Walking In to the Room

 I learned how not to walk into a room last night. I was invited to retirement party at a local country club for someone I greatly admire,  our outgoing CEO. Room was filled with colleagues, board members, other members of the club. 

It was 80 degrees in Minneapolis and I didn't think much of my attire and plan for the evening. 

Walked in in shorts and a polo to a suit and tie event. 

I have been stared at plenty of times walking into a room and I have never felt uncomfortable or uneasy about it until today. 

I needed that room today. It showed me I have gotten cocky. I wasn't ready. I have more to learn about my game at the next level. 

While I felt awkward at the time. I left feeling hungry for taking myself to the next level. 

I will never walk into room unprepared again. 

Till we meet again.

Before and After

 I cant be the only person that does before and after my morning poop weigh ins? 

Right? 

I was shocked at how little it weighed when I first started keeping track. 

8 Years Later

 I find myself in a place of reflection and wonderment. I think I am happiest when I am writing and transcribing the world. Digging through my old journals brought me back to this place. 

Is anyone still here? 

I have a desire to leave a set of worded bread crumbs for something not yet defined to find.

Here we go again 8 years later....

Good bye

I want you to know I heard you say good bye too

I love you.

I know you love me too.

I am sorry.

I know you are sorry too.

I forgive you.

I know you will forgive me too.

I release you.

It is ok for you to release me too.

You were great.

Don’t ever live with any regrets.

Just live.

The sun will shine again.

Things will get better.

I can only hold you with these words now so I hope you listen and feel them when you need them.

Now go and live.

I love you, I always have,

Brian Johnson

Brian’s Plan for Gun control

Before you read this I want you to know I am mournfully sorry for the people of Newtown. My heart broke seeing the stories and I am sorry for your loss.

It looks like we are fully into blame mode and looking for a culprit. 

Looks like that culprit is going to be high capacity weapons.

Before we go down that path too far I just want to throw out a different perspective.

I live in the city. I own guns. I think it is ok to own guns. I think it is even ok to own the guns like the ones they keep flashing all over the news. I am not a hunter. I think it is a lame line to say stuff like why would a hunter need a 30 round clip? The purpose of these guns is to kill people, a lot of people. And that can be ok. If you ever have the chance to witness panic and violence in a crowd or realize that hungry and cold “nice” people can get real mean real quick you might change your mind too.

Safety from crowds of people wishing to do you harm is part of the appeal. For every mass shooting that has occurred you can find just as many examples of situations where a single person may have to defend themselves against a large crowd. 

If I find myself or my loved ones in this situation I hope I have options other than a bolt action .22

That said I am against banning any weapons.

However, I am all for regulating them and with that I give you: The Brian Proposal

1.) Buying a gun should entail at least the same amount of regulation that goes with buying a car.

a. You take a written test.

b. You take a practical test.

c. You pass an eligibility test.

d. You get liability insurance per each gun.

e. You pay for a permit.

f. You redo this every ten years.

g. It becomes a criminal offense to have an uninsured gun.



2.) Just like regular insurance you get a break on your insurance if you can prove the following

a. You have your gun secured in a safety device \safe of some kind

b. You have an alarm system

c. All residents in your property have taking a written and practical test

*This will lead to more guns safely stored preventing them from being mishandled or accidently discharged in accidents. Using the cost of insurance to drive behavior could have a profound impact.

3.) Using a portion of the fees from insurance, tests and permits the city will set up an aggressive gun buyback program. This will be an anonymous program where a user can turn in a gun and get a $100 bill no questions asked. These programs have been successful especially in crime ridden neighbors hood and getting guns that are in dangerous working conditions off of the street.

The net result of these few steps leads to more guns being stored securely and more guns being taken off the street. While this is not a 100% solution it moves society in the desired direction without imposing on people’s rights. By imposing the insurance premium on people that progresses with each gun they own you can also nudge the stockpiling of weapons in the opposite direction.

As part of this deal the republicans have to also agree to stop using conflicting arguments

If you are going to say outlawing thing doesn’t work …please apply that same logic to all of the other stuff you are constantly trying to outlaw..like abortion, gay marriage, marijuana etc.. try to makes it a little more consistent..mmmmkay

You Sir Are Right, Again

The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. – Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

War on Science

Just finished the Book the Republican War on Science. It was an interesting book worth picking up. I wish the arguments would have been framed differently as to lay the ground work for a more constructive all inclusive re positioning of science in our society. I fear that arguments in this vain do more to polarize the issue than cause the discussion that needs to take place but since no one is having this discussion anyway I guess it really doesn’t matter.

Those Who Fail History

One of the things I was most acutely aware of during the last election was the plethora of business people who said that if a specific candidate was elected they were going to be forced to lay-off staff. Some notable ones included Papa John’s CEO. It seems to be walking a fine line of voter intimidation and free speech.

In catching up on my DVR I watched the whole series of the Men Who Built America. (Great series BTW). It was interesting to see the same issue in the McKinley election. As Carnegie, Rockefeller and Morgan applied pressure to sway the election.

One thing I would have liked to do is write down all the CEO’s who made statements and compare the numbers of employees at 1-3-5-10 years post election but that seemed like too much work and I have been too tired lately.

Pleasantville?

For some reason when I ever stumble along this little movie gem on TV I can’t help but sit and watch. I think it draws a nice story about a longing for a perfect and the realization that that idealized world isn’t what you think it is. There is a scene in the movie when the towns leaders are convened in a bowling where they are safe from the changes going on around them on the outside. They are plotting strategy about how to overcoming this changing world. While I know everyone is sick of politics I think this is a good representation of the current state of the republican party which is despite a lot of chest thumping is now in its current form entering its twilight. The changing demographics of America long two particular axis will continue to erode the parties relevance each year.

1.) The largest growing “religious” population in the US is non-theists -- atheists. This population will start to have a larger and larger influence going forward. As we move from a more superstitious based culture to a more rational scientific minded culture how we think, vote and handle issues will change in a way I would forecast is not going to be favorable to the party.

2.) The diversity of the country is changing. As we become more multicultural you can no longer win elections based on appealing to one segment of the population. You will need to include people or all different backgrounds and here the party has some extreme challenges and may have to change its dogma considerably.

The party strategy then becomes one of two paths; suppress these changes or the population within these demographics from voting or fundamentally change the party platform.

My gut tells me that line is too hard, that number 1 will prevail and with that my prediction is that if the economy keeps flat or marginally improving we will never see another viable republican candidate for president.

Business Idea #32123 – Business Card Vending Machine

Business card vending machine for hotels, bars clubs.  Insert a few bucks. Pick a template. Enter a few details and bam a custom card pops right out. I would be willing to bet they might even do well as a novelty item at places where conventions take place etc..