A Science Fair Winner!!!

Hello all,

Wow, guess what? (actually you can probably see from the title of this post) My kid won the school science fair!!! Way to go!!! It's okay for me to be excited, right??

If you want to see the details on her project, see my previous post.

This is a great honor for her.

Science Fair Parking Project

Hi All,

My daughter just finished her science fair project which involved parking and parking perceptions. Her question was "do people take longer vacating a parking spot when someone is waiting?"

She did an on-line survey with 100 people, 96% of the respondents thought they went faster or at least the same speed if someone was waiting. Only 4% thought they actually went slower when someone was waiting.

She found 5 parking lots and timed 100 cars, timing started when the person touched their car. The averages were interesting, when no one was waiting the average time was 31 seconds. When someone was waiting the average time was 1:17. Quite a difference. 94% of the people left the spot when no one was waiting in under 45 seconds. Only one person took more than 1:30!

A comment was made that when we were waiting for a car, one lady even lit up her cigarette, put on her lipstick and stared at us like we were rushing her. This particular person was the longest wait time of 3:08 minutes. We just sat there as she glared at us!

Overall, when no one was waiting was the fastest. Only 4% of the people were right in what they perceived would happen. Quite fascinating.

My daughter was made a semi-finalist for the science fair and was able to present to the parents last night. A comment was made that she was the only 7th grader ever to present at the science fair!

The Value of a True Friend

Here is my muse for today....

Have you ever encountered a phony person who acts like they like you but what they really want to do is stab you in the back when you aren't looking? Or maybe say something about you to under-mind your credibility or reputation? Or post something awful about you on facebook? If this ever happens we all need someone to help us get away from the drama. I believe this person would be an actual true friend. Someone who stands up for us, listens, cries with us if we are hurting. We should all have someone like this. A true friend who would not reveal our secrets even if the bamboo was being shoved under their nails. Ouchie! Hurts just to think about it. Maybe if we act like a true friend to others maybe they will respond in kind and we will have a happy place to go when we need it the most! I have a friend and two sisters who fit into this category. I am a very blessed person indeed.

Family Waiting Room Photo

Hi,

This is the long awaited family photo from the Haartz Family waiting room. I have more of the actual waiting room. Does anyone want me to post what it actually looks like? This is a preview of our 2009 holiday card photo. It was taken by professional photographer Tony Rinaldo and is (c).

Headed out to Pasture

Got to musing again today about my volunteer term ending soon. It has been a long road of over 10 years of volunteering, which culminated in being President for the last 21 months. Every day, seven days a week I work on my Auxiliary responsibilities. All for the good of the patients our hospital serves. Some days there are many hours others just a few follow ups or small tasks.

For the last 9 months I have been training my replacement. It is hard to think of the person as a replacement because I have been so attached to the organization. But change does and will happen. People will arrive that do not think like us or act like us. As a matter of fact, they will be abrasive. And why you might ask is this? Because they think they can do better and be better. It won't be done "our" way any longer it will be "thier" way.

I wonder what the future will bring.... I suppose I find myself saying yes to some other organization who needs my assistance. I am looking forward to giving of my time and talents in new and different ways elsewhere. When I join up with a new group I might be the new fresh face they are looking for!

Doubt Worry Fear & The Economy

Hello All,

Got to musing today about the current trend... we are all working harder and getting less. I don't care if you are in a secular job or a non-profit job. It may be in the form of a pay cut, a benefit loss, time off without pay, your co-worker being downsized, your 401K match went poof. The general mood is not a good one that's for sure. Panic and fear seems to be taking root in a lot of the minds of the people around me. I have to be careful because fear is contagious. In my way of thinking fear is bad.

It's easy to let fear take root. I think that fear starts with doubt. When you have doubt about something you start obsessing. For example, if I doubt that the economy will get better, I will start thinking about it all the time. If I doubt I can keep up with extra work load, I will starting thinking about that as well. If I doubt that I can pay my bills that's a meltdown waiting to happen. Doubt starts harassing most of my thoughts. So then this doubt moves into a new category which I call worry.

When it hits the worry phase, things go down hill fast. Worry causes stress and anxiety. Then when I'm stressed and worried I really can't keep up with the work load. It would be easy to find myself not sleeping laying awake worrying. No sleep = more stress and sometimes immune system weakening which leads to getting sick, yucky! Worry is draining and time consuming.

If left unchecked the doubt and worry move decisively into the fear category. A full blown panic attack can occur when we realize that everything around us is in a full scale downward spiral. We go to work wondering if this is the day we might lose our job. We fear that our car will breakdown and we won't have the money to fix it. We fear that our bills will cause us to default. We fear other things as well.

So what can we do about all of this? First, we must learn to stop the worrying so it doesn't keep progressing. This isn't always easy but it is well worth the effort. Maybe our co-worker does get laid off and we have more work as a result. Should we worry about it? Well, can you change the situation? If not, try to keep positive and tell yourself you will do your best to adapt. Keep your chin up, so to speak. Resist all temptations to to say negative things about what you are dealing with. Try to find a positive spin on things. This is difficult, I know this from personal experience. Let's all try to keep positive and banish the negative thoughts, they lead to too much stress.

The Turkeys are Back!

Hello everyone,

A sure sign that spring is here.... a pair of turkeys showed up in my back yard today! How exciting! Last year we had a pair and 7 babies. We watched the babies grow up through out the summer and into November. I found out that wild turkeys really like birdseed with sunflower seeds and corn. They would wait for me in the trees to come out with the food. One by one they would fly out of the trees.

Have you ever seen a turkey in a tree? It is a very strange sight indeed. This year I want to video tape their take off sequence in the backyard. Imagine 9 turkeys standing in a straight line taking off one by one, barely making it off the ground landing on the lowest branch they can find. It was especially enjoyable when the older birds taught the babies how to fly. Quite funny.

I had wondered if the turkeys were hunted for Thanksgiving last year. All 9 of the turkeys disappeared the Monday of Thanksgiving. It was hard thinking that someone ate them for dinner. So much so, that I refused to have turkey and made two chickens instead! Somehow I just could not bring myself to eat turkey after having 9 pets for 5 months.