Fifty Fifty

Do you know someone, work with someone, or have a family member who is wrong at least half the time? No matter how smart they think they are, I like to call them Fifty Fifty.

The Volleyball team is playing XYZ College tonight, should we go? No, they played them last week, are you sure, yes. I know those are the teams in the Big Ten! Wrong. I am sure it is going to be 100 degrees today. Wrong. Oh yea, Phil Collins sang that song. Wrong. The movie begins at 7:05 PM, got that one right. Broil the dinner for twenty minutes, bang, another one right. Barack Obama is our President. Wow, on a hot streak.

There are just certain people who are right and wrong always about half the time. Too bad they cannot figure that out.

STEVE JOBS: Designer, Marketer, Innovator, Businessman --TOM BROKAW: "Four or five hundred years from now - maybe even longer than that - they'll look back and Steve Jobs will be one of the defining figures of the technology that has absolutely transformed the world. It has created another universe that we could not have anticipated. ... We got the first Mac in 1984 ... Our children were in junior high and in grade school ... The second night that we had it, I went down to my office - I woke up - and there was a kid from the building who had come up the back stairs to PLAY ON THE MAC. And we just had a steady stream of 'em. About two days later, the new CEO of IBM came to have an editorial board meeting with us here, and I said, 'What about the Mac?' He went ... not gonna last."

"Here's to the crazy one. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently" Steve Jobs

GOOD MONDAY MORNING - Happy Columbus Day! U.S. stock markets open; bond markets closed. Public offices: Courts, post offices and state and federal government offices will be closed. City and county government offices and libraries will be open. Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends to the north, this means hockey on television during the day today. Yes!

UGLY FORECAST - N.Y. Times Business section, p. 8, "Strategies: An Ugly Forecast That's Been Right Before," by Jeff Sommer: An "organization with an exceptionally good track record says another recession may already be here. That is the Economic Cycle Research Institute, a private forecasting firm based in Manhattan. ... Relying on a series of proprietary indexes, the institute correctly predicted the beginning and the end of the last recession. Over the last 15 years, it has gotten all of its recession calls right, while issuing no false alarms. ... [Its current forecast is] chilling: as bad as the economy has been, it's about to get worse. ... 'If the United States isn't already in a recession now it's about to enter one,' says Lakshman Achuthan, ... chief operations officer ... 'I wouldn't be surprised if [the unemployment rate] goes back up into double digits' ... Achuthan ... says ... gross domestic product rate is likely to go negative by the first quarter of 2012."

GREEK RECONENING DAY - Circle the date on your calendar: October 14th. That is the day the Greeks must make good on their debt payment or simply default. The sovereign debt crisis has been an overhang for stock and bond investors, but it's been a great opportunity for currency traders.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BOTANISTS – An interesting day of science, great conversation, and plant related items to purchase. Saturday, October 15, 2011 at the Ruby Gerontology Center on the campus of California State University, Fullerton. $55 at the door. Banquet is $40 (Pre-register because seating is limited).
www.socalbot.org

HAPPENING TODAY: "The George W. Bush Center will host the first-ever Warrior Open, a two-day golf tournament featuring members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served their country honorably and were severely wounded during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. [Yesterday], President Bush hosted a practice round" at Las Colinas Country Club, outside Dallas in Irving, Tex.
Pics from practice round www.warrioropen.com

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Sue Bird (31), John Dean (73), Brett Favre (42), Lee Iacocca (87), Christie Kerr (34), Emeril Lagasse (52), Ziggy Marley (43), Paul Simon (70), Karla Suffredini …famous sister, hockey Mom, soccer Mom, just Mom, Steve Young (50).

SUNSHINE STATE BUMMER – For the first time since December 6, 1982 there are no teams from the State of Florida in the AP College Football Top 25: no Florida, Florida State or Miami.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 10/15, every year this is the game for in-state Michigan football fans: #11 Michigan Wolverines (6-0) visit #23 Michigan State Spartans (4-1), 12:00 PM ET, ESPN. They will be three deep at the Beach Bar in Clark Lake, Michigan for this traditional rivalry. We like The Spartans to pull the upset and bring Coach Hoke’s team back to earth.
Season to date (4-2).

SMALL COLLEGE PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 10/15, a traditional Eastern Collegiate Football Conference match up: the Husson College Eagles (0-5) visit the Mount Ida College Mustangs (2-3) at Newton, Mass. 1:00 PM ET, Lifetime Network. The Mustangs have too much for the boys from Bangor, Maine, we like Mount Ida to win going away.
Season to date (5-1).

NFL PICK OF THE WEEK – Sunday 10/16, Philadelphia Eagles (1-4) at Washington Redskins (3-1), 1:00 PM ET, Fox. Michael Vicks last chance to salvage the Eagles season, he won’t The Skins win big in D.C. Season to date (5-0).

EARLY NCAA HOCKEY - The St. Lawrence University Saints travel to Ann Arbor this Thursday night for a hockey game against the University of Michigan. Forget the Spartans this week, this is the true test, go SLU!

DEAR RINK RATS:

“As an older worker, I sometimes find it frustrating to work with and manage people who are in their 20’s. Is it me or is it them?

OUT OF TOUCH, Canton, New York

DEAR OUT OF TOUCH:

It’s both. With four generations in the workplace, it should be no surprise that miscommunication and misunderstandings occur there. People are defined by the social and historical events they experienced growing up and that shaped them as young adults. To some degree, what a baby boomer (born 1946-1964) or a member of Generation X (born 1965-1981) expected when entering the work force is very different from what the people in Generation Y, also known as millennials (1982-1992), now expect.

For one thing try to understand their mind-set. Imagine growing up listening to Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Chuck Berry, compared with growing up listening to The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Motown. Just think how much the Generation Y work force is screwed up listening to Guns N’ Roses, Whitesnake and Duran, Duran. Enough said, give them a break they are messed up.

REGARDS, RINK RATS.

FINALLY – From KG our friend in New York: recently overheard at a wedding –

“All married men please stand next to the one person who has made your life worth living.”

The bartender was almost crushed to death.

Next week, words of the month, recipe of the month and leadership.

Until next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA
October 10, 2011

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