“Drop them cans in th’ Coffee gentle, Joe. We got a Chicken Stewin’ in th’ Bottom”
I often reread books that inspired me the first time I read them. One such Book is by Bill Mauldin titled “Up Front”. I first read “Up Front” when a young boy in my Grandfathers home sometime around 1948. I loved it then and love it today. The two soldiers in the Mauldin’s cartoon above are Willie and Joe. Willie and Joe are a depiction of the typical American soldier serving in the Second World War.
Like most artist and writers, their work has many dimensions and interpretations. What I see in this cartoon is the necessity to sometimes Multi-task events in our lives. Multi-tasking is an art not common to everyone. It certainly is not easy for me. I am stuck with this ethic problem you see. I’m German! I like my life lived in orderly and precise manner. To Multi-task means I must be flexible and willing to change my priorities on the fly. Boy is that ever hard for me. I”m the guy who eats his meals one food item at a time. I eat the lest liked food on the plate first, then to the next lest liked and so on till I have only the last and favorite to savor at the finish. To mix food items to me is Multi-tasking.
This quirk affects most areas of my life. I hate change. To demonstrate how compulsive this is, let me tell you how I start my day. After waking, the first agenda item is of course is the bodily functions necessary after a night sleep. The routine from here on seldom deviates. Brush teeth, Shave, shower, dry with towel, deodorant, comb hair, after shave, and then weigh myself, all before dressing. I attempted to break this routine once with disaster. One day I weighed myself before showering. Oh the agony of uncertainty. For the rest of the day I questioned the weight. Do I weight less after a shower or the same? Does the water cling to me making a heavier weight? Is there significant loss of body sweat and dirt in the shower? I’m just a mess! But I understand, sometimes you just got to shake up the routine. There is hope for me because I’m at least talking and writing about this problem. Could it be that I planted this habit early on in my life? Not sure, but I do know that I can beat this and learn to Multi-task.
So “Drop them cans in th’ Coffee gentle, Joe. We got a Chicken Stewin’ in th’ Bottom”.
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I, on the other hand, have quite the opposite problem. I manage to multi-task my day away if given half a chance. Why even right now I’m printing client artwork, checking out the latest deal on woot.com, preparing to leave for Denver, waiting for my bagel to pop out of the toaster, brewing my cup ‘o joe, and responding to this blog.
Nelson, don’t fall into the trap of thinking multi-tasking is the end-all to beat-all. Many days I leave the office wondering just exactly what I accomplished for the day. Most days I manage to leave with my to-do list longer than when I got there that morning….even with a few things crossed off. Multi-tasking, though necessary to this single, self-employed mom, has led to my multiple-personality disorder that usually rears its ugly head at the end of the day when I’m trying to get my 10 year old to focus on his homework for just 1/2 an hour while I’m buzzing around finishing up emails that HAD to be responded to by the end of the day, cook dinner, empty the dishwasher, feed the dog, and give spelling words to my 8 year old. Now try explaining to above-mentioned 10 year old that he needs to focus on just one task at a time!
I also come from strong German stock….but apparently Nature vs. Nuture has removed my genealogical tendencies! I will try to bust you out of your routine if you promise to attempt to ground me from my wild ways!
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I originally had you in my Blog old girl. But thought better of it. The ultimate goal is to strike a balance between the necessary and the fluff. I appreciate you and your life in this increasingly fast paced world. Go get-em.
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Fellow Tourists
Spending all of April on a Long Island Romantic Getaways .Not 1000% sure – might look into some of the Places to visit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family always enjoys the Places to Visit in Florida Any thoughts?
Enjoy.
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