shift_xanga

alright lizbianish, it’s not the weekend yet but if you say so…

two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. i was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. the visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.  shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported “light, bearing on the starboard bow.”

“is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.  lookout replied, “steady, captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.   the captain then called to the signalman, “signal that ship: we are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.

“back came a signal, “advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.”

the captain said, “send, i’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.”  “i’m a seaman second class,” came the reply. “you had better change course 20 degrees.”

“by that time, the captain was furious. he spat out, “send, i’m a battleship. change course 20 degrees.”
 back came the flashing light, “i’m a lighthouse.”

we changed course.

-stephen covey, the 7 habits of highly effective people

…………………………..

most rides these days have semi-automatic transmission.  the feature that i like the most on the benz sports package is the sport-shift concept.  i have fully used it while treading on snow terrains and when i needed instant acceleration while merging through high-speed traffic.  was planning to buy the lady a gl or ml but everything went to x. :p  such is life.  about 95% of it has been better these days nonetheless 🙂  it’s like today’s endless 3.1415926535… to infinity and beyond, which i told dechiperme1 that all these array of numbers will look good on april 20th.  jk!   you need to shift gears when needed.  thomas kuhn called it paradigm shift: a break of old traditions and paradigms to come up with new breakthroughs.  we may not understand one’s point of view until we shift our thinking to how they see things.  we will most likely be prone to accidents on the freeway if we don’t shift our minds easily to the capricious flow of traffic… or life, if you will.

i waved at a neighbor this afternoon and noticed workers converting his garage into a performance pit stop.  his xk and 750li were both parked on the driveway as i noticed nascar-type equipment installed along the interiors.  i watched in awe at a distance as i opened the mailbox to study the checks that just arrived.  no, i’m not having that type of shift in terms of keeping up.  naturally, it’s easy to hate the jones’s for most of us; but i’ve come to a realization that i have been admiring all individuals who show one aspect of their success.  when i see a ferrari, i pull up to it and give the driver a thumbs up.  most of the time i get a confirming nod.  if i get a finger, then i give them two fingers up.  but that has never happened.

i’ve actually got more stories about paradigm shift; but liz, i shifted because of a kind request. haha 

i can make it disappear… i can make it dis-ap-pear! have no fear! – red hot chili peppers, aeroplane