A first for women at the Indy 500

Today I'm celebrating the Indy 500 and the history being made today!

For the first time in history a woman will drop the green flag to start the Indy 500. Kristi Yamaguchi, reigning winner of Dancing with the Stars and Olympic champion, will have that honor. She is not the only representative of Dancing with the Stars at this event. Helio Castroneves, the prior winner of Dancing with the Stars, has won the Indy 500 twice and is starting in the fourth position. His professional dance partner in that competition, Julianne Hough, has recently transitioned into the country music industry and will be singing the National Anthem at today's race.

I'm very excited about the race. I'm really not cheering for a single driver -- I have several favorites. I'm most excited that Indy Car and Champ Car series have finally united and are both represented in this race. I think it will take a little while for the Champ Car guys to really make their presence known in this crowd. I have favorites from the Indy Car series but I have favorites from Champ Car too. I'm especially fond of Will Power --- who would not be fond of a driver with that name? He was actually the Champ Car rookie of the year in 2006. In April of this year he won the final race of the Champ Car series in Long Beach. He's starting in position 20. Let's see if he has the willpower to race his way up through the crowd. I also have my eyes on the Rahal-Letterman Racing team. Graham Rahal's dad is an Indy 500 winner and is now an owner. Graham is the youngest winning driver in a US open wheel racing event. Graham Rahal is starting in the thirteenth position. I'm also looking at Ryan Hunter-Reay who is also on the Rahal-Letterman team. I must cheer for the hometown guy -- he was born in Dallas but now resides in Florida. Ryan was the 2007 rookie of the year in the Champ Car series.

When you saw this blogpost title, you probably thought the topic was Danica Patrick. There's been so much media hype about her recently, partially due to her first win in Japan. She's actually the US citizen with the fastest qualifying time in the Indy 500. She's accomplished a lot, being the first woman to lead this race. However, I'm not a fan because her antics and what's she marketed as she's gained her positions to the pole. Many think that she's turned back time for women -- and it's hard to think of her as a serious race car driver while looking at all those racey pics of her. What would she think if she saw her racey pics in her competitions' garages with a target drawn on top? I'm instead crossing my fingers for Sarah Fisher, who was the third woman to race in the Indy 500 (behind Janet Guthrie and Lynn St James) and is now a car owner. She's had some challenges financially in getting and staying in the race. I'm also keeping my eye on Milka Duna -- she makes me nervous on the track!

Driver introductions are now in progress. It's less than a half-hour to the start of the best known race in the world! I hope it's a safe race, especially since there were so many crashes during qualifying, when only one car is on the track at a time. When thirty-three cars try to race their way to the front to be the first to cross that famous finish line, it will become much more dangerous. Regardless of the events of the day and the outcome, this year will be an Indy 500 race for the history books.

Image credits: 1st turn at Indy (SPEED channel) and Yamaguchi (Starpulse)

And the envelope please

Today I'm celebrating Johnny Carson's last time hosting The Tonight Show in 1992.

Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years. There was rarely a dull moment on that show, starting with the memorable "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" introduction by Ed McMahon and the familiar golf swing as Johnny Carson would end his opening monologue. You may recall the "Stump the Band" segment where Doc Severinson's band would actually create some quirky song during the segment when the obscure one named by an audience member was unknown. You might guess that the highest rated show was Carson's final episode. However, you might not guess that the second-highest rated episode was when Tiny Tim married Miss Vick during the show in December, 1969. It was always an adventure when animals were on the set. One funny video of Carson with the animals has been embed in this blogpost.

As posted on YouTube by dal88

When you hear 'and the envelope please' you might think of the winner of an Academy Award, an award for your favorite singer or band, or even the announcement of the winning American Idol. Go David! ; ) However, if you've seen Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show you'll likely not forget his role as "Carnac the Magnificent" as he played a psychic who clairvoyantly divined the answer to a question contained in a sealed envelope. One example you might recall:

A: "Rose Bowl."

Q: What do you say when it's Rose's turn at the bowling alley?

Silly...yes, but many were funny (but maybe not ones I'd post on my blog). After I've worked on my job for 30 years, I hope that I can also recall the fun and quirky moments that make even worklife worth celebrating.

Sweating the details

Today I should be sweating to National Employee Health and Fitness Day!

After working almost twelve hours today and scrambling to figure out what I would do for dinner and how I'd fit everything on my plan for the evening in the short remaining hours, I began to sweat the details. Well, that could also be due to the 95+ degree heat of the day here too. I looked on the calendar thinking how late I am on my blogposts and noticed today's holiday. Today is National Employee Health and Fitness Day. I was reminded of my Mom's gentle 'urging' just last night to stop work on time and hit the health club. I also then recalled two nagging reminders in my InBox about the very topic. My company reimburses employees a small portion of our healthcare premiums if we participate in employee health and fitness programs. Well, of course, I am running late in completing the work required to get the rebates. As I was sweating the completion of the presentation for tomorrow's meeting, the 2008 budget outlook, and a preliminary plan for 2009, I should have been sweating to the oldies, burning shoe rubber on my treadmill, or banking some miles on the bike. I'm not a big fan of sweating, but I definitely need to make this a priority, right away!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes about sweating:

• Nothing but blood, toil, tears,and sweat ~Winston Churchill
• Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things ~ George Carlin
• Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat ~Ann Landers
• Rule number one is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it's all small stuff .(disputed)
• A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell
• Sweat plus sacrifice equals success. ~Charlie Finley

These are definitely some things to think about --- either while toiling over the project plan deadlines or on the treadmill. Oh, the balancing act required to be successful in all these areas. I'm definitely going to feel like a slug if I mess up and don't get those rebates. Thinking of slugs, I found a cute video to remind me not to be a slug about this!

Gonna make slugs sweat



As posted on YouTube by chu2007

Image credit: Tennessee Dept. of Health

What else is there to say?

Applause today to Anita Renfroe for her "The Mom" song, sung to the William Tell Overture!

In thinking about the years under Mom's roof, you'll likely recall many of her instructions and words of wisdom. If your memory is a little vague, her instructions will likely become much clearer when listening to Anita Renfroe sing her "The Mom" song. Regardless of your generation, there is likely to be many phrases that will seem very familiar to you. On this holiday that we celebrate our Moms, you'll likely chuckle when you hear those familiar words sung by Anita Renfroe.


You can hear "The Mom" song on this blogpost today:

As posted on YouTube by joeschoi

Image credit: Brent Humphreys/Redux for The New York Times

Her giving never ends

Today I'm celebrating Mother's Day

On this day we set aside aside some extra time to celebrate our Moms. The lady who is responsible for your very life. Even though she's busy at work, at home helping Dad, and at church, she's often volunteering her time at school too. She's not only your Mom, she's a coach, a volunteer, a friend, and even a superhero. A Mom's work is never done.

Here's just a very few of the special things my Mom did:

showed the way
helped each day
we could never repay
knelt with us each night as we'd pray

wiped away the tears
calmed the fears
led the cheers
listened with open ears

came to me when I was sick
knew just what made me tick
had the camera ready to take each pic
got along well with a city slick or even a country hick

wiped my fevered brow
explained the what, why, and how
set boundaries on what to allow
even though I may have wanted it now

held my head when I was ill
calmly helped me learn to swallow the first pill
managed the budget and every bill
made my favorite homemade pickles---sweet, not dill

taught me how to cook
helped me find every lost book
everyone else was first before she took
helped me even bait every hook

taught us how to bake
as we weekly made Grandpa his cake
made it from scratch--no mix, no fake
always one of the best, he'd ask we make

while standing on a stool we'd wash each dish
talking with mom about a wish
she's great at frying our favorites - shrimp and catfish
oh those times passed fast, with a swish

such a challenge, all can see
how can anyone like Mom be?
thinking of the great times with glee
my Mom, she means so much to me!

I love you Mom! Thanks for everything you do!

Image credit: HybridMom

It's the real thing

Today I'm celebrating "Have a Coke Day"

Coca-cola is definitely my favorite carbonated soft drink. I'm such a serious fan that if I had to drink a Pepsi, then I'd rather just do without a beverage. Coke is also my favorite source of caffeine, besides chocolate, that is. On any early Saturday morning at the ballpark watching my nephews play baseball, you may hear me say "I prefer my caffeine cold" and you won't catch me with one of those iced coffee drinks either. If I can't have a Barq's root beer in the bottle (a Southern favorite), then give me a Coke. And, give me the real thing -- the original classic version.

It's especially challenging to travel on business in some areas around NY / CT, "smack in the middle" of Pepsi country. It's sometimes difficult to find a real Coca-Cola in the vending machines or restaurants in that area. If I'm traveling in the area, I always hope that I have a rental car so that I can drop by a convenience store to buy my supply of Coke while there. When I find a real Coke machine, you might catch me buying a couple to stash in my computer case to take back to the hotel with me.

In the South, the term "coke" often has a broader meaning than what you'd think. It is often used in a generic sense to refer to any carbonated beverage or soft drink. You may hear, "You want a coke? what kind?" --- and they are not just talking about Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Vanilla Coke, or any other Coca-Cola product. There may actually be an entire selection of various soft drink brands available, and not only those from the Coca-Cola company either. That likely wouldn't happen in most other areas of the country though -- where you may be asked if you'd like a soda, pop, or a soft drink. (A true give-away that you're really not from the South would be asking for soda or pop.)

When you think about great commercials, there are several Coke commercials that many will recall. Here are two from the past that I hope you will enjoy again:

"I'd like to teach the world to sing"


As posted on YouTube by desireless

One with Mean Joe Green


As posted on YouTube by Upstroker1

Today, I hope that you enjoy your day --- Have a Coke and a smile!

The first real protection for women

Today I'm celebrating the first patent awarded to a female in the US

The Patent Act of 1790 opened the door for people to protect their inventions with a patent. However, because in many states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women inventors never filed for patents to protect their inventions. On May 5, 1809, Mary Kies was the first woman to receive a US patent. She obtained a patent for her method of weaving straw with silk and thread. Using her new method, Mary Kies could make and sell her hats and, according to US law, no one else could sell any created just like hers.

Have you ever invented anything? I once invented a practical teaching tool to use during my segment of a group presentation scheduled in one of my graduate classes. I once taught secondary mathematics for one year in a high school in south Texas and also caught computer programming while a graduate student at Texas A&M University. I thought that the tool I developed would have been useful to me in my former teaching jobs. I demonstrated my invention and obtained some feedback from a couple of my friends who were currently teachers. I refined the design a bit. Then, my friends helped me to create enough of the tools to use in the classroom. The tool proved to me to be very useful for its purpose. Upon completion of the group presentation, the professor generally asked questions and offered feedback to the group members. He asked three questions about my segment:

1. Tonya, did you create this tool that was used today? Yes, I replied
2. Has anyone in this room ever seen a tool similar to what Tonya used today? no one
3. How many people in this room would use Tonya's tool in their classrooms? all

The professor then had one comment: Tonya, I hope that you leave this classroom tonight and immediately work on your patent. Of course, I was very surprised to hear the feedback about my tool, but was very excited too. For awhile in my spare time (which was quite limited since I was working full-time while attending graduate school for my PhD), I did a little work to investigate the possibilities of a patent. I scoured numerous education product catalogs looking for a tool similar to mine (finding none) and performed a small patent search. It indeed appeared that I had created a tool that actually did not exist. My preliminary market research seemed supportive too: feedback from my teacher friends, plus an entire classroom of teachers with significant experience supporting my tool. However, I also became aware of the time and cost to obtain a patent, especially when I did not really have any plans for manufacturing. I was so busy in my career and trying to complete my graduate work that I let those challenges overcome me. Unfortunately, it would not be the first time to be accused of having a great idea, but not following through. I still have my file that describes my invention and about once a year I look at the neat invention and wonder what-if. I still have not seen anything similar to it and still believe that it would be a popular, useful tool for teachers.

Today, my learning of Mary Kies' achievement has definitely got me thinking again about my own invention. Perhaps I should put my project management skills into action and develop an action plan to protect the idea and to actually make it available to educators today. After all, since I've practically lost most of my pension (it was recently frozen) and all the medical retiree benefits that I had planned to enjoy after 30 years of dedicated service, I may need the profits from the sale of the product based on my invention for my retirement years.

Image credit: The Library of Congress