nature sounds. AMBI Nature Radio  (I listen via Tune In Radio) or Noisli cannot be overstated for the relaxation and increase in work productivity. 
4. Live Start Page. Take a few minutes to explore it, set it up with bookmarks, and keep one of those windows open. It may be sappy; it may sound wimply; it may even sound crazy as hell; but I'm telling you, I am much more productive and feel better using those nature sounds while working. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

Other ideas?

US Men Miss 2018 World Cup

US Misses Out on World Cup and Americans Experience Weeping, Wailing, and Gnashing of Teeth

I have a different view.

Yes, it was an upset, but it wasn’t the only upset that night since both Mexico and Costa Rica lost --- 3 major losses that weren’t supposed to happen but did. If any of those 3 didn’t happen, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Yes, there is loss of money. Other nations won’t go to the World Cup either and their program won’t share in the money, either.

Yes, first time since 1986 the USMNT won’t be there.

All true.

But hang with me a bit: soccer in the US is not like football or basketball or even baseball, all 3 where we dominate. It’s not even like hockey were we, well, contend. No, in soccer we are on even ground with most of the world and trail the nations who put money in developmental programs and the best athletes play. In the US, the best athletes play other sports. Now that is changing, especially in football where mamas are saying, “My kid is not going to end up a veggie-brain for others’ entertainment.” So our best athletes still play other sports.

And the competition is different. In the Big Three of football, baseball and basketball, the US dominates the world because the rest of the world just doesn’t play those sports. Granted there is baseball in Japan, the Caribbean, and Latin America, but the best players come to the US to compete and are part of the US training system. We have a monopoly.

Not in soccer. The whole world plays. There are only 11 men on the pitch and only 3 subs. It is as even a contest as there is. The US can’t out-gun or overwhelm with superior numbers. We have to compete with 11 men for 90s minutes, just like everyone else, and our best athletes are not out there. Our best players are on the pitch, but we don’t know what the athletes in other sports would be able to do, now do we?

Fact is, the US is not the best in everything. We’re not the greatest. Oh, we like to say we are the greatest nation on earth but other nations are just as good in many areas and we are as sorry as other nations are in some areas, too. In soccer, we just happen to be mediocre. Time to face that fact.

Then there is the problem is Major League Soccer actually being successful. That’s right. Successful. The quality players in Latin America and the Caribbean now come to the US to play in Major League Soccer because there is better money and the chance to showcase themselves. So as MLS gets bigger and has more money for training, good players from the Americas come here getting better. We have created better competition against ourselves.

So in 2018 I will enjoy the matches without my team in the fray. I’ll scream and yell. I’ll marvel and I’ll do a lot of cussing, I’m sure. I’ll swear the ref was blind one game and the best ref ever the next time he’s on the pitch. And?

And I’ll have fun. I’ll enjoy watching national pride on the line from other nations who are just as proud of their guys on the pitch as I am disappointed my guys aren’t. It’s the world’s most beautiful game and I can’t wait for the next 5 years when we compete for the honor in 2022.

Did I mention powerhouse Argentina is not going to the World Cup, either? It’s just our time to feel what it is like to be average.  It hurts some Americans to admit it but look around --- we are, just like everyone else.

Live Start Page

Update on Live Page -- neat Live HD screen with all sorts of scenes for your fancy ... pick one or two or randomize a lot of 'em. It has a really neat bookmarking tool. with weather, time, a focus statement that you control, and a meditation option page. Check out the Google Extentions & search LIVE START PAGE.

Let's Get Organized

Spent the last 4 weeks getting things better organized. A few things I realized: 1) I live in my email and needed a better way to organize it - found cloudHQ suite of apps that made Gmail much better; 2) I found some YouTube videos on better ways to use Google to organize things - things I knew were there but didn't know all the ins-&-outs and the features of integration; 3) I forced myself to do what I didn't want to do, cleaned off my desk and did my filing - feel much better not having to look at the piles of stuff; 4) nature sounds (birds, a stream, a storm, or other background noise instead of music or news) while working makes me 100% more productive; and 5) I turned off a lot of the information that was coming at me from every side, every day, from every possible viewpoint - I know this but now I'm practicing the fact that I can get all the news I need while working out in the morning from WABE Morning Edition. The last thing I need is to have some announcer urgently teasing me about the latest Trump Tweet or statement or insult. One more thing: no more negative people and if I don't want to talk to you, I'm not. I feel much better, thanks for asking.

More details on all this to follow.