Someone moved my cheese again

You may have read the book "Who moved my cheese" and wondered if there was anything to it.  Well, someone moved my cheese again.  Sometimes the cheese is a little thing, but sometimes that is all I need.

My current job has me located in the middle of a building, in a traditional non-descript cubicle where the only windows you can see are the ones on your computer screen.  But there was a window in the mail room and I could visit it on occasion and view the parking lots below.  I could also park in that parking lot that was so conveniently located next to my building.

But then someone got a bright idea and decided to build a new building on top of my parking lot and make us park two blocks away if we are lucky enough to find a spot. On top of that the wonderful view of the outside world I had from the mail room is now filled up with the view of a very ordinary and dreary looking new building.

It has been interesting to see it being built little by little but not enough to overcome the fact that it is still stealing my view as well as my parking spot.

So what I have found is that not all cheese comes in one big block. Sometimes it is many little bits of cheese, crumbs if you will, that add up to a worthwhile portion of daily life sustaining cheese. I can appreciate the small things. If done right, the small things can be enough, but how many of the small things can you take away before there is not enough?

Just like in the book, I have to start looking for new sources of cheese to replace that which is no longer there.  It is a good thing that I can appreciate the small cheeses. I would have a much harder time trying to replace a big block of cheese in one chunk.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Looking for good journalism is like...

I was perusing the Bing news site today and came across the articles about 50K residents having to evacuate the German city of Hanover so that officials could safely diffuse or remove five unexploded World War II bombs.  They included links for the story for both article and video and this is what it looked like for video:

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong...

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

OPINIONS are like...

...noses, everybody has one.

Opinions are a great place for starting conversations.

What would you do...?  What do you think about...?  What color would you choose for...?  If you had to do...?  What would you say if...?  How would you arrange...?  Would you invite...?

These are the kinds of questions that get asked daily between friends, families, neighbors, co-workers, and total strangers.  We both ask them and we are asked them.

And what do we do with the answers?  Depends; they are, after all, only opinions.  How do you value an opinion?  Some come freely asked for or not.   Some are given without a thought and some are only given grudgingly as if an opinion is too precious to share.  Sometimes when you get your two cents worth, that is exactly what it is worth, with or without inflation.

And after all, the value of an opinion is only as valid as the source of that opinion and the level of expertise, knowledge, and trustworthiness of the person providing the opinion.  It is up do us to decide whether to act on an opinion or not.

And why do we seek opinions in the first place.  Is it to expand our list of options and possibilities, or discover insights for solving a problem?  Are we looking for a fresh perspective with a new set of eyes or are we really looking for supporting confirmation for a decision already made?

When we seek answers, do we look for advice, direction and guidance or are we really just looking for opinions?  Can we tell the difference?

When you kneel before the Lord in prayer, do you ask for his guidance?  Do you value his answers as such, or do you treat his word as an opinion?  Your actions and the results you will see will tell the story.  It is just a matter of what you want when you are truthful with yourself.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.