The T Mobile contract we had for my wife’s phone was up. The kids and I are on Verizon. I wanted a Droid. So ported my wife’s number to Verizon and added a new line to get my Droid for the low, low. Her phone was on T-Mobile for 13 days that month but we get a $50.59 bill, which is more than the regular monthly bill. So I just called T-Mobile and explained the situation, at least as much as they needed to know.

T Mobile: “That should have been pro-rated but since you canceled in the middle of the month we charge you the whole month.”
Me: “What?”
T Mobile: “Let me check with my manager and see what we can do.”
Me: Thinking how can you pro-rate and charge for the whole month? What sense does that make. If they don’t straighten this out I’ll be calling my Pre-Paid Legal Law Firm.
T Mobile: “As a courtesy we will pro-rate the bill.”

Final bill $23.60 instead of $50.59. I’ll stop by a T Mobile shop and pay it tomorrow as she said it would take 24 hours. Why does it take 24 hours to do anything by computer? I guess they do some sort of batched daily bill run instead of on demand updates. It had better be correct. I should have recorded the call. At least I didn’t have to fight about it.

I am thankful for or that

1. My dad had a safe flight into Greenville, SC.
2. Getting off work early.
3. LEB cooking beef stew for dinner.
4. Money to buy food and drinks.
5. Our working vehicles.
6. LEB taking the van to get the burnt headlight socket fixed.
7. Money for car repairs.
8. Money for gas.
9. Healthy children.
10. Beautiful weather.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Working diligently on the job.
2. Doing laundry.
3. Being on time to pick up my dad at the airport.
4. Running the dishwasher.
5. Going to lunch w/ coworkers.
6. Showering.
7. Making the bed.
8. Taking out the recycling and garbage.
9. Making sure Shadow, our dog, was fed.
10. Taking my prescriptions.

I really need the following today. Thanks, Bob Proctor.

Your Attitude Makes the Difference

Many things about your life boil down to the hand you have been dealt. You can’t change the fact that you were born in that place and with certain givens for your appearance, IQ, or physical skills. Education and training can open some doors for you, but they cannot change your past, make you taller and more athletic, or alter the fact that some people are unfair in the way they treat you.

In spite of the fact that all of us know that most of our life circumstances are beyond our control, we are all still tempted to fret and complain about things that cannot be changed. Of course they cause distress. They certainly put us at a disadvantage in certain contexts. They mustn’t be allowed to define and limit us.

The people who do best with life move beyond the temptation to whine and feel sorry for themselves. They face the disappointment and move beyond it. They acknowledge the bad break and look for a way to turn it around. They work from a half-full rather than half-empty glass mindset.

These people have a different attitude than the defeatist and whiner. They have found a way to make lemonade from their lemons.

There is a section in John Baillie’s A Diary of Private Prayer that reads . . .

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointment as material for patience;

Let me use success as material for thankfulness;

Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;

Let me use danger as material for courage;

Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;

Let me use praise as material for humility;

Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;

Let me use pains as material for endurance.

When a given day begins, countless things are headed your way over which you have no control. It may be bad weather or someone’s bad temper, a deadline that won’t budge or a client equally resistant to change. The one factor you can control through it all is your attitude toward them.

Your attitude today will make all the difference in everything that matters.

Rubel Shelly

Rubel Shelly is a Preacher and Professor of Religion and Philosophy located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In addition to church and academic responsibilities, he has worked actively with such community projects as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, From Nashville With Love, Metro (Nashville) Public Schools, Faith Family Medical Clinic, and Operation Andrew Ministries. To learn more about Rubel please go to: www.RubelShelly.com

I am thankful for or that

1. Finally getting NetBackup and the StorageTek L700 all straightened out.
2. Putting a production Oracle DB on the new Veritas Cluster on Sun M5000s that I helped build.
3. Money to buy food.
4. Sysadmin Day!
5. BD suggesting OJ’s Diner for lunch.
6. RS giving me a ride to OJ’s.
7. Elevators.
8. LEB buying gas for the van.
9. Air conditioning.
10. A reasonably quiet on call week.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Folding three loads of clothes.
2. Making the bed.
3. Taking out the garbage.
4. Putting the garbage and recycling out at the street.
5. Moving a production DB to the new cluster.
6. Fixing NetBackup and the L700.
7. Knowing to set up Nagios/NRPE monitoring of the new cluster.
8. Answering pages in the middle of the night.
9. Driving GAB to and from movie night w/ her band members.
10. Working diligently.

I am thankful for or that

1. Our Crockpot.
2. LEB making rice and corn to go w/ meat I prepared in the Crockpot.
3. Our working laundry washing and drying machines.
4. My job at NuVox.
5. Online banking.
6. Automated Teller Machines.
7. The G family giving GAB a ride home from the weekly youth group meeting at church.
8. Having some frozen Lima beans to cook to go along with the rest of dinner.
9. LEB picking me up from work.
10. Getting to watch No Reservations even though I fell asleep on the newest episode.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Taking a couple of walking breaks during the day.
2. Cooking part of dinner.
3. Doing laundry.
4. Working diligently on two big important tasks on the job.
5. Going to sleep early.
6. Wading through a weeks worth of email at work.
7. Doing a little cleaning of the kids bath tub and shower curtain.
8. Listening to 30+ minutes of How To Build The Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want!
9. Keeping this journal.
10. Focusing on good things.

“When the archer misses the mark, he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bull’s eye is never the fault of the target. To improve your aim – improve yourself.” ~ Gilbert Arland, Writer

I’m having to do an awful lot of looking at myself these days. To form an analogy from auto mechanics a lot more of my cylinders are missing than hitting. I’m pretty sad today, too.

I am thankful for or that

1. A beautiful neighborhood to walk in.
2. Sunny, unseasonably cool and low humidity weather.
3. CIB cooking chicken stir fry and rice for dinner.
4. Our working laundry washing and drying machines.
5. Money to buy milk and a newspaper.
6. LEB doing a larger grocery shopping.
7. Getting to watch my favorite film, Redbelt.
8. Being able to walk.
9. A day to rest up from vacation before returning to work!
10. MJB playing checkers with me.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Doing laundry.
2. Going for a walk.
3. Stretching and doing bridges after walking.
4. Cleaning the master bath room.
5. Taking the recycling to a recycling center.
6. Buying milk for the kids and a newspaper for LEB.
7. Resuming this journal.
8. Listening to 30+ minutes of How To Build The Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want!
9. Taking a shower after working out.
10. Brushing my teeth

I am thankful for or that

1. We made it home safely from our vacation at the beach.
2. We could take a vacation to the beach.
3. All the family that shared our vacation with us.
4. Having money to buy the family brunch at Cracker Barrel in Orangeburg, SC on the way home.
5. Having money to fuel up the van in Columbia, SC.
6. Unseasonably cool temperatures and low humidity here at home.
7. DLL and RL taking care of and returning our dog, Shadow.
8. LEB cooking dinner.
9. The sun.
10. The ocean.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Getting up early.
2. Doing laundry.
3. Loading the van.
4. Driving home from Orangeburg.
5. Unloading the van.
6. Unpacking.
7. Going to bed early.
8. Monitoring GAB’s driving from Isle of Palms to Orangeburg.
9. Helping to clean the beach house before we left.
10. Taking a shower.

I am thankful for or that

1. LEB cooking bacon and grits for breakfast! Wow! Yum!
2. LEB mopping the kitchen floor.
3. Our friends DLL & RL keeping our dog, Shadow, for us while we go on vacation.
4. Having money to buy pizza for dinner.
5. The “nused” entertainment center that LEB got for $30.
6. GAB setting up everything on the “nused” entertainment center.
7. The kids having a good week at Scopes.
8. Pizza delivery.
9. Hugs from MJB.
10. Our working washing machine and dryer.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Finally getting a 95% working oracle config in the newer Veritas Cluster software.
2. Going to sleep early.
3. Doing laundry.
4. Picking out most of my clothes for our week at the beach.
5. Listening to 30+ minutes of How To Build The Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want!
6. Staying focused on the Oracle Cluster work.
7. Helping to unload the “nused” entertainment center from the van.
8. Making sure the kids got their dirty clothes into the hampers.
9. Taking my prescriptions.
10. Preparing my prescription box for the week at the beach.

I am thankful for or that

1. Advice from my manager, BD, on Veritas Cluster Server & Solaris networking.
2. Ben Rockwood’s Solaris-centric blog.
3. Turbulence Training.
4. I can’t say it enough, thanks for the public library.
5. A cool, summer day.
6. Food to take to work for breakfast and lunch.
7. LEB picking me up from work.
8. Money to get GAB’s hair braided.
9. LEB taking GAB to and picking her up from the hair salon.
10. Online bill pay.

I acknowledge myself for

1. Doing laundry.
2. Cooking dinner.
3. Working diligently on the Veritas Cluster project on the job.
4. Working out.
5. Taking walking breaks during the day.
6. Going to bed at a decent hour.
7. Helping MJB mop up a spill.
8. Making the bed.
9. Doing a Swish-n-Swipe.
10. Listening to 30+ minutes of How To Build The Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want!