What Does It Take To Make A Toothbrush Holder For An Old Quad?

Funny you should ask, because I want to tell you what happened to me today when I went to get my six-year-old toothbrush splint replaced as it was beginning to fall apart.

First of all, I was to be at the outpatient hand clinic in the 2800 Building of the Abbott Northwestern Hospital complex. My attendant, Danyell, parked right in front of the building. My instincts kicked in and I hurriedly rushed to the outpatient clinic in the Sister Kenny building. Where I was told I was in the wrong building and I had to go back to 2800. That clinic is for inpatient patients and the 2800 Building is for outpatient hand therapy.

My original appointment was set for 12 noon. I got to the clinic with about five minutes to spare. They got me checked in and quickly assigned me to Teresa who helped me form the basic splint. That is the black part of this following picture.

After almost an hour with Teresa and forming the basic splint, I went back to the correct clinic in the Sister Kenny building and re-met a longtime acquaintance, Christina. She and I went on a great Odyssey over the next few hours! We went to the Occupational Therapy Department I have been in as a patient and visitor for many years. Christina did what she could, but we ran into a problem with riveting the straps to the split. The therapy department no longer has the capability to rivet; so, I mentioned the idea of going down to the maintenance department and see if they could help us. Eureka, we were greeted by several SEIU Healthcare MN members who took us back into their woodshop to see if they could help us get the straps riveted onto the splint.

It was about 1:45 and one of them said they punched out at 2 o'clock. A couple of them said I'll go punch out, but I'll be right back. They looked in every box they could find for the exact rivet I needed. That is when Jim went and got his own little rivet gun box with the exact rivet and four union members stayed for another half hour to get my splints made to fit on the splint. When they finished, I thanked them profusely and Christina and I were off to her clinic to finish the project.

The finished product looks like this:

The image from the other side looks like this:

As always, click on the image to make it larger. I am not sure what the final cost of a split like this will be; however, I can assure you it is in the hundreds of dollars range if not more than a four-digit number!

We were running late and Danyell's shift was way past 2:30 PM. When I got to the van, she was patiently waiting for me, as it was now just about 3 o'clock. She asked me if my blood draw went okay? That is when it hit me, I needed to go back to the main hospital lab and get my blood drawn. I was so proud of myself and finally getting my work done for the day, I forgot I needed to get a blood draw because another infection is starting and my doctor wants to check all of my blood levels.

I got back to the van and it was almost 3:30! The problem was besides her running on overtime was I had an appointment with my friend Mike Ross at 2:30 to help me fix my computer. I finally was able to call him and he had been sitting in my driveway for the last half hour! We had a discussion about what was going on and he agreed to come by tomorrow or the next day when I am here. He is my savior when it comes to keeping my computer running. He has been ever since we were friends in college in Berkeley in the 1974-'75 school year.

Back to my original point in writing this post was to show how creative problem-solvers and people who are committed to their work get things done. All in all I had a fun day despite everything that took longer than expected! Writing this post even went longer than I expected.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Dean Kamen Has A New Project

You may recognize the name Dean Kamen as the inventor of the iBot, the wheelchair that stands up and works on gyros to place paraplegics in a standup position as well as doing things like climbing stairs. He is also the inventor of the Segway.

Mr. Kamen has never found a project he did not like to try and solve. He owns more than four hundred American and International patents on various things from medical devices to now a water purification product that could save millions of lives!

Now, at 63, Dean Kamen is working on what may be his biggest problem! He is certainly not slowing down just because of his age, and is truly a lifelong learner and teacher.

I just read an incredible article that was originally published in June 2014 in Popular Science magazine and is now available at this website: http://www.popsci.com/article/science/pure-genius-how-dean-kamens-invention-could-bring-clean-water-millions

It is an informative read and the numbers are staggering about what our world can be if we simply had clean water!

To think over one billion people, that is almost one-seventh of the world's population, does not have access to clean drinking water on a daily basis. I had heard about Kaymen's most recent adventure in a news story on the radio on my way to acupuncture yesterday.

After doing a little research on Dean Kamen and knowing him from his past adventures, I found this article. According to the article, “Fifty percent of all the people in the developing world suffer from waterborne pathogens,” he says. “We’d empty half the beds in all the hospitals in the world if we just gave people clean water.” The Slingshot won’t be the solution for all of those people, Kamen says, but he sees no reason not to strive for that.

It seems the product has been in development as far back as 2004, but is only now coming to fruition. The thing I like about the project and its implementation is the involvement of Deka Research and Development (Kamen's company) and his partnership with Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was on board from the very beginning after Kamen gave his pitch back in 2004.

The device is known as the Slingshot after the mythical slingshot, which with David slew Goliath. He is literally trying to rid the world of people getting sick and dying from drinking water. If you are reading this, chances are your water is safe. Imagine being able to hook one of these Slingshots up to a hose and getting clean water from contaminated water filled with all kinds of waterborne impurities!

Here is a Slingshot, which appears at the end of the article:

As always, click on the image to make it larger:

The article explains much better than I can how the Slingshot works.

Like many inventors before him Dean Kamen sees a problem and then finds a solution. I am fascinated with people like that! He is a modern day Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla.

Imagine if we could empty hospitals by one half and save millions of lives every year simply by giving people good, clean water!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

I Upgraded To An iPhone

Several days ago, I received a notice from Verizon telling me I was eligible to upgrade to a free iPhone. I was skeptical at first because I have tried using them at other times with no success. My manual dexterity just is not good enough to touch the buttons with my fingertips, and I did not think I could use one.

I know they have voice recognition, email, a camera, the Internet, and several other useful apps. It also has hundreds if not thousands of apps I will never use; but, the offer was too good to turn down so I decided to go for it. Does anyone use their level app on a construction site or to hang a picture? When I got it home and looked for the operating instructions, there were none! How am I supposed to know how to run my new iPhone if I do not have any directions? Everything comes with directions. I even got directions with my new toaster! A toaster is much easier to use than an iPhone!

You know how men never ask for directions when driving and never need instructions on how to do anything, which is why there are always a couple nuts and bolts left over after you have put your child's new bicycle together at Christmas! Well, I am not one of those men. I thought I could at least get some things right on my own; but it was not to be. So far, I did get a cover because I could hook my lanyard in to make it easier for me to hold and pick up if I drop it.

There was already a phone call on it when I managed to turn it on; however, I cannot figure out how to answer that voicemail. I will get it; it is just going to take some time. I have not had a chance yet to go to the Apple site and see if they have directions on how to operate an iPhone with voice recognition. That is coming right after I post this blog. Wish me luck!

I liked the flip phone I had just fine until it stopped working last week and I was unable to take part in a weekly conference call I usually do from 11 a.m. to 12 noon on Fridays. I found my phone was not working on Thursday and decided I may as well take the plunge and get with the newest technology.

Besides, I think a $750 phone for free is a pretty good deal, even if I cannot use it. I could not use my old phone anymore either. What do I have to lose? If nothing else, I will ask some teenagers to help me figure it out and have them show me how to use my newest toy.

At least now I will look cool carrying around my new iPhone! I just hope no one asked me to make a call for them!

I always talk about lifelong learning, change, growth and development, critical thinking and all the skills I am going to need to figure out how this thing works. If anyone has any suggestions, or helpful  tutoring sites, please leave a comment at the end of this post. I would appreciate it.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

P.S. If you have not read my last post and the very moving comments, you really should take a few minutes and read it by clicking here: http://iamnotdoneyet.blogspot.com/2014/05/witnessed-killings-at-kent-state.html

Are We Dumbing Down Our Young People?

I believe that is a fair question. Everywhere we look we are seeing it happening. Young people do not seem to be learning like they did even ten years ago. Many believe it goes back even farther. Studies have shown an incredible decline in vocabulary, critical thinking skills, the ability to communicate, problem-solving skills and a host of other skills necessary to compete in the global economy of the twenty-first century.

I have written about this before and after watching this brief video by the late, great George Carlin, he makes some interesting points in the direction our educational system is going. Watch this short bit and see if you agree with him or not:
 

http://youtu.be/WGL8FEMc378

You may read my previous grammar post of March 7, 2013 by clicking here. 

He makes a compelling argument regarding what our children are learning, or in the greater sense, what they are not learning.

After reading several articles on the topic, being turned away from schools because they do not want to bring in an outside speaker that would take away time teachers have to prepare for the test, countless conversations with frustrated teachers when I do get in the schools and a host of other factors, No Child Left Behind is not working for schools all over the country.

One of the biggest problems No Child Left Behind has is it is given as a standardized test to fifth graders of every educational level. That means children whose primary language is not English, Special Education students on all levels, gifted and talented students; students with lower IQ's are all tested on the same test. There is no way many schools with very diverse populations can keep up with other schools that do not have a wide range of students.

Of course, there are other factors in why our children are not learning critical thinking skills, creative problem-solving processes and constantly lowering their vocabulary skills. Please do not get me wrong here, I am all for the digital age and learning with computers. What I have a problem with is the loss of the ability to communicate with one another in a one-on-one conversation, and do so intelligently without one or both of the people using improper grammar, today's modern acronyms, and not being able to formulate a proper complete sentence.

One of the things that bothers me the most is when I turn on the television to watch the news, SportsCenter, or watch a game of any kind, and have the broadcasters and announcers using improper grammar.

To me, listening to someone speak improperly is like scraping your fingernails on the blackboard. It is everywhere. I often find myself hitting the Mute button when watching a game of some sort and not having to listen to the broadcasters butcher the English language.

I try to be as well-informed as I possibly can in writing because I believe it is important to show I care about what I believe to be an important subject. I cannot tell you how many times my editor and I discussed certain language when we were writing my book. I constantly try to be vigilant in my language on this blog, every letter I write, every comment I make on a Facebook post and email I send.

I know sometimes I come off as being a Nazi Grammar Police, but I believe it is important for us not to forget an important skill. As you may know, I use a voice recognition software program to write this blog. It is called Dragon Dictate and is Macintosh's version of Windows' Dragon Naturally Speaking. I used that program to write my book when I had a MacBook Pro with the Parallel program that allowed me to use the Windows side of my computer. Now I have a Mac Mini and have Dragon Dictate as my program.

This is just a small portion of my problem with the educational system today. My little brother, Chad, taught in a year-round school in Southern California for seven years. He loved the students, but had problems with administration and some of the requirements that were heaped on him. They never went more than six weeks at a time without being in school. I believe that is the wave of the future. Year-round schooling makes sense to me if done properly.

It is been proven time and again students lose a lot of the knowledge they gained in the previous school year when they have a three-month summer vacation. I believe that should also change.

Those are just two suggestions. I have many more. I will save those for another post. Does anyone see any mistakes I made in this post?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Kennedy Ng’ang’a Inspires People

Kennedy Ng’ang’a is a true treasure. I first learned of him through Facebook when he sent me a request to be his Facebook friend. Before I friended him, I looked at his page a bit and found an extraordinary individual.

He broke his neck in 1992 diving and has been a high level quadriplegic ever since. He has created quite a career for himself and many people around him through his painting and the foundation he started in honor of his dear mum who passed away two years ago. It is called the Mama Kennedy Fund and helps supply much-needed supplies to people in his community of Mombasa, Kenya.

He has an electric smile that tells me he is happy and enjoying life. Lesa Ann Weller wrote a very nice piece on her blog "SHE WRITES" dated May 30, 2012 you may read by clicking here.

Despite having hired an unscrupulous distributor who stole hundreds if not thousands of his prints and tens of thousands of dollars, Kennedy has forgiven this individual and moved on to create even more wonderful pieces of art.

He is very trusting by nature. You may order his prints or even have a piece commissioned by him by going to his Facebook page and perusing his albums. One thing I found particularly refreshing was the fact you do not pay a dime until you receive your painting. To reach his Facebook page, simply click here. He will ship anywhere in the world.

There is one more article I would like to share with you written by Deborah Davis at Pushliving.com. You may reach her excellent article by clicking here. She too, has some amazing stories and paintings to share.

I had fun researching and learning about this young man and his story. In one Facebook message he wrote to me, "I was an inspiration to him."

I would like to take this opportunity to reply to that statement and say, "Kennedy, you are an inspiration to me as well."

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

I have had this cartoon for several years, and use it in slideshows for openings of conferences when I keynote in a ballroom. I just found it the other day and cannot help but share it with you. It is a classic example of clean humor and creative problem-solving.

Who says, Turkeys are stupid!?

Enjoy your tryptophan nap tomorrow as you try to watch your favorite game or other show through your eyelids!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Interesting Conversation

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a wide variety of opinions on the importance of education and how important a college degree and/or an advanced degree was to people. Then, my favorite show, 60 Minutes, ran this piece on the very subject we were discussing. They put the topic in a very good perspective for me. If you missed it, check it out. Just click here:


I find it interesting we have millions of highly-skilled jobs available and not enough people who have the skills to fill them. There are programs available to teach people who are trying to learn these new skills, but they are few and far between. Some of the resistance is coming from an older group of people who are resistant to change. We all know how difficult change can be, but we all need to accept it and adjust to the jobs of the twenty-first century. If that happens, I suggest you get at least one mentor to help you along the way.

Remember, even the buggy whip manufacturers needed to change once Henry Ford and his ilk came along and rendered the buggy whips extinct!

If you are losing your job to downsizing, or robotics, are you ready to step into another job? What if you are over fifty, or do not have the savings to support you while you get training to prepare for that new career, or you cannot live on the salary you will make in that new position? Have you thought about any of those possibilities?

I read a survey of employers several years ago that stated when they look at new hires, they said more important than your GPA were three things: Your ability to be an effective communicator, cooperate well and are a creative problem-solver.

Of course, every job is going to have additional necessary skills, but I believe it is a good start.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

The Referees Are Back

When I started this blog, I stated I was not going to get controversial in my posts, but since this is my blog, I guess I can break the rules if I choose to do so. I am about to go on a bit of a rant here, so be prepared.

As many of you know that follow the NFL, the NFL Referee's Union was not on strike, they were locked out by the Owners. From my understanding, there was a huge gap between their stand and the Owners' position. This lockout could have lasted a while. 

Then, Monday Night Football happened!

The replacement referees did not seem to be doing a very good job! Just ask the Vikings' head coach, Leslie Frazier, about the ref's giving San Francisco five timeouts towards the end of Sunday's game. Or, better yet, ask the Packers' head coach, Mike McCarthy, about the way their game ended.

I get a kick out of all the uproar from not only Packer fans in Wisconsin, but people all over the country are outraged at the fact we cannot get these union members to resolve their differences and get those good, union referees back on the job! I mean, come on people, we're talking FOOTBALL here!

Are they the same people that voted for Governor Scott Walker so he could bust the unions in Wisconsin for teachers, firefighters and police officers? I mean, come on people we're only talking about educating our children and taking care of the public safety here!

I do not see the national outrage over the way Walker handled those situations. I grew up in a teacher's union household. That union helped my dad and our family many times.

They went on strike once and things got tight for a short time, but with some give and take, the strike was settled and the teachers went back to teach.

Ultimately, the Owners got big-time pressure to settle their differences with the referees; now, we will be able to whine about the blown calls they make.

Of course, that is just my opinion. Feel free to leave yours.

Later,

Mike

P.S. There, I feel better after I got that off my chest. My next post will be back to what you usually expect from me. Thanks for letting me vent! Now, I am off to acupuncture. After that, I will not be able to put up this post. In fact, I will not be able to do much of anything!

I Like Simon's Attitude

I received my inspiration for this post from a young friend who has a disability. He wrote me a note and shared a story about twenty-year-old Simon Wakelin, of Rhydargaeau, a small village near Carmarthen, West Wales. I am sure you all know where that is located!

At age eight, he was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease that has forced him to use a wheelchair ever since. He loved driving the tractors at his grandpa's farm before his diagnosis and liked taking care of his family's lawn. With the help of a friend, he has designed a lawn mowing wheelchair and has become the youngest lawn mowing businessman in his village.

I love hearing and learning about people's life stories. I tell mine for a living and have people telling and writing me about themselves all the time. It is wonderful! Young Simon's is yet another such story. For a young man with such an extremely involved disability to take on a physically-challenging career and make it work, is extraordinary.

Here is a photo from the article:

Click on the image to make it larger:

You may read the entire article by clicking here.

My favorite quote of Simon's is: Having a disability does not have to stop you from doing the things you want to. I love that coming from such a young man! Now, that motivates me!

Read it and see what you think of this young entrepreneur the next time you go out to mow your lawn. There are also several dozen Comments you may enjoy.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike 

The Bloom Box

I learn something new whenever I watch 60 Minutes. Last night was no different. Lesley Stahl did this piece entitled The Bloom Box. If you missed it, check it out:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

We now have all kinds of battery power and have had for many years. The story elicits two questions right away. What makes this different from all the other battery ideas? And, how can we make it work? I am sure I am not the only person asking these questions.

There is a great deal of discussion going on now about rebuilding the electric grid. My next question is, will we even need to rebuild the electric grid if The Bloom Box — or something like it — is developed to be the next generation of electric power?

Will we soon see a landscape with no power lines? As we all know, change is inevitable. I believe this is just the beginning of how our children and grandchildren will get their electric power. I find it very exciting!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Chad Patrick, Inventor!

If you have known me a long time, chances are good you know about my little brother, Chad. Chad was born two years after my accident and grew up only knowing me as his big brother who uses a wheelchair. As the Alpha and Omega siblings in our family, we have always had a special relationship. I tease him he will always be the baby of the family and he teases me I'm older than dirt!

All of my siblings have an artistic side. Between Chad's music and my speaking abilities are Kathleen, who is an award-winning author, Rick paints exquisitely, Vicki plays an amazing piano and Tammy has an incredible voice without ever having had a voice lesson. She just released her third solo CD. You can order her CD's by clicking here.

Back to Chad. He is now living in Southern California pursuing his dream and doing well drumming with his band Rolling Reunion, teaching young drummers, and most recently inventing percussion-related products. His Drum Wallet was just released to rave reviews at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in Anaheim. NAMM is the largest music industry trade show in the world!

Check out this promotional video for Chad's Drum Wallet:



There are a lot of things I am excited about to see what Chad has done, but the most important issue is he saw a problem for drummers, and with several years of critical thinking and being creative in the problem-solving process, he found a very unique solution for a small niche of musicians.

Maybe it is not such a small market. He just told me he has already had inquiries from Australia and Europe!

To learn more about or to place your order for The Drum Wallet, click here.

Have I said yet I am a very proud big brother right now? I never would have thought all of those years of putting up with his incessant beating on everything from the dashboard as we drove down the road to beating on a coffee table while we watched a game on TV together would lead to this, Chad Patrick, Inventor!

I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike

Here's A Quiz For You

What do you know about our world today? I have always said this blog was about teaching and lifelong learning. If you are a longtime subscriber, you know my subject matter is all over the board. I like it that way. But, I try to teach something with every post.

My life and my speeches are like that. I have often been told I don't have a focus. Well, I respectfully disagree. I believe my focus is on creative problem-solving and critical thinking. If you have ever seen my website or heard me speak, you know I base my speeches on the premise, "The problem isn't the issue, the issue is how you deal with the problem."

That is also the way I approach my life. Somewhere along the way since that night they drilled those two holes in my head, I have developed a problem-solving process to deal with a myriad of other problems. The philosophy I developed a long time ago was if I could lie on that Stryker frame for six weeks and get turned every two hours to avoid any pressure sores, I could handle just about any problem I need to address. People tell me it's about my attitude!

Here is a picture of Nurse Ratched turning me shortly after my accident:


Notice the forty pounds of sand hanging at the head of the bed. The bags were hyperextending my neck so the Crutchfield tongs in my skull were putting traction on my cervical spine, thus immobilizing it and aligning the vertebrae. I grew three inches in those six weeks! See there: I lost my focus again! This post is about a global quiz and I go and make it about me. Shame on me!

Back to the quiz:

I don't claim to know it all, and never will. When I only answered six out of ten questions correctly, I realized I am not as aware of urgent global issues as I would like to think I am.

Take this Global Quiz from the Clinton Foundation by clicking here, and if you are willing to share your results, please do. Who knows, you may learn something? I know I did.

If you are a teacher and want to use this quiz in your classroom, please do. I am sure President Clinton would approve. Also, feel free to share it with your friends. I think that is the whole purpose.

Later,

Mike

Dude Perfect Shooting Stars

I have never posted two days in a row; but I saw this story last night on the CBS Evening News and want to share this humorous video with you. Basketball is my favorite sport, especially college basketball. So, when Steve Hartman did this piece last night on the Dude Perfect college students from Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, I just had to share it.

By the way, he is one of my favorite journalists, and has what I believe can only be described as one of the most fun jobs a journalist could have. If you have ever seen any of his ASSIGNMENT: America pieces, you know what I mean.

This story combines basketball, creative problem-solving and critical thinking to show some amazing results. Enjoy!


Watch CBS News Videos Online

I like their creative thinking in coming up with new trick shots; and the fact they are another example of how creative young people can be.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Community College Diversity

I spent Wednesday afternoon with a Human Relations class at Minneapolis Community and Technical College in downtown Minneapolis. The twenty-five students are working towards an Associates of Arts degree in Business Office Administration. Their instructor, Margret Lydell, asked me to address issues like leadership and diversity.

I spent two and one-half hours addressing those and a good number of other issues like creative problem-solving, critical thinking, attitude and motivation. We had a great session and, at the end of class, they asked several very good, thoughtful questions.

There were several things that stood out for me, but one of the big things was the diversity and the number of immigrant students. At one point, I asked how many students were born in a country other than the United States. By far the lion's share of the students are first generation immigrants.

They told me there are eighty different languages spoken at MCTC! I don't know exactly how representative of their population this particular class is, but it just struck me how such a diverse group of young people are studying at one small, post-secondary institution in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. I think it's great!

They obviously understood me because of the questions they asked, the conversations I had with a few of them after class and the comments a couple of students made to their instructor, Margret Lydell.

After the students had all gone, Margret told me a couple of great stories about what students had told her.

Another good day, doing what I absolutely love. Another reminder I'm not done yet!