Congress made me late for work....

So... I like technology. I get a big kick out of techno gadgets. I like "toys". Even in the simplest things around the house. Take, for example, my alarm clock... No ordinary alarm clock will do. No. I have a fancy dancy little alarm with multiple alarms that can be set for different days, and it has a satellite connection! It keeps itself up to date, and if the power goes out, it automatically reaches out to that magical little atomic clock somewhere in Colorado, and resets itself to the right time. No fuss, no muss on my part. I don't have to worry about setting it every evening, as it is already programmed for my work week, and I don't have to worry about power outages.

And... it knows when Daylight Savings Time is, and resets itself for that. Awesome! Or, not. Yeah, more like, not.

Herein the problem lies. Congress, for whatever reason, changed DST to a week later than usual. The rest of the world changed last weekend, but for us, or, most specifically, U.S., we don't fall back until next weekend.

No one bothered telling my alarm clock this. Apparently, computer chips don't keep up with the current news. So, doing what it was made to do, my alarm reset itself, and fell back an hour for DST. A week early.

The alarm went off this morning, and I reached over and turned it off. Didn't even hit the snooze, as I usually do. Nope, I was going to give myself that extra 9 minutes. I took a casual shower, and was taking my time getting dressed.

At one point, I happened to glance at the cable box on top of the TV. 8:20. Great. Another 20 minutes before I have to leave. No... wait! That's not right! It's 7:20. 7:20!! Grab the watch, which says 8:20. Maybe it's wrong too! Phone! 8:20!! Crap!!!!!

Called in, and then ran to work, where I had to tell the story of my stupidy all day long. At least I was a source of amusement.

The worst part is that I'll have to get myself up "an hour earlier" than usual all week, as the clock will only reset itself in the middle of the night if I fix it. I hate technology.

The Loud Shall Inherit...

Let me share with you an expression I’ve heard recently, “tyranny of the loud”. Isn’t that a great affirmation? It refers to those who freely abuse rights that they do not, in fact, have by bullying those who believe that hurting the feelings of others is wrong. Heaven forbid that anyone stand up and tell them that they’re wrong, or out of line – that would be rude and would hurt their feelings. Woe be to the browbeater that squares their shoulders and tells the messenger to shut up. Said would-be peacemaker is now demonized, and incurs the wrath of the rest of the group. Never mind that the original proselytizer was wrong in the first place… Sides now must be drawn and feelings of the pontificator must be defended.

So, where did we go wrong? How did we allow this tyranny to come to pass? We trained ourselves to let it happen. We succumbed to the outright political correctness of the world. In those times when we read the rants and ravings of others, the ones that make the veins in our collective foreheads pulse and want for nothing more than to tell the bombastic blowhard to shut the hell up, we, instead, grit our teeth and shut ourselves up, in order to not create discontent. Thus, we allow the actual discontent to continue unabated.

How do we fix it? We have to allow the perception of rudeness to be yoked upon us, and open our mouths when they should be opened. We have to be the leaders, and take the heaps of scorn. And soon, soon enough, the rest of the throng will begin to see that it isn’t right to hurt the feelings of others, in the first place, and will join us in telling the pompous, self-applauding windbags to shut the hell up! Maybe. Just maybe. If we make a stand, perhaps we can make the world a little less miserable.

Speaking of miserable, you need to read this article...

Yes, cracked dot com. Yes, it is the same as the cracked magazine we used to read as youngsters. Yes, it is a serious article. Somewhat. Kind of. Okay, it is irreverent, but it is still a great article.

My personal favorite part was the study done by UCLA that indicated that only 7% of the communication effectiveness is determined by the words used. That leaves 38% for voice quality, and 55% for non-verbal communication to get our points across. The 38% includes tone and volume. A meager 7% of our communication skills are left to us when communicating in a non “face to face” environment. Like email, or IMs, text messages, blogs or e-lists. Pretty much the majority of our communications these days. Everything that people perceive us to be results from 7% of our communication skills.

No wonder there is so much misunderstanding out there, which leads to hate and discontent. Often we communicate poorly, setting the wrong tone in our messages. Okay, often we set the exact tone that we intend to, or, more to the point, others deliberately set the tone that they intend. And so often we just let it pass, for the sake of “peace”. And, in the long run, it is just making us miserable.

Sometimes we need to step up and say “is this really what you meant?” Sometimes it is simply a matter of poor communications, and should be cleared up, to avoid the simmering frustration that can build up in such a situation.

Sometimes it isn’t a mistake. Sometimes it is a deliberate abuse of our good natures, so sometimes we need to be the bully, and make it the more forceful “shut the hell up”.

We need to take the proverbial bull by the horns and retrain our e-groups not to accept the status quo. It has to start somewhere, and if not us, then who? Do we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune? Or do oppose them, and in doing so, end them?