Month: May 2022

Posted on

Power Surge

Living in Houston – at least in our Northwest part of the megapolis – there are several power surges and brief outages each month. (We won’t mention, for the purpose of this missive, the longer ones caused by hurricanes and freezes.)

Experts say these shorten the life of electronic devices, so having surge protectors is essential. When we moved here in ‘98, I diligently added them between every expensive piece of equipment and the wall outlets – and kept them in place whenever we replaced things.

A few months ago, I thought, ‘Wonder how long these things last?’ Several Google clicks later and I learned each power hit reduces the overall effectiveness and, thus, the lifespan of a surge protector. That means ours became worthless about a decade ago.

Amazon soon delivered ones for the entire house – not an inexpensive investment – and I took the old ones to Best Buy to be safely recycled or disposed.

Last week, we upgraded the nearly 24-year-old electrical circuit breaker box in our garage… and it includes an additional line of defense: a whole-home surge protector. While I haven’t known anyone who lost equipment to a power surge or outage, I sleep better knowing the first likely won’t be us.

Share
Posted on

Go Forth

This is the time of year college graduates hear words of wisdom at commencement exercises. Tim Cook, Apple CEO, appeared at Gallaudet. Taylor Swift delivered at NYU. Emmanuel Acho spoke at my alma mater, UT-Austin.

Elsewhere, Russell Wilson, Abby Wambach and Dwyane Wade represented the sports world. Kamala Harris, Mike Pence and Condelezza Rice appeared from the political spectrum. Tyler Perry, Henry Winkler and Ken Jeong came from the entertainment industry.

These had me wondering, if I were asked to speak at a graduation, what life lessons would I share with those setting out to find their place in the world? After some reflection, here are five:

1) Your word is the most important asset you own. Be honest and candid. Show up as promised. Fulfill your commitments on time.

2) The ability to listen is an art. It requires eliminating distractions and being fully present for the other person. It means not thinking about what you’re going to say while the other person is speaking. It demands avoiding judgments around what you’re hearing. Like every art form, the ability to listen takes daily practice to master.

3) People don’t spend much time thinking about you. So don’t worry about them. Focus on what you can control and keep moving forward.

4) Work throughout your career with a coach you trust – and allow yourself to be transparent and vulnerable with them. They don’t have to know your industry or understand your role. They do need to be detached from the emotions of your work, ask powerful questions that get you to think, and believe that you’re meant to be great.

5) In the end, how much money you made, how many toys you had, how popular you were don’t really matter. Live each day so that at your funeral, people come up to your family and say things like: ‘he’s the finest man I ever knew;’ ‘she went out of her way to put others first;’ ‘I will always remember the time your [father, mother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle] helped me when I needed it most.’ 

Share
Posted on

Paying Respect

From my home office, I have a straight view out my window to the house across the street. Every Thursday morning, a blue Toyota Camry pulls up, circles our cul-de-sac and parks in front of it. Three women climb out, open the trunk, each take out a handful of cleaning items and go inside.

About an hour later, they walk out, put the materials back in the trunk, get in the car and drive away. From here, I don’t know where they go; however, my guess is it’s onto another house to repeat the same routine. Every day. Like clockwork. For many years.

During my training at the Disney Institute more than two decades ago, the facilitator told us the longest-tenured cast members at Walt Disney World Resort were housekeepers – at an average of 18 years. “As you ponder that,” he said, “think about what they do.”

Maybe we should spend more time considering how lucky we are that there are people who want to clean our toilets, teach our children, mow our yards, patrol our streets, serve in our hospitals, work our drive-throughs and do so many other jobs that make our lives easier.

Every day. Like clockwork. For many years. 

Share