Shane Life

Today, my employer held a blood and bone marrow registry drive in honor of an associate who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. I volunteered for a couple hours at the bone marrow registry this morning and then took the five minutes to swab my cheeks to get on the list.

I took a quick lunch then headed down to make an automated blood donation, which is different, offering more flexibility to the blood center to respond more effectively to hospitals. As I understand it, the machine separates the blood into plasma, platelets and red blood cells as a part of the process. Obviously, it takes more fluid from your body than normal blood donation, so they put back saline in intervals during the process.

In addition, they use a needle the size of the tip of a pencil in order to keep from damaging the cells. It sucks. A lot. Especially when they struggle to find a vein, fishing around inside your arm.

But I got it going and was rocking through the donation, occupying myself by playing poker on my phone. The nurse came by to tell me that I was almost done.

Then it all went very very wrong.

First, on the saline return, I started to feel some pain. I looked down at my arm and realized that something was off. I was starting to get a bit of a bubble near the place where the needle was inserted. I called the nurse over, she did something on the machine and then hurried off. The pain subsided a little, but not completely. Another nurse came back with my original nurse and began fiddling with the machine and my arm, chiding the nurse for the amount of tape that she used on my arm. Not a good sign.

The fiddling with the machine and my arm went on for about 6-8 minutes. It ended with my nurse telling me that my vein had clotted up (not as bad as it sounds) and that I wasn’t pumping blood anymore.

This is what we in the business call: FAIL.

There are many things that suck about this.

1. The extra time I took was useless.
2. I am a universal donor.
3. The extra pain wasn’t worth it.
4. My 90%-full pint of blood, plasma and platelets: completely useless.
5. The nurses did not try to finish by pricking the other arm, instead they gave up completely.
6. I wasn’t able to help someone.

Honestly, #5 is the worst one. I feel like I really let down the anonymous person who would have received my blood. It sucks. But honestly, all of those things suck, most specifically #4 and #5.

Who wrote the rule that states you have to provide a completely full pint in order for your blood to be used? It is a dumb rule and really hurts everyone. Can someone explain that to me?

At least I managed to get on the bone marrow donor list, which is really what the drive was all about. Still, it would have been nice to be able to give blood as well.

And technically, I did. Just not enough.

As I’ve already discussed at length, I attended Big Omaha earlier this month. One of the major themes of the day was the concept of failure. Apparently in the entrepreneurial world, failure is something that people talk about a lot.

Jason Fried started off the day by claiming that he didn’t understand the whole concept of “fail early and often”. Micah “Me-ha” Baldwin had a whole session (and accompanying blog) dedicated to the concept of failure that I just didn’t get initially. After discussing the topic with him further via e-mail, I began to understand the purpose of his talk:

But since I accept failure as part of the process, I just adjust and move on.

His intent with the talk was to make failure less scary. My focus as a corporate marketer has always been failure aversion. Bottom lines can speak volumes and one failure in the corporate world can be devastating to your career, but ultimately, to be truly successful you have to be willing to take chances. You may fail. But you might also succeed wildly.

This concept reminds me of one of Sally Hogshead’s brilliant pieces of advice in her book, Radical Careering, which I read and reviewed back in 2006 as I went into a major career transition:

#85: Jump, and a net will appear.

Boldness is something that many people struggle with. Those who have met me or know me well would probably argue that I have little issues with boldness, but that would be untrue. In my career, I’ve played it safe much more than I’ve been bold.

I’d like to change that.

That’s not to say that I’m going to start being a loose cannon at the office, fearless of failure because “it doesn’t matter — and this was my main point with my initial opposition to Micah’s point — you should still strive to succeed every time you get the chance. If you put yourself in situations where you can succeed, always make that effort.

Just don’t be afraid of failure. Be bold and confident. Success will follow.

I used to have a pair of aviator sunglasses just like these from Pacific Sunwear. Somewhere along the way they were stolen by one of my brother’s friends during his bachelor party got lost. I really loved those sunglasses. They were the right proportion to my face (most aviators are not) and they were simple and classic, but also really cheap at $15.

I went back to get another pair but they were out of stock. Now, you’d think it would be easy enough to find a decent cheap pair of aviators, but you’d be wrong. I had to supplant them with a horrible pair of NASCAR-branded wraparounds from Walmart. (If you are anyone who knows me very well, you know my loathing for everything having to do with the National Association of Driving Fast and Making Left Turns.)

Finally, today I was able to find a viable replacement, the pair of $13 Merona aviators shown above. Target came through for me. Here’s hoping they don’t get eaten by a yeti lost again.

Tonight, I got home from work about 40 minutes before Alli was scheduled to be home from dance practice. I grabbed my camera and headed out, wanting to capture some pictures that were within about a mile of my house. I live on the edge of the metro (on the edge of civilization, really) and I wanted to get out and capture some of that beauty.

I got a 50mm f1.4 lens for my camera for Christmas and I love the pictures that it takes. You can see the whole set on Flickr.

Every day in May.

Keep your eye on this space. I’ve got a project I’m working on for the month of May. Expect the following:

• A daily post including at least one photo, per Alli’s suggestion
• A review of Big Omaha, the Midwest’s first high-profile Web conference
• Awesomeness galore.

First post is coming up…the subject? My knees.

@TrustTheDust tweeted this yesterday. I love the term SNOWMAGEDDON and have now adopted it. I feel bad for (most) meteorologists: either way they are kinda screwed. If they predict 10 inches and it doesn’t come, they get hit for hyping too much, but if they under-predict, they get slammed. That’s why I listen to my own personal meteorologist — @EdRoberts and @KCWeather — Ed has been very upfront that much of what he is predicting is dependent on several things happening.

Currently, we haven’t had near the problems we were supposed to have, but it looks to be getting worse as the day progresses. I feel bad because it’s looking more and more likely that the Spring Show for Alli and Ashley’s dance team that they coach is going to be postponed, which stinks because the girls have worked really hard. They’ll still be able to have the show next weekend, but it just makes things more difficult.

Today, I received a really nice e-mail from my local FASTSIGNS.

As the owner of FASTSIGNS of Olathe, I want to personally “thank you” for your business. Too often in today’s world, we neglect to stop and thank those who have helped to make us successful, and I assure you that my staff and I do not take your support for granted. We remain committed to helping you keep your business moving forward through the use of effective, affordable sign and graphic solutions.

Times may continue to be difficult for all of us, but at FASTSIGNS we have decided NOT to participate in the recession. While I may be uncertain as to the long-term effect of the current economic turmoil, I am more than certain that we will continue to provide the highest quality service and products at a competitive price.

As a small business owner I understand the concerns we are all feeling right now, which is why I wanted to make a point of extending sincere gratitude to you for your past business, as well as encourage you to join me and adopt my anti-recession attitude. If at any time you wish to speak with me directly, I can be reached at 913.768.8900.

On behalf of our team, thank you again for choosing FASTSIGNS of Olathe. We look forward to working with you again in the future.

Thanks!
David White
___________________________________________

FASTSIGNS of Olathe
13511 S. Mur-Len Rd., Suite 134, Olathe, KS 66062
Phone (913) 768-8900 Fax (913) 768-6796
www.fastsigns.com/406

Visit our store at the corner of Santa Fe & Mur-Len next to the Office Depot.
To send files, visit our website at and click on the “Send A File” button.

Frankly, this is a great tactic. I love that they are saying they have chosen not to participate in the recession. We need more of this type of thinking.

Since the Bucket List Meme, I thought I should do my very own, not one that’s pre-conceived. I have a lot of things I want to do before I die. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a start.

1. Be the best husband I can be
2. Design a typeface
3. Publish a book
4. Visit Hawaii (in 2010 baby!)
5. Bungee jump
6. Visit Australia
7. Visit Africa
8. Stand in Red Square
9. Visit Germany
10. Drive cross-country with Alli
11. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
12. Buy a stranger a meal
13. Have my portrait painted (marrying a painter FTW!)
14. Write a screenplay
15. Be in a movie
16. Learn some card tricks so I can be a “cool” uncle
17. Go back to Italy
18. Have an amazingly landscaped backyard
19. Speak another language (probably Italian) fluently (just gotta buy Rosetta Stone, right?)
20. See the Great Pyramids
21. See Alaska
22. Own season tickets to the Chiefs
23. Visit the Great Wall of China
24. Design and sell a collection of T-shirts
25. Go sky diving
26. Visit a Nazi concentration camp
27. Fly in a helicopter
28. Eat caviar
29. Eat at Plaza III
30. Hike the Grand Canyon
31. Walk in Jerusalem
32. Make a difference
33. Sit on a jury
34. Lead a bible study
35. Live somewhere besides Kansas City
36. Rescue a dog
37. Own a bespoke suit
38. Retire early and travel with Alli
39. Own our home outright
40. Teach a class
41. Spend an entire 24 hours in silent meditation
42. Play a round of golf under 80
43. Read The Complete Calvin and Hobbes from cover to cover
44. Stand on the field for a Chiefs game
45. Return to St. Lucia
46. Attend a taping of a TV show that I like (should have tried to get to Friends back in the day)
47. Learn to draw
48. Write in a journal every day for a year
49. Eat at Top Chef Harold’s restaurant Perilla
50. Weigh less than 225 pounds again

What about you? What do you want to do before you kick the bucket?

…I’m just busy.

I don’t want to lose readers. I just haven’t had a ton to talk about this week. Plus, I’m preaching on Sunday, we have family coming in this weekend, and I’ve been interviewing a lot.

Let’s hope for something awesome!