The Week That Was In My Little Corner Of The World

Summer Sweat

Technically speaking, this was that last official week of summer.
Although if you get on your bike and ride around in it like I do, you will realize that the crappy subtropical weather we have been having for most of the summer, complete with air thicker than soup, very little wind and a lingering scent in the air somewhere between motor oil and that distinctive odour that bombards your senses when you walk into a badly maintained\Walmart washroom, has not left us yet.

Bicycle Blues

I’m still trying to come to terms with, of all things, my bike seat. The rest of the bike is all I ever wanted in a bike. But for some reason I can’t find the exact right position for the seat, both height wise and angle wise, that makes me feel 100% comfortable.
I know this sounds like the ultimate in trivial pursuit, but when you ride a bike as much as I do, and when you are a little on the obsessive compulsive side, this is one of those things that really bugs you.
Today I came as close to the right configuration as I have been so far. The idea is to leave it in one configuration for a whole ride (6-8 KM) and if you’re feeling OK when you’re done, you've got it.
As I said, I’m close, but no cigar yet.

I Don’t Know What This Means

This is the side window of a chip truck that sits out in front of a Canadian Tire story in my neighbourhood. You can’t really see it very well, but the glass in the window is fractured. Not smashed all the way through but it really looks like someone hit it hard with an elbow or some sort of blunt instrument.
The last time I noticed this window was about a month ago when I stopped there to get some fries. At that time there was a sign in the window. I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it went something like this.
“WE ARE PROUD MUSLIMS…WE WORSHIP ALLAH, THE ONE TRUE GOD, AND HIS PROPHET MOHAMMAD”
I remember this sign because there was a couple there with their daughter who was about 7 or 8. The father was explaining to the daughter that Allah was not, in fact the one true God. That God did not have one name in this world but went by many, but that he was the same God for everyone. I thought this was an interesting sentiment and probably a good thing for all religious people to embrace. Not that that would ever happen.
He went on to point out to his daughter that believing that your God is the only true God is one of those things that will get you into arguments and worse all throughout your life.
My theory is that someone took real exception to the sign in the window, as evidenced by its conspicuous absence and the substantial fracturing of the glass. The conclusion I drew from this was that maybe it’s smarter to keep your religious opinions to yourself.

The Boob Tube – America’s Got Talent

Besides baseball, which I will get to, this week’s main TV event was the Season 11 finale of America’s Got Talent.
This being a hot and humid summer, which is the kind of weather my poor wife finds difficult to breathe in, kept us inside on a lot of evenings. It was also a pretty sparse TV season. As a result we ended up getting hooked on America’s Got Talent.
I had never been much for this show, mainly because when they showed you the audition episodes, they tended to be top heavy with ridiculous acts and that, to discerning viewers, can be very offputting. It certainly was for us.
But this year, the show’s owner, Simon Cowell, got personally involved as producer and one of the judges and decided to make it a real competition instead of a bad reality talent show.
Well, the long and short of it, since I’m being brief, is that this season was completely captivating, pretty much from start to finish, with little miracle on display in every episode.
By the time the final two episodes came along we were completely captivated and the final 10 acts were so entertaining, and so professional that we were utterly blown away with the quality of TV we were being treated to.
In the end ‘America’ voted for a 12 year old singer/songwriter named Grace Vanderwaal. Grace blew everybody away with her amazing voice, a passion way beyond her years, her songwriting ability and the fact that her instrument of choice was, of all thing, a ukelele. Go figure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxO9MpQ2vA
When we saw this performance, we just knew who was gonna win this contest. And lo and behold…

The Blue Jays…They May Already Be Flying South

I love baseball. I always have and always will. And I love September baseball a lot because it leads to October baseball, which I love even more.
Last year, at the summer trade deadline the Blue Jays made a series of amazing trades that powered them right to the division finals, from something like 15 games out of first place. It was a bit of a miracle.

This year, everybody was expecting them to carry that momentum forward. I know I was and so were a couple million Jay’s fans right across the country.
One thing that few of us factored in was just how strong the divisional competition would be here. As both the Boston Red Sox, powered by the career finale of David Ortiz and a solid starting rotation, and the Baltimore Orioles, both got better. And as their Achilles’ Heel, the Tampa Bay Rays continued to be hard for them to beat, the Jays now find themselves scrambling for a wild card slot and even that is not guaranteed.
This will be a huge letdown. But I am philosophical about it. In the absence of a Jays post season run, I will turn my attention to the Chicago Cubs in the National League, who, my sister Sharon, the real baseball expert in the family, assures me will take it all this year and win their first championship since 1908.
Now wouldn’t that be something?

Finally, On The Work Front

My associate Robert Wright and I are getting full tilt into marketing his new sales course: Sell To Buyer Personas which we collaboratively created over the past 14 months or so. One of the things we will be putting together is a re-seller package, which will be of real interest to business trainers and executive coaches.
I have also begun, with my associate John McLachlan, to work on a full corporate identity and branding for a brilliant new app, that’s designed to help fight fighters make better tactical decisions. This is a beautiful program and really feels like a winner to us.

Finally, a group of beBee Ambassadors got together on line for what was basically a meet and greet session.
There are some pretty amazing people in this group and as we move forward we will be working on spreading the word that beBee is for real, and that anyone who wants to grow their business through social media marketing should really have it as an arrow in their quiver so to speak.
So that was the week that was in my little corner of the world. If you like this post, feel free to share it, and maybe even consider doing one of your own here on beBee. I’d read it for sure. and it’s one of this things that you can share everywhere.
Have a great weekend, everybody. jim

If you consider this post to have value, please share it with your network or repost it in whatever hives you think with benefit most from it.

If you want to read more of my posts, you can do that here:
https://www.bebee.com/publisher/@jim-murray
Download my free ebook, Small Business Communications For The Real World, here:
https://onwordsandupwords.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/small-business-communications-for-the-real-world/
All my profile and contact information can be accessed here:
https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray/this-post-is-my-about-page

All content copyright 2016 Jim Murray.