I Want My Money Back!

I want my money back!  The venders hiked up the price on the popcorn and soda, and they’ve made a covert deal with the theater across town.  I can tell because the prices in that theater are just as high if you take into consideration the quality of the facilities and the surrounding neighborhood.  I bet I could smuggle some soda in here, but it wouldn’t be socially acceptable . . . even though everyone else realizes the swindling as well. 

I’m not enjoying the show.  The previews promised more excitement, better graphics, strong romance, and a little comedy.  The reality of the show is different.  There’s no climax, just surging anticipation and subsequent disappointment followed by more surging anticipation and more upsetting disappointment.  And another thing, I can fucking tell you the ending right now.  The main character will die alone, depressed, and disappointed.  OH! I get it! This is one of those movies you have to be fucked-up to enjoy.  This is much better.  -antiwasp

Filed under: Artistic Writing, Culture, Death, Economy, General Sarcasm, Lessons Learned, Recommendations, Self Actualization, Wisdom, World Wide Policy

Ten (Hard) Lessons Learned About Leadership after Eight Months in Command:

1.  Someone has to be the bad guy when managing 300+ people (if the other guy isn’t going to do it I have to be the bad guy)

2.  Becoming the bad guy takes practice (The effectiveness of my “bad guy” didn’t take full effect until after about five tries – but I’m good at it now)

3.  It’s a good thing for people to walk out of my office feeling bad about what they did wrong (it helps them learn) – don’t give them a “but, you’re doing a good job speech” after the ass chewing.  It ruins the lesson.

4.  Whenever a subordinate completes a major project applaud them, compliment them, and if possible find something wrong with the way they did things (this way they won’t get too comfortable and they’ll keep producing)

5.  Mentoring takes more work than doing it myself but if I mentor now I will work less later on

6.  Don’t let subordinates know that I’m tired (it gives them permission to be tired as well)

7.  Don’t complain to subordinates about missions given to me by higher headquarters (it gives them permission to complain about the mission to their subordinates – and the job won’t be performed well)

8.  Leaders in ranks beneath me will do well at things I check on, and will do poorly at things I don’t check on

9.  The mission comes before Soldier Care / Soldiers always find ways to take care of themselves

10.  There’s no such thing as a tired company, only tired company commanders

-antiwasp

Filed under: Lessons Learned, Military, Recommendations, Wisdom

Woman Made Man Dumb: Damn Her!

I started reading Leonard Shlain’s Sex, Time and Power: How Women’s Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution.  I’m still early in the book, but it’s enlightening, shocking, and world-view changing from the start.  If it can keep the momentum it’ll be one of the books I place in the “influential pile” in my personal library.

The catcher for me was the story of our evolution as Homo Sapiens Sapiens.  Apparently our brain (as a species) hit a growth spurt 150,000 years ago, tripling the size in just a few thousand years.  Well, our brain would have continued to develop past the size that it is today, but the human pelvis was too small to allow a brain larger than ours during the birthing process.  The human pelvis is smaller, proportionally, than that of other animals because we stand erect, and a small pelvis keeps our bowels from falling out.  Other animals don’t have this gravitational problem.  Other animals also don’t have as hard of a time birthing as humans do, so the standing erect thing didn’t mesh well with brain enlarging – we made it work though. 

In Shlain’s theory, there’s an African Eve in our story.  About 150,000 years ago when we were evolving our big-ass brain, humans suffered an enormous amount of deaths at childbirth.  The new baby’s ballooning heads couldn’t fit through the birth canal of women and this caused the near-extinction of the human race.  But one large-pelvised woman came to the rescue of humanity.  She gave birth to many children that spawned many more children – the ancestors of the entire current human population.  Support for this idea: The genes of a human born in Austria and a human born in South Africa are more similar than the average chimpanzee’s genes compared to his neighbor in the next clan.  This is a sign that all six billion humans today are the progeny of a singular ancestor from just a few thousand years ago, our African Eve (from around the Kenya area). 

I think it’s neat that we aren’t smarter today because of women.  It’s their fault.  I think I’ll go tell the wife.  I think she ruined the entirety of human existence.  We probably wouldn’t have war today if she’d have done better in the past.  She needs to know this.  -antiwasp

Filed under: Evolution, Recommendations, Relationships, Technology