Man, I had a heck of a time falling asleep last night.  All-in-all I think I logged about ten real minutes of sleep.  Have you ever had one of those nights where your mind just wouldn’t shut down long enough for you to conk out?  My wheels were turning all night it seemed.  Initially, while watching “Bobs Burgers”, I began to think how fun a career doing voice overs must be.  I wonder if they drive home from work deep in thought about their day like I do?  That morphed into me thinking about my book “My Aumakua” and my new work beginning  on the audio-book version.  I was wondering if I had enough range to bring my characters to life the way they deserve to be.  That, then brought me into my new world being scribbled onto paper from my imagination called “Scraping Bottom” which had me finding some paper and a pen to jot down some notes.  At that point, I decided to pick up my trusty Kindle and read someone else’s writing for a bit in the hopes I could get a bit drowsy.  Not to say the story I am into is boring or anything, just that sometimes reading helps me fall asleep.  Well, not this time.  I am reading about the 1966, 24 Hour of Le Mans auto race, which somehow got me thinking about all the little tinkering projects I have been wanting to tackle on my reliable ol’ Ranger.  Cut to 1:30 in the morning.  That damn alarm is going to go off in two and a half hours.  Ridiculous!  Stagger out the door, coffee in hand, “Where the hell did I park the car?”  Almost time to try again tonight.  Wish me luck.  #countingsheep #melitonin #myaumakua

Some of you are aware that I had to visit the emergency room at my local hospital the week before last.  While working out and taking part in a challenge from a dear friend to do twenty two push-ups a day for twenty two days, I tore an abdominal muscle.  It was painful enough for me to go see a doctor which, if you know me, is not my favorite thing to do.  This brings me to insurance, something I must admit, I completely do not understand.  I’m not looking for help in understanding how I pay and pay and pay and when its time to use it, I pay again.  No, what I want to mention is how a certain company that has a duck or goose for their mascot managed to impress the heck out of me.  After my visit, while lying there thinking about how bummed I was that I have to “take it easy for a while”, I remembered that I have “supplemental insurance”.  The television ads make it sound so simple I just had to give it a try.  It took me about ten minutes to file the claim and a bout forty eight hours for a check to arrive with not only the amount of my co-pay, but a bit more for other things.  I was so happy there was no surprises at all with this transaction and that they do what they say they are going to do.  I recommend to everyone reading this to look up the duck and get that supplemental insurance, it is so worth it.  @aflac #greatdeal #doitoryourdumb

Have you ever watched a news report about a robbery or other crime where they include clear video of the incident?  They narrate the video with words like “alleged”  and “suspected” so all of us watching do not presume guilt of the person who is in the video, clearly breaking the law.  In America we are lucky in that we are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Usually, a few days later, this individual will go into court and plead “not guilty”.  Is it just me or does that sound completely absurd?  Our world could be a much different place if we didn’t teach shortcuts and loopholes.  Create a personal rule to take responsibility for your actions.  If you mess up…fess up.  The legal system is so polluted with loopholes and administrative defenses that it is even possible today to get away with something, even when you have been filmed doing it.  After a while, the guy or gal in the video will begin to believe their innocence.  Crazy world we live in, right?  Someone should sell tickets.  It is very easy to make mistakes, the hardest part is admitting it.  #tuesdaysgonewiththewind

It amazes me how few people seem to truly understand the importance of proper scheduling.  I’m not just talking about your own personal schedule and calendar, but the overall effect improper scheduling can have on others.  Say for example, you are scheduling a very important meeting, or training session for peers in your company or business.  If the time commitment is great enough, say a full day or more, then you should send out the invitation and subsequent notifications no less than three weeks in advance.  You may be wondering where I cam up with the three weeks.  As a business manager, employees submit their vacation time and appointment schedule to me a minimum of two weeks in advance, special circumstances aside.  I also tend to have my calendar pretty solid up to eight business days out.  Three weeks allows me to look far enough ahead so as to inform my crew and customers that I will not be available on that day or days.  Look, some people purchase airline tickets months in advance and expect to see the airplane fueled up and ready to go on the day and time they chose.  Sure you can walk into an airport and purchase a ticket a few hours before your flight, but it will cost you.  A very similar cost can be expected should you schedule a training or meeting last minute.  It will likely be ill attended for starters and those that do make it will likely be preoccupied with their own business as they didn’t have time to fully prepare for your meeting.  Lastly, it is nothing more than professional courtesy which seems to be drifting away, one new electronic devise by one new electronic device.  Happy Wednesday.  #stuckintraffic #booksigning #myaumakua #aloha

Today, I had time to reflect on many different and wide ranging things.  I woke up this morning in some pretty awful pain.  I got ready for work and went in to open up the branch.  At this point, there really is no other option, but, I am very thankful I have a job.  After getting everything situated, I let everyone know that I needed to go to the see a doctor, so off I went to the ER to get looked into.  I pulled up to the clean, manicured entrance to the hospital and was amazed to see “complimentary valet parking” and thought, wow, Hospitals have really changed.  I went inside and was again surprised by the cleanliness and professionalism being demonstrated by everyone.  I guess the last time I really paid attention was when I went to a VA hospital while in the Army, but hey, I digress.  They took me in and sat me down and said I needed to get some tests.  I looked around and was so thankful that I have access to such a fantastic facility and team of healthcare professionals, like we do.  As I look out my window and watch the sun set on my 45th year on this planet, I am thankful.  I have had an all inclusive great time.  The good the bad and the ugly are all part of the many, many things I am thankful for.  I have been told to take it easy for a few weeks which sounds great, but if there is one thing I am not good at, its taking it easy.  I will work at it though because I want to heal up and go find more things on this wonderful, fantastic and epic ride called life to be thankful for.  #lifeisgood

Since I have self-published my book “My Aumakua” I have realized that I am basically working two jobs.  I get up very early, grab the coffee, drive to work unlike Bob Newhart who walked, open up the place and then focus for the next ten to twelve hours, depending on the day, managing the branch.  I lock it all up, get in the car, put my cell phone into the console because distracted driving kills and I want to live, then battle the other lemmings to get home safe.  This is when my second job begins.  You see, I love to write.  I love to tell others what’s on my mind whether it gets read or not.  I like to tell stories about my day in this very blog.  My newest fiction work is in the “boy just met girl” stage.  That is to say, its in the beginning of the beginning stage.  This new one will not take the amount of time it took me to write “My Aumakua” I can assure you.  At this point I have daily word goals set for myself as well as a fantastic office I sink into when its time for me to put my thoughts on paper.  I even have a dry erase board where I write insults to myself to motivate me.  At the moment, this “second job” doesn’t exactly pay very well, but hey, it sure is fun.  I could do without the marketing and promotion part of it, but hey, every job has its less than enjoyable moments, right?  #justkeepswimming #myaumakua #myaumakuabyjasondolson #scrapingbottom

In our overly-connected world we live in it can be very easy to misunderstand or misrepresent yourself.  Whether it be an accident or not, often times the damage can be difficult to repair.  Through the written form of communication most people choose to use today coupled with the lack of educating people how to write anymore, bad things are bound to happen.  What is even more interesting and even less noticed is the fact that every email, text message, and instant message leaves a trail.  Someone could read your email about a big idea you have and think “Wow, this person is a real dynamo!  I need to connect with them.”  On the other hand, a response to a question about a project you are working on can very easily come off in the recipients mind “Wow, I sure don’t care for the tone this person is using with me.  I think I will have a talk with their manager.”  A lot of different things can happen electronically everyday.  The key is to take your time, read it all when you’re done, then read it again.  If you read it and have to think too long about it, delete it and start over.  If you have to think too long and hard about it, maybe its a phone call or a face to face meeting.  Be careful out there.

The ease of buying something has become a wonderful thing.  All you have to do is log into your favorite website, make your choice, put in your info and voila, a confirmation email is sent telling you that whatever you purchased is being processed and is on the way.  Wow!  How cool is that?  Very cool. You invite people over for a birthday party.  Excited, you go to the super market and get a bunch of food and drinks, then hit the dollar store for some incidentals, you plan and prep and move and situate, preparing for, what you hope to be, a great party.  Everyone shows up and everyone puts all the stuff they need to deal with where it goes.  Time to relax and enjoy the day.  Out come the phone’s.  Before you know it, everyone is taking up space, looking at their phone.  Look, I am all for technology, the more the merrier, there just needs to be some limits.  I guess parents these days are happy with the quiet, no trouble, they are there and I am here, kind of parenting.  Just because it is easy and accessible doesn’t mean it isn’t rude.  I think we need to take a close look at how we, a people, manage our use of technology.  Technology is extremely insensitive and very bland.  How you use it may not be, but it, in itself, is as cold as could be.  Try “people watching” it is a lot of fun and you just might catch the next viral video.  Catch is, you have to pay attention.   #lookingdownisthenewup #waitwhatjusthappened #nicetomeetyou

You know what I love about America?  We will celebrate just about anything.  Politics and preferences are set aside so we can all come together and toast a cold one to a battle that took place a few hundred years ago.  Or maybe we can do the same for a saint that chased some snakes.  These are just two examples of many different and diverse ways we celebrate.  When we’re not coming together for fun, we come together to honor time’s that were not so good with the same amount of energy and effort to show respect.  There was a time when we cared about our neighbor, hell, there was a time when we actually KNEW our neighbor.  We came together in times of happiness as well as sadness.  We showed respect to everyone and to other peoples things, beliefs and ideals.  They say you can never go back.  I sometimes wonder myself if we aren’t so far down the sewer pipe that we can no longer see the way we went in.  I for one, would sure love to see us come together the way we do when there is some reason to celebrate, made up or not, and work things out not worrying about whether it is good tv or how many hit’s it might get.  #cincodemayo #myaumakua #alohafriday

No, that is not a typo, it is the truth.  The old saying “Good things come to those who wait” is bologna.  Anyone who has ever been in a survivor situation, or studied survival will tell you that staying busy is the key.  Things have slowed down at work in the last few weeks.  There are plenty of excuses as to why, some out of my control, but some are well within.  If the team decides to wait for the arrival of the business, we may not survive.  I have begun to put a plan together containing a task list for every employee to chase down some leads.  When the number at the table doesn’t change, but the amount of food being cooked get’s less and less, you grab your knife and fork and fight for every bite.  Today’s business environment, in my industry at least, is in the midst of this very scenario.  So we have our knives and forks and are ready to fight.  So to my competition out there, watch your fingers or you might get bit.  #getbusy #gettowork #nowhining