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You are here: Home / Archives for family members

The “cat’scade” effect

August 14, 2013 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

tiger-motor-jack

It’s difficult to describe a room’s layout without showing an image — so if you’re really, really into following this column (which describes how the furniture in our living room is placed), you might want to draw a big “L” on a piece of paper. Then again, you probably aren’t that compulsive.

Anyway, a chocolate brown three-person couch comprises the vertical leg of the “L”. Perpendicular to it, forming the horizontal leg of the “L” is a recliner, with both facing the entertainment center, which would be by the top of the “L.”

Stick with me. It’ll all come together soon.

On either end of the couch is an end table, usually covered with the common odds and ends that collect over the day. You know, wallets, reading glasses, books, maybe a coffee cup or two.

The room has a picture window, which would be “below “the bottom of the “L” and behind the recliner. In front of said window, and behind the recliner, is a coffee table. That might seem a poor placement — unless cats reside in your house as they do at ours. Therefore, utilization of the table has been ceded to our two ginger felines who sit there, staring out at the street.

Okay, the stage is set. Here we go.

My wife and I sit on the couch to watch television.

I’m sure most couples — for that matter, most families — always sit in the same place. In our case, I without fail place myself at the “top of the L” while she sits on the other end of the couch. Motor, our younger cat, perches on the coffee table. Mini-Schnauzer Jack rests between the two of us on the couch.

Then there’s Tiger; our older cat, Alpha of the four-legged members of the family.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Change, Habits, humor, Newspaper Column Tagged With: bad habits, cats, change, changing habits, family cat, family members, felines, humor, lifestyle change, mini schnauzer

One More Reason to Stay Healthy

June 19, 2013 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

We all want to be in good health.

healthy heart, good eatingEqually true is that we often put off what we need to do to achieve that objective, needing reminders of what really matters. Many times they are unpleasant. Some times, we’re just fortunate.

Ever since I was old enough to live on my own, my place of residence has always been at distance from the remainder of my family. I didn’t dislike them and we (mostly) got along well. It’s just that — I don’t know — I guess I’m the one from my clan who was most inclined to strike out for new horizons.

I’m actually not very adventurous. So it came as no small shock to my parents when, after graduating college, I threw what few possessions I could call my own into my 1973 Mazda RX2 and drove across the 115 degree Nevada desert — without air conditioning — to establish myself as the afternoon drive DJ for KEYY AM in Orem, Utah. I held no particular desire to live in the Beehive State; it just happened to be where I landed my first gig. Upon arrival, they immediately demoted me to the all-night slot and fired me six weeks later.

Welcome to radio.

After that, I “played the hits” and spun classic vinyl throughout the west, eventually lighting on the Northcoast of California 30 years ago. I guess that qualifies me as “a resident,” and short of our airport, I love almost everything about this area and call it “home.” My family however still resides elsewhere.

In the past, it was always me, who at the end of a too-short visit, hugged my mother farewell, loaded suitcases into the car, and resumed my far-flung life, never successfully suppressing the wetness in my eyes.

The baton passes.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, family, Happiness, Health, Inspiration, Newspaper Column Tagged With: aging, family, family members, generations, good health, immediate family

Hanging Out With a Better Class of People

May 25, 2011 by Scott "Q" Marcus

For the majority of presentations I conduct, I administer an on-line anonymous survey to get a better feel for what’s going on inside the organization.

Question number one is, “On a typical day, how would you rate your attitude?”

Respondents choose from five answers:

  • Extremely upbeat
  • Pretty Good
  • Average
  • Below average
  • Extremely poor

I’ll fess up the fact that it’s not a very scientific question, but neither do you need to work for NASA to answer it. In a nutshell, it’s a fancy way of saying, “How ya’ doin’?”

Out of the thousands who have responded, approximately 79 percent have said that their average-day attitude is “pretty good” or “extremely upbeat.” In effect, that could mean that you — the person reading this — has about an 79 percent chance of saying your attitude (most of the time) falls in one of those two categories. (By the way, only one percent responds “extremely poor.”)

Another way to parse that would be, if we were to ask people to use a one-to-ten scale, with the highest number being “ecstatic,” and the bottom being “suicidal;” the regular person on an ordinary day would say, “It’s about eight.”

Question two rates in the same fashion the attitude of those with whom we interact most often: family members, co-workers, and friends. Here the indicator slides to 52 percent. Using the same interpretation as above, that implies that we feel that, although we’d give ourselves an “eight,” we’d label others a “five.” (Imagine how much it would deteriorate if they didn’t have the pleasure of our charming, upbeat positivity to buoy their sagging moods!)

Finally, question three inquires about, “The attitude of those with whom you come in contact on a daily basis?” That scope involves everyone else we bump into, such as clerks, attendants, or phone reps, in effect the river of population flowing across our paths in a typical 24-hour period.

Using the same measuring scale, we sense that only about 31 percent of “those people” possess a “pretty good” or “extremely upbeat” outlook. To spin that yet one more way, we feel that only about one out of three, or one-third, of everyone we meet has a better-than-average attitude.

YourAttitude

In summation [Read more…]

Filed Under: Communicating, Conflict Management, Intentions, International Inspiration Index, mental health, Newspaper Column, Poll or Survey, Power of Attitude, Psychology, Relationships, Self Talk Tagged With: anonymous survey, attitude, co workers, family members, perceptions, pleasure, typical day

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