I'm Just Sharing » Personal

10 Years Ago

Mitch Mitchell — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:14:33 +0000

Yes, another video post for you, but of course I get to do a brief setup for it.

I was watching a video by Lynn Terry of Clicknewz.com on her video channel which she titled What Would You Say. She was asked a question as to what advice she’d give her past self about 10 years ago. I thought that was an intriguing question, and I liked how she answered it so much that I decided to address it myself, and thought it would be neat doing it by video.

In the video, I give one personal tip and one business tip, which actually ends up being more than one business tip and that’s the reason you should watch it. One other thing that’s new in the video is that I’m wearing a white shirt that I didn’t even know I had. I don’t have a lot of white shirts. I have one dress white shirt for emergencies, a white t-shirt with a picture of my grandfather on my dad’s side of the family, and a Syracuse University white shirt that I don’t even think they put out anymore (I actually have two of these t-shirts), as I haven’t seen anyone locally supporting the team wearing white. That’s what happens when your team is called The Orange. lol

It’s a relatively short video of around 6 minutes, and this time I recorded it without so much density so it uploaded much faster, which didn’t depress me at all. It looks fine on this side; I hope it looks fine where you are as well. Here we go!

Being A Model

Mitch Mitchell — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:23:17 +0000

A few days ago I got called to do a modeling shoot. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking because I thought the same thing; model… me?!?!? Well yes! It seems that most of us don’t think of ourselves as model material, but not everyone is looking for only the beautiful people, if you will. There are often calls for regular folks like us to fill a role, and this time I got the call, my first ever.

I was asked to show up at a location around 9AM that was about 30 minutes from where I live. I hadn’t been to this community in more than 30 years, which tells me I really do need to learn more about my surrounding area. The studio was located in a beautiful area that I can’t necessarily say was out in the country, although, since the photographer owned 37 acres, it almost has to be called that I guess. I was also asked to bring 2 suits, 2 shirts, and some colorful ties. Since I only have 3 suits I took them all, took 3 shirts, and took 10 ties, just to make sure I’d covered it all. By the way, have you ever had to carry 3 full suits at one time? Sucker’s heavy! lol

The studio was very large. It was a converted truck garage that the guy had totally painted white, with only one of those large heaters in the top back corner of the room; no, it couldn’t totally overcome the cold, as it was around 20° outside. And I wasn’t the only model for this shoot, as there was this lady who I thought was around my age but turned out to be 74 years old who I was going to be shooting with. Sorry, no details on what we were shooting, as that’s part of the agreement. But I can still talk about the process.

If anyone thinks modeling is easy, they’re wrong. It might seem glamorous when you see those model images and you’re saying “man, based on what I do that’s some easy work.” Nope, sorry kids. Sure, it’s not like shoveling holes, but it has its own bit of work and effort. For instance, the poor lady I was shooting with had to keep walking and “almost” sitting at one point for about 10 minutes as the photographer kept trying to capture just the right image. Imagine what “almost” sitting is like; that’s tough on both the back and the knees.

And you have to keep that smile up; at least she did. Sometimes I didn’t have to smile, other times I had to smile on demand, and even though there were a lot of shots of me from behind, I had to keep my eyes on her eyes to help guide her through her shots. We had a good working relationship, which is always nice no matter what you’re doing.

There were also some strange contortions both of us had to go through. What some big time photographers do is work from a storyboard and someone else has drawn up of what they want. Well, turns out some of those poses aren’t, well, realistic, but it’s what they want. At one point he needed me to twist my arm into a strange position acting like I was receiving something, but he needed to see my open hand in the picture. For another series of shots I had to lean way over onto this desk because that’s what was in the storyboard, but it meant I had to lean over about a foot and kick one of my legs out in order to get into the pose. I didn’t even know they made short desks except for little kids; ugh!

Of course there’s the obligatory standing around time as well. I got lucky in that my standing around time was early, when they were taking prep shots. My partner, whose name was Juanita, had to sit around waiting later on when it was time for just me alone in a picture.

Finally, it was time for my main shot, and I got to sit for this one. I was holding papers and a pen in one hand, and I had to alternate between looking serious, looking stern, looking content and smiling, both with and without teeth. They had to change the set because his assistant realized that they had the same pictures in the new shots that they had in the original shots when we were turned the other direction; that wouldn’t do. And I couldn’t look at the papers; I had to remember to look straight at the camera, and that’s another lesson. After all, you know how you always feel like you want to blink when you see a camera flash? Can’t do that with a photo shoot.

I was there just under 3 hours, and it’s a good thing photographers don’t use real film anymore. What a process; digital camera, computer hooked up so they can immediately see what’s going on and what they might have to photoshop out later on. The guy said I was perfect; I didn’t comment because what could one possibly say to that? It was fun I must admit, but I’m glad it was relatively short also because it turns out that Juanita will be modeling for up to a week; she has a really prominent role in the story, though it also seems they didn’t tell her just how prominent.

My takeaway? I get paid and I got the above picture of his puppy Lucy, who was just the cutest thing, and when I got to play with her she kept going for my tie, actually getting it once. What an interesting day, and an interesting lesson to learn. Tyra girl, you do some work!

50 Questions To Free My Mind

Mitch Mitchell — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:45:10 +0000

Well, I thought this would be an interesting way to help get the year off right… or not. I came across a blog called Marc and Angel Hack Life, a married couple that talks about finding positive outlooks on life. In a post titled 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind, which they actually wrote in July 2009, then offered the 50 questions below as a way to, well, free your mind of worry, stress, whatever. The funny thing is that they must have gotten overwhelmed at a certain point with the comments, about 200 of them, because Marc only wrote one response, though he addressed maybe 10 people in that response. They actually have a pretty cool site, so if you check out this particular post, you should see the new stuff they have to offer.

Anyway, I decided that I would take up the challenge and respond to the questions in my own way, which will probably be a mix of silly, serious and thought provoking because that’s just how I am. On their site, many people answered the questions in their comments while some others answered the questions on their own blogs, like I’m doing, and linked back. For those of you who always ask “where do you come up with ideas for blog posts”, this is one of those ways. Okay, let’s get this party started.

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I’d be as old as I was.

Which is worse, failing or never trying?

Never trying.

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

Because we’re not always in control of every aspect of our destiny.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

Probably, with all the writing I do.

What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

I wish we were all nicer and more cordial to each other.

If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

Writing, although I might expand it to musical composition and lyric writing.

Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

I’m pretty much doing what I believe in, though I wouldn’t be depressed if it paid better.

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

I wouldn’t be here so I guess I wouldn’t be living my life at all.

To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

I became a sole entrepreneur 10 years ago so I’d have more control over my destiny.

Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

Doing things right because doing the right thing seems to come naturally to me.

You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?

I speak up very quickly so they’ll stop embarrassing themselves and I don’t have to leave, though I might. Then again, people I admire would know better.

If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?

Live life the best you can.

Would you break the law to save a loved one?

In a heartbeat.

Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

If seeing how an artist creates a painting, then yes.

What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

Make sure the frosting on my cake is to the left before I start eating it.

How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

Because we’re all individuals and dance to the beat of a different drum.

What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

Sing the National Anthem at a baseball game. I stopped singing in 1999, so it’s an impractical wish now.

Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?

Probably, but I’m not always the “letting go” type.

If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?

Wow, I’m living exactly where I want to live. I’ll say New Mexico because I’ve never been there and hope they have a lake nearby.

Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

No.

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

Worried genius; they eventually accomplish something.

Why are you, you?

Because I’m good at it.

Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

Pretty close to it. I don’t talk to any of my friends as often as I probably should but I’m easy to reach.

Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

Losing touch with a good friend near you because these days you can always keep in touch with good friends if they move away.

What are you most grateful for?

That I found someone to share my life with.

Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

Ah, the Alzheimer question; I’d rather never be able to make new ones I suppose.

Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

Yes; I know no one comes back from dying, so I’d rather not try to prove it incorrect.

Has your greatest fear ever come true?

No; I hope I have 50+ more years before it even thinks about it.

Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?

Actually I do, and no, it doesn’t matter but I still can’t forget it.

What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?

The day my dad surprised us by coming back from Vietnam early, although he was in a half body cast. I think the answer to the first answers the second.

At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

I don’t have any moments in my recent past; now that’s a shame.

If not now, then when?

Soon.

If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

Nothing; still have to figure out how to achieve it.

Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

No.

Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?

Because religions don’t support love; they support themselves.

Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

Unfortunately no, because people grow up in different environments.

If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?

Yes.

Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

More work I actually enjoy doing.

Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?

Yes.

When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

Five years ago when I created a website that, to date, hasn’t really worked for me.

If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

No one; I’d stay with my wife.

Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

Not at this stage of my life.

What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

We’re all alive; truly living is when you’re enjoying it.

When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

When you’ve reached that point when you realize you’re ready to take your shot at it.

If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

Because it’s a misnomer that we all learn from our mistakes. We only learn from some of them; others are just nuisances that distract us.

What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

Nothing. Anything I did differently I’d deserve to be judged on.

When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?

This morning as I was trying to sleep.

What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?

Since the question is “what” rather than “who”, I’d have to say nothing, and thus no to the second question.

In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?

Depends on what it is I did. I tend to remember dates of things that made enough of an impression for me to remember in the first place.

Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

Great final question. Being truthful, I’d have to say others are making the decisions for me instead of my being in control as much as I’d like to be. Such is the life of a consultant.

Five Things To Stop Doing – My Take

Mitch Mitchell — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:27:43 +0000

A recommendation I’ve made on this blog when it comes to finding things to write about from time to time is to write about an article you read somewhere else and give your take on it. In this case it works well for me because the blog in question has a comment system I don’t feel like dealing with and yet I have something to say.

Gonna be on fire in 2012!

The article is written by Dorie Clark on the Harvard Business Review site and it’s titled Five Things You Should Stop Doing in 2012. I loved the article for the most part, and because I think you should check it out I’m not going to repost everything she wrote. But I am going to post the specific topics and address them in my own words. Remember, these are things to stop doing:

Responding Like a Trained Monkey. I’d have to say that this is the hardest thing for me. I trained myself years ago to stop answering the phone if I didn’t know who was calling, even for business calls, and that’s eased my mind a lot. However, I still find that I have certain online habits that I wish I could break, and other habits I need to create to make a healthier me, such as eating better, resting more, and coming to grips with the reality that I don’t have to try to produce something new every few minutes, or respond to chess moves or any of the few other games I play online, just because someone has made a move. Ridiculous thing to be addicted to; I need to go back to counting things. lol

Mindless Traditions. I’ve been cutting back on Christmas and holiday cards over the years because I can connect with so many of my friends online these days. In the past it was a necessary evil because I might only talk to these folks once a year, that being during the Christmas holiday. As it pertains to traditions in general I’ve given some up that impede what I want to do with my life, while sticking to others because, well, I just have to do it. lol But I don’t find myself stressing over any of them, and that’s the major point here. My mother used to get sick at every holiday when I was a kid; her life is so much healthier now that she’s given that kind of thing up.

Reading Annoying Things. In September 2010 I wrote a post talking about de-stressing my life by not commenting on some blogs and also not reading some things that I knew would irritate me and rile me up. Sometimes you just can’t help reading certain things because they draw you in like quicksand, but for the most part, I’ve been able to stop myself from reading things I knew would either depress or anger me. I don’t like to get into arguments just for the sake of it, but I also know I won’t back down and will offer my opinion when I feel strong enough about the topic. But I also know I don’t know how to let go, so it’s best most of the time to not even go there.

Work That’s Not Worth It. Ten years ago I went into business for myself and celebrated my 10th anniversary in June. I’m not gonig to lie and say that everything has been easy. I will say that working for myself has been pretty satisfying in that I don’t have that daily pressure to perform so someone else can reap all the benefits. I don’t have anyone hanging the risk of being unemployed over my head. I don’t have to deal with making sure I get along with all the other people working at my company. I get to work with whoever I want to, turn down things as I see fit, and all the other benefits that are associated with being independent. Of course I also have to scramble for clients here and there but overall, it’s worth it to me because I get to do what I like.

Making Things More Complicated Than They Should Be. Talk about timing being everything. I had just written an article on my business blog yesterday titled Simple Solutions where I talked about how we tend to look at problems as these major things and spend an inordinate amount of time trying to fix things when sometimes simple solutions are sitting right in front of us. This is one of those things I talk about all the time as it pertains to blogging. Sure, if you have a niche blog maybe things are slightly complicated, but look at how I just got an entire blog post from an idea someone else started. How hard was this?

Wow, that was interesting for me; what do you think? How would you respond to each of these? Hey, why not make this kind of a meme; give your answers on your own blog and invite people to check it out. Or just respond here; I’d love to know how you feel about it.

Thanksgiving 2011; Is There Anything To Be Thankful For?

Mitch Mitchell — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:25:44 +0000

Wow, what an interesting calendar year. How things have changed or gone from Thanksgiving last year until now. I’m not only talking about this blog, but my life in general. For this blog, I wrote last year and put up an image of myself with a friend, and then had to tell people that wasn’t my wife; won’t make that mistake this year. lol

This is my wife and I

I’m finding myself wondering if there’s much to be thankful for this year. My grandmother first got hurt, and then passed away. I had to take a guy to small claims court, though I won. I worked on another project that took me more than 4 months to be paid for. The really big projects didn’t come through. Had my first (last?) colonoscopy and then had a second one on the same day. I had to change diabetes doctors after 11 years. I had a few friends pass away that I wasn’t expecting it to happen to. The local symphony shut down, as well as a few of my favorite restaurants. I had some issues with affiliates including one, Finish Line that not only didn’t pay me but then decided to drop me and threatened me while they were at it. And this year, for Thanksgiving, my mother is with her friend, my wife is with her friend, and I’m home by myself (at least for now).

Overall, it seems like it was a pretty hard year to deal with. Things to be thankful for? As I sit here trying to think of things there’s not all that much that comes up. However, one of the blessings of blogging is that you sometimes chronicle things that have happened that actually turned out to be a good thing. So let’s see…

I actually began the year by not only getting my first gig just days after the new year began, but I was named at a Fabulous 50 top blogger on the same day. Thanks Bev!

I created two new blogs this year. One is my Syracuse and central New York area blog called Syracuse Wiki. The other is my second business blog on SEO and social media for businesses called SEOX Blog. Both have done relatively well, even if they don’t get tons of comments.

I got to do some live presentations this year. I gave two presentations at a local library, one at a large conference, and one to my consulting group. I might be forgetting something but I’m not sure. I also got to be interviewed on a couple of podcasts and was in Bev Mahone’s real radio program one day this year.

I reached my 1,000th post on this blog and I started creating videos as well. According to YouTube I’m not breaking any records, but at least I’m producing something different.

We finally got Osaba bin Laden, and many other countries are seeing major changes as the people have realized just what kind of power they have… as long as the leaders of those countries decide not to just kill everyone that misbehaves, which also happened a couple of times.

I went to my first karaoke club this year and found it fascinating, although I doubt I’ll go again. I also got to go to Las Vegas for a conference and got a much different experience out of it than the first two times.

My online income started to increase drastically, not quite to the level I’d been hoping for but higher than any other year; that is, until this last Panda update, but even with that I’m going to have my best year ever.

I got personally reacquainted with old friends this year, going first to a reunion at my college, then to a memorial get-together for my friend that recently passed.

I also celebrated my 10th year in business this year; I never really thought I’d make it this long but now that I have I guess I should really learn how to do it better, eh? lol And I’m about to hit post #900 on my business blog, which is almost a shame for as long as I’ve had it compared to this one but hey, a milestone is a milestone.

If I have to be truthful, I’ve met a lot of new and wonderful people this year, both online and off. Even though it was under horrible circumstances I got to meet and get to know my grandmother’s brother, Uncle Bill. I’ve connected with relatives and old friends I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to interact with again via Facebook, so I’m not hating on that.

And finally, even though I continue to battle with diabetes and being tired all the time and vision and occasional short periods of depression and a few other things I won’t mention, when all is said and done I’m relatively healthy, still go to the gym on occasion, still get to go where I want when I want, and still have a lot of people that talk to me via social media, networking events, and just events in general; I even went to some parties this year (actually ate outside once this year at all; that’s Josh’s fault).

All that and the continuing visits from friends both old and new on this blog and my other blogs. I mean, weighted properly, I’d have to say that other than my grandmother not being with us anymore the year has actually given me a lot to be thankful for. With that, I thank all of you for putting up with me, I thank my wife and my mother (both of whom will never read any of this stuff) for hanging in there, and I guess I’ll thank me for not just quitting and going off into the wild blue yonder, however that would have manifested itself (nothing like suicide so don’t go there, but who hasn’t ever had a day when they just wanted to give it all up and go lay in bed forever?).

Thank you all, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and if you’re not from this country, I’ll just ask you to take some time and think about what you might be thankful for on this day as well). And just to see who actually reads all of this to the end, click on this link and mention what it is because I’m posting it just for you.

Penn State & Joe Paterno – My Take

Mitch Mitchell — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:19:13 +0000

I know someone out there has been saying “Is Mitch afraid to have a take on what’s going on at Penn State and with Joe Paterno”? Who me, scared to have a take on something? Ain’t no way! It’s not going to be overwhelmingly popular, but I don’t care; it’s my take.

A little quick history for those of you who aren’t up on this or aren’t from this country. Last weekend it came to light that a former football coach had been accused of molesting young boys initially about 13 or 14 years ago. Then around 2001 or 2002 an assistant football coach told his head coach, Joe Paterno, that he’d actually seen the guy doing something with a young boy in a shower. The head coach passed the information along to the people he reported to, the coach was dismissed, and somehow that ended things.

Only it didn’t end things. Last weekend it comes out that the two men Coach Paterno had reported the incident to had been called before a grand jury and asked about these things, and they had lied about it. They were arrested for keeping their silence and for lying, as child molestation is a big deal. Suddenly however, it threw Coach Paterno into the mix because many people believe he should have gone to the police with his information instead of just following the rules of his state, which said that he was under no legal obligation to do so and instead reporting it to his superiors. The assistant coach who’d seen the action also didn’t report it to the police, following the same process the head coach did.

This turned out not to be good enough for the representatives of the university, who this week fired the coach, who is 84 years old and has been coaching at the school for 62 years and had been head coach for 46 of those years, fired the president of the college, who I assume had some knowledge of this issue and didn’t do anything, and put the assistant coach who brought it up to begin with on paid administrative leave for some reason, although it seems his life was being threatened for not going to the police either.

Word has subsequently come out saying that this coach has not only “allegedly” molested at least 9 children (possibly tens of kids but nine “confirmed” accusations to date), but may have run kind of a (ugh) child prostitution ring, doling out young boys to rich people; it gets more and more disgusting as it goes on. So, this is truly a major deal, and it’s tarnished a program that, as far as anyone knows, has never done anything wrong that the school has been accused of, especially the head coach, always known for being overtly moral in all his dealings.

Okay, that’s some history, and I hope I got it all right. Here come my takes on everything.

One, some people needed to be fired. The two men that have been accused of lying to the grand jury, strangely enough, resigned rather than being fired. Supposedly the university couldn’t fire them for some reason but they knew what was coming. The president was fired because he basically said he and the university would stand fully behind these two men; the board of trustees didn’t like that.

Two, I’m not sure it was totally fair to fire the head coach. I certainly know it wasn’t fair to fire a man who personified the best the university had to offer for as long as he did via a cell phone call. If this man didn’t deserve the dignity of being told to his face that he was being relieved from his job I don’t know who did. That was a cowardly act and I deplore that kind of disloyalty. On the other front, the coach had announced earlier in the day that he would resign at the end of the year; after 62 years he didn’t deserve that much?

Three, did the coach have the responsibility of calling the police to report an action he was told about? This is an interesting morality question, since legally it seems he didn’t do anything wrong by the laws of the state of Pennsylvania. On this one I pull out two scenarios, both of them true in my life.

One, I have a friend who was accused a couple of times of molesting his own daughter when she was younger. These accusations were the result of a custody battle, but the police had to investigate each time. I know Dr. Phil says that when it comes to children everyone should take the action to protect them but there’s always this stigma that sticks around someone accused of this sort of thing, even when it’s proven not to be true, and it wasn’t true for my friend. So, is it fair to totally stigmatize someone who you didn’t see doing something?

Two, what about other types of abuse you know is happening? I’ve known a few women over the years that I’ve worked with that I knew were being physically abused at home. They’d come to work with bruises and say things like they fell down the stairs or ran into a door or something else stupid. I wanted to step in a couple of times but was always told not to interfere. The only thing I was ever able to do was ban this one guy from coming into the hospital at all unless he was coming into the emergency room as a patient. Someone’s going to say “you should have called anyway”; trust me, it’s not that easy to do because the victim, and I’m going to use that term, will almost always side with their abuser, and it makes you look bad.

Three, and be truthful with yourselves, how many of you would take the chance of stepping outside of the chain of command where you work and going directly to the police based on something someone told you? If the assistant coach who saw it went to the police because he’d seen it, that’s one thing. If you’re being told something yet didn’t see it, and you report it, basically it’s just hearsay, so you end up following company rules, which are to move it up to the chain of command. Now, if either of those two other guys hadn’t lied during the grand jury testimony, this whole thing would have gone away and people would be praising the coach for speaking up in the first place.

Four, we all might possibly say we’d have done this or that, but it’s a lie. People don’t like getting involved in anything for fear of getting in trouble. It’s turned into a big scandal because people have been confronted with their own reality. Every day in a big city somewhere a person is murdered and hundreds of witnesses disappear. In China two weeks ago a 2-year-old girl was run over twice and no one did a thing for about 10 minutes until a homeless person ran over to her and started calling for help; she died. We see mothers and fathers slapping their children in public places or yelling and cursing at them and we do nothing because we want to avoid becoming their target, or having someone else say it’s none of our business. So the majority can be as sanctimonious as they want to be; I know they’re just being phony.

And five, I can say this because I’ve kind of been there as the protector. In my late teens and through my mid 20′s I was the protector. I was the guy who’d step in the middle of fights for people I knew and protect them. I used to step in ready to take the punch for my friends into my early 30′s and did so without any worry as to what could happen to me; I have witnesses. Online now, if I see a friend of mine being taken on by someone I’ve stepped into the fray; I’ve done it on this blog and on other blogs.

But in general, as I’ve aged, I’ve realized that it’s not always taken well. People say they want help but they really don’t. Is there a moral obligation to help others? Well, ask yourself how you felt the last time someone tried to talk you into joining their religion because they feel it helped them, and now they want to help save your soul. We don’t want help unless we specifically ask for it.

Does this absolve the guy who did what he did? Nope; he’ll get his. Does this absolve the two guys that lied to the grand jury? Nope, and they’ll get theirs. Does this absolve the head coach, Joe Paterno? In my mind, for a number of factors, yes it does. Could he have done more; yes. Should he have done more; probably. Should he be castigated because he followed the rules and did what pretty much 99.93% of the populace would have done? No.

Look at yourselves first and examine your previous actions in things that have been similar, if not as awful as this scandal, then answer truthfully.

Who’s scared now?

My Colonoscopy Story

Mitch Mitchell — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:10:27 +0000

Yesterday I had to have a colonoscopy. For those that don’t live in the United States, it’s recommended that once someone reaches 50 that they have one to verify they don’t have colon cancer and to check for other stuff. I at least got to defer for a couple of years since I rarely go see my doctor for a checkup, but I finally got cornered so it was my turn.

Now, these are fairly common, but there can be issues here and there. They do knock you out, and you do risk a perforated colon, internal bleeding, and a couple of other things. So you can’t just shrug it off and say it’s nothing to worry about, though for the most part it’s relatively safe.

My issue is that I couldn’t get any real information from anyone as to just what could happen being diabetic. You have to fast, and with the medications I take, I’m supposed to have food with them. So, what would happen to me going through the process? That’s the main reason I made the video.

But there’s a few things I didn’t mention in the video while trying to keep it under 15 minutes. For one, By 4PM of the day I was fasting I started getting this massive headache, and that stayed with me almost the rest of the night. I couldn’t take almost anything for it because I wasn’t eating, though my wife did give me an Advil eventually and that took the edge off it.

I was really hungry all day, but wasn’t so hungry the day of the procedure for whatever reason. I still craved pizza, though we had fried rice instead since it was much lighter. That’s their recommendation, eat light and get used to eating again, so I ate small portions pretty much every hour because I was really hungry; today I’m getting my pizza!

They will ask you over and over what your name is, what your date of birth is, the last 4 digits of your social security number and what you’re having done. Initially I worried they didn’t know what they were doing until I realized that it’s a safety procedure that they’ve put into place to make sure that physicians won’t be doing the wrong procedures anymore, what with all those errors in Florida some years ago. They also kept asking me what I was allergic to.

After the procedure you’ll expel a lot of gas, and that makes them happy. This is one of those “dignity” things I mentioned in the video. There’s stuff we wouldn’t walk around doing in public that they’re expecting you to do. Thing is, there’s no smell because your entire system is cleaned out, and what they’ve done is pushed a bunch of air into your body through your rectum so it has to come out. And be thankful it’s coming out, otherwise you’re going to get cramped and it’s going to hurt. I had that problem during the virtual colonoscopy in the x-ray department, where you’re not under anesthesia and just have to lay there and take it. That’s when you’re on either your side or back; once you roll over onto your stomach, since they take the views from 3 directions, even adding more air wasn’t bad at all.

One last thing. In the video I said that I came out of the anesthesia pretty easily. Most of that is true. I felt clear headed and knew exactly what I was saying and what was going on. I even felt that if I’d had to I could have driven home, which it turns out is illegal once you’ve had anesthesia in New York for at least the day. However, when I had to get up and get into the wheelchair, I found that I wasn’t okay at all, and luckily I didn’t just try to force myself into the chair because I’d have fallen and the nurse wasn’t close to big enough to have held me up if I’d gone down. So, always respect the anesthesia.

I also mentioned that I was given propofol, the same stuff Michael Jackson was given by that doctor. Let me tell you, I understand why he would have wanted this stuff. Although I wasn’t happy with the pressure my head felt when it started to take effect, I feel like I slept well in that short period of time, and I ever dreamed; I’ve never dreamed while under anesthesia before. In its proper dosage it’s wonderful stuff, but I can also tell why one should never, and I mean ever, use it at home.

That’s all I have other than the video below, but if you have any other questions go ahead and ask. This is one of those things that, as younger people we avoid talking about because it kind of scares us, but once you reach the proper age you’re probably going to have to go through. At least I’m telling you what might be coming.

When Things Get Personal, Part Two

Mitch Mitchell — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:28:03 +0000

Last year I wrote a post titled When Things Get Personal On Blogs. That post was about a tete-a-tete I got into with some folks over the topic of Akismet and spam and such. It got a lot more responses than you’ll see if you visit the post because there were a lot of attack comments that came here based on that post that I simple deleted. I knew they were coming, and I knew I was going to delete them. I didn’t need that on my blog, I didn’t trust the people I knew were going to send them (whom I mention in the post), and, as I’ve always said, this is my space, I pay for it, and I get to decide what stays and what goes. Some might call it censorship; personally I don’t care. You behave in someone else’s space or deal with the consequences.

by Olivier Hodac via Flickr

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as the last couple of months have been somewhat interesting around here. I’ve had some things going on in my personal life that made me not be as diligent as I should have been. I feel as though I allowed certain behavior to go unchecked around here, and I don’t like myself for that. It’s not behavior that I exhibited either; that’s probably the worst part.

Not that I’ve always been nice here. For the most part I am, but I will go after someone that goes after a friend of mine or someone that’s done something ice for me or others. Loyalty is one of my big things; I think I’ve said that before.

Last September I wrote a different kind of post titled De-Stressing Life By Not Commenting. On that post I indicated that when I felt I couldn’t comment on something without getting into an emotional firefight that I just wasn’t going to do it anymore. As I said, some people strive on attack mode; I don’t. I don’t thrive at all on negativity; never have. I don’t expect everything to be Andy Griffith, but I do expect a certain amount of decorum.

And I expect that here. That’s why I feel so bad that I’ve allowed a few people to be attacked in some fashion here over the past couple of months. And none of it was constructive; it was personal, and that just shouldn’t have been allowed. And none of it was specifically directed to me until last week; that makes what I allowed to happen become even worse, because I should have nipped it in the bud much earlier.

I can guarantee this won’t be a problem in the future. From actually last week, but since I’m writing today I’ll say today, I will not allow any more personal attacks in comments on this blog, or any other blog I write. If I feel the comment is personal, whether it’s towards me or anyone else, it’s gone, plain and simple. If you want to personally attack someone, take it to a newspaper site since they don’t ever seem to want to censor anyone. Behave or be gone; no one wants to deal with that mess.

Why am I doing this? I want to encourage people to comment here, and I want it to be a safe haven. We can disagree with each other, but we’re going to treat each other with respect. I can’t change the world, but I can certainly change things here. I pay for this, and thus my rules. In a weird way I was inspired to finally write this post after reading a post by Marcus Sheridan titled The Lie that is Online Transparency and ‘Being True to Self’, where he talks about people that cuss a lot saying they’re just being true to themselves and how he believes they’re lying to themselves. So do I, and this has always been a no-curse-words zone, since I don’t cuss (and yes, I did just interchange ‘cuss’ and ‘curse’); never have, never will.

So, for those of you that may have found certain posts here with comments that might have put you off, please know that I apologize for that and know that you will never have to worry again. For those of you who had to deal with a personal attack in the last couple of months, that being John, Ken and Chris, I’m sorry I didn’t step in earlier. I’m not putting up with it against me; I’m certainly not ever going to put up with it against anyone else again.

That is, unless it’s nice; if someone makes a love connection make sure to invite me to the wedding, as I love wedding cake.

What Makes People Change?

Mitch Mitchell — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:30:39 +0000

I have a story to tell. Back in 1993, I heard that a big blizzard was coming to the area. Instead of staying in my apartment I decided to go out of town to my parents house to ride out the storm. I got there just as the snow started to pick up, and by the time it was done where they lived there were 34 inches of extra snow on the ground.

The problem is that where my parents live, as well as where I live, we already had at least 3 to 5 feet of snow on the ground. Since I was at my parents house, we had to deal with the fact that the driveway had totally filled up with snow about four feet high, which meant my car was totally covered. As a matter of fact the entire driveway was so high that there was no way we could have gotten out to the street if an emergency had happened. This was definitely problematic.

Still, Dad and I had to try. So we went out there with our shovels and we started digging. After three hours we actually made a path that allowed us to make it to the street, but it was so thin that it really couldn’t do us much good. We knew there was no way we were ever going to be able to dig out all that snow on our own. We also knew we didn’t have many options.

But something great happened. The guy across the street from my dad looked over, saw the problem we were having, and came over with one of those super heavy duty snowplows. It took him about an hour, but he was able to clear the entire driveway of snow except for around my car, which Dad and I took care of. We were very thankful that he did that for us, and that was the day we met Doug.

Doug and his family were very nice to us, and we tried to be nice to them. His daughter Mackenzie became a fan of my dad, and he would always talk to her when he saw her outside. Whenever I would visit Doug would pop over and say a few words to me, but I never really got to know him all that well. However, the day my dad passed away, as he was being driven to the hospital in the ambulance, Doug came over and put his arms around me as I cried for the first time since I was nine years old. The next day he said that he would always look out for my mother and make sure that she would be fine.

A couple years later Doug’s life changed. His mother passed away, he got divorced from his wife, and she and his daughter moved away and we’ve never seen them again. I noticed some changes in him as well even though I didn’t see them all that often. I don’t think one ever forgets what it looks like when someone may be doing certain types of drugs, and even though it’d been years since I’d seen it in someone, I knew it was there.

Then at some point some people moved into his house, and I would see these children sitting out on the front step or playing in the driveway. I didn’t get to meet any of them until the day we buried my grandmother, when I had to go over to their house to pick up some flowers that have been delivered to our house, but nobody had been home and they had been left at his house. On that day I met his new wife and one of her three children, and he seemed very happy.

Last Wednesday I went to visit my mother, and after I parked in the driveway something said to me that I should go over and talk to Doug. I still had a bad feeling about things and I wasn’t sure why. But I decided it wasn’t my place to intrude so I didn’t go. Sometimes you just can’t act on the Spidey senses if you know what I mean.

Friday night I got a call from my mother saying that there were a lot of police cars and a couple of ambulances across the street at Doug’s house. She didn’t have any idea what was going on, and she hadn’t seen anybody including the children, but it reminded her of when they took my grandmother to the emergency room.

My mother is not necessarily the nosy type, so she wasn’t about to go outside to find out what was going on. But the next day we found out. Based on the information we have, Doug’s new wife had been stabbed to death and he was charged with second-degree murder. I don’t know if the children saw anything, but at least the children were safe. When I saw his picture in the newspaper I was sad; how had things gone so wrong in this man’s life?

I wonder about the types of things that make people change so drastically. When I met him he seemed to have a very good life. His house was brand new just like my parents house. His daughter at the time was maybe two years old, and his wife was very attractive. He had a very good job as well; it was one of those jobs where if he hit his yearly quota early he could take the rest of the year off, and he had done that for a few years in a row. He seemed to be the nicest guy, always in control if a little crazy.

But strange as it seems, most of us change in some fashion as time goes on. We have certain life events that we end up taking new clues from and altering our perceptions in some way. I know that I’m more sensitive to things both personal and in the world since my dad passed away. I’ll also cry from time to time if something hits me a certain way, and for someone who went 34 years between crying that’s somewhat irksome.

But I’ve retained my integrity, and in some ways I’m less forgiving than I used to be when people violate my three principal mores of loyalty, honesty, and trustworthiness. I like to think that the changes I’ve allowed to be made in my life have not impeded the way I try to treat people. Unfortunately, even though there’s still a trial to come, I know I can’t say the same thing for Doug.

Sometimes relatively good people do bad things that are just unforgivable. In this instance there are three children who don’t have a mother and will have to find their way on their own in life. How do these things happen?

September 11, 2011; Ten Years Later

Mitch Mitchell — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:46:28 +0000

Today is the 10th anniversary of the most vicious act of terrorism ever on American soil. Four airplanes caused a lot of people to lose their lives; three of those airplanes caused mass destruction as well. And the world hasn’t been the same since.

A couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me why we couldn’t just move on, not necessarily forget but ease on the pain and move on. I said that this is a country that honors those who were killed mercilessly, who were caught up in the madness of someone else. That’s why there’s tribute for Oklahoma City; that’s why there’s tribute for the Lockerbie airplane bombing; that’s why there’s tribute to Pearl Harbor. And that’s why there’s tribute to those killed on 9/11/01. The pain may ease, should ease, but we’ll never forget; just not in our nature.

The video you’re about to watch, if you do, are my thoughts on what happened that day and what’s happened to the world since that day. It’s a much different place than it was 10 years ago. And I also honor and give tribute to some people, and have always been thankful, though it might be selfish, that I didn’t know anyone who lost their life on that day.

You might be surprised by one thing I say in the video after you see the links, if you visit any of these links that I post. First the video, then the links, from this blog and my business blog.

Are We Ready For The 9/11 Anniversary?

September 11, 2007 – Six Years Later

8:46AM – 9/11/01

September 11, 2001 – I’m Still Mad

http://www.imjustsharing.com/sunday-question-your-thoughts-about-91110/

9/11/01 9 Years Later; Never Forget