Good News vs Bad News

The other day Shiela and I rented Kung Fu Panda. I'm a big Jack Black fan so I was excited to watch it even if it was a cartoon. The opening scene is the funniest I had seen in a while and I was laughing out loud. It was "pure awesomness!" if you know what I mean.

Anyways, in the movie there is this old, wise turtle and he said something I thought was probably very true but very hard to believe and actually live out. He said "There is no such thing as good or bad news. There is only news."

The more I thought about that the more I realized that it was true, but just really hard to accept. When something happens and we have to tell someone else, we almost always phrase it "I've got some good news!" or "I've got some bad news." The truth is that we don't really know what is good news or bad news...it's simply news. We don't know what the future holds and so how can we determine what is good or bad.

For example, if I were to win a trip to Vegas, I would instantly think that was good news. But maybe on that trip my flight ends up crashing and I'm paralyzed for life...I'd view that as bad news which only came about because of the "good" news. But maybe because I am now paralyzed I am able to spend a lot more time getting to know God better and sharing my story with others. Now that "bad" news isn't' so bad if it ended up turning into something that was really good.

I find it hard to look at life that way, although it is very true. We don't know the plans God has for us and sometimes what we view as "good" or "bad" is actually just the opposite in God's overall plan. Makes me sometimes wish I could see the future so I'd know how God will turn "bad" news into good...but then again, we wouldn't really need faith then, would we.

Mom's, Are You Offended By This

So Motrin came out with this new ad that in the end is implying that you should take Motrin when your kids cause you pain. The main focus is on mom's wearing those devices like Snuggli's that if worn for a long time may end up causing you some pain.

For some reason, a bunch of moms out there went into a hissy fit like they'd seen their kids do and made enough noise for Motrin to pull the ad. Apparently they got offended that if you wear a Snuggli you look like an official mom, blah, blah, blah.

I have no idea where the offense is in this ad. Seriously people, can you not laugh at yourself for once. You're probably so wound up you're forgetting what advertising is all about...to make you not forget the ad. If you really didn't like it, don't mention it and it will be gone forever. Now all you've done is made people like me find it on You Tube and make comments about how crazy you are...which makes everyone talk even more about Motrin which will definately boost their sales. I think it's time for you to get out to a Mom's Group and start talking to adults again...or at least get out more and laugh again.

Don't agree with me...I dare you to let me know in the comments.

Kudos of the Week

I figured it's time to start a new feature on this blog...ok, it's actually the first feature I've ever had but you got to start somewhere! Kudos of the Week is going to be a weekly feature where I give "Kudos" (not cooties) to a person/business/service that I feel did a great thing this week. I'm leaving the guidelines fairly loose to start with.

The first Kudos of the Week is going to Jordan at Prairie Mobile Communications on 8th street. I needed to get a cell phone due to my new job. I wanted to go to Prairie Mobile because they do a lot of business with our company and I like to shop at those types of places. My work was going to cover my cell phone contract so I had to put it under their account. The first time I walked into the store I waited in line about 10 minutes and then as the sales girl helped me she eventually realized that she couldn't set up my account because it was a Saturday. Understandable, so I left to come back on Monday.

Monday I came back right after work and after standing around in line (or at least I thought it was the line) for about 5 minutes, someone walked in, went to the receptionist who then told the customer it would be about a 30 minute wait to talk to a salesperson. She then looked at me and told me it would be 30-45 minute wait. I had to be somewhere rather quickly so I once again had to walk out...this time a little perterbed.

I went back on Wednesday, again right after work, and waited around again for a little bit as the receptionist again told me it would be about a 30 minute wait (on a side note, I found out that all these Sasktel Mobility stores have long waiting times and are always busy because it takes so long to set up each customer). Luckily, within 5 minutes I was able to talk to Jordan. I told him which phone I wanted and how I needed it to be set up under my company's account. He then informed me that since it was past 4:30pm he was not able to set up the phone because the main office closes at 4:30pm each day (no one had ever mentioned this to me before).

It was here where the pivotal turning point happened. I was once again going to leave, possibly for good this time as I was getting quite frustrated and was going to try out a different store, when Jordan did the best thing a salesperson could ever do...he went above and beyond to help me. He told me that what he could was take down my work information, and then the next day when the office opened up he would set up my phone, give me a call at work to tell me it was ready, and then courier my phone to my workplace so I would have it by around 10:00am the next day. Not only that, he assured me I would like the phone I was choosing which also put me at ease. Within 2 minutes of that I was walking out the door and the next day at work my phone showed up via courier just like he said it would. I was extremely impressed with that service and will always go back there from now on!

So to Jordan at Prairie Mobile Communications, Kudos to you! The service you offered to me that day was amazing and I will be telling everyone I know to go to Prairie Mobile Communications on 8th street and talk to Jordan if they need a phone. Thanks for the great service and for WOWing your customers.

Inspired by Life

Do you ever feel that you are stuck in a rut? Doing the same old things...eating at the same old restaurants...talking about the same old things? Do you ever wonder where the excitement of life went? Do you ever look at that friend of yours on Facebook that seems to be travelling the world, going to all the great concerts, doing such amazing things and living life to the fullest while you are updating your status with how you are washing the marker off the wall that your child put on there?

I admit that I sometimes feel that way. Same old, same old. I sometimes just want some adventure...something different.

All of that to say that the new Sirius ad that came out is probably one of the best TV commercials I have ever seen. It's not funny...it has no spoken words at all...but it is probably one of the most inspiring commercials I have ever seen. Have you seen it yet? If not, you need to go watch it right now before you continue reading the post. You can view it here (it's better to see it on TV, but this is the best link I could find for the video right) or click the picture above. http://www.austinmacdonald.com/commercials/Austin%20Sirius%20Radio/Untitled-1.html

Now I'm not promoting Sirius satellite radio at all...I work for a local radio station and Sirius is sort of a competitor. But the point I'm making isn't about satellite radio...it's about experiencing something new. Over the last few weeks in radio I've been learning a lot about ads and what makes a good ad. This ad is so amazing because it doesn't try to explain to you why Sirius radio is so great. It doesn't shoot down local radio or explain to you why having hundreds of radio channels to choose from is so great. Instead, it focuses in on that desire that most of us have to get out of the rut and experience something new. It reminds us of all the great things we've experienced in our lives and how doing something new is so exciting. I'm a very musical person (not playing it, but music really gets to me) and the music in this ad inspires me to get out of the rut and do something new.

So what are you going to do? Stay in your safe zone where everything is normal and expected...or take a chance on experiencing something new that could make your life so much better...scary at first but so rewarding in the end. Tell me what you are going to do in the comments!

Lest We Forget

Remembrance Day was this past week. As is typical for me, I phoned up a friend of mine, wished him a "Happy Remembrance Day" and asked if he was going to watch Flags of our Fathers once again. He came back with the quick reply of "you ungrateful bastard". I'm guessing he must have picked up the sarcasm in my voice again!

It's true, I can't say I'm a big Remembrance Day fan. It's interesting because every year Remembrance Day comes around and every year I treat it as the same as any other day. Then after it's over I think that maybe I should have gone to the service at Credit Union Centre, sit in a hot building with 5,000 other people and place bets on which kid standing in the line of cadets will be the first one to faint and fall over. But by the time the day rolls around again the next year I forget about those thoughts and once again do nothing.

The friend who called me the bad name previously is just the opposite. He always goes to the services, he wears his poppy with pride and he probably even does 2 minutes of silence instead of just the one, to show how thankful he is.

This year I think I figured out why Remembrance Day is not a big deal to me. The truth is I'm thankful for the Canadian soldiers that fought for us in the World Wars, I really am. If it weren't for them we'd have to drive down to the USA every Veterans Day to say thanks to them for saving us from those nasty Germans (ok, that was not nice.) But seriously, the reason it's not a big deal to me is that I don't know anyone that was personally in the war or fought in the war. I can't phone up my Grandpa and say "Thanks" every Nov 11 for what he did for our country. We all get together to say thanks, but I really don't have that connection that makes it personal...therefore it is not a big deal to me.

I think it is the same for anything else out there...like diseases. How many people really give two hoots about the Crohns and Colitus Foundation? Probably very few of you...except for those who know someone who suffers from it. When you have that personal connection it suddenly means a lot to you. I believe the CIBC Run for the Cure used the slogan "Who are you running for?" to get people out to their event. Almost everyone that runs in that event knows someone personally who has suffered from cancer, so the run is something special. I just don't have that with Remembrance Day.

So, to all the veterans out there that fought in the wars, thank you for what you did even though I don't know you...I still get to benefit from what you did. This poppy's for you!

Life Changes

It eventually had to happen. Things just can't go on forever. Change is inevitable. The good part is that change is not bad and in my case it was great!

Yes, I finally have left TrojanOne and moved on to a new job. I knew it was time to move on, but I still had an extremely hard time making that decision. TrojanOne has been a good company to work for the past 3 years. I enjoyed many aspects of it, but in the end there were some things TrojanOne couldn't provide for me....mainly an office and interaction with people.

And so I've moved on...to Rawlco Radio. I'll be working in their Co-op Advertising department and helping the sales people enhance their clients campaigns by adding co-op (or cost share advertising) to their plan and eventually doing my own sales too. I've only been there 1.5 weeks but I already LOVE it. I didn't realize how much I needed to work in an office, but now that I'm there I am so glad I made the decision to leave. Thanks to Rawlco for helping me see the light.

So yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I will be updating this blog more frequently. Yes, I could very well be lying because I always say I'll update more and then things happen...but I'll do my best so keep coming back to check it out.