(I didn't write this, it was a random spam like list I found)

1. Losers think everything is too good to be true, while the successful think that getting a job sounds too bad to be true (think entrepenuer).

2. Losers give up when things don't go their way; a few disappointments and they are onto something else, saying things like "it wasn't for me." The successful work harder and become more determined when things go bad, and understand that you have to take the bad with the good to make it.

3. Losers always have an excuse. Successful people say "my fault" and refuse to make excuses.

4. Losers think that not getting what they want is OK. Successful people are disgusted at the thought of not getting what they want and will do whatever it takes.

5. Losers always have to talk it over with their broke friends to make sure no one will make fun of them if they make a decision. Successful people think for themselves and could care less what their broke friends think.

6. Losers are never coachable and teachable. Successful people are always learning, even when the money starts coming in, they never stop learning from those who were there first.

7. Losers are scared of others. Successful people trust in others and know that other people are crucial for their success.

8. Losers are always procrastinating; they would rather talk about it, read about it, think about it, but never seem to do anything. Successful people hate doing anything but getting it done.

9. Losers are glad when the day is over. Successful people love when the day begins.

10. Losers think successful people are lucky. Successful people put themselves into a position to be "lucky," and then work hard to make the "luck" show up.

11. Losers work by the hour. Successful people work by the month. Losers want to know that after 1 hour of work they have something to show for it. Successful people find Losers who think like that and make them their employees.

12. Losers get excited they just got hired. Successful people think it is funny that someone could be fooled that easily; they are just making the successful person more successful.

13. Losers complain a lot. Successful people are thankful that no one shot at them today, they didn't have to fight in a war, and that they don't have a job.

14. Losers are too concerned about what other people are doing. Successful people are only concerned about what they can be doing to get more done. Losers think that if no one is doing something, it must suck. Successful people think that if no one is doing something, it means more money for them. Losers think that if everyone (all 200 people at the meeting in a city of 1 million) is doing something, it must be saturated. Successful people think that Losers aren't too bright.

15. Losers think it is OK for other people to live where they want to live, drive what they want to drive, and do what they want to do. Losers are OK with the fact that they can't do these things. Successful people get sick just thinking about being average. Losers think that other people's opinions are worth more than their dreams. Successful people know that their dreams are worth more than other people's opinions.
"To be successful, you must learn from Losers and do not do what they do nor think how they think."

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:30 PM | Permalink

I get to renew my driver's license today. Also, i am changing my name, so it's a good time for this to happen.

There are a lot of places where my name must be changed.

It's funny too. It's such a light thing, a name. It's air.

But the levels of beauracracy involved in changing it is staggering. Appointments, signatures, forms, copies of forms, approvals and waiting periods are involved.

I would like to have all of the name changing done before the end of the year. But I doubt that will happen.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 08:54 AM | Permalink

So, other people are thinking about being eco-friendly for the holidays.

It occurs to me, Al Gore set an example for how to handle the good credits I am accruing by using the bus. After all, it would be acceptable for me to take my car to work. I don't though! I am taking the bus, and taking it a LOT. This means I am accruing carbon credits.

And my dear husband has worked for years to create and sustain a business that he can do from home. He does not go out and greedily consume energy by driving places. He stays at home, and also accrues carbon credits.

I am thinking of giving these carbon credits to loved ones for Christmas. I can find a lump of coal, and affix a card to it:

Merry Christmas! Because of eco-friendly steps (literally) taken by Chris and Murphy Daley, this lump of coal avoids incineration. This is your carbon credit, to use against whatever wasteful habit you wish to pursue guilt-free. Peace on earth, and ecological equality for all!

Posted by Murphy Horner at 12:14 PM | Permalink

So, it's the 4th week of not driving to work.

I take my car only when I have to...Like this thursday I have to, because I have an appointment at the DMV to change my license.

but it's been going great. My bus system the Foothill transit is a very civilized bus system. They have new buses, called the Silver Streak, which I admire greatly but do not ride. The Silver Streak only goes downtown, and I need to go to Pasadena.

See? Those are the west end of the foothills I am transiting. That's a view of North Pasadena. And the end of my bus ride there and the start of my bus ride back. The very last stop before heading back home is in front of that Shell gas station. And in the bottom right corner is the stop before it.

The price of gas has greatly impacted my bus ride. To be honest, I didn't think that would happen. BUT it is now to be expected that there are not enough seats on the bus. It's getting kinda crazy! Almost every ride there are two people without a seat.

What do they think this is? Manhattan? this is LA and we need more or bigger busses or both.

I would like Foothill transit to give us a Silver Steak bus. In addition to their innate coolness, what with having a bendy middle and NAMES like ships ("Spirit of South El Monte", etc.), the Silver Streak has free wi-fi.

it would be very good to get the silver streak coming to my bus stops.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 11:37 AM | Permalink

So it came up in a book I'm reading right now. Of course, it was a teenage angst book. Crying in the bathroom. How many seeds of sorrow have been sown in public toilets all across America?

I can't be the only one. I'm sure there are a million stories that could be collected.

There is a website about crying while eating.

But the crying in the bathroom needs some of it's own attention.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 09:28 AM | Permalink

it's getting dark out

I forget sometimes...because it gets warm and dark in teh summer...It gets dark a lot earlier in the winter.

This is thanksgiving week. It will be pretty quiet except for the holiday party.

I plan on enjoying it

Posted by Murphy Horner at 06:42 PM | Permalink

So I'm working on the book again. I'm re-writing the beginning (AGAIN)

I was going to leave that for last, but I can't stand it. I have to re-write it so that the thing seems like it's one piece.

If it's one piece, then I can tell better what parts don't fit.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 12:08 PM | Permalink

So...I feel as I am squeezed dry of interesting thoughts.

I have a lot of uninteresting things circling in my head...

should I start the dog on obedience training?

Should I paint tonight or vaccuum?

Does the sniffles my husband have mean I should shower him with love, or leave him alone (since he's grumpy anyway)?

Where will I inject myself today...which of the many choice spots will accept the copaxone needle gently today?

Should I call the DMV for an appointment to change my name? Will they take a new photograph for my license?

Should I get over my addiction to whitespace on my blog?

It's to the point where I am annoying myself. Petty DETAILS...all the uninteresting nigglies of life...bleah.

It makes me want to call a friend and we can run off and be witty and sparkling together..YAY!

But what witty and sparkling person would want to spend time with dull drabby detail dragging me?

and I have to paint, and go to the DMV, and walk the dog and be sweet to the man and reorganize my website and shoot myself...hip or thigh?...i forget...but I'm BUSY

and BORED

Posted by Murphy Horner at 09:45 AM | Permalink

And I'm not even talking off white and arctic white, or seabreeze white or all the other versions of beige that martha stewart might call white.

I mean white white.

I have just finished caulking the new bathroom. I grouted it with white grout, and the white grout went around white tile.

THe caulk went around a white shower base and a white toilet.

The white toilet has a white toilet seat. It is the conjunction of the white toilet and the whilte toilet seat that made me realize that all whites are not created equal.

Because to me, they are glaringly different shades of white.

And once you start noticing the different shades of white, it is an avalance. All those above items: grout, tile, toilet, shower base and caulk are different shades of white.

I guess I just have to be open minded about it--not b so black and white.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 08:45 PM | Permalink

Today, Chris and I met at Capp's Pizza on Castro street in downtown Mountian View.

I did not expect that we would get married.

But life is full of surprises.

Tonight, we will celebrate that we met by making enchiladas together.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 08:25 AM | Permalink

This month is when a lot of pies happen.

There is pumpkin, of course, and many many other types. Pecan, Fruit (particularly apple), berries, mince meat (yuk), and the various pudding-type pies.

I like pie. I like to make it from scratch. I bought some pumpkin to get a start on it. I make a mean walnut pie. Grandma Ruth has mentioned a fondness for strawberry cream pie...Maybe I should try to make that...

but there are a lot of other things vying for my attention.

Really, though, pie is important and should not be neglected.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 07:14 AM | Permalink

So this week it was finally diagnosed. My doctor read my spine juice and diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis.

There is some reason, and nobody quite knows why, that my body decides to attack my nervous system and eat away at the myelin

It was scary when they first said I might have it. It was mostly scary because I didn't really know what it was. But I've learned a lot more about it since then, and it seems like it's something I can live with.

They have super-duper awesome drugs for it now. I'm taking copaxone. I had my first chance to inject myself with this stuff yesterday. It hurt, I'm not going to lie to you. It didn't hurt to put the needle it, but it stung for the first 15 minutes or so and then it felt like a bruise the rest of the day.

But they say that it doesn't hurt so much over time, that your body gets used to it.

Chris thinks i should inject it at night, and then maybe by the time I wake up it won' t hurt anymore. I'll try that. In fact, I'll try that tonight. My first unsupervised injection happens tonight. Oh, yeah, you have to inject yourself with this stuff every day.

Between me and my diabetic cat, we will be the house of needles.

Check this out, though. The copaxone is a lovely drug. And I have lovely medical coverage. Kaiser is quite the comprehensive HMO. 5 bucks is what I pay for a months supply.

But Copaxone costs $1693 for a month's supply. Yes, that's right. One thousand six hundred ninety three dollars. That's $56.43 per shot... and $20,316 a year. Holy God!

I'm calling it my medical bling. I will not be taking medical coverage for granted anymore. Not for the rest of my life.

I am feeling very blessed that I have the most stable job I've ever had, probably the most stable job it's possible to have in America in the 21st century. My boss is the best boss I've ever had. So, I don't feel insecure.

By all accounts I have a super light case of the MS right now. And I'm going on the drugs that are supposed to keep it that way.

I thought about not telling people. I mean, maybe people would be all weird. I wouldn't have to tell. Looking at me, there is no way to tell that anything is wrong with me.

Actually, all the million tests they did on me to diagnose show that I'm a picture of health. Low blood pressure, low cholesterol. The only thing wrong with me is that my body is trying to eat my brain.

Isnt' it ironic?

Well, MS doesn't shorten people's life. Doesn't kill you. Heart problems and cancer can kill you. I got a different kind of disease.

Anyway, I thought about not telling people. But then I thought, well, why not? I've always been an open book. The benefit I might reap from people not knowing seemed slight in comparison with the effort it would take for me to restrain from talking about it.

Plus, I read that it's protected under the disabilities act...and I can't get fired for having it.

In last month's issue of Neurology Now (the only magazine in the nuerology dept. lobby..I'm quite up on it now) one guy did get fired for having MS....he was blind in one eye...But he was old, and that was before hmankind advanced enough to have laws against being mean to people.

Yes, and one of the first things I did when I heard I might have this is tell a few close friends. and then it turned out that almost every one of them knew somebody that had it. And that that person had been diagnosed, scared, and then went on with their life.

If I tell people about this, when another person gets diagnosed and goes to tell their nearest and dearest, those people might know me (or read this blog). That person might get some comfort from knowing somebody who is doing okay.

It's only fair. That's what living an open life is for...To be an example to other people of what happens.

It's been an exciting month.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 05:18 PM | Permalink

There are a lot of things to talk about. I have had a full brain of thoughts.

But I have had a full schedule too.

umm...The leaves are falling. Dog is good, cat is good, I am okay.

Chris is okay.

The dollar is falling against the Euro, which is not okay, but we will deal with it.

not so many shopping days until christmas.

be good to one another.

More to come.

Posted by Murphy Horner at 02:58 PM | Permalink