#life – Page 4 – The Corrigan Encore

Unconnected in a connected world

July 24, 2023 John Corrigan

Today was my first day back from a weeks long vacation. Me, my wife, and niece spent a week in the bayou Teche. We were camping in our rv and had a blast. We did some exploring, fishing, and a whole lot of swimming.

When I got into work this morning the emails were there in abundance, so were the instant messages and phone calls. I got top work on the backlog and I am finally starting to clear out the workload. I purposely left behind my work cellphone, tablet and laptops. I was unplugged and disconnected but I didn’t feel that way. Out there on the water I felt more connected than I had in a pretty long time.

I thought it was odd as I stood alone on the water, fishing that, I would feel connected. I am a huge fan of nature but, I don’t think nature has magical properties. I do think nature can be restorative though simply because nature has a way of cutting out distractions (like pretty much all my emails, messages and calls) and making us focus on what matters.

So what is it that really matters? Life and the environment that we live in matter more than anything else. Last week we experienced the hottest days on record. Man made climate change has caused serious damage to life and the enviroment that we live in.

The man made climate change was accomplished through and still happening because of a lack of perspective. As a species we have become distracted and lost focus of what really matters.

Maybe we should all take a week of disconnect unplug and reconnect with what matters.

What would you do

July 12, 2023 John Corrigan

I live in the United States of America and here we have a pay to play or live system. Capitalism is the economic and political system we use in the United States. Capitalism has created a pretty big gap between the haves and have nots in the United States. Over the past 20 – 30 years the United States has become the one of the most unequal countries in the world. The United States is the most unequal rich country in the world. Because of the inequity things like the lottery have grown in popularity by leaps and bounds. State lotteries are the most popular forms of gambling in the United States. About 18% of the United States citizens play the lottery on a monthly basis.

Photo by John Guccione http://www.advergroup.com on Pexels.com

As I type this post there is a drawing tonight that will award the winner (if there is one, often no one guesses the right numbers) over 170 million dollars. 170 million dollars is a pretty large amount of money and would be life changing. An exercise that I am sure is done by everyone who buys a lottery ticket is a what if type of exercise.

What if I won the lottery? What would I do if I wasn’t trapped in this system? I think the exercise is fun for the first few minutes, then you begin to realize that you are trapped in a pretty awful system.

I think the lottery can be fun and is fun but capitalism is not. Capitalism is brutal and corrupt and continues to be brutal and corrupt.

A great way to beat capitalism is through charity and helping others. Here is a super interesting post about how 5 lottery winners stuck their fingers in the eye of capitalism. link to blog post

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
Maya Angelou

It is not to late

July 11, 2023 John Corrigan

Did you know that the average age of most successful entrepreneurs was 42? When I say average age I mean average age at the start of their companies. Did you know that Mark Twain did not start writing until he was 42?

Age really is just a number. We are often conditioned to think that there is a prime time in our lives, but honestly their isn’t there is just our lives. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too old or too young to do something especially since age is just a number.

Want to, should and have to

July 10, 2023 John Corrigan

This week the world is experiencing intense heat. Just last week, the planet was the hottest it has ever been. This intense heat has some pretty dire consequences and will and is changing the way that humans live on the earth. There are foods that we once ate that we cannot eat anymore, homes and parts of the world that humans lived in and cannot anymore the ways that climate change have already affected humans is long and getting longer. In the 80’s scientists were ringing the alarm bells about the consequences of burning fossil fuels. No one listened because society didn’t want to.

In the 90’s the scientists rang again and no one listened. We should have but we didn’t really need to.

Now here we are in 2023 and we have to listen. Burning fossil fuels has destroyed the world we live in and changed the climate so much that we now have to listen if we do not humans will not adapt. This article in Time magazine outlines how humans will not be able to adapt to the pace of the heat on Earth.

The changes are being made but the pace we make the changes has to happen at a more rapid rate. We need to consider the environment before any action we make. Reduce, reuse and recycle and stop burning fossil fuels for transportation and energy creation.

We can change I know it.

Where are we at?

July 6, 2023 John Corrigan

There is this great video on youtube that I cannot stop watching. The drummer of the band.

The action in the video starts at 4 minutes 46 seconds. At 4 minutes 46 seconds the band named Sharp Dressed Band starts playing, yes they are a ZZ TOP cover band. What I love about this video is that the drummer, whose name is Steve Moore and is called the mad drummer, just goes off on the drums. The guy is mad good at being a drummer and is showing off his skills filliping his sticks and playing like he is performing in front of thousands of screaming fans, This guy brings it as a drummer. When you get the chance you should visit Steve’s website . Yes his website is www.the maddrummer.com. This guy can play and when he gets the chance he does!

We should always do the best we can no matter where we are and who we are doing it for. This can be hard but the benefits are tremendous. If you had the chance to see Steve’s website you can see that, Steve has done some pretty big gigs,and that is because Steve is an amazing drummer no matter where he is or who he is performing for Steve brings it.

Today at work whatever you are doing you should bring it. Do the best you can.

Do they smell like yesterday?

June 28, 2023 John Corrigan

Daily writing prompt

If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

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Bart Simpson has worn a red shirt and blue shorts every day for 32 seasons. I often wonder about this. does Bart have a closet full of clothes that are all the same? Does Bart have a pair of clothes that never fall apart in the wash? Is part a cartoon character and live by a different set of rules?

I was once in the US Army and every day I wore the same uniform to work. I got into the corporate world and switched my clothes and shoes every day. I once wore a different pair of shoes to work every day for two months straight. I am a big fan of change. I like to consistently change things up as long as I can keep some basic things the same.

Change everything except your wife and kids
Lee Kun-hee

That quote comes from one of the heads of Samsung. The leader was worried about the lack of innovation at the company and wanted to shake things up. I honestly do not think I would be able to wear the same thing for the rest of my life over and over again, if I had to though I guess I would wear an outfit that could reflect my family, like a tunic with my family crest.

Are you in or are you out??

June 27, 2023 John Corrigan

My dad loves cars. I think that my dad loves driving fast in cars I mean who doesn’t. I have memories from growing, up of my dad working on cars and talking about cars. I remember my dad telling me that it was said that man could not go faster than 40 miles per hour. “People were afraid to go faster than 40, they wore goggles and they just knew that if they went faster than forty bad things would happen. then they went faster than forty and have broken the speed of sound. ” my dad.

So much has been accomplished and remains to be accomplished by humans and life throughout history that, I am inclined to believe nothing is impossible.

When someone tells you what they are going to do and it is big you can do a few things You can support that endeavor. You can ridicule the endeavor or you can watch the endeavor. Of the three options the first one provides the highest risk and teh most reward. The second is just mean and does nothing to make the world better and the third is literally nothing.

If you interact with anyone today try to remember that anything is possible.

So what is it going to be are you in? are you out? Are you just nothing?

“People who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it”
George Bernard Shaw

What stuff do you want to deal with

June 14, 2023 John Corrigan

So I just finished watching the last season of the TV show Ted Lasso. The show as a hit and I will not insult you with a recap of the shows plot or episodes. There is one scene in the the last season that really resonated with me and even inspired me. Ted the soccer coach asks his team if they want to deal with what he calls junk in their lives and if they don’t what do they want to deal with?

I love this idea because life can be this amazing wonderful ride. A ride that is truly fun or it can be a never ending Sisyphean endeavor we are praying will end mercifully or it can be a broiler room or vice cooking us and pressuring us till we have a nervous break down and sometimes we can feel like life is all of this at the same time. How do we deal with this? We have to understand the issues and problems and junk. Because at its core life is awesome! It really is. Spend one day out doors in the sunshine and you will understand how amazing life is.

I hope you can get past all the junk in your life and sometimes you may need help to do this and that is fine and normal and you should get that help. The help of a friend or family member is great but when life is especially hard there is nothing wrong with the help of a professional. Find a good therapist and use them.

Everyone does it

June 8, 2023 John Corrigan

During the height of the Covid pandemic the United States Supreme Court held many of their oral arguments from home using Zoom software. The Supreme court of the United States is a kind of weird organization. The judges wear these robes and sit on a diesis made of mahogany and literally their decision is law enforced by one of the biggest strong arm organizations in the world. All of that decorum and seriousness was undermined or flushed away when one of the justices failed to mute their microphone while they were flushing a toilet.

The culprit has not yet confessed but this slate article does some investigation and does not disappoint (we may know who did it). It really doesn’t matter who flushed the toilet during the zoom call when the microphone was off what I think matters is the fact that it happened. The Supreme Court tries to make themselves and the institution out to be more important than any other institution but at the end of the day they are people and they are really no more or less important than any other people out here.

Men in white coats

June 7, 2023 John Corrigan

There is this funny comedian named Anjelah Johnson, my wife and I really enjoy her shows. In one of her shows she mentions how she takes medical advice from anyone wearing scrubs. Scrubs are a type of overalls doctors and nurses wear however anyone can buy and wear scrubs some daycare teachers wear scrubs to daycare.

In 1916 Nathan Handwerker was looking for a way on Conney Island to sell his hot dogs. Nathan understood the respect that doctors garnered on Conney Island and used this to his company, Nathans Famous Hotdogs”, benefit. Nathan hired folks to eat his hotdogs while wearing white coats. Doctors and lab technicians wear these white lab coats quite often. Nathan never really made a statement that doctors endorsed his hotdogs but allowed everyone to assume it. Like scrubs, lab coats can be purchased by anyone. At a factory I used to work out the employees on the floor wore lab coats when they dealt with insulation.

It can be tempting to trust people that we believe have authority however how we authenticate this is very important. a uniform does not make someone an expert their actions and knowledge does though.

Sometimes it is ok to be like someone from the state of Missouri and ask someone to show you how and why they are an expert.