Is perfection the enemy of 'done'? and a Thanksgiving question

In response to last week’s question, "Is perfection the enemy of 'done'?", my birthday bud Jon declared, "No, Congress is."

My writing and sailing friend Rich lamented, "Is that why my wife keeps saying I’m not done yet?"

My social media friend Mark advised, "Everything is the enemy of done. But without the goal of perfection, "done" is just barely good enough."  And my writing friend Stan suggested, "Perfection is the stalking horse for other problems."  To this, my cycling friend Ted added, "Absolutely!  At least that's how it was in Dental School."

My Parrothead friend Samantha shared, "For me, perfection is the mortal enemy of sanity, but thankfully, the need for perfection is easily defeated by twin six year old boys (whom, interestingly enough, are also the enemy of sanity)."

My cousin Wes recalled, "For 6 days, G-d created and declared it good (perfect).  Then He rested (done).    OK, so we screwed it up later.  Maybe a perfect answer so I am done.  :) "

My dad's beach buddy Bob replied, "When the divorce is final with no alimony payments."

My equestrian friend Royce commented, "when you are perfect one doesn't have to worry about these things."

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “: 

Should we eat Indian food on Thanksgiving? 

Lord, give me a sense of humor; give me the ability to understand a clean joke; to get some humor out of life, and to pass it on to other folks. 

Hal

Wow, what an inspiring evening.  I invite you to be inspired by leaders from several different religions (http://faith.streamspot.com/venue/shared-archive?id=9a0df0c4e3 start about 5 min in)  The Palestinian speaker at about 42 minutes in was one of the highlights.  One conclusion from the night is that peace is a choice; it doesn't just happen.  Wishing you a joyous and happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.

Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.

    

What's necessary?

In response to last week’s question, "What's necessary?," my writing and sailing friend Rich advised, "Not as much as you think, way less than your boss  thinks and everything your wife thinks."

My dad's beach buddy Bob declared, "Breathing is a good starter" to which my neighbor Al expounded, "'Necessary' is based upon your goals in life.  In one case it might be air.  In another, it's remembering to put the toilet seat down."

My equestrian friend Royce replied, "It's according to what you are doing!" to which my cycling friend Ted, who is a private pilot, shared, "Take-offs are optional, landings are necessary."

My friend Richard counseled, "Death and (if you believe the government) taxes."  My social media friend Mark  suggested, "Only Monday morning 'Hmmms'," and then my DISH friend John replied, "Hal, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this subject."

My sailing friend Mike explained, "Ah, my friend, you must know the Old English necessary from two ancient but noble words:

ness, a promontory, cape, headland or point, and

estuary, the arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river

Thus, necessary (a corruption of the ness-estuary combination) is a river mouth protected by a headland

….or when you’re sailing, it’s using the shrouds in good weather or the head in bad to complete the “necessary” bodily functions."  And we know regular bodily functions are necessary.

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

Is perfection the enemy of "done"?  (from my friend Marya)

Lord, give me a sense of humor; give me the ability to understand a clean joke; to get some humor out of life, and to pass it on to other folks. 

Hal

Something I recommend doing this Thu evening:  I follow the advice of generally avoiding conversation about religion -- except for this one interfaith event.  You see, a priest, a rabbi and an imam walk in to a bar….this is an evening of celebration of Thanksgiving and of how similar we are ---- through words and music, and a bit of humor.  Comments from those who attended last year included “This is the most enjoyable heartfelt service anyone could experience” and “We look forward to it every year.”  And yes, there is a dessert reception afterward -- and there's no cost although we invite you to bring canned foods to donate to MUST Ministries.

You'll hear comments from Bahá'í, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Unitarian Universalism as well as a Palestinian guest speaker presenting in a Jewish sanctuary.

I guarantee you will talk about this celebration on Friday and throughout your weekend.

Details are in the display below and on our Facebook page.  I invite you to join me Thu, 11/20 at 7:00pm  either in person or streaming online.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.

Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.

    

If there is superstition, is there average-stition?

In response to last week’s question, "If there is superstition, is there average-stition?,"   my TV broadcaster friend Bill observed, "Probably a blend of superstition and low intellect" while my dad's beach buddy Bob concluded, "It is sort of like an undecided atheist on his death bed."

My cycling friend Ted noticed, "There is Superstition and Averagestition, but you failed to include Substitution!"

My social media friend Mark replied, "Everything that is not a superstition is an averagestition. Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality —that one event causes another without any natural process linking the two events. So an averagestition is the belief in an average causality — that one event causes another without any supernatural process linking the two events. Duh.

My writing and sailing friend Rich suggested, "If Superstition is the fear of Black Cats and No-stition is a fear of White Cats,  then Average-stition must be a fear of Gray Cats."

And my temple friend Lesley shared, "I believe your question this week needs to be answered by a seamstress of the Latina persuasion...."

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “: 

What's necessary?

Lord, give me a sense of humor; give me the ability to understand a clean joke; to get some humor out of life, and to pass it on to other folks. 

Hal

Please thank a veteran for his/her sacrifice that allows us to enjoy our daily freedoms.  Regardless of the poor performance of our elected officials, it is a better system than elsewhere, and I'm thankful for the people that have protected it.

Happy 85th birthday to my dad (yesterday).  Simply said, he's remarkable.  Alison and I are launching a project currently called "How One Person Impacts So Many," in which we're asking my dad's friends, family, colleagues and special interest groups what advice or help my dad provided them some time over his 85 years.  For example, he told me that regardless of what you do in business, marketing or sales, "understand and appreciate what the engineers do."  It helps effects how you build a better business model, how to provide better support and how to better relate to people.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.

S

Should children accept candy from strangers? (for Halloween)

In response to last week’s question, "Should children accept candy from strangers?,"  my neighbor Al  replied, "Only the ones they know."   My St. Martin sailing friend Bradley added, "A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met" while my temple friend Lesley queried, "Can there be such a person as a bad friend?"

My social media friend Mark concluded, "It really depends on witch stranger it is and witch candy they are handing out."

My collaboration friend Paul cautioned, "Accept only jelly beans or Swedish fish.  Can’t put razor blades in either of those (and they’re both AWESOME)."  My Parrothead friend Samantha shared, "Isn't the point of Halloween for children to trick or treat for candy from strangers and then to have parents 'check the candy' for safety?  Every year my dad would take at least 1/2 of my haul for safety reasons.  My husband Jim already started the same with our boys."  To this, my college roomie John noted, "I am sure we all remember walking the neighborhood and ringing all the doorbells for candy whether we knew the family or not.  To some extent, I did the same with my children.  Today, I am not so sure I would."

My neighbor Henry quipped, "Does your reference to Candy and ‘strange’ have anything to do with my wife named Candy???  I can never get away with that reference."

My cycling friend Ted called out, "My answer as a parent--no way! My answer as a dentist-yes, definitely!"

My equestrian friend Royce recalled, "Considering that I am a 14 year old with a beard and if the stranger was a woman, I would emphatically say 'Hell yes!'"

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

If there is superstition, is there average-stition?  (From my former boss Tom's wife Sandra)

Never miss an opportunity to do something that makes you smile!

Hal

I started a 5K Sunday after I finished!  A first for me.  I finished at 1:16am a race that I started at 1:50am.  What a great pajama party --- and I finished best in my age group!.  http://www.anythingispossible5k.com/

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.

Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.