I read today that the new president of Wesleyan University started a blog.

With my daughter set to begin first grade in two days this made me wonder when her school principal will start a blog. How great would it be if the leaders at every level of education had blogs? I’d like to hear his/her take on education and how we can improve it at the school level.

I’m sure most principals are very busy and may not know where to go to start a blog. But as more do I hope word travels around that it’s not difficult and there’s a lot of people out there who are willing to help.

If any school administrators or teachers are reading this post, here are my two recommendations where you can start a blog for free. Both make it very easy to get started:

Blogger (Google)

Windows Live Spaces (Microsoft)

Occasionally Kim trusts me to do the grocery shopping. Like when she’s sick or it’s after midnight and she’s poured a bowl of cereal before realizing we’re out of milk.

I wouldn’t call myself a professional grocery shopper but I’m definitely in the minor leagues with a good chance of getting called up to the majors next year. 

Here are my tips for how to shop like a guy:

1. Lose the list – Carrying around a list and checking items off is no fun. Why be a slave to a list when you can just stroll down every isle and toss into the cart whatever you feel like at the time.
   
2. No Man Baskets – Grab a cart with four working wheels. Never, ever tote around the man basket unless you want to look like a total dork.
   
3. Games and DVDs first – This is especially true at Fred Meyer where the games and DVDs are separate from the food. Always stop by here first. If you a find game or DVD you must have, you can adjust your grocery purchases to accommodate.
   
4. Skip all non-food isles – Don’t even think about buying a hair product, lotion or medication as it will always be the wrong kind, wrong size, or wrong brand. It’s far easier to skip these sections and say you forgot. Occasionally I’ll make an exception to buy dental floss but that’s it.
   
5. Never weigh anything – You look like a cheapskate trying to scoop out that exact pound of bulk cashews. I hate when I visit Baskin Robbins and some new employee decides to get all precise and weighs my ice cream. It’s tacky. Just scoop or bag the amount that “looks” right and move on.
   
6. Avoid the Truck/Fire Engine Carts – If you got roped into dragging a kid along, make sure they understand you won’t be pushing them around in those impossible to maneuver carts that look like a cheap Disney ride. I tried pushing around two kids in a fire truck whose turning radius was so wide, I could only go down every other isle.
   
7. Sample away – Sure the grapes might look good but you’ll never know until you try one. Or two or three. It’s a lot easier to sample a few before you drop 3 bucks on a pound flown in from some country you’ve never heard of. I feel like I’m doing the store a favor by sampling instead of taking the item home and then returning it when it’s bad. Anything in the bulk section is fair game as well. In fact, I think they encourage it.
   
8. Buy at least 2 of everything – I came home from the store today with 4 bags of whole grain tortillas, 2 cartons of Atkins shakes and 3 bottles of peanuts. Why return next week and buy the same item? Dairy products are the exception.
   
9. Ask questions – Especially in the produce section. People who work in produce love to extol their knowledge thereof. When I couldn’t locate a spaghetti squash a while back, I asked a nice lady who told me everything I’d ever want to know about squash and some finer details I could have done without.
   
10. Use the good bags – Most stores have two kinds of bags in the produce section: the stronger hanging bags with handles and the absolutely sucky ones that you pull off a roll like a paper towel. Fred Meyer hangs the good bags near the apples as to not make them so visible. Stuff a few extra bags in your cart if you plan to hit the bulk section.
    
11. Practice proper divider etiquette – Once you make it to the check out, look at the person ahead of you in line. If it’s a guy, don’t bother with a conveyer belt divider. But if a women is ahead of you, put down a divider before you pull any items from your cart to place on the belt. Women assume you’re trying to sneak that can of Slim Jim’s onto their tab.

I hope this helps the next time you’re called in to perform grocery shopping duties.

I attended a meeting at church today that included 5 adults and 5 boys ranging in ages from 12 to 16. The purpose of the meeting was to get the boys to work on half a dozen tasks. The person who called the meeting spoke the entire time. He spent the bulk of the meeting going through, in detail, each of the tasks and explaining what it would take to complete and how often he’d check in to ensure the tasks were done.

At the end, the leader asked the boys, “Can each of you commit to doing each of these tasks?”

The boys sat there. Finally, the leader, sensing they were confused, said, “Do each of you understand what I’m asking you to do?” Blank stares. The boys were frustrated. The leader was frustrated. Finally, one of the boys spoke up and said, “Can I borrow some paper and a pen to write all this stuff down?” 

I see this very scenario at least a few times each year at work and at church. And I’ve seen it with my kids when I overwhelm them with chores around the house.

So the lesson I learned today is to figure out what really needs to get done. You may have a list of 10 items that need attention. But dumping all 10 on a person or group is too much. Pare the list down to the one or two items that must get done. One or two tasks is manageable. I don’t need a paper and pencil to remember one or two tasks.

Sometimes less is more.

This goes for cheap eats but especially for nice restaurants:

If you must hire employees who smoke, tell them they can only smoke where customers cannot see them.

Nothing turns me off faster than pulling into the parking lot and seeing an employee or two smoking near the front or back of the building. This is repulsive enough that I’ll keep driving and take my money elsewhere.

This would seem like a no brainer but this week I’ve seen it several times. Smoking is a gross, repulsive, nasty habit the rest of the us shouldn’t have to take smell or walk through on our way to a meal.