Day 854: World Hello Day

Hello!  Hello to everyone on ‘World Hello Day’!

So, what’s the objective today?  Well, simple say ‘hello’ to ten people you don’t know in an effort to promote communication rather than force in settling a conflict. 

Sounds easy enough… give it a try!

I would also like to send out s big hello to all my Sikh friends as they celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak Dev!

Take care everyone!  And say ‘hello’ for me, will ya?

Day 853: Blog House Keeping… or… A Statistical Journey through Writers Block

Site Visits:

Well, October was another great month for SchutzHappens readership!    Every month for the last four months Returning Visitors has increased by 30 visits!  You know what this means?  That’s right!  One new SchutzHappens addict every month!  Brilliant!  Er… what’s that?  New visitors dropped by 30 visits this month?  Ummm…  Pauline?  Did you stop clearing out your cookies between visits?

Oh, who cares?!?  Numbers mean nothing… did you know 75% of all figures are made up on the spot?

But seriously folks… the numbers don’t matter… because I would still be posting this random gibberish regardless of whether or not you actually read it… but… I’m glad you do!

BTW: We’re quickly approaching 4000 page views.  Scroll to the bottom of the page, if it’s you, take a screen shot (Ctrl+Print Screen) paste it into an email and send it to me! 

The Poll:

So, since you are reading… what do you want to read about?  With 41 days left in the ‘What is your favorite part of SchutzHappens’ poll I thought we could take a moment to look at the figures.

As of now (when I’m actually writing this post), ‘Hearing about Traveling and Life in the Foreign Service’ is in a dead heat with ‘The Sheer Randomness of it All!!!!!’  - both with 64% of the vote.  (if the percentages sound funky, remember people can vote for multiple items).

 In third place with 47% of the vote is ‘Observations of Strange Holidays’… you don’t know how happy this makes me… but we are going to have to include ‘Normal Holidays’ as well.  ;)

With 41% of the vote we have ‘Stories about Family and Fatherhood’; 35% is going to ‘Epically Long Stories that Never Get to the Point’ (Don’t worry! ‘The Chair’ is coming back!  I promise!); 29% of the vote is leaning towards ‘Wacky Websites and Videos’.

And then… hmmm… in last place… with only 23% of the vote is ‘JP’s Obsession with Movies and TV’.  That hurts folks… that really hurts.  You’re going to make a fella cry.  A fella living in Pakistan away from his family… you should be ashamed of yourself.

Or should you?

Top Ten Posts:

So, I added yet another interesting tracker to the bottom of this page... It shows the Top 10 most popular SchutzHappen posts of all time.  Or as I like to call it… ‘Checks and Balances’.

Hey… look at that.  ‘A Break for Christine Baranski and the Concept of a Guest Actor’ is the most read post of all time!  Readers!  You haven’t forsaken me!  However, John Lithgow called me very upset… he thinks you have forsaken him.  I would send a card… he took it kind of hard.

Okay, let’s see what else… second place went to ‘Bidding Interest’… ‘A Break for Bidding’ and ‘The Handshake’ also made the top ten, and so did my farewell to Belgrade, ‘Vidimo Se Kasnije!’  So the inclusion of those four supports the ‘Hearing about Traveling and Life in the Foreign Service’ crowd.

Third place is hilarious.  ‘Admiral Ackbar at Ole Miss? Awesome!’  Not only are my readers loyal… but they have taste as well.  But come on…  ‘Wacky Website & Video’ is only getting 29%?  You know you love it!

Okay, fifth place going to ‘Worst National Park’ is very flattering.  First, I had writers block at the time and couldn’t come up with anything to write (like today) and second, I was 100% serious about Carters of the Moon National Park being an inside joke with my family.  The fact that this post is in the top five is going to make their day!

Seventh place brings us our first ‘Strange Holiday’… and it’s a sentimental favorite of mine: ‘Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day’.  I actually sent this blog entry to Serena when she asked me what I wanted for Christmas… she laughed at me. 

Anyway, in direct opposition of sweet and tender (so nice you gotta say it twice) ‘Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day’ is ninth places ‘Mad As Hell Day!!!!’  When I saw this one pop up I had to read it again to figure out what it was about… ahh… the airline industry… well that makes perfect sense.

Now… those are the top nine… and all of them were posted in the last four or five months and during this time readership has been growing and growing, so it’s understandable that these more recent posts have made the list…

But, then there is tenth place… a post that is almost two years old… posted on Day 149, over 700 days ago… now that’s staying power if I’ve ever seen it.  And, it’s the perfect marriage of ‘Hearing about Traveling and Life in the Foreign Service’ and ‘JP’s Obsession with Movies and TV’… it’s called ‘Survivor, Serbian Style’.

Interesting sidebar:  Two of these posts served as breaks during my story about ‘The Chair’… however, not a single episode of ‘The Chair’ made the list… interesting.  This doesn’t bode well for those of you in favor of ‘Epically Long Stories that Never Get to the Point’

And speaking of getting to the point… what does it all mean?  Absolutely nothing.

‘The Sheer Randomness of it All’ wins… as it should.

Day 852: Toys for Tots Update

Wow… ever since I posted about Toys for Tots back on October 29^th I’ve been inundated with emails! 

Readers… you humble me!

I have a feeling there are going to be a few Marine Detachment Commanders around the world in for a very pleasant surprise this Christmas. 

But it’s not too late!  You too can be a part of Toys for Tots 2010 in your home town or abroad!    

http://www.toysfortots.org/

Day 851: Eid al-Adha, The Islamic Festival of Sacrifice

Last week I received a very nice note from Nitika and Tu Nga regarding my inclusion of Diwali and Bahá'u'lláh's Birth on SchutzHappens!  Thanks!  Being a Catholic dude from the States, it means a lot to get your thumbs up on my coverage… since I have a very limited working knowledge of the Hindu & Baha'i faiths.  But I try!

Anyways, in keep with this theme… it’s really important for us to look for the things we have in common as a world community, rather than our differences.

For that reason, Eid al-Adha is probably one of the best Islamic holy observations to study because it’s so easily relatable to other Abrahamic religions. 

In short, it commemorates a belief shared not only by Muslims… but Jews and Christians alike:  The time Abraham showed his willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael/Isaac as an act of obedience to God.

In practice, Eid al-Adha is a day of prayer celebrating family and generosity.  It is not uncommon to present gifts to the poor on Eid al-Adha.. 

A more traditional practice of the holy festival would consist of the sacrifice of a domestic animal, much like when Abraham scarified the lamb/ram rather than his son.  The meat would then be divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor and needy.

But if the idea of animal sacrifice makes you squeamish… well… think about that the next time you enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner… just because Honey Baked Ham does the dirty work doesn’t mean there isn’t a sacrifice.  ;)

Have a great day everyone!

Day 850: Friday 2, the Revenge of Friday

So… life in Pakistan is pretty interesting… and very busy.  I’m pretty much working all the time.  I average around 60 to 80 hours a week… depending on the week.  The schedule can get pretty daunting… especially since you have to maintain the pace for, pretty much, a year straight.  It’s exhausting at times. 

The first week of a schedule like this isn’t too bad… it’s pretty easy.  Back when I worked for Cobb County a week like this was common when we had a big event… but it certainly wasn’t the norm.

However, as the weeks press on… a schedule like this gets a little harder and harder… but once you’ve been doing it for a month or a month and a half, you just don’t care anymore.  I’ve been doing it for almost four months now, but I feel good though… a little loopy at times, but good.

Now, I have two coping mechanisms to deal with the loopiness and simply being able to keep this kind of schedule long term.

1) One day off per week:  I’m pretty militant about this.  I need one day a week to decompress and just not get caught up in work.  So, Sundays is my day… unless there is a holiday during the week, I will normally observe the holiday and work the preceding Sunday, but you get the idea.  My days off float and can be random at times… but I need JP time.

2) Making fun of the situation:  As American’s we seem to be bread with the notion that Friday’s are awesome… it’s the end of the week… it’s a day that must be celebrated.  ‘It’s Friday!  Everyone has to be in a good mood on Friday!’  And even in a situation where we work 6 to 7 days a week… people can’t seem to reprogram their love and reverence for Friday.  Salutations of ‘TFIG’ abound on Friday… yet, we’re all working side by side about on Saturday.  So… when you don’t really have a weekend… what is Friday?  What does it all mean?  Well, no one seems to care… its Friday and Fridays are awesome.  So, if I can’t change everyone’s perspective of Fridays, I’ve decided to rebrand Saturdays…  In my little SchutzHappens world, a Saturday will now be called, ‘Friday 2, the Revenge of Friday.’  That’s right… if I am forced to celebrate the wonders of Friday only to wake up the next day and work all over again… I’m going to give it a horrifying name.  Boo!

I think it’s going to catch on!

Day 849: Have a Party with Your Bear Day

I… um… today is a tough day for me.  You’ll remember a few weeks ago on ‘Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day’ I shared a piece of my heart with you.  My dear sweet Honey Jo Bear… lost forever.  I have no bear to take to work… and now… today… on ‘Have a Party with Your Bear Day’… I have no bear to party with.

Jo!  Where are you Jo?!?

Jo… this song is for you!  Ladies and Gentlemen, the ‘Alone for Party With Your Bear Chorus’!

Thanks guys… I can tell you feel my pain.

Day 848: National Clean Your Refrigerator Day

FINALLY!  I have found the most sensible strange day of observation of all!  Move over Tea Party!  President Obama, it time for a day of reflection… because it’s ‘National Clean Your Refrigerator Day’!  And the media is all a buzz!  Er… umm… that is if you count the media as bunch of random bloggers… er… or me. 

Seriously though, what better day to observe than ‘National Clean Your Refrigerator Day’?  A refrigerator is a nasty stink trap!  And… well… I’ve been meaning to clean it… I have!  I’m obsessed with a clean kitchen… it’s just… cleaning the refrigerator is so much work.

 But!  Today there is no excuse to put it off any longer!  Here is a song to help you get in the mood: