Man Suffers 37 Strokes

Team McDonald achieved the high score of 37 strokes at the Links at Ireland Grove golf course Thursday evening.

The best-ball format was part of the 2nd annual Life/Health Actuarial Department golf social. McDonald planned to bypass the event, but was recruited by the coordinator to captain a four-person squad of unattached employees.

Shyam Lakshmin - legendary Christmas card photo snapper
Justin Mai - employee of 4 days
Lisa Pankau - summer intern

The highly talented (at non-golfing) quartet rolled the ball merrily along the ground, through the weeds, into the rough and the water. Finishing 7 over par earned them a sizable lead over the next closest finisher, and a gaping 10 strokes behind the event winner.

The team was given a cheap plastic blue cup of shame, and awarded large rainbow-colored suckers because, as stated, "You suck."

Team McDonald immediately embarked on its plan to defend the honor by swearing off golf until next year.

I Own You... Not

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master." - Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's elegant reverse statement of the Golden Rule suggests not to treat anyone worse than ourselves.

When someone makes a mistake, it's unlikely that it's worse than every mistake we've ever made - so we can treat it with the kindness that we'd wish to receive if it were our own.

Wisdom From The Fool

Wisdom is applied failure.

Some people are born with instinct and a plush supply of common sense. Others learn through trial and error. If they choose to learn through their mistakes, in time they may become "wise." In situations where I get that kind of regard, it's usually because I've already proven to someone else how well I do things wrong in the past!

Often we're bad at something before we're good at something. And lately, I must be on track to be a work superstar!

What About Bob?

Dena just bought this classic comedy the other day. The highly acclaimed, clinically cool psychologist slowly loses all grip on reality as the paranoid but crazy-fun Bill Murray wins the hearts of his family.



What a helpful reminder to stay cool as well, as work's crept me closer to the edge of distrurbia than at any time in recent memory. Because really, life's truly no more difficult than sitting around the table munching happily on hand-shucked corn.

Open The Window!

Yes, it's a little warmer than ideal this week. The other day while driving to work I noticed that I'd left my window rolled up.

All through the biting fall/winter/spring seasons when temperatures occasionally or often threaten the physical safety of exposed skin, the idea of traveling in fresh air is only a dream. It's funny how quickly dreams are taken for granted when they arrive.

The window came down, wind whipped my hair, and summer came into the car - and a little bit more into my soul.

This Is Dedicated To The One I Love

The floor buzzed with excitement as Normal Community High School students and other fans swarmed the basketball floor. The guard of the girls' basketball team had just swished a jumper from the right elbow as time expired to give them a thrilling 1-point playoff win. As I surged down from the stands and into the throng just enjoying the moment, I heard a voice calling out as if a limo driver trying to identify his fare at the world's most crowded airport.

"Coach McDonald!" It caught my attention oddly, being that I'm mostly anonymous at NCHS and was here as a fan rather than as a coach. Even when we poured onto the floor in victory after boys' playoff wins this past year, I never heard my name called. But this was seeking me out somehow. Plus, it was familiar. In fact, it was Lee Hall, local T.V. sports news anchor on location trying to get a quote from anyone. Evidently my name was somehow in a program as a hoops coach and no one else was responding to his search.

I gestured to him and he hustled over with his cameraman, with an introductory shake of the hand. I expected him to fire out a question about what we'd just witnessed. Instead, he seemed to be trying to get to know me within the dancing frenzy around us.

"So do you tend to help with the girls or the boys?" he asked with surprisingly genuine, unhurried curiosity.

"Mostly with the boys," I replied. "But I enjoy coming out to support the girls when I can."

"Why do you do this?" he followed.

I woke up with adrenaline pumping through me, the kind of rush that dismisses any chance of sleep in the near future. The new sun was sailing rays through the window in 5:30 salutation.

The question lingered. Why do I do this?

My thoughts snapped back to sitting on the sideline of the semifinal playoff game at Carver Arena last March. As the refs prepared to toss the ball and launch the game, I thought how glad Dad would have been to be sitting in my place, even as one riding coattails of other great coaches on the bench. I wished that Lee Hall were still standing by.

"Well, my Dad coached basketball for twenty years," I'd have said, "and it's an honor to carry on the family tradition."

Dad was also one to work 12 hours a day. Sleeping in a bit, more night owl than early bird like his son, and then as driven as any of the old Irish-American settlers who laid drainage tile and railroad to help build the heartland in centuries past.

Today's a new opportunity to get out into the day and chalk up a win through force of determination. And so it is that I'll approach it with Dad's devotion, even uncharacteristically early, in dedication.

To Ease His Own

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." - Dale Carnegie

Could've used that line a time or two today. The 14-hour days get old quickly. It's easy to slip out of perspective, getting absorbed in the crisis at hand.

Fortunately the fates came together and created a calm and sunny afternoon. Just the right people, just the right mood to overcome the rapids. Another good vision to hold as days go by.

RIP Lance Rocke

Slivers of eternity - the phrase this blog uses to stake our place in the infinite universe.

Dr. Lance Rocke's sliver was 47 years. Ours intersected for seventeen of them.

As a professional, Dr. Rocke was the model of service. He remembered things about me despite seeing me once a year. I imagined him huddled over a note pad after our appointments, busily scribbling a summary of our conversation. I liked the personal attention.

Lance and I had a bond. He was less than ten years older than me. He was a good student, a sports fan. He attended church but kept an open mind.

Chit-chat's common between professionals. Stylists, dentists, attendants. This was more. For both of us. I'd share how things were going at work and home, about new adventures and plans. He shared about his family and his business, at a level personal enough that we both used our visits as a kind of mini-vacation, I think.

He had a challenging life. A tough divorce. A brush with death years ago. All the challenges of working in the shrinking profits and increasing regulation of the medical field. Along with the challenges of being a business owner.

Years back, when Dena was looking for work, we talked to see if he had any need for an office manager, but not quite. The timing was just a bit off.

One night I called him and left a dinner invitation on the machine. He didn't call back. The timing was just a bit off.

Shortly after his second marriage began he was driving 90 miles each way and paying on multiple mortgages. I wondered if I should give him a call.

I don't know, shouldn't know, the reason for his death. Mostly there is no reason other than whatever God decided. It was too short for me. With a few more gestures, a slight shift in timing, we might have been much closer.

Through the years I occasionally had opportunities to go to other optometrists. I stuck around much longer than I would with other service places. It was all Lance.

At this point I haven't even begun to feel the burden of finding a new doctor. I'm going to be feeling the loss of a friend for a while first.

Temper Sure

"Herrera regarded prejudice as the problem of the prejudiced, best met with an even temper and devotion to the task at hand." - Gus Sambrano

Sambrano played shortstop on the first state baseball champion in Texas in 1949. They came from the poorest town in the state, just north of the Mexican border. They ignored the racist comments, thanks to the determined example of Coach Herrera.

"Even temper and devotion." We'll all face unfairness. It's not a problem unless we allow it to be.

"Benchwarmers" by Jimmy Kimmel & Usher

Never heard an Usher song start to finish before. I think this was the perfect intro!

Alaska Airlines/Portland Timbers Employee Exchange - Luggage / Log

The idea of having a chainsaw handy when dealing with airlines could be effective...

Alaska Airlines/Portland Timbers Employee Exchange - Announcement / Penalty Kick

I'm a big fan of creative career development plans.

New York Marriage Law Expands Definition

I'm a simpleton. I believe that sexual orientation is a characteristic and not a choice. Steps toward equality make me happy. Thanks New York!

Uncle's Day

When you're feeling a bit spent from a hard week's work, nothing rejuvenates a sleep-shallow body like a crunchy bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It takes me back to days in Walker Hall at Illinois State University, where I'd chow down on a few milkless helpings of the stuff for many a morning (and sometimes depending on the menu for the day, many a lunch).

I shouldn't be surprised by the omnipotent guessing abilities of Kelsey and Lane when they picked their uncle a gift for Father's Day.

Sweet - literally.

One Good Turn

Today had its share of tension. Business tension, that is. The kind that comes from the eternal pitting of price versus quality. High demand, nearly as high resources. In a leadership position, sharing kinship with the punching bag and the pinata. Work grips the soul like some dread disease, consuming rational thought and mulching it into an emotional wasteland.

In those situations I've found salvation in whitewashing the mind, cleansing it with fascinating news, humor, dreams, perspective. Physically turning the mind from its prior obsession. Maybe I'm on stage, singing with the band while the house is rocking.



Tomorrow's going to be a win!

80 Hour Work Week

Hadn't worked one of those in, well, ever. But something broke at the office and I'm responsible. So I enjoyed life as a two-shift employee, mastering the timer cycle of the auto-shut-off lights. Spooking a security guard or two in the darkened hallways. Bringing a change of clothes and contact solution every day. Hitting the pillow at 2:00 a.m. for several nights in a row. Bathing in incandescent glow while the longest day of the summer season slipped past. All in the name of reconciling some tax-related figures that one in ten thousand people pay any mind.

Still, life held its balance. Gave a training presentation to new employees. Got a quick visit to the gym every day. Ate right. Honored my basketball camp commitment. Visited my father-in-law on his day. And tomorrow God willing I'll get home early enough to give Mom a call.

You've never lost until you've let them steal your smile. Toughness is facing your problems like a spectator, and swooping in enthusiastically to help. Success is approaching failure with the confidence that things will be better. Winners refuse to see themselves as victims, no matter how hard their darker side screams otherwise.

Jars Of Clay

We saw these guys in concert a few years ago and it was fantastic. A modest group of guys with terrific energy. They pitched their partnership with a charity, without morphing the concert experience into a church service.

They'll be at the Corn Crib before the baseball game on July 9 at 3:00, with the usual slate of undercards beforehand. Thinkin' we'll be there!

In studio:



In concert:

John, Paul, George, Ringo and Marv

I wondered what I'd say if someone asked me if I wanted to be here. Not on the earth, but at the office. Maybe I'd say that I'm like a banjo player in the Beatles. A little amusing to others, mostly underwhelming, out of place... but definitely thankful and glad to be here while it lasts.

First Baseball Game Ever

Another splendid comedy routine heard about at VBS.

Jim Gaffigan- Hot Pockets

There was a lot of down time during Vacation Bible School last week. This is one of the topics that came up.

10 Diet And Exercise Myths

From Yahoo! Shine:

Believing popular misconceptions can keep you from taking the right course of action to reach your goals, says Julia Valentour, MS, program coordinator and media spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. Blaming a plateau (or a gain) on any of these half-truths will keep you stuck in your rut and derail your motivation. Here, 10 of the most pervasive diet-related rumors and the real scoop on how to hit your goal weight for good.
Get dozens of ideas that make weight loss easy here!


1. “Strength training will bulk me up.”
First, let’s tackle the myth that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. A pound is a pound is a pound—whether it’s made up of muscle or fat. That said, muscle is denser than fat and takes up less room, so two women who weigh the same can look much different if one has a higher ratio of lean muscle mass to fat, says Valentour. “Muscle weight is a good weight because you look firmer, smaller, and more fit. It’s also more metabolically active, so just having more muscle will boost metabolism throughout the day to help keep you leaner.”

It’s important to incorporate strength training into your routine so you burn calories at an optimal rate all day long—and using heavier weights could help maximize your efforts. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that working out with heavy weights even for as few as 3 to 6 repetitions increased exercisers’ sleeping metabolic rate—the number of calories burned overnight—by nearly 8%. That’s enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year, even if you did nothing else!

2. “I exercise every day, so I can eat whatever I want.”
The sad truth: Even if you work out religiously, going to yoga several times a week and sweating it out in Spinning, it’s not a license to eat as much as you want and still expect to lose weight. This may seem obvious, but the desire to reward a workout well done is natural; after all, you endured those endless vinyasas—you deserve an extra slice of pizza (or three), right? Not if you’re trying to lose weight.

“You can outeat your workout,” says Valentour. Even though you burn calories and fat when you exercise, it’s often not as much as you think—or what the readout on the treadmill tells you.
Valentour recommends eating 250 fewer calories per day and aiming to burn an extra 250 calories a day; that creates enough of a calorie deficit to achieve an average weight loss of a pound a week.

3. “It’s harder for women to lose weight than for men.”
Okay, this one has some basis. Biologically, men are built with more lean muscle mass (the compact, tight muscles that keep metabolism humming) than women are—meaning his metabolism is working at a 5 to 10% higher rate (even if he’s the same height and weight as you) when you’re lying on the couch together. Annoying, isn’t it?

Another biological challenge women face is that we generally have more body fat than men do, and our bodies are more inclined to store it. On top of that, women lose about 1/2 pound of calorie-burning muscle mass a year during perimenopause and sometimes a pound a year during menopause. With the deck stacked against you, why bother trying to fit back in your skinny jeans?

You can do something about these problems, but it’s going to take some work—and sweat. Add strength training to your fitness routine at least twice a week to shed fat and build lean muscle mass that will fire up your resting metabolism.

4. “All calories are equal, so it doesn’t matter what I eat.”
Ever since you learned what a calorie is, you’ve been told that they’re all alike: Whether you eat 500 calories’ worth of celery stalks or crème brûlée, your body will burn or store them equally, right? Wrong. New science shows that when it comes to weight loss, calories are nowhere near alike.

Some foods take more work to eat—and therefore burn more calories while you’re digesting them. Just the act of chewing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30%! And then your stomach and intestines do their jobs. In a Japanese study, researchers found that women who ate the foods that required the most work had significantly slimmer waistlines than those who ate the softest, easiest-to-eat foods. The fiber and protein in such foods take so much effort to digest that your body ’doesn’t absorb some of their calories.

5. “Eating fat will make me fat.”
Fat-free products are so-o-o over. There’s nothing special about fat that packs on pounds: Getting enough fat in your diet—the Institute of Medicine recommends that it make up 20 to 35% of calories—is essential for good health, but the type of fat matters.

Monounsaturated fats—MUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs), for short—come from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a MUFA-rich diet helped people lose small amounts of weight and body fat without changing their calorie intakes. Another report found that a breakfast high in MUFAs could boost calorie burn for 5 hours after the meal, particularly in people with higher amounts of belly fat. Pair these delicious healthy fats with a reduced-calorie eating plan and you’ll lose weight and reduce belly fat.

6. “Eating at night will make me gain weight.”
Cutting out nighttime snacking is a popular weight loss strategy because it feels logical—eat less when you’re less active. But this topic has been debated for years, and even recently, a study in the April 2011 journal Obesity suggested that eating after 8 pm may increase the risk of obesity, but there aren’t clear-cut reasons why.

It’s mainly how much you eat—not when you eat—each day that affects weight gain. Many people eat at night out of boredom or other emotions instead of hunger, and they wind up consuming more calories than they need for the day—calories that are then stored as fat. Also, people who eat at night may wake up without an appetite and skip breakfast, the meal that helps control calorie intake throughout the day.

To ward off nighttime hunger, eat dinner an hour later, suggests Marjorie Nolan, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. You’ll save calories by curbing the urge to nosh in front of the TV. “Having dinner a little bit later—but at least 2 hours before sleeping—helps prevent mindless snacking, which often happens in the evening,” says Nolan.

7. “Drinking a ton of water will help me drop pounds.”
Stop hogging the office watercooler (and running to the loo). It’s possible that drinking water can aid weight loss efforts, but it won’t automatically make you lose weight if you’re not changing any other habits. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that people who regularly drink water eat nearly 200 fewer calories daily than those who consume only coffee, tea, or soda. And if you sip water instead of sugary drinks, the calories you’ve saved will help shed pounds.

Drinking ice-cold water can help you burn more calories too. German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day raised resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily—possibly because of the work it takes to warm the fluid up to body temperature. It’s up to you to decide whether 50 calories is worth guzzling ice water—or whether it would be easier just to take the stairs.

8. “Becoming a vegetarian will help me drop a size.”
Eliminating meat from your diet can result in great health benefits, but if you don’t follow a vegetarian diet properly, you could accidentally pack on pounds.

Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet, explains common vegetarian beginners’ mistakes that may cause weight gain. Vegetarian “types” to avoid becoming:

Cheese-aholic vegetarians: They cut out meat from their diets and turn to cheese as a protein source. But cheese is a high-calorie, high-fat food and should be eaten in moderation.

Faux-meat fixators: All they eat is boxes of frozen faux meats, such as soy chicken nuggets, vegetarian sausage links, and veggie bacon strips. These products are okay once in a while, but they are heavily processed and can have a lot of sodium,
resulting in bloating and water retention.

No-veggie vegetarians: A lot of vegetarians don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. They eat only grains, beans and veggie burgers, all of which can be high in calories.

Same-meal-minus-the-meat vegetarians: These people eat the same meals they did before, but without the meat. If they’re not replacing the protein, they’ll probably have a ferocious appetite and may be missing out on essential nutrients.
“Vegetarian” food label fans: These people find any recipe or packaging that contains the word “vegetarian” or “meatless” and then overeat that food. They often wind up taking in too much junk food. Be aware that the word “vegetarian” is not synonymous with “healthy” or “low calorie.”

Blatner recommends replacing meat with beans in recipes for an easy, healthy—and inexpensive—protein source. She advises new vegetarians—and those who want to dabble in a vegetarian diet—to start having fun with vegetarian recipes. “Find ones you like that you’re going to keep eating. Enjoy the journey of it.”

9. “Subbing diet soda and diet foods is a smart way to lose.”
Chugging cans of diet soda and eating prepackaged diet foods may seem like a no-brainer way to trick your body into pound-shedding mode because they have few or no calories—but it’s not going to give you lasting results.

Diet soda may increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes high levels of belly fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol. People who consumed just one diet soda daily had a 34% higher risk of the syndrome than those who abstained, according to a University of Minnesota study of nearly 10,000 adults ages 45 to 64.

What you’re trying to do when you eat diet foods and drink diet soda is to cheat your body, says Ashley Koff, RD, resident dietitian on the new Lifetime show Love Handles: Couples in Crisis. “The body is physiologically smarter than your ability to override it. If you use one of those things as your tool, you’re always going to need that. And you might be getting weight loss results but no health benefits.” She says many people eventually get frustrated that they became dependent on these products.

“My approach across the board is that the best thing you can do is be a ‘qualitarian,’” says Koff. “Choose the best-quality foods available. The diet versions will have fewer calories than the quality versions, but they’ll also have fewer nutrients.”

10. “Weight gain and belly fat are unavoidable after 40.”

Let’s be honest here: You’re not going to wake up on your 40th birthday with a gut and 10 extra pounds on your frame. It does get harder to lose weight as we age, but you can put some healthy habits into practice now to maintain your weight—or even lose—as the years pass by.

The years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, are prime time for weight gain: On average, women put on a pound a year, mostly around the waist, according to the Mayo Clinic. Out-of-whack hormones and a slowing metabolism are a couple of the weight gain culprits.

But reaching menopause doesn’t have to mean getting plumper. Studies show that the more you work out, the slimmer you’ll be, even during this transition time. Keep your diet in check and you’ll boost your results.

Fine-tune your workouts and eating habits to shed those pounds—and keep ’em off—with these tips:

Exercise at least 4 hours a week: That amount helped nearly 44,000 women in their 40s or early 50s achieve weight loss instead of weight gain during a 10-year American Cancer Society study. Try this essential over-40 workout.


• Crank it up for 10 minutes a day: In a Kaiser Permanente study, a similar group of women who exercised vigorously (by jogging, for instance) for 10 or more minutes a day had waistlines nearly 6 inches smaller than those of women who didn’t raise their heart rates that high.

• Lift weights: Two or three sessions a week can help stave off age-related muscle loss, which slows your metabolism.

• Skip the refined carbs: Women whose diets were high in whole grains and fiber gained less weight than those who ate more sugar and white flour, reports a Danish study.

Six Steps For Cutting Down Calories

From Yahoo! Shine:

Step 1: Spread your calories throughout the day. Cravings aren’t always born out of hunger but if your stomach is slightly growling, it can make for a convenient excuse to indulge. If you graze lightly throughout the day instead of heaping on the massive portions during mealtime, you’re less likely to rationalize that mid-day bag of chips.

Step 2: Stay distracted. Cravings come, on average, in 15-minute intervals, so if you’re hankering for a hunk of cheese, get busy. Send out that email you’ve been meaning to tackle or spend some time getting lost in a blog. Studies show visual distractions are highly effective in fighting thoughts of food, so use the time to cater to some eye-candy.

Step 3: Give your tongue a treat, not your stomach. Keep breath mints or dissolving strips handy in case of emergencies. They’ll activate your sense of taste and smell, without adding unneeded calories.

Step 4: Create a mantra. If a plate of cookies is beckoning, tell it who’s boss. State your intention: “I will not eat this plate of cookies.” Repeat it at least three times until it becomes a fact. Research shows that declarations of intention increase will power. And that’s exactly what you need to call in for backup when cravings get the best of you.

Step 5: Go ahead and indulge, lightly. We never fully outgrow our inner child, and parents know the cardinal rule with kids is when you say they can’t have something, they want it more. Same goes for your own cravings. The more you deny yourself sweets, the more you’ll want them. Sweets shouldn’t be completely taboo, but they should be considered the occasional reward, enjoyed in bites not boxes.

Step 6: Keep it brief. So you’ve caved into that piece of cake. All is not lost. Try to limit your indulgence to a few bites, savoring the flavor and texture but avoiding the complete annihilation of the objet desir. The satisfaction of tasting your treat will be intense at first but researchers have found that pleasure decreases dramatically after the first few bites. So savor the first few bites slowly and then stop yourself before your start destroying the evidence through your stomach.

A Soda A Day Keeps The Doctor... Employed

From Yahoo! Shine:

Sugar rushes and caffeine highs followed by a depressing energy crash are what happens to your body if you drink a soda right now, but plenty of Blisstree readers actually seem to be okay with that. Some of you think it’s alarmist to compare a caffeine and sugar rush to doing drugs, and some just don’t really care about the slump they’ll find themselves in after drinking 39 grams of sugar, but what makes us really worried about a soda-slurping habit is what happens over the long term.
Here’s a quick snapshot of you, in a few years, after drinking soda on a regular basis:

You’ll Be Fatter: According to research in the Nurse’s Health Study, which monitored the health of 90,000 women for eight years, drinking a single soda every day of the week added 10 pounds over a four-year period.

You’ll Probably Have Diabetes: In the Nurses’ Health Study, women who said they drank one or more servings a day of a sugar-sweetened soft drink or fruit punch were twice as likely to have developed type 2 diabetes during the study than those who rarely consumed these beverages.

You’re Much More Likely to Develop Heart Disease: According to a study published in 2007 in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, subjects who drank a soda every day over a four-year period had a 25% chance of developing high blood sugar levels and a 32% greater chance of developing lower “good” cholesterol levels. The Nurses’ Health Study found that women who drank more than two sugary beverages per day had a 40% higher risk of heart attacks or death from heart disease than women who rarely drank sugary beverages.

You’re Probably Also Less Healthy In Other Ways: Several studies, including the 2007 study published in Circulation, suggest that diet sodas have some of the same effects on health as regular sodas, despite having none or very little of the sugar. Why? Drinking soda is typically part of an overall lifestyle that’s not very healthy: We know you don’t like us to compare drinking caffeine and sugar to substance abuse, but when it comes to your lifestyle, some think that soda is just like a gateway drug.

4 Ways To Watch TV For Free

$60 a month savings? Sure, I'll give this article a read.

From Yahoo! Finance:

A broken television recently forced me to ponder the unthinkable: A summer without my favorite shows. As someone who consumes reality television with the passion that some reserve for five-star restaurants, I knew I couldn't resign myself to that fate. So I spent some time figuring out how to watch television online for free. (If we were going to have to buy a new television, we certainly didn't want to start squandering money on pay-per-episode shows.)

Here's what I discovered: There's enough free entertainment out there to make you wonder why you're paying $60 a month (or more) for cable. From the network news to serialized primetime shows to cable programming, the show you want can almost always be found online. In most cases, all the viewer has to do to access it is watch a short 30-second ad before the opening scenes, or a longer two-minute ad where a commercial break would normally be. Not a bad price, considering most of us watch ads anyway when we tune into our expensive cable channels.

If you're ready to cash in on these freebies yourself, here are my top four tips:

1. Use Hulu.com. As most people under age 25 know, the website Hulu.com makes it easy to watch many shows for free, including fan favorites such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Office, and Modern Family. With limited ads and easy streaming, the only downside is that not all shows are available at all times. That's when you might need to use the next option. [See also: The Economic Reality of Primetime Families.]

2. Before paying for a new episode of your favorite show on iTunes, do a Web search with the name of the show and the words "full episodes." Networks don't always make it easy to find the latest show through their websites, but a Web search with those terms will help turn it up. This technique helped us find the latest 60 Minutes, Survivor, and Amazing Race episodes, for example. But it can also turn up spam sites. Steer clear of any urls that you don't recognize.

3. Take advantage of the online content you might already be paying for. If you subscribe to a cable provider, you might be able to watch even more of your favorite shows online than you can find through your TV screen. For example, the HBO Go app allows users to access all episodes of shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex and the City. We were happy to rediscover these long-lost (to us) shows. (To access to shows, you must be a HBO subscriber.)

4. Check out iTunes, and not just for music. Networks often make their shows available through iTunes at low or no cost to the user. We also figured out that it was easier, and in some cases cheaper, to rent foreign films through iTunes than it would be through a video rental company (such as Netflix or Redbox). For just a few dollars, we downloaded an amazing French film (The Heartbreaker, for anyone who wants a recommendation) and watched it in high-definition on our laptop.

The good news: Our television started working again after a visit from the repair shop. So I'm back to watching Real Housewives and 16 & Pregnant on the big screen--but I'm still finding new ways to apply these TV-for-free techniques. We invested in a USB device that allows us to stream shows from our iPad onto the bigger television screen, so we can still watch all our new Internet shows for free. It's going to be a good summer.

The Little Things Matter...

...like, remembering to step on home plate with the winning run in the state championship baseball game!

And Another Thing

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. ~ Kenneth Blanchard

A few minutes after the last post I stumbled upon the quote above through my LinkedIn profile. Thanks to Melanie for posting it!

Beauty See, Beauty Do

"If you want your girlfriend to be fit, don't badger her into the gym or act as her personal trainer. That's pushy. Instead, maintain your commitment to fitness and, if she's interested, say yes when she asks to tag along." - Anonymous

Sounds like this guy's read some Ben Franklin. What we do can be more effective then what we say (that is, if what we're saying is for good). No one likes to be "should" on. Ghandi said "Be the change you wish to see in the world." The Roman empire was broad and powerful for a while. Nazism too. But regimes built on force don't endure. Whether it's fitness, work ethic, spirituality, or college choice, any lasting venture comes from the heart, not in through the ears.

Phantom Problem

"Don't suffer future pain. Take care of today's business." - Terry Randolph

I was ready for a long day yesterday. The previous night's sleep had been interrupted by visions of how the work day could shake out. Over the weekend we had launched a new product, and there was some buzz that there may be defects in it. Because I'm only in the office half-days while basketball camp is going on, I had gotten several "ASAP"-styled urgent messages but hadn't had enough time to study what might be wrong. Also, naturally, I was wracking my brain trying to recall how our pre-launch testing might have gone awry and what explanation I would give if the assistant vice president showed up at my office door.

The timing of any emergencies was inconvenient too (though I guess technically most are by definition). That afternoon I was slated to present several pricing recommendations to another department, the culmination of months of work. I'd had some time to practice but not yet enough, and it had been a while since I last reviewed my notes. If I walked in the door at 1:00 and was swamped by product-launch crisis questions, I'd pretty much have to walk into my presentation cold.

Still, I forced myself to reach into the worryproofing arsenal. "Is this a real problem?" Not yet, at least not confirmed. What if it turns out to be a real problem? If so, as long as I resist the temptation to be defensive, and focus on working the problem, then the most important outcome would eventually come to be... namely co-workers' confidence in our grace under pressure (for a counter-example, see James, LeBron).

I walked into the office ready for anything, and found three ASAP sticky notes on my door frame. Researched the problem and found that the worst-case scenario was definitely not here. In fact, after visiting with the three ASAP note-writers (as well as my boss), it turned out that there would be no eruptions this day. So I was able to rehearse for my meeting, which one co-worker later commented went "as smooth as that meeting's ever gone."

This morning I woke up with an extra dose of thankfulness for the day that had been delivered to me, and the strength to handle something else.

Avoid These 5 Retirement Mistakes

From Yahoo! Finance comes this article about retirement planning. Pretty sobering to think about needing $1.5 million saved up by age 65 in order to retire, including $285,000 of future lifetime health care costs beyond that point.

Free Online Document Storage?

Our condo association would like to have a centralized place to store Word documents, .pdfs, possibly Excel documents online for public access. Does anyone know of a popular and free way to do this? I can look into Yahoo! or Gmail capabilities.

One site that I'm sure I will not follow is this one. Before committing my confidence to the technological advice, I'd first need confidence that they can pass a fifth-grade English class.

How I Got A's In College

I spent hours watching this program on television with other good students. I still watch it from time to time.

A Concert Everyone Loves

"We can succeed only by concert. It is not, 'can any of us imagine better?' but 'can we all do better?'" - Abraham Lincoln

The Tree Of Good And Evil

"The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether they have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good. Almost every thing, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded." - Abraham Lincoln

I need to remember this whenever I trip over aspects of another person's personality that happen to irritate me. People who "strongly encourage" me to do things, or respond in one-sentence e-mail replies, tend to rub against my grain. There's nothing particularly evil about it, I just happen to be an independent-minded and wordy person, and those habits contrast with my values. No one I've been close enough to encounter friction with is fundamentally unkind. All of them, actually, are very good people who show it in numerous ways. Those are the moments that keep perspective, that I fixate on, in the little moments when things get tough.

Your Command Is Not My Wish

"I've realized that command is only the bluntest tool of the parenting trade. Such a small thing like, 'Can I hold your hand?' instead of 'Hold my hand,' makes a world of difference." - Ryan Knighton

This works with kids and adults!

Keeping E-Mail From Being Error-Mail

"If you prefer writing e-mails at day's end when you're not as busy, don't send them until the following morning. That way you'll be able to review them when your brain is fresh." - Andrew Jensen

One of the defining moments of my early career came on a late Friday afternoon, when I sent a carefully-worded e-mail out to the entire department. Carefully worded, that is, except that I left out a letter in the first name of the department head. Eep.

When my head is right, I keep e-mails in draft form until the following morning. The power of a night's sleep continues to amaze.

Giving Back

"Two of the best ways to learn are to mentor and to teach." - Dr. Prediman Krishan Shah

The dim prospect of being a head coach is enough to plant me in front of a monitor studying basketball footage. My guitar-playing skills ramped up in direct proportion with the opportunity to perform for a friend and later, for a congregation.

It's nice to mentor as a form of giving back, too. The lessons I've learned from a hundred errors occasionally help someone along who's facing a similar hardship. More than analyzing data, it's the ability to learn from mistakes that might be the stronger trait.

Headline Of The Day

I am not making these Yahoo! headlines up. Below is the headline that hyperlinks you from the Yahoo! home page to the corresponding article.

"Twist Forces Weiner's Wife Into Spotlight"

In Rhythm

Have you ever gotten a boost from just the right song coming on the radio? I've got a YouTube channel with just a handful of Christian songs on it. This morning when the alarm went off, two of those songs played back to back. In fact, they are the first two on my playlist.

It's always a boost when God tosses in a few extra doses of rhythm into the day.

Titular Manslaughter

The titles of these articles, jeez! About this corrupt politician with the stunningly inconvenient name.

"Weiner Faces Increasing Pressure"

"Weiner's Political Future Dim"

Here's an article from among millions, I'd guess.

Personally, I'm guessing the guy was starting to get some chatter about being a presidential nominee and the party decided this must end.

5 Workout Myths

By Bill Phillips and the editors of Men's Fitness:

Quick! Let’s free associate. Complete this sentence:

_ SETS OF _ REPS.

Did you answer 3 and 10? Of course you did. It’s the Pavlovian response. After all, anyone who’s ever picked up a dumbbell knows that doing 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise is the quickest way to build muscle.

Except it’s not. In fact, it’s the quickest way to get nowhere with your workout routine, says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., a long-time Men’s Health fitness advisor.

Truth is, today’s most sacred exercise guidelines originated in the ’40s and ’50s, a time when castration was a cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer, and endurance exercise was thought to be harmful to women. Worse, so-called fitness experts across the country are still spewing these same old conventional wisdoms, despite plenty of research indicating that they (the experts and the wisdoms) aren’t wise at all.

Chances are, these are the rules you exercise by right now. And that means your workout is long past due for a 21st-century overhaul. We asked Mejia to do just that. Here are the five muscles myths he most commonly hears. Hopefully, we're about to bust them for good.

MYTH #1: DO 8 TO 12 REPETITIONS
The claim: It's the optimal repetition range for building muscle.

The origin: In 1954, Ian MacQueen, M.D., an English surgeon and competitive bodybuilder, published a scientific paper in which he recommended a moderately high number of repetitions for muscle growth.

The truth: This approach places muscles under a medium amount of tension for a medium amount of time—it's basically The Neither Here Nor There Workout.

Here's the deal: Higher tension—a.k.a. heavier weights—induces the type of muscle growth in which the muscle fibers grow larger, leading to the best gains in strength; longer tension time, on the other hand, boosts muscle size by increasing the energy-producing structures around the fibers, improving muscular endurance. The classic prescription of 8 to 12 repetitions strikes a balance between the two. But by using that scheme all the time, you miss out on the greater tension levels that come with heavier weights and fewer repetitions, and the longer tension time achieved with lighter weights and higher repetitions.

The new standard: Vary your repetition range—adjusting the weights accordingly—so that you stimulate every type of muscle growth. Try this method for a month, performing three full-body sessions a week: Do five repetitions per set in your first workout, 10 reps per set in your second workout, and 15 per set in your third workout.

MYTH #2: DO 3 SETS OF EACH EXERCISE
The claim: This provides the ideal workload for achieving the fastest muscle gains.

The origin: In 1948, a physician named Thomas Delorme reported in the Archives of Physical Medicine that performing three sets of 10 repetitions was as effective at improving leg strength as 10 sets of 10 repetitions.

The truth: There's nothing wrong with—or magical about—doing three sets. But the number of sets you perform shouldn't be determined by a 50-year-old default recommendation. Here's a rule of thumb: The more repetitions of an exercise you do, the fewer sets you should perform, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of reps you do of an exercise nearly equal, no matter how many repetitions make up each set.

The new standard: If you're doing eight or more reps, keep it to three sets or less. If you're pounding out less than three reps, you should be doing at least six sets.

MYTH #3: DO 3 OR 4 EXERCISES PER MUSCLE GROUP
The claim: This ensures that you work all the fibers of the target muscle.

The origin: Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa 1966.

The truth: You'll waste a lot of time. Here's why: Schwarzenegger's four-decade-old recommendation is almost always combined with "Do three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions." That means you'll complete up to 144 repetitions for each muscle group. Trouble is, if you can perform even close to 100 repetitions for any muscle group, you're not working hard enough.

Think of it this way: The harder you train, the less time you'll be able to sustain that level of effort. For example, many men can run for an hour if they jog slowly, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do high-intensity sprints—without a major decrease in performance—for that period of time. And once performance starts to decline, you've achieved all the muscle-building benefits you can for that muscle group.

The new standard: Instead of focusing on the number of different exercises you do, shoot for a total number of repetitions between 25 and 50. That could mean five sets of five repetitions of one exercise (25 repetitions) or one set of 15 repetitions of two or three exercises (30 to 45 repetitions).

MYTH #4: NEVER LET YOUR KNEES GO PAST YOUR TOES
The claim: Allowing your knees to move too far forward during exercises such as the squat and lunge places dangerous shearing forces on your knee ligaments.

The origin: A 1978 study at Duke University found that keeping the lower leg as vertical as possible during the squat reduced shearing forces on the knee.

The truth: Leaning your torso too far forward, so that your knees stay back, is more likely to cause injury. In 2003, University of Memphis researchers confirmed that knee stress was 28 percent higher when the knees were allowed to move past the toes during the squat. But the researchers also found a countereffect: Hip stress increased nearly 1,000 percent when forward movement of the knee was restricted. The reason: The squatters had to lean their torsos farther forward. And that's a problem, because forces that act on the hip are transferred to the lower back, a more frequent site of injury than the knees.

The new standard: Watch a toddler squat. Push your hips back as far as you can, while keeping your torso as upright as possible. This will reduce the stress on your back and knees.

MYTH #5: WHEN YOU LIFT WEIGHTS, DRAW IN YOUR ABS
The claim: You'll increase the support to your spine, reducing the risk of back injuries.

The origin: In 1999, researchers in Australia found that some men with back pain had a slight delay in activating their transverse abdominis, a deep abdominal muscle that's part of the musculature that maintains spine stability. As a result, many fitness professionals began instructing their clients to try to pull their belly buttons to their spines—which engages the transverse abdominis—as they performed exercises.

The truth: "The research was accurate, but the interpretation by many researchers and therapists wasn't," says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance and widely recognized as the world's top researcher on the spine. That's because muscles work in teams to stabilize your spine, and the most valuable players change depending on the exercise, says McGill. Read: The transverse abdominis isn't always the quarterback.

In fact, for any given exercise, your body automatically activates the muscles that are most needed for spine support. So focusing only on your transverse abdominis can overrecruit the wrong muscles and underrecruit the right ones. This not only increases injury risk, but reduces the amount of weight you can lift.

The new standard: If you want to give your back a supporting hand, simply "brace" your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut, but don't draw them in. "This activates all three layers of the abdominal wall," says McGill, "improving both stability and performance."

His Brother's Reaper

There's more than one way to seek vengeance on your annoying brother...

A Volume Of Action

"The best sermon is a good example." - Ben Franklin

Today I made a misstatement in a meeting at the office. My boss stepped in graciously, adding the correction in a non-condescending fashion. Later in the meeting he heaped generous portions of support toward those of us who had tackled this project will also manning other important projects.

They say that many employees don't work for a company, as much as they see themselves working for their supervisor. When your boss has got your back, you're more willing to pay him back. And to support the employees who report to you. Care is contagious!

What A Day For A Daydream

So yesterday I was in a meeting to discuss a major product launch coming out this weekend. One of my co-workers was presenting a host of details about how it would work. As with any topic (at least, as a management person whose philosophy is not to micromanage), there's the possibility that the questions about it could reach a level that I wasn't knowledgeable in. At a certain point, the conversation threatened to turn in that direction.

Almost involuntarily, I quickly took a mental step back from the situation and pictured myself sitting peacefully by the poolside at home. Because regardless of what took place in the next few seconds, whether or not my ignorance was probed, that's where I'd be in the near future. Any inklings of stress melted away. And as happens often in potentially worrisome situations, the conversation drifted away from the hot spot and actually became playful shortly after that.

I like to think that prior practice helped turn the visualization into more of a reflex. Who wouldn't take remedies for a cold when the symptoms pop up? And worry seems to be a greater destroyer.

Waving The Magic Want

"Arouse in the other person an eager want." - Dale Carnegie

I like the phrasing. Each person has wants. Sometimes they're latent, maybe even unknown to them. It can be a fool's errand to create a want in a person, but a rich man's scrapbook will be filled if he can help someone discover what feeds them, and more so if he can help them achieve it.

What is it? A chance to succeed independently in a project? Good relationships with their associates? Better organizational skills? Conquest of worry? The ability to shoot a jump shot or play tougher defense? Or just to pass geometry?

Magnanimous

"Let nothing be said against Hardin... nothing deserves to be said against him." - Abraham Lincoln

Magnanimous: Very generous or forgiving, especially of a rival or someone less powerful than oneself.

Hardin had made an effort to run for a second term of Congress, in breach of a gentleman's agreement within the Whig Party that would have ascended Lincoln to the county's representative position.

Lincoln's children were notorious for running around his office in a state of mayhem. He assembled his presidential cabinet with former political adversaries. The wiry president was incredibly strong with the power of forgiveness and spent very little time flexing his vindictive muscles, with fantastic results.

It all adds up. The ability to shake off perceived slights or wrongs matches right up with the ability to get things done. A cultivated gracious mind makes for a graceful life.

Thought Provoking

"A man is what he thinks about all day long." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spent about twelve hours this weekend watching videos on basketball coaching. Defense by Dick Bennett and Bobby Knight. Zone offense by Rick Torbett. Conditioning drills by Alan Stein. Perimeter drills by Bob Hurley.

Basketball camp begins this week and runs for the next two weeks.

The 10,000 hour rule of practice to eliteness requires continuous attention. This month, at least, is on track for success.

He Madoff With His Money

"Don't be angry. Be very disappointed in Bernie. Hurt? You can feel that personally. But don't get angry. Because if you get angry, you will eat up your own insides." - Fred Wilpon

This from a man who, after 30 years of relationship with a man so close he felt like family, learned that Bernie Madoff had bilked him of $550 million. And after investing so confidently in Madoff for so long, jilted other investors had filed suit against him as a perpetrator in the fraud - for another $1 billion.

"Don't get angry," he says.

I e-mailed a question to someone this week, who responded in a trite and incomplete answer, leaving me in the lurch. Irritating yes... devastating no. That is, non-devastating as long as I step away for a deep breath. Or about ten minutes of deep breaths. As a result, the follow-up e-mail was focused rather than emotional, and resulted in a healthy conclusion after a little more conversation.

Squalls are harmless, as long as we refrain from chasing them.

Auto-Correction Begone

In my last post I typed the word "prayerfulness." Then did spell check, which told me that no such word existed. It recommended two words as alternates: "prevalence" and "provolone's." Apparently Blogger regards matters of faith as universal and cheesy!

Climbing Back To Old Times

Yesterday there was a meeting to discuss the future of Higher Ground, the church band I used to play guitar and sing with years ago, and nowadays am an infrequently-called-upon sub. Recently the director of the group decided to simplify his life and better meet the demands of his day job by resigning from the band at the end of July. Also, the church has created a new position of worship coordinator, an overarching responsibility spanning all three (soon to be four) weekend services, including the musical elements.

These situations are uneasy ones for dedicated band members, some of whom are experiencing their third change in director. Each change in director brings changes in style as well. What level of musicianship, leadership, prayerfulness will result? How organized, how flexible, what type of music, how empowering? Worship coordinator Isaac Gaff is new to the church and while he had met several of the musicians, still had several unknowns in front of him as he began to lead the meeting.

From missteps in leadership of my own, I've come to a philosophy that new leaders ought to spend lots of time listening before proposing any personal ideas. Isaac made a good impression by starting the meeting with open-ended questions about the group's questions, and he received each one calm confidence. He made little reference to his own role beyond a humble vow to help us get through it, which by default would seem to have him becoming the new/interim director in August. He suggested another meeting in a month, encouraging the group to reflect on how often they'd like to play and how the band might be modeled to ensure health rather than burnout.

As an outsider yet a fan, it was a promising visit from someone who came across as far to the non-micromanagement end of the spectrum... my favorite place. And for all the nervousness of the members present, they were in good spirits by the end, which is a heartening place to see old friends.

Written With The Greatest Of Ease

I can instantly think of at least one friend of mine who could easily have written this article about trapeze artists. He can't throw a ball without streaks of pain, but boy can he write.

Also, as I read this I found myself about 90% amused and 10% somber, with a couple laugh-out-loud moments. Does that put me in the class of "normal" or "abnormal" person? Let me know how you read it!