Fun with distortion and a reflection

Okay, this is obscure but personally satisfying.

"Cloud Gate" in Chicago

When I visit Chicago, I enjoy visiting “The Bean”, the sculpture in Millenium Park officially named “Cloud Gate”.  It distorts the skyline like a big fisheye lens.  Everyone takes pictures into the curved mirror, getting curvy building pictures.

In Chicago with family yesterday, I packed my fisheye lens which distorts straight lines into curved.  I pointed it at the curved image in the sculpture and the distortions cancelled each other out – but the lens curved the buildings at the edges.  Kind of a reverse “bizarro world” photo…

Okay, maybe it’s just for me.

Seasonal Affective Grumpiness

Hmm.  The weatherman predicts more mild weather and there is sunshine on the horizon.  What’s wrong?  Quite a bit.  I bought snow tires for the first time in my life and I WANT TO USE THEM.  I changed cars last year, and it came with a sporty set of normal wheels and a set of snow tires on zippy wheels that look like scandanavian snowflakes.  I wanted them, to make my occasional drives in blizzards to client calls more safe and reliable.

All I need now is snow.  We’re heading into spring and have had barely a sprinkle.  As cub fans say, “always next year…”

Fog, but no snow...this was from my drive to work last week.

A moment for Art. You know you need it. TURF in Indy.

Shameless plug time.  A community is known for how it supports the arts.  Indy has a hidden jewel (briefly) in the heart of downtown - the IDADA Turf Installation at the Art Pavilion in the Old City Hall.  I went yesterday with my son Paul – and I will return with others in the brief time it is open.  This is a world class art effort – go now – it closes when the Super Bowl is over…

A link to my photos and a few movie clips – Click Here .  More info at the IDADA web site www.IDADA.org.

One of the several dozens of installations that make you think...

In and Out for 2012

Ready for the new year?

In         Finance                                             Out     Accounting

In         Individual Health                          Out   Group Wellness

In         Fast Feedback                                Out   Annual Performance Review

In        Rational Portions                          Out   Super Size

In         Driving in silence                          Out   Constant Connectivity

In         Flip Chart                                         Out   Powerpoint

In       Personal Accountability               Out   Mob Behavior

In      Modern Family                                   Out   Anything Kardashian

In       Newt Gingrich                                     Out   Newt Gingrich

In      In and Out Burger                               Out   McDonald’s

We all need to take a longer view on things...

I wish you could have been there at 7:35am this morning…

7:36 - the door opens and a passenger climbs down. The door closes quickly.

…in the CSX Rail yard just north of Lafayette, IN.  

The Rail Yard in the morning fog.

The worker warming himself against the damp morning in his van saw something strange.  The 7:30 Amtrak to Chicago suddely stopped in the middle of the yard.

 

 

The train leaves.

7:35 am in the Lafayette, IN rail yard, looking South. Amtrak for Chicago stops…

 

The worker saw the door to the last car open, and down the stairs came a tall business-looking guy in a black cashmere topcoat, a fedora and shiny shoes.

 

The door slams behind the passenger, who walks a short distance away from the train and takes a picture.

 

 

The Rail worker walks over to the ex-passenger and says…”Hey, mister – you aren’t supposed to be here.”

 

You got that right.  The passenger was me…

 

So, here’s what happened.

 

Dad and Sue were heading for Alburquerque on Amtrak for Christmas.  They were ticketed on the 7:30 from Lafayette to Chicago, then on to New Mexico in a sleeper car.  I decided to surprise them with a gift bag of snacks and a hug as they left.  Fine so far.

 

 They were nicely surprised, and we all trooped out to the platform and the train pulled in on time.  There was a crowd at the door, and the stairs were steep.  I approached the conductor and said “I am not a ticketed passenger – may I help my folks to their seat and get their bags up?”  The conductor said “Fine”

 

Dad and Sue on the platform

As I swung Dad’s bag up, I was jolted a little as the train started moving.  I was on my way with them!

 

I excused myself, and approached the conductor.  “What is the next stop?”  He shrugged and said it was two hours away.  I reminded him that I was not a ticketed passenger.  He slapped his forehad, said a few choice words, and said he remembered me…

 

The conductors held a brief powwow , with one of them asking me an important question.  “If we drop you in the rail yard, can you provide your own transportation from there?”

 

“You bet.  Just get me off this train.”

 

Therefore, I was quickly standing in the middle of the North lafayette CSX yard, watching a the south end of a northbound train leave in the fog.

 

The rail worker came over and asked if I knew where I was.  I said yes.  He asked if I needed a ride.  I said yes.  He got a nice Christmas tip.

 

I called the folks when I was back at the depot, and they said they were quite famous on the train for being the people with the son who got trapped…

 

 

A new tool to predict sickness – and it seems accurate…

I’m always on the lookout for tools or websites that can give me an advantage in life. Here is a new one that appeared in my inbox today.

www.sickweather.com is a self-reported site of illness and infections yuck that appears like a weather map. Using it, you can see what diseases are floating around your home town, and prepare yourself for a business trip to, say, New York or wherever. A good reminder to wash your hands in airports.

I noted that it had some interesting categories beyond the usual cold and flu. Whooping cough? Chicken Pox? Fine. But Stess? Depression? Interesting. To test the accuracy, I selected Stress. The only city in the Midwest that popped up was Chicago. Fair enough. Then, I selected Depression. The results are below:

Looks accurate to me…

So, Cleveland and Detroit came back positive for Depression.

Seems accurate. I’ll keep an eye on this one.

Notice how globalization has changed our level of crankiness?

Hmm.

Used to be that we were really touchy about nationalism, especially here in the Midwest.  I think it was mostly driven by the auto industry, but it was pretty pervasive.  I recall sign demanding that any foreign car not be parked in a particular plant parking lot.  My favorite was at the Connersville  Ford plant, specifying that all “Non-Ford” cars be parked across the street.  I happily parked my Volvo fight by the front door, only to be directed to the punishment corner…they did not care that Ford owned Volvo, at that moment.  (Now the Chinese own the Swedes…)

Kokomo, Indiana was a hot spot of this thinking, at least until Chrysler went through two European owners…

What percentage of American made is permitted?

So, it was a twinge of nostalgia that I felt when I drove past this sign at a company that recently went out of business.

 

How about cars from Canadian or Mexican assembly plants – all are in the Americas…

 

Face it.  We’ve all become global – and while there are good and bad effects, it’s the way the economy is.  Capitalism rewards and punishes all…

Consider using taxes to change our American eating habits

Wow.  Denmark is becoming the most progressive Food Nation.

On Saturday, the Danes (remember Hamlet?) introduced a “fat tax” on foods like butter and oil, with the goal of a healthier nation with higher life expectancy.  With the significant issues facing American health plans, we should watch how this succeeds or fails. 

The Nordic country introduced the tax Saturday, of 16 kroner ($3.00) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of saturated fat in a product.  The tax is relatively small – a spokesman for Denmark’s Confederation of Industries says the tax will increase the price of a burger by around $0.15 and raise the price of a small package of butter by around $0.40.  It is probably the world’s first fat tax.

"But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.1

They are taking this step to fight off obesity.  Their obesity rate is less than 10%, which is below the European average of 15%.  We Americans are 33.8%.  Hoosiers are slightly larger than that.

I am reminded of the effort in a state legislature a few years back that would have made it illegal to sell any “high fat junk food” from a “quick service restaurant” to anyone with a Body Mass Index over 30 – the threshold for obesity.  It didn’t pass the full legislature and died in committee…

Full article here: http://tinyurl.com/43pt46w

 

Marketing Truths that apply to Wellness

Fixing health care comes back to personal accountability, and changing behavior requires marketing. Marketing expert Ford Saeks (not a typo- that is his last name) made a good point this morning that applies perfectly to our world.

We often focus on the “how”. How to lose weight. How to walk more. Ford reminds us to combine the message (why) with the market (who) with the how. Then, when you have the three legs of the marketing stool in balance, you will get traction.

That will make all the difference – you will then change behaviors and help others live a healthier life.

Another step toward the Supreme Court

Why can’t we just get there faster?

The next step in deciding the constitutionality of the key provision of Health Insurance Reform took another step this week.  I was in Cincy speaking on the subject, and the Federal Court in Richmond, VA spanked the lawsuit brought by VA’s Attorney General and Liberty University and threw it out. 

The full story can be read in the Richmond Paper here.

We all know that it will end up with the Supremes, and we know it will be next year.  We need a faster answer – as we know, business wants to know the result, quickly.  They want the punch line first, not a long, slow buildup that serves no purpose…

Business wants the answer, now.