Dirkmonster

Top 10 ways to stop worrying yourself over Facebook's Terms of Service

I imagine Facebook would be happy to refund the money you paid to be a member if you don't like their Terms of Service.  Of course, that's the point.  I didn't pay a cent and Facebook is a business.

Here are 10 tips to follow if you don't want to care about Facebook's Terms of Service:

1. Don't write a great novel on your friend's wall.  Wait, that's actually a cool idea.
2. If you're Annie Leibovitz, don't upload your photos of the Queen to your profile.
3. Don't friend "Big Brother".
4. Avoid discussing anything more sensitive than what you had for lunch in the chat application.
5. Don't file your taxes through Facebook.
6. Consider whether you really will use the "sign over my first born" social application.  It's fun to think about, but will get you in trouble in the end.
7. Click your heels together and say three times, "There's no place like Facebook."
8. Remember that ignorance is bliss.
9. Get over yourself.
10. Ignore the cause.

Facebook, I have no idea what your terms of service say and I like it that way.

Training takes emotion out of dealing with a crisis

I asked my cousin, a missionary pilot in Cameroon, about the Miracle on the Hudson landing by a USAirways pilot last month.  He stressed that training is the key to responding to crisis situations such as the one Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger faced in January.

I was very impressed with the way the pilot handled the water ditching.  It is not easy to ditch a large airplane without tearing the airplane apart. Landing on water at those speeds is probably about the same as landing on an asphalt runway.  The critical thing about landing any airplane without power is that the pilot keep the speed up so that controllability can be maintained.  As long as the pilot stays in control all the way to the ground the risk of damage/injury goes down significantly.  It is when the airplane stalls or approaches much to steep that serious damage occurs.  I suspect that as soon as the pilot realized his engines were gone, he automatically began responding to the emergency with very little emotional involvement.

We spend most of our recurrent training preparing for emergencies, and I suspect that the airlines do even more preparation than we do.  The one time I had an emergency situation, I reacted immediately within the guidelines of our emergency procedures.  It was not until it was all over that emotions came into play.  It is amazing what good training can do for you in a crisis.

It seems to me that this model could be applied to many crises, not only ones that occur when you're less than 1,000 feet above the George Washington bridge in NYC.  I need to remember my training and experience when things come up at work rather than reacting emotionally.  In my case it probably won't save lives but it's still more likely to produce a good outcome.

Check out Second-hand Sally's Guide

I want to recommend a new blog to you authored by a friend of mine from way back in high school.  Second-hand Sally's Guide to Life and Proper Punctuation will be a treat to read, trust me.

My friend Bitsy is "a not-so-desperate housewife living in South Kakalaki in her pre-owned home. She wears vintage clothes, drives a used car and writes words of encouragement using near perfect grammar".  From my point of view, she's always been a quick wit with a warm heart.

Bisty, welcome to the blogosphere.  You're in my prayers and RSS reader.

Top 5 viewed Dirkmonster posts in January 2009

I issued the Dirkmonster Challenge in January, supporting my desire to post to the blog more often in 2009.

Thanks to all those who left comments in January, including Devin, JoBrad, Jay Graves, Corey, disgusted citizen, and Molly.  I truly appreciate the time you took to read my blog and even leave a comment.

To start off the year right, I put Google Analytics code on my blog so I could track what's happening (ha, not a lot yet).  Even so, here are the top 5 most viewed posts from January 2009:

1. Remembering the Air Florida Flight 90 River Crash
2. 25 Random Things
3. Testing American Express Concierge Service
4. More Benefits to the Cold Shower
5. Circuit City to Close Two Middle Tennessee Stores

Thanks for reading!

Top 10 songs on the Dirkmonster's iPod

This is really opening myself up for abuse, but what the hell.  In the Dirkmonster's iTunes library, these are the "top 10 most listened to" songs:

1. Lost, Michael Buble
2. Gravity, John Mayer
3. Accidentally in Love, Counting Crows
4. Waiting on the World to Change, John Mayer
5. Hey there Delilah, Plain White T's
6. Our Song, Taylor Swift
7. Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
8. If I Had $1,000,000, Barenaked Ladies
9. Bubbly, Colbie Caillat
10. Move Along, All American Rejects

"Where's the Billy Joel?", I ask myself.  And So it Goes is #12.

C'mon let me have it :)  If you have the guts, list your iTunes library top 10 most listened to songs in the comments.

The ASMBA Star Foundation

Over the weekend I got a classy and well written letter from The ASMBA Star Foundation.  The ASMBA Star Foundation is a 501c(3) charitable foundation that supports the needs of our military families.  I'd like to share some of the letter:

From assisting wounded warriors to providing educational assistance to sponsoring patriotic activities and military community projects, we put your hard earned dollars to work for the military men and women who are currently serving, or who have served, our country.

I hope you will learn more about the ASMBA Star Foundation at their web site and perhaps, as I did, make an online donation.  I personally know the honorable women and men behind the ASMBA Star Foundation and I can assure my friends and family, and the readers of this blog, that your donation will be put to good use.

Learn more about the ASMBA Star Foundation here.

Top 5 Dirkmonster YouTube videos

Here are the top 5 viewed videos on the Dirkmonster's YouTube Channel:

1. Redskins' Lorenzo Alexander makes a tackle without a helmet: A lucky video catch, but what makes this video is the commentary from the ladies I brought with me to the game. Watch, but listen closely.
2. Notre Dame's Band of the Fighting Irish march towards the football stadium on game day: I'm a ND fan and also a fan of getting traffic to my YouTube page.  The two work well together.
3. Notre Dame Football Pep Rally: The band marches in (see #2).  The is video attracted lots of ND haters in the comments!
4. Predators' Jason Arnott Injured: Nashville's captain was taken from the ice on a stretcher after a neck injury.  He was checked out at the hospital and back at the rink before the game was over.  He's the team's leading goal scorer this season.
5. Bellevue Community Church service: This is video of the emotional music only worship service the week following the ouster of the church's founding pastor, Dr. David Foster.

Let me know in the comments what you see and what you'd like to see on the Dirkmonster's YouTube channel.

Bid on 2 tickets: 2/10 Nashville Predators vs. Detroit Red Wings

I have two tickets up for auction on eBay for the Predators big game against the Detroit Red Wings on February 10th, 2009 at Nashville's Sommet Center.

These seats are in the new "All You Can Eat Zone" at the arena.  Your ticket gets you access to an exclusive area outside the section where you can get as much food and soft drinks (alcohol not included) as you want.  Typically this includes hot dogs, nachos, peanuts and popcorn with fountain drinks.  There is an additional free premium item that changes from game to game.  It's a great deal considering the cost of these items at the concession stand.

The seats are also ideal, in my opinion. That's why I've kept them as my season tickets for 10 years. They are in the second row in the corner of the "attack twice" end.  You are basically at club level with a outstanding view of all the action.

Click here to bid.

A spiritual home

A good friend challenged me today to find a spiritual home. He knows how we've not found a church home since moving to Brentwood over a year and a half ago.

My spiritual life is active.  I have prayer, devotional time, Bible study and service work.  I believe exercise can even be a spiritual activity.  These are activities that nurture the soul and enhance my contact with God.  But my friend is right there needs to be a fellowship component in my spiritual life centered on Christ.  The way he described it as a home where you can feel the love of God.

I would love to hear from you in the comments about your spiritual home and what it means to you.

Predators claw closer to playoff contention

The Predators got the break they needed going into the All Star game.

Coming out of that break, they are hot and have quickly played their way to within shouting distance of a Western Conference playoff spot.  Friday night they got a road shut out of the Wild 2-0.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1. Steve Sullivan is having an impact on the ice.  Sully's return has provided a veteran boost and other teams are wary of his presence on the power play.  I think he will even get credited with a hit in the game tonight.
2. Ryan Jones is a hungry, scrappy kid.
3. JP Dumont is skating and making plays - this is news.
4. Our #2 goaltender has been elevated to #1, paving the way for the new #2 to play great and get back to #1.  Another way of saying solid goaltendin
5. Management has stuck with the coaches.
6. Shea Weber is among the NHL's elite.
7. Milwaukee is a great developmental team for the Predators.
8. We have a lot more home games than away games down the stretch.
9. Jason Arnott still has game.
10. The Predators penalty kill is, uh, killer.

There is a lot of work to do in order to get into the playoffs for the 5th straight season.  The Predators need 6 out of every 8 possible points the rest of the way.  But this is fun again!