Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.
A couple of things to share with you as I futz around with TypePad and get used to my new digs here.
One, if you don't already read her blog (you really should, you know) I'm today's guest blogger on Rosa Say's Talking Story blog. She asked me to share a story about learning - I hope you enjoy it.
And when you're done with that, drop by tecosystems and see what Steve has to say about writing - it's right on target.
Read MoreLast week, I returned from a week or so in the UK - I've been recovering and spending time with the family, hence the slow posting. It was quite a busy week business-wise, but we managed to squeeze in a bit of fun.
As you may have noticed, from previous posts, I try to find patterns and models in life and see how and where I can apply them. Since you often find what you're looking for, it's no surprise that I found a pattern within one of these activities.
One Saturday we engaged in clay pigeon shooting at the E.J. Churchill Shooting Ground. My colleague Chris Morgan arranged the day and we were accompanied by a couple of business friends.
This was my first time shooting moving targets, and I learned a lot. I had a great coach named Fred who helped me tremendously.
In the beginning, Fred drilled me on the proper way to hold the gun for this type of shooting, and had me practice tracking across the shooting ground.
In the next part of the lesson, I held the gun and Fred guided it along the path with the target, and said "Bang" in my ear when he wanted me to pull the trigger. We did that several times for each target type and he instructed me to "See the picture" of what it looks like when the target is ready to be shot. The hardest part of this instruction was for me to relax and let him guide the gun - when I tried to fight his guidance, I invariably missed.
Then, Fred turned me loose and had me move the gun and fire on my own. When I "saw the picture" I pulled the trigger and began hitting my targets.
At the end of the 2-hour session, I'd hit 65% of my targets and had shot better than any of my 3 more experienced companions.
The lessons I took away from this:
In short - listen to your mentors, visualize success, see the picture...BANG!
Read MoreGadget alert: I use a web site called "Seat Guru" to see how good or bad my airline seats are before I fly. As part of the itinerary I get from my travel agent, I can see what type of plane I'll be flying on, then I can look up my seat and see if it's a "problem seat" or not.
For example, later this week I'm flying to London on United Airlines. I'm waiting for an upgrade to Business Class but since that's never guaranteed, I want to make sure my Coach seat is OK. I fire up SeatGuru.com, select United Airlines from the navigation menu, select the Boeing 777-200 from the list, and I see a seat map of the plane.
SeatGuru color codes the seats. The green ones are the ones you want, the red ones are the ones you don't, the yellow ones are the ones to watch out for. Hover over the seat on the diagram and you'll see a popup that tells you why it's colored that way.
On this next flight, my seat is 22H - not colored at all, so it's a "normal" Economy Plus seat. Tomorrow, I'll call and see if I can get moved to a green one...
Oh - and did I mention SeatGuru is free? Very sweet.
Read MoreI've been watching a lot of things on TV about Hurricane Katrina, and a lot of it is frustrating or discouraging. Before you lose your faith in human nature, I want to share some first-hand stories of friends and family in Louisiana to provide additional perspective.
Medical Triage:
My brother-in-law, a Doctor who lives in Chicago but happened to be at my wife's parents house in Baton Rouge during the hurricane, has been working at the triage centers near the Causeway bridge in New Orleans. He says the situation is bad, but not as chaotic as he'd feared. He has to throw away his shoes every night when they're done loading ambulances - combination of biohazards and the water they have to trudge through, but he's there every day to help.
Opening Up Their Homes:
Other friends have sent us update notes (email is working pretty well, though we can't get through on the phones most of the time). They are hosting people in their homes to give them someplace to stay. Here's a note from a friend in Prairieville, LA which is between Baton Rouge and New Orleans:
"We are okay. We just got power back last night.... Most of my family is fine (they no longer have homes but they are safe). We are still trying to connect with a few and are starting to get worried. We did locate one this morning and she is on a bus to LSU as we speak. I liken the way I am feeling to how I felt at 9-11. Although this is more intensified. I am so connected to people in the city of NO and the surrounding areas - I don't understand how I am supposed to just get on with life when life has been forever changed. We are housing between 20 and 30 people and it feels good to be able to help take care of basic needs for them. I am so thankful that the people I care about are physically safe.
"We need to thank God for that and pray for the others that are not so lucky. I need to go and help with laundry and breakfast for the second crew -- talk to you soon."
Love to all Rochelle
And another from a friend in Baton Rouge:
"Hey everybody,
Sorry if you get this more than once, but I'm trying to get the word out about the need for help here in Baton Rouge. While we were spared big damage, we've become the New New Orleans and command central for the evacuation refugees. The N.O. government and most control is being done out of Baton Rouge.
But the urgent need is for help for the people in and around Southeast Louisiana. There's not a street in our neighborhood that doesn't have multiple families or friends staying at their houses, and most homes are still w/o power. Watching CNN and national news doesn't quite tell the whole story. You can't believe the massive problem that has occured and is going to get worse.
The shelters in Baton Rouge have all been filled up, all public bldgs, all apartments rented by this week, churches and homes are filling up. One gas station in the middle of nowhere has over a 100 people just camping around its property. I'm not sure of the gas situation outside our city, but there's a run on gas and I fear most people will not get gas today. We had to get some after 10pm last night. I'd say only 1 in 7 had gas last night. Like 1972 all over again.
Anyway, please get a care package together, your checkbook, or whatever and please help out. You can send to the numbers below, or send it to me and
I'll get it to the Red Cross supply center. If you live anywhere in Louisiana, then your local chapter is most likely already sheltering refugees also. Our companies are also collecting funds to send to local chapters to help out. The typical things are baby supplies, dry food, toiletries, clothes, towels, sheets, toys, basically anything somebody needs.Please pass this along to your local email group so that we can touch as many people as possible.
Take care and please help out today.
MarkIf you have loved ones who were in the hurricane disaster zone, and you are trying to contact them to see if they are OK, the American Red Cross maintains a database of known disaster survivors. Their phone number is (866) GET-INFO. Please do not call the local chapters for information.
If you have loved ones of who have not been rescued, and you know of their location, please contact the Louisiana State Police at (225) 754-8500.
Additional links:
I've been through lots of hurricanes during the 27 years I lived in Louisiana, but I still can't comprehend this from 2500 miles away.
Yes, Louisiana is where I come from. But this is bigger than than that. They need our help as fellow human beings. Don't do things to endanger your own financial situation, but help if you can. The road ahead will be long and difficult for them.
Read MoreMy wife and I grew up in Louisiana. Our parents and a lot of our friends and family members still live there. We are thankful that our immediate families are OK, but we have friends and family that have lost everything (cars, houses, apartments, paperwork, everything) and have no idea how many weeks or months they'll be without a place to live or work. There are others, such as my wife's aunt and uncle, who lived in New Orleans and we have no idea where or how they are right now.
There are over a million people in this situation in Louisiana alone. To give you an idea what they face, check out this story on MSN.
If you are able to help, I ask that you consider donations to a fund that is helping with the recovery and the interim support of the many men, women, and children affected by this disaster. A couple of options are:
There are other funds, as well, and many of them provide the ability to direct your donations to specific disasters. I also suggest you check any charity you are considering using the Red Cross's www.charitynavigator.org, and donate to 4-Star charities wherever possible. The charities I mentioned above are both 4-Star rated.
Another factor to consider - New Orleans is one of the world's largest ports, near one of the largest oil refineries. The faster we can help that area recover, the less it will impact all of us economically. New Orleans is one of the largest waypoints for exporting and transporting many of our crops, and those will have no place to go. This will affect the world's economy in ways we can't yet predict.
Thanks for considering adding your assistance to this effort.
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