Day 991: Cricket World Cup

Okay, so a few weeks ago I shared a goofy post regarding how difficult the sport Cricket is to understand… well I never gave up and I recently experience a breakthrough!

Last week I sat down to watch Pakistan vs. Indian in the semifinal match of the Cricket World Cup… and I was a man determined.  And you know what?  I understand the game!

I do!  I really do!  I don’t understand all the nuances of the sport, BUT I now understand enough to follow the score, understand what the announcers are talking about, understand all the crazy numbers at the bottom of the screen… and I even picked up enough to understand a bit of the strategy too.

And you know what?  I learned enough to appreciate the sport… all eight and a half hours of it.  It’s actually a pretty interesting sport once you know what’s going on.

And you know what?  I’d watch another match… I might even be included to go to a match.  Suriname has a team… perhaps I should start gearing up to be a fanatical Suriname Cricket fan. 

That could be epic.

Day 990: Favorite iPod Apps

Honestly, I have no idea how many people read SchutzHappens on a regular basis, but I imagine the random visitor stumbling across the site doesn’t know what to make of all this.  Well… to that random visitor I say, “Welcome… enjoy the randomness.”

Anyway, a few days ago I posted about my new carpet shopping obsession… and of course… due to the total randomness of my drivel… the take away for reader Smallbits had nothing to do with antique carpets, and everything to do with my iPod Touch… most importantly the app loaded on my iPod Touch. 

Well, here it goes.

TODO (by Appigo) – http://www.appigo.com/todo - I am a total organizational FREAK!  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m obsessive compulsive and anal retentive about my to-do lists.  I spent a LOT of time researching the various to-do list apps before purchasing TODO… for almost $20.  Honestly, the price totally freaked me out and there wasn’t a Lite version at the time… but I took a leap of faith and I LOVE the end result (plus all of my updates for the last three years have been free!!!).   I can create multiple lists (I have one for home, work, random ideas… SchutzHappens…Christmas… whatever), I can create normal tasks, multistep projects, checklist… you name it.  I have my entire life organized on TODO.  (Also worth noting:  for $20 a year, TODO can sync with a website allowing you access to your lists when working in an environment where you can’t have your iPod… which REALLY comes in handy sometimes).

iFlipr (www.iflipr.com, website was working when I just checked it) – iFlipr is a flashcard program, which is awesome when studying a Foreign Language on the go!

Congress – I’m pretty sure I got this app for cheap and as a novelty.  But it is one of the BEST reference apps I own.  When you work in an environment like mine, where you find out some random congressman is coming to town and everyone in the room say, “Where is this guy from?”  With the Congress app, I’m able to access information on each and every congressman.  A basic biography, their office contact information, campaign information, information on their districts (for House members) and in most cases I can even access what committees the sit on.  I’m even able to access a congressman’s religion… which comes in handy when planning events.  Especially when the congressman is part of a Church that traditional frowns on drinking.  No need to give a congressman who doesn’t drink a bottle of wine.  I can’t remember how much this app was initially, but it’s only $.99 to upgrade every two years with the new congress lists!

Other great reference apps: USA Manual, Presidents, Monarchy, World Facts, WorldWiki, Festivals (a interactive list of all major religious holidays).

Little Chef – This little app converts every possible Standard and Metric cooking measurement, but ONLY cooking measurements.  I would love to find a conversion app that would handle everything.  So, let me know if there’s a better one.

Shape-Up – This app goes back to my anal retentive side.  Shape-Up is an all-in-one calorie counter AND exercise log.  What I really love about this app is how the eating and exercise sections work together.  On days you workout, you should eat more calories than on days you don’t workout… and this app does all the math for you.  When you exercise (burn calories), Shape-Up will automatically adjust your allowed number of calories for the day, giving you more fuel.  (Confession… I don’t use this app as much as I should… but don’t worry… I’m getting plenty of fuel.)

Shakespeare – Listen… what kind of theatre scholar would I be if I didn’t carry the Complete works of William Shakespeare with me where ever I go.

Angry Birds & Fruit Ninja – Seriously… these are the best two games available… and all work and no play makes JP a dull boy.

Lightsaber – This is Grayson’s favorite app… and frankly… I don’t mind packing a little Jedi heat.

Day 989: www.Library-Challenge.com

You know?  Throughout my travels I’ve run into a lot of non-profit organizations.  And I’m not just talking about my time with the State Department.  Even back when I worked for Cobb County my day-to-day contact with non-profits abounded!  I guess some things never change.

Anyway, non-profits come in a lot of different flavors and I’m a big fan of the smaller (more focused) non-profit mission.

And again, I think my preference for the ‘little guy’ comes from my time in Cobb County… not really pertaining directly to my work… but pertaining to Chick-Fil-A.  That’s right… a fast food restaurant. 

You see, Chick-Fil-A’s national headquarters is located in Cobb County, Georgia… and they’re upper level management are frequent guests and speakers at the numerous business association meetings around town. 

And I know what you’re thinking… “JP at a business association meeting?”  Yeah… it’s happened… numerous times…

Anyway, the theme of most Chick-Fil-A talks always focus on being unapologetically focused on your product and resisting the temptation to diversify away from what they are good at.  In their case: The Chicken Sandwich. 

The folks at Chick-Fil-A whole-heartedly believe that sticking to what your good at strengthens a company’s foundation… and the more you diversify the harder it is to maintain the integrity of the product that made you famous in the first place and eventually, your public persona/connection with that product will fade away.

So… what does that mean?  Well.  As long as Chick-Fil-A only serves chicken, the control the majority of the Chicken Sandwich market share.  Chains like McDonald’s and Burger King are forced to compete with them. 

HOWEVER, if Chick-Fil-A were to diversify and start serving hamburgers the scales would tip out of their favor.  They would end up having to compete with McDonalds and Burger King for a market share they don’t currently have… which could risk them losing their leading market share of The Chicken Sandwich.  Follow me?

As goofy as it may sound, there is a lot of truth to this theory.  I’m sure I’d have a lot more readers if I simply stuck to one topic… like family life… or Movies and Television… or life in the Foreign Service.  However, that would mean comparing SchutzHappens to Fast Food, when really; we all know SchutzHappens is more like a Fine Dining restaurant (with table cloths and everything) where patrons with exquisite taste come to sample the Chef’s Choice Menu. ;)

But seriously, Chick-Fil-A’s commentary on the Fast Food industry is easily projected onto non-profit charities.  There are some REALLY large mega-non-profits out there with incredibly huge and diverse portfolios of services.  Some of them are overwhelming to the point that you don’t really know what they do.  When donating your money, do you really know what it’s going towards?  Honestly, these really large non-profits end up being just like a normal company… bureaucratic red-tape machines with incredibly high overheads. 

However, in the spirit of Chick-Fil-A, when I find a smaller non-profit with a more focused mission, I get pretty excited, because in my opinion, they have the greatest chance of actually accomplishing what they set out to do and most importantly, the money I donate is more likely to reach the people I want to help (not the people implementing the program).

And this is why I REALLY like The Library Challenge (www.library-challenge.com).  They have a single focus: to restock the school libraries destroyed in the Pakistan Earthquake of 2005… and a number of these schools were also affected by last year’s Monsoon Flooding, which proved to be a significant setback for this organization.

Anyway, I’m not telling anyone to write a check or anything, I’m just planting a seed.  If, at the end year you’re looking for a tax deduction… think about taking the challenge.

Day 988: Women’s Sports Day

Yeah…

So… I… umm… I’m not really sure how to describe this… I tried to find the video segment I saw on the local Pakistani News but I couldn’t and I’m afraid my description won’t do the story justice, but I’ll give it a try.

Yesterday, I watched a news segment about a group of Women’s Colleges in Pakistan who came together for a “Women’s Sports Day”. 

And of course, being very American, I start thinking about Field Hockey, Soccer, Lacrosse, and other various team sports women normally play at universities… in the States.

What I found in the news segment wasn’t even close to what I was expecting.

First, the women were all wearing very traditional Pakistani garb… which wasn’t surprising given the fact that I’m in Pakistan, but it certainly didn’t give me a “Sport’s Day” feel.

But that doesn’t really matter anyway, because the three ‘sports’ features in the segment didn’t really give me a “Sport’s Day” feel either: Traditional Dancing, Tug-O-War and Musical Chairs.

That’s right folks… Musical Chairs. 

Listen, given how conservative the Pakistani culture is as a whole, I completely accepted Traditional Dancing and Tug-O-War… and if the segment has stopped there I would never have written about it… but Musical Chairs? 

My elementary school’s ‘field day’ had some really crap-tastic events in it, but we NEVER competed in Musical Chairs.

But, the inclusion of Musical Chairs made the story blog worthy.

And I don’t know what the “Women’s Sports Day” planning committee has in store for us next years, but might I suggest a Cake Walk and perhaps a Pie Eating Contest.

Day 987: Fatigue, Focus… and Eye Strain

Well… the Pakistan day count has now reached 250, which is roughly eight and a half months. 

For the most part it hasn’t been too bad, but the pace does get a bit tiring sometimes.  Twelve to fourteen hour a day, six to seven days a week for eight and a half months starts to get to you every once and a while.    

Fatigue and focus seems to come in waves… there is a certain ebb and flow to everything here. 

Physically, everyone seems to crash at some point, needing to take a few days to recharge; which is why I try to take Sundays off as my personal day… it doesn’t always happen, but I try.

However, even if you’re able to keep your body strong and are able to keep pace, there is only so much your mind can take… and focus starts to become a problem.  Not a major problem… but on my lack of focus days I’m certainly not as productive as I normally am… and between you and me, I actually enjoy my lack of focus days quite a lot. 

You see, I’m an ‘eat at my desk’ kind of guy (a bad habit, I know… but it’s the truth).  I can sit down at my desk at 7am and stay there until 6 or 7pm completely engaged in my work.  However, on my focus-break-down days… I’m more likely to organize a lunch at the American Club with friends, head to the gym, take a walk (the weather right now is amazing!), and sometimes I’ll even grab my Kindle, find a bench somewhere on the compound, and just read for about 20 or 30 minutes.  In short, the lack of focus can be quite energizing in the long run.

Although, there is one thing that popped up about a month ago that I can’t quite shake… the eye strain.  I am constantly suffering from eye strain headache… mild headaches, nothing serious enough to medicate… and I’m probably feeling it more now because allergy season has reared its ugly head… but seriously, between work and home, I’m probably staring at a computer screen fifteen hours a day… and that can’t be healthy.

But, at the same time, there isn’t much else to do.  I only have about 100 days left in this little adventure of mine… when I’m back with the boys it’s not like I’ll be Skyping anymore… so my average daily screen time will drop drastically.

So… here’s to my final 100!  And hoping my eyes don’t fall out of my head!

Day 986: Talking to Grayson

The other night Serena was packing for a quick trip over to Ireland and didn’t have a whole lot of time for a Skype call, so we squeezed in just a quick call.

But about 20 minutes after we hung up my Skype rang again.

It was Grayson. 

He had called me all by himself and just wanted to talk to me while he worked on a puzzle. 

I’d probably chalk that moment up to one of the best I’ve had since being in Pakistan.

Day 985: April Fool’s Day

Okay… so last year on April 1^st my SchutzHappens post vaguely hinted at Serena being pregnant again.   

Ummm… yeah… so… it took my Father-In-Law a little time to recover from the news before realizing it was April Fool’s Day. 

Classic.

Don’t worry.  Number three isn’t on the way… YET!