justinmcclung

[justinmcclung]

Gratitude (Grat-i-tude, noun - the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.)

When you think about it, gratitude doesn't cost anything. It can be a mindset or a gesture, it's up to you how to express it. This post came to be due to a situation at work. We had a great 2019 and our employees financial situations were improved in a phenomenal way. Nex-Tech has always been a great place to work with competitive pay and fantastic benefits. I have been here for 26 years and it can be easy to get used to how good things are. When you put your nose down and do the work, take care of your customers and employees you can lose sight of the great things happening around you.

So what can you do to break out of this apathetic situation you may be in and stop taking things for granted?

While I am a technical person who lives, eats and breaths a digital lifestyle, sometimes you need to slow down and go old school. For the last few years I have been keeping it really simple.. hand written thank you notes. Sure sending an e-mail saying thank you is nice, but a hand written note is much more personal. It also shows the other person that they are important enough to take the time and effort to say thank you. Also, actually taking the time to think through what you are going to say before you put pen to paper brings gratitude even more into focus.

I promise you that the time you spend on something personal like a thank you note will be well worth it. You will make someone smile and feel appreciated. Some of them may even take your lead and pass along the gratitude to someone else who might need it. And, you will feel great knowing you did something nice for someone else.

So whether you go out and buy an expensive pen and high quality paper or simply use a Bic ball point and a sticky note, the outcome is the same… make someone smile and show them that you care.

[justinmcclung]

When does age hurt the United States?

Let me start by saying, I know this post is going to hurt some feelings and cause a real emotional response. Not because what I am saying is wrong but because most people are afraid they can no longer perform at the same level as they did when they were younger.

There is no debate that we all lose physical ability as we get older. When I was in my 30’s there were sports related situations where I had my epiphany that I wasn’t quite as good at things as I was in my 20’s. Now that I am in my mid 40’s it isn’t just the obvious things. As odd as it may sound, there are hand eye quickness things that frustrate me with things like video games. (Yes I still play a lot of video games and I would highly recommend everyone do so to stimulate the brain and reduce stress but that isn’t what this post is about.) Think about the simple things like running up and down stairs. You can still do it easy enough but now you are probably a little slower and maybe your feet or knees hurt just a little more than they used to.

Now, let’s talk about the mental side of age. I will admit that during my 30’s I started to realize that my mental abilities were actually better than when I was in my 20’s. Thats about the time when I realized the old saying “Father knows best” is pretty accurate. This is obviously attributed to experience. You really don’t know much until you go through it or experience it in some way. Again, I am in my mid 40’s so I am spouting off based on my own experience and perception of interacting with older family, friends and co-workers.

Now let’s get to the meat and potatoes of my point. If we are honest we will all admit that we treat our older parents, grandparents, friends and co-workers differently as they hit certain ages in life. There are the obvious signs of memory lapses that we all have but typically memory gets worse exponentially with age. We have all been in uncomfortable situations where an older person says something inappropriate in a group setting. Then there are the physical limitations that creep up on us a we get older. We slowly lose the ability to work, drive and in the worst cases, take care of ourselves. These are sad things to talk about but they are part of life and we should take them head on with as much dignity and respect as possible. One goal of this post is intended to do just that. We all have times in our lives when we realize it is time to take a step back and let the next generation take over. It is hard but again, it is part of life.

My biggest concern with age is the ability to stay in touch with current life and times. We all have biases and personal beliefs that are what they are. But as we get older these biases and beliefs typically get more concrete and we are more and more unwilling to have an open mind. This is where the “Father knows best” thing actually hurts us. We think because we are older, we must be right due to the vast experience we have. The reality is that unless you are atypical, people fall back to a stubborn point of view and disregard where the next generation is going. If you disagree with this go ask your 70-90 year old whoever what they think about gay rights, minority rights, current technology trends etc.. I will make it easy for you.. Just ask them what they think about Fortnite.

I know the next argument, “what does Fortnite have to do with age hurting the United States”? That answer is, in and of itself it doesn’t. But when you take everything as a whole, age doesn’t equal relevance and positive momentum.

You are probably asking, “what’s your point?”. Here it is…

The current record breaking government shutdown is an embarrassment to our country. It is sad there are hundreds of thousands of government employees who aren’t getting paid and another couple million contractors that are not getting paid. This is the United States of America and my expectation is that our leaders should be the best and brightest of us. They should be held to a higher standard and not allowed to conduct themselves the way they currently are. I hold the Senate and House (Congress) accountable but my specific point is that I hold President Trump, Nanci Pelosi and Mitch McConnell accountable. For the last two years our foreign relations have suffered, minorities have suffered, our environment has suffered and we are more divided as a country than I have experienced in my lifetime.

So, there is my rant but here are the numbers I want to share to tie age back into the conversation.

This is by no means a complete list but here are the counties I consider relevant today.

Current World Leaders

Donald Trump - President of the United States - 72 - NATO

Nanci Pelosi - Speaker of the House US - 78 - NATO

Mitch McConnell - Senate Majority Leader US - 76 - NATO

Justin Trudeau - Prime Minister of Canada - 47 - NATO

Theresa May - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - 62 - NATO

Emmanuel Macron - President of France - 41 - NATO

Angela Merkel - Chancellor of Germany - 64 - NATO

Paolo Gentiloni - Prime Minister of Italy - 64 - NATO

Alexis Tsipras - Prime Minister of Greece - 44 - NATO

Tayyip Erdogan - President of Turkey - 64 - NATO

Pedro Sanchez - Prime Minister of Spain - 46 - NATO

Shinzo Abe - Prime Minister Japan - 64

Malcolm Turnbull - Prime Minister of Australia - 64

Enrique Peña Nieto - President of Mexico - 52

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - President of Egypt - 64

Narendra Modi - Prime Minister of India - 68

Vladimir Putin - President of Russia - 66

Xi Jinping - President of China - 65

Moon Jae-in - President of South Korea - 65

Benjamin Netanyahu - Prime Minister of Israel - 69

Again, I know the response “President Trump is only 8 years older than Angela Merkel or 10 years older than Theresa May”. And my response would be correct and at that age, a few years makes a big difference. And I would also say, he is 31 years older than Emmanuel Macron and 25 years older than Justin Trudeau (great first name by the way). My point is that the world is trending younger while we continue to get old.

When you tie Trump’s age (72) with Pelosi (78) and McConnell (76), you get the “stay off my lawn you damn kids” attitude and the American people get the tit for tat we are currently living through. Again, an embarrassment and taking the United States backward in every way. So there is my rant in regards to age compared to other world leaders.

Now let’s compare age and relevance to some of the largest and most respected businesses in the world. Why do I bring this up? Because many of those who voted for Trump said they wanted a “businessman” to clean up Washington. So let’s go there. Here is a list of major corporations with their leaders age and number of employees.

Apple - Tim Cook - 58 - 132,000 employees

Google - Sundar Pichai - 46 - 85,000 employees

Microsoft - Satya Nadella - 51 - 135,000 employees

Amazon - Jeff Bezos - 55 - 613,000 employees

Alibaba - Daniel Zhang - 47 - 66,000 employees

Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg - 34 - 25,000 employees

JP Morgan Chase - Jamie Dimon - 62 - 250,000 employees

Bank of America - Brian Moynihan - 59 - 209,000 employees

Wal-Mart - Doug McMillon - 52 - 2,300,000 employees

And…

US Government - Between 2-5 million (if you include military)

And your “businessman” you voted for..

Trump Organization - 22,000 employees

So my point. Most major businesses do their best to encourage retirement at 65. Some actually require it. And the average age of those well respected companies is 51.5 years. Again, Trump is 72, Pelosi is 78 and McConnell is 76. Trump hasn’t managed anything near what he is required to today. Essentially, Trump is not qualified for the job he currently has.

Piggy back that to a recent study showing people over 65 share the most fake news on Facebook and you are hopefully starting to see my point. I am not writing this to make anyone feel bad because I will be right there soon enough myself. I can only hope that I will have enough self awareness to take the necessary steps back so I don’t hinder progress with whatever I am involved with at the time.

My main goal with this post is to talk about the elephant in the room. Our leaders should be the best of us, move us forward in a positive and respectful way. It’s time for our leadership to get younger and more diverse. The last election did a pretty good job of it but we still have a long way to go. It’s time!

[justinmcclung]

Hector and the Search for Happiness - Great Movie!

Mandee and I finally took the time to watch “Hector and the Search for Happiness” last night. I am a huge Simon Pegg fan (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek, The Worlds End, etc.) so not sure why it took so long. This is one of those things where good things come to those who wait. It is not your typical Pegg movie which in this case turned out to be a great thing. You should definitely watch it with someone you love since it will make you feel good about life and of course… your Happiness!

I document great quotes and this movie gave me quite a few to add to my list. My favorite one was probably… “Fear is an impediment to happiness”. So in the end I highly recommend this one as it will just make you feel good.

[justinmcclung]

Save Money Without Pain

When it comes to new technology I am a very early adopter. Over the last few years I have backed 12 Kickstarter and 5 Indiegogo campaigns. It isn’t necessarily an addiction but maybe more like a hobby (you decide). My interests don’t just lie with cool new hardware I also love playing with new software and services. About a month ago I came across a new financial service called Digit.co...more...

[justinmcclung]

Going Digital Just Got Better

In my everyday life digital is the primary place I spend time. Don’t get me wrong I truly appreciate putting a nice pen to quality paper but for work notes, project updates etc. digital is the long term solution. So when the two worlds collide I get really excited. Scanning hand written...more...

[justinmcclung]

Customer Service Forgotten

Over the St. Patricks Day week in 2015 we took a trip to Las Vegas. My wife and I have been there numerous times but this trip was different. We went with some friends and their newly of age niece, nephew and spouses. This was the youngsters first trip to “Sin City”...more...

[justinmcclung]

A Cure for Cancer?

After watching this Vice special on HBO I can honestly say I have hope for a world without cancer being such a devastating disease. By using viruses three different sets of Doctors are successfully destroying cancer cells without terrible side effects. Targeted treatments thanks to genetically modifying viruses that used to hurt us.

Scientifically we live in an incredible time. Now we just need to the FDA to get out of the way and expedite these treatments to market. There are people dying everyday so speed is crucial.

[justinmcclung]

While I was in Las Vegas for CES this year I took a late afternoon to tour the new Zappos headquarters. In 2012 I toured the old location which really spearheaded my drive to help my company create a fantastic culture. The tour is completely free and you get a very good look at how they work, live and care about each other and their customers. While some of the things are going to be looked at as a waste of time or resources...more...

[justinmcclung]

I am a huge fan of @richardbranson and the Virgin companies. Although they are a fantastic brand the thing I most enjoy is his blog. One of his more recent stories "Human beings not human doings" is a great one. I highly recommend this one.

[justinmcclung]

I still don’t consider myself a grown up but I am starting to think grown up thoughts. (btw I turned 40 in July). My life got a jump start by having kids at 19 (twins, Blake and Bryce, my wife Mandee was 17). Even to this day I consider having kids at a young age a great thing. It forced me to focus on someone other than myself and really look...more...

[justinmcclung]

50th Science Cafe w/Chris Mooney

The Science Cafe tonight was very good.  Chris Mooney @chriscmooney is extremely intelligent and shared some great information on "The Science of Why We Don't Believe in Science".

It amazed me how much emotion comes into play when discussing science and belief.  I am looking forward to subscribing to his podcast "Point of Inquiry" to learn more.

Oh yea we also won some free stuff!!

[justinmcclung]

Open Source Nuclear Fusion

Man it would be nice if this could actually turn out to be real.  Hope big oil doesn’t “disappear” this guy.

[justinmcclung]

All Natural Baby!

I may not have the thickest beard in the world but thankfully I don't feel the need to become a "hipster" in need of a beard transplant.

[justinmcclung]

Thank you Dale Hansen

I couldn't have said it better myself. It is nice to see someone associated with such a macho sport understand what is right and what is wrong.  Fantastic editorial Dale, thank you!

[justinmcclung]

I am all for teaching kids about technology but is this the future of bribing them to use a toilet? #CES2014

[justinmcclung]

Day #1. Should be some good keynotes today. Starting off with Gary Shapiro with CEA, then Marrisa Mayer with Yahoo and finally John Chambers with Cisco. Mix in a little show floor time and that equals a good day.

[justinmcclung]

CES 2014 started with a "fun" drive to Denver. Now it is time to fight the lines at DIA.