I was having a chat with one of our social media managers at work, and started thinking about the overwhelming number of ways we communicate with one another.

In days of old, you had to get up out of your chair, leave your house, and walk down the street to talk with someone who wasn’t right next to you. But today, that’s all changed.

• Telephone
• Mobile Phone
• Email
• Text Messaging
• Instant Messaging
• Blogging
• Discussion Forums
• Chat programs
• Quick-Hit sites like Twitter*
• Status Updates on sites like Facebook* / myspace.com* / etc.
• Verbal (face to face)

And the list is probably double this if I had time to think about it. Oh, and verbal is last on the list for a purpose. These days you usually resort to verbal when none of the others works or is fast enough. Sad.

There are just too many ways to communicate, and it’s overwhelming at times. Don’t you just want to open a bottle of wine and tell everyone around you to BE QUIET?!

It’s just too much. The mind can’t handle that much information in a coherent way, and it’s likely why we have so many rampant cases of A.D.D., A.D.H.D., bi-polar disorder, and probably schizophrenia. Is it too far fetched to wonder if many of today’s mental disorders have been caused by the inundation of information we receive every second of every day? And I’m not talking about the news or the media, I’m talking about from our friends, family and coworkers too!

An article on Infoworld gives us an idea to combat the overload:

One strategy to consider is instituting information “filters.” To cope with volumes of data, e-mail filters can be used to screen out less-than-critical messages and prevent an overwhelming amount of data from being thrown at a person, Cascio says. Deleting your name from list servers is another way to limit the influx of e-mail.

Um…Hello?! That doesn’t solve the problem, it actually compounds it!

We’ve got answering machines and voice mail for our phones, we have filters and folders for email, and if you don’t want the information on a website, you don’t visit the website!

In each case we’ve implemented a method to prevent the communication from DISTURBING us. The problem is we aren’t ELIMINATING it, only delaying and compounding it.

To bring it home, it’s like TIVO. You can’t listen now, so you record it for later and then you suddenly realize Friday afternoon that you haven’t watched the last 20 episodes of the show and you have to spend your entire weekend catching up on the lives of the characters you care so deeply about!

Take my advice - open up the Now Playing list of your life, highlight the program folder, and push delete on your remote control. Then go outside with your partner/spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/lover/friend/whatever and talk to them.

Oh, and leave your darn phone in the house.

* Cell phone and brain scan image from WikiMedia Commons

That was a search that hit my site within the last 7 days.

So…I’ll try to respond.

First - this is also called “manscaping“. I dislike this term. I think it’s stupid and childish.

Second - based on research I have done, here is the answer to the question:

Some do. Some do not.

Reasons to shave: the virtual inch, the look of youth, crabs.

Reasons not to shave: incredible itching, the look of youth

Glad I could help.

Forget WWJD, WWDD, or WWOD.

I want to know What Are YOU Going To Do (WAYGTD)?

I’ve recently become tired of hearing people talk about what someone else thinks they should do, and not about what THEY want/are going to do.

So, let’s talk for just a little bit about self-empowerment and taking control of your life - because if you don’t do it yourself, no one else is going to do it for you.

I want to throw out a quick gripe about people who say that they have let God/Jesus/Deity take control of their life. After hearing sports figures talk about this during the Super Bowl, and hearing numerous American Idol contestants talking about God and how the Holy Spirit told them to audition, I have two thoughts.

Thought #1 is that this is quite ignorant, lazy, a cop-out, and apathetic, and really has nothing to do with a higher power.

Thought #2 is that I hope that these folks could say that THEY are taking control of their life because of what they have learned from their God/Jesus/Deity. There has to be some self-ownership here.

Forget about “Jesus Take the Wheel“, how about I take the wheel and he can sit next to me and we can have a chat? I’d much rather have that kind of relationship. And seriously -I don’t consider this to be me making a statement against religion, but against mindless giving-up of ownership of the self. Relationships don’t work that way - they are a partnership, not blind acquiescence.

Anyway - that’s my rant for today. It frustrates me. Frankly, I do not care what people believe in: God, Buddha, Shiva, Body Thetans, whatever, just take a little ownership in the choices you make and the way you live your life.

* Image of strength from Wikimedia Commons *

How many of you knew that your motor vehicle is considered a dangerous weapon?
That’s right - just as dangerous as a gun, a knife, a baseball bat, or a calphalon frying pan. One of the easiest ways to minimize the possible danger of your vehicle, is to not drive it.

Not especially helpful, but true none the less.

But for those of you who insist on needing a car to take you to work, school, or the mall, here are four quick tips to minimize the possibility of causing your own, or someone else’s death, while you are on the road.

• Tip #1: Eliminate, or minimize use of the mobile phone, unless you have a hands-free device. This will allow you to stay focused on the task at hand, namely, driving the car.
• Tip #2: Avoid use of the wiper system unless you are the only car on the road. This will prevent other drivers from losing control of their vehicle, and running in to you as they attempt to see through a smeared windshield.
• Tip #3: Do not eat in the car. Not only is this a sign of low class, but when that ketchup drips on your pants, you’re going to jerk the steering wheel left and bounce off the median. Also try to avoid drinking hot liquids in the car - the outcome is the same.
• Tip #4: Indicators. This is the main focus of this article. Some people like to call these turn signals, but in actuality, they are properly termed indicators. Use them. (see below for more detail)

Every car has them. Indicators are not an option like the premium package, or the sport suspension. Your car has them, my car has them, every car on the planet has them. The difference is whether you actually use them or not. Indicators are not only a courtesy feature, but they are also a safety feature. Let’s examine both cases.

Courtesy:

Isn’t it nice to know when the car up in front of you would like to move into your lane? It’s helpful to see that flashing light go on, so that you can ease off the gas a bit, and allow them to merge over. It’s common courtesy to let the drivers around you know when you might be moving unexpectedly through the lanes.

Another courteous use of the indicator is in neighbourhood driving. An indicator shows a pedestrian that you are interested in making a turn. They might think twice before walking out into the street if they see that orange light flashing, letting them know that you’re about to turn their way. Courtesy. Awareness. It’s a silent and visible way to prevent you from having to roll your window down and scream “MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! I’M COMING THROUGH!”

Safety:

The most important reason to use your indicators, is safety. Instead of weaving in and out of traffic, with no indication to other drivers as to where you are headed next, you are setting yourself, and others, up for disaster. What if another car is trying to merge into the same lane that you are? They have their indicator on, so other cars are giving them room. But you do not. Therefore, no one is paying any attention to you, and by the time they see you, you’ve already hooked your bumper into theirs and you’re both flying into the ditch on the side of the road.

Again with the pedestrians. Let’s say you come up to a right turn, and you don’t turn on your indicator. Out steps the pedestrian thinking that you are continuing straight. Off they go to the hospital after you plow them over when you turn. It’s not ok to then shout out of your window, “Didn’t you see me turning??”, because no, they didn’t…you never indicated that you were going to turn.

Most indicators are in the same place on every car…on the steering column. There is no excuse for not knowing their location, because it does not differ from car to car. It’s always a stalk sticking out of the side of the steering column. Driving someone else’s car is not an excuse. It’s in the same place it is on your car. Learn it. Use it.

Practice good indication, and save yourself, or someone else today.

Oh NO!

Your trolley got away from you and now it’s run into someone’s car!

How many times has this happened to you?

You’ve just spent $200 at the grocery store, or perhaps your local warehouse club, and you’re unloading the goods into the trunk of your car, when SUDDENLY, the weight of the 24 pack of Diet Pepsi Vanilla, and the 400 thread-count Egyptian Cotton sheets have pulled your trolley across the parking lot and into a car across the way.

You weren’t paying attention to your trolley were you?

And now you’ve done considerable damage to someone’s car! You run to retrieve your cart, ignoring the large dent in the side or bumper of the victim’s vehicle.

No one is around, so why bother to put a note on their car about the incident? It’s just a ding, right? Everyone gets dings in their car at some point.

Awareness. Maintain close control of your baggages and packages to avoid them flying across the parking lot and totalling your neighbour’s Honda. When dealing with a heavy trolley, make sure it is braced gently against YOUR car, while you unload it into the trunk or the back seat. If necessary, have someone hold onto the cart while you are doing your work. This will prevent the embarrassment of others watching you as you run frantically across the parking lot screaming “LOOK OUT FOR THE TROLLEY!”.

Obviously, in the states you will have to adapt this to “LOOK OUT FOR MY RUNAWAY SHOPPING CART!”, or no one will have any idea what you are screaming about.

It’s tragic really. You’re walking down the hallway, desperately trying to get to the restroom, and this is what is in front of you.

An entire group of people either holding hands, or walking so close to each other that you simply can not break through. What is this insane tendency for people to spread themselves out across a walkway, even when there are only two or three people involved?

Why do high school girls walk hand-in-hand down the middle of the hallway, daring anyone to break their chain? Why won’t people just get the hell out of the way??

The Chain Gang - that group of people, typically 2 or more, who walk down the hall at work and spread themselves to cover the entire width of the walkway.

I’m not talking about overweight people who are wide themselves, I’m talking about people whose sense of personal space includes a 3 foot buffer zone on each side. It’s almost like they’ve added a border tag to their bodies.

And far be it from these people to move out of the way when an opposing force, or person, comes their way. They simply expect that you will move into a side corridor, allowing them to pass along their rigid path, unaltered. This is not the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are not floats that must be given a wide berth. These are people who have no awareness of those around them.

Courtesy. That’s all it takes. If you see someone walking toward you, on the same path as you, move. Remember the Dr. Seuss story about the North Going Zax and the South Going Zax in the Prairie of Prax (or perhaps you remember the story of Gay-Going Max)?

Have a little flexibility in your path for the day. It’s OK if you have to deviate a foot to the left, or a foot to the right. Someone’s bladder might thank you for it.

Old news, but…when shopping for a gift for your rebellious teenager this year, you might want to avoid buying him a gun. Also note that if you are in possession of a gun, and you stick that gun into your pants, please be aware of the position of the safety.

3:03 p.m. PT Nov 15, 2006

WICHITA, Kan. - A botched kidnapping ended with one of the assailants shooting himself in the groin, Wichita police said.