Karl's Thoughts Sometimes Called a Blog
1. the opinions below are the authors
2. they may not necessary be correct
3. and they may be changed without notice
4. in other words this is rambling
Tuesday 1 Jan 2008
I have been very blessed to have been helped by some good people in my life. A gift is something that is given with no expectation of return. If you give something with an expectation of return - this is call a barter.
Many good people of helped me in my life when I have had no way to return the favor.
1. Frank Bush - I was a young man working on the Alaska Pipeline. Frank Bush took me in as almost one of his sons and helped me learn cold weather construction.
2. James Richardson - At the University of Houston James T Richardson gave me a chance to become a chemical engineer.
3. William B Lotz -has been a good friend and honest advisor for 25+ years
4 Abram Kuo - Allowed me to transfer for a few months to be close to my parents to assist them.
5. Jeff Gray - Treated me with kindness when I first traveled to Malaysia and is an great advisor.
6. Chua Yen Bu - A good friend and advisor - treated me with kindness.
Of course there is the other list, but you should only try to remember the good.
Wednesday 26th Dec 2007
How was 2007 for you? Good, bad - average. I am always amazed who people choose for their advisers. Bad advice is often worse than no advice. There are several items you should look for in an adviser.
Happiness
Do not take advice from people who are not living the way you wish to live. If you want to live happy, and this person is not happy - do not follow their advice.
Financial
Do not take financial advice from poor people unless your goal is to be poor.
Credentials
What are the advisers credentials? We make sure that we go to a Doctor that has the proper credentials - but we will take political advice from actors whose only credentials are that they look good and can read a script that someone else wrote.
The next time an actor who reads their lines well, keeps their waist line thin, and has cosmetic surgery ever few months - tells you how to live your life, what charity to support, what candidate to support, or what is wrong with the world - you may want to take a few minutes and think about where the advice is coming from, and what are their credentials.
You may not be able to run very fast, you may not be able to throw a ball very hard, you may not look good on camera, but in many times you have more credentials than some of the people giving this great advice.
Employment
You employment is a major part of your time. If you are very unhappy on your job you will need to change jobs in 2008. Everyone is slightly unhappy with their job, but if you are very unhappy you will need to find new employment.
Sunday 02 December 2007
I am sitting on a plane with about 400 other people. Each person has multiple stories to tell. First there is the external story - their hair style, choice in clothes and jewelry. The next story may be where they are headed and their occupation. Some may be traveling because of sad news, others may be on vacation. and some travel is job related. A young lady I am setting by is returning to the US after teaching English in Korea. The real story is who they actually are and where they are headed in life - not on this plane but their true life direction.
I have mistakenly judged people by their external looks, and it is easy to do - When my son was 15, he was playing football and one of the other father's attire was radical. When I came to know him I misjudged him by his looks - he was a kind and caring father but you would never guess at first.
Your occupation is how you earn your salary and is sometimes based on the luck of the draw. In Asia this is called fate - Many things in our life we do not chose, our parents, birth country, ethic and sexual orientation. I try not to judge people on choices they do not make, but how people dress is their own choice and sometimes dressing stereo types are true.
What is a successful life? There are three types of lives. The first is survival - and most of the world lives here. Many people in the world make less than 1 USD per day - they are in the survival mode - living from hand to mouth. In south east Asia a normal greeting is have you eaten today, because they are only a few generations from food hunters and gathers. There are pictures on this blog of people that are living in the survival mode.
The second type of life is success - a small percentage of the world is successful. If you have a hand phone and a computer the group of people that make 1 USD per day would consider you rich.
The third is a life of significance. The difference between a successful life and a significant life is what you do with your resources. You cannot have a life of significance and be greedy and selfish. Only in giving to others can you move to the next level. The Charles Dickens's story a Christmas Carol is a good example of a successful person that never progressed to a life of significance. A good measure of your significance is not how much money you have, but how many friends you have? Where are you?
Saturday 22 September 2007
There is a group of people who have given me the nickname Coach. Charles Hebert tells many stories of the Coach - most everyone at Westlake still calls me Coach. I coached basketball at Phibro and Westlake with amazing results. I have about an 80% winning percentage - mostly due to the good players that I have had the privilege to coach.
What it takes to be a coach is radically different than what it takes to be a player. As a player you are focusing on your performance, as a coach you are focusing on the performance of others. A true coach rarely every plays his star performer 100% of the game, he knows that strategic rest will result in more actual points scored.
It is rare that a talented player becomes a good coach, because teams win by making the mid range players better. The stars will get their points, but time after time we have seen that stars by themselves cannot win the championship. Championships are won by team, with coaches that make all the players better.
One of the keys of coaching is that it is very hard to play and coach at the same time. When I was a Phibro I was still in my 30's and at times I was better than some of the players on the court, but I did not play, because the players under me would not get better unless they had a chance to play in the game.
4 July 2007
I grew up in Northwest Florida, a small town called Crestview. We were taught that the best government was a democracy, and fifty years later I still agree, but with provisions. The Declaration of Independence which was signed on 4 July 1776, declares that all men were created equal with certain inalienable rights from their creator - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The first provision that is necessary for a democracy to be successful is education. A majority of the voting population has to able to assess situations and reach logical conclusions.
There are many examples of misguided voters actually hurting themselves and their children, and some of the examples are in the US. The State of Louisiana routinely votes against increased spending for education and their education system is one of the lowest rated in the US.
"For a democracy to be successful the majority of the voters need adequate education to assess issues that are good for the community as a whole, and the wisdom to vote for the greater good, even when the issue is possibly not in their own best interest." Karl Kolmetz
Religious freedom is an example; all people should have the right to worship as they choose, even if what they believe it is not in agreement with your personal beliefs.
The second provision that is necessary for a democracy to be successful is an independent free press. Even if you have adequate education if you do not possess enough facts, one cannot make the logical conclusions.
The third provision that is necessary for a democracy is an independent judiciary, and this is where many countries fail. India has parts of the first and second, but their judiciary causes them to be a third world country. When I was in India last year, the press reported a case where there were 23 eyewitness and the accused was found innocent.
India has many rich and intelligent people, but they seem to lack the will to sacrifice for the greater good of the country, see the pictures from 22 April 2007 of Indian Housing. Each of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were rich and intelligent men. Many of them were punished by the British for signing the Declaration, but they did for the greater good of nation. Noble people are in short supply in the 21 Century.
If these provisions are not satisfied what is called a democracy is at best a benign dictatorship, and sometimes not very benign. One of the best ways to build a better world is to start to raise the education level. Many dictators know that this is they only way they can stay in power, so they restrict the education of their people. If none of the three provisions are in place a benign dictatorship might be better than misinformed and misguided voters.
Each of us needs to make a small yearly donation to a good non profit organization that is trying to raise the education level in the less educated areas of the world. The pen is mightier than the sword, but it seem to be moving very slowly in the correct direction.
Friday 16 March 2007
In Malaysia they have night markets. These are independent merchants who move to a different location each day of the week. Instead of the people going to the mall, the mall comes to them. On Friday night of each week the night market comes to my neighborhood, called Bukit Mewah.
As I was driving from my office back to my apartment I decided to stop at the night market and look at house plants. Malaysia has a wide verity of house plants. As luck would have it, the house plant merchant did not come this night. I walked from one end of the night market to the other looking at the different stalls. Last Friday night there were about 50 merchants there selling everything but house plants.
About half way down the market I came upon an old lady begging. I am always at a loss at what to do about the beggars. If you make a large donation it encourages them to keep begging, instead of trying to find a productive way to make a living. If they appear to be healthy I generally do not donate, but this lady was missing a leg. I decided on my return trip I would make a donation.
I go down about another ten stalls and there is another gentleman setting there, with both of his legs missing. I felt like I had been hit on the head with a hammer. For the last several months I have been somewhat unhappy over trivial issues. I am unbelievably blessed. I both my legs, I have excellent health, you can look at me and tell I have never been hungry my whole life, I have wonderful friends who care about me – I felt like God was almost telling me “Son why are you unhappy”.
Far too many times we get caught up in the day to day life and fail to give proper thanks for our blessings. Every now and then we need to stop, take account of our lives, and give thanks. As I walked back down the row of merchants, I gave thanks and two donations.
