Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Travel

Is Your Smart Phone Making You Stupid?

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The smarter our smart phones get, the dumber we're becoming behind the wheel of a car.

Teens get blasted for texting and driving, but let me tell you, it isn't just kids.  While I don't text and drive, I do have my unsafe moments of cell phone use.  Those of us who are older and "wiser" are guilty of our own set of cell phone violations – looking up numbers, dialing while driving, reading email, etc…

There's a line in this video, "What is worth losing your life over?  That text message?"  That question stopped me dead in my tracks of cell phone usage.  

You see, even though my car is equipped with bluetooth and I've got two hands on the wheel, I find myself looking up phone numbers, dialing, and pressing send while driving.  No more even just a little distraction for me.  Watch this, join me, and let's live longer, healthier lives while driving safely for us and those other people on the road.

Really!  How busy are you that it can't wait until conditions to text or call are safe?

 

 

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Free Business Tips, Ideas, & Advice for Running (& Starting) Small Businesses and Leading Your Life!

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The challenges of being in business by yourself need not be a burden you carry alone. May I come alongside you for 2 to 4 minutes per week to offer sound business advice and mentoring via a free subscription to the On-Purpose Business Minute and On-Purpose Minute?
 
Every On-Purpose Business Minute packs a practical punch of business ideas, concepts, and tips for your real life challenges of starting and running a business. On-Purpose Minutes help you become a better leader of your life. The better you lead your life, the better you'll lead your business and team. Let's engage in all things business and life. You'll learn how to:
  • Identify and reach more clients & customers. Gain Sales.
  • Use simple business strategies & marketing plans. Work Smarter.
  • Get unstuck and get yourself moving forward. Lead Better.
  • Overcome procrastination and being overwhelmed. Get Moving.
  • Know what matters most. Be Focused.
  • Lead your business from your strengths. Make Better Decisions.
  • Build your business systematically. Be More Profitable.
  • Enjoy and integrate your life and work. Be On-Purpose!

To Subscribe Click Here!

Please watch my invitation to you!

 

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May I invest in your business with my best thinking, business tips, and leadership advice? Each video and accompanying text sheds light on real business problems and life challenges we all face. Each is practical, poignant, and intelligent. Opportunities to learn, grow, and build a better business and life abound. Here you can profit and still keep your soul.

  • Every Tuesday you will receive an On-Purpose Minute to help you grow as a leader in life and on the job.
  • Every Thursday you will receive an On-Purpose Business Minute with business tips, ideas & advice to help you lead your business and team to success.

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The AT Adventure Begins!

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June 26, 2010

Charles, 19, and Anne McCarthy, 17, our son and daughter head from Amicalola Falls State Park, just north of Atlanta, GA., to go on a 30-day hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT).  Judith has been sick so I took them up and walked the first three miles with them to Frosty Mountain.  This video picks up the start of their adventure on the Approach to the AT.  The back story is below the video.

Please
enjoy this 5-minute video and then I invite you to use the comments section below to share what adventure you would do if you were brave.

Back Story: Charles has been hiking the AT since he was ten when he went to Camp Deep
Woods for Boys, a truly life-changing experience for him thanks to
Kells Hogan, the Camp Director.  At the Christ
School Outdoor Program, Charles continued his love of outdoor
adventure and training.  Anne, on the other hand, is a novice hiker but a
game competitor. 

This all started this winter when Charles posted a request on Facebook inviting people to join him on the AT.  His itinerary was planned to attract others to join him for the entire hike or to join him part way.   The only person who responded was Anne!  Kudos to her for stepping up.  Kudos to both for thinking it was a cool idea to hike the AT with their sibling.

Some think Judith and I are crazy to allow our older teens to hike the AT alone.  We think we're crazy not to support them in this adventure.  There is tremendous support and services along the way.  This is wilderness, but not raw and unmapped wilderness.  Both kids' abilities to reason and make good decisions are strong.  Here's an amazing opportunity for them to work together as a brother and sister
while testing personal character and endurance against what nature can
throw their way.  Leadership is about facing fears and challenges both
physical and mental.  Frankly, we couldn't be more proud of them both.

We also figure that this hike will either bond them for life or one of them will the kill the other.  Clearly, we're betting on the former outcome and feel the odds are heavily in our favor.  I guess the theory is this:  What our failures as parents didn't produce in them they are likely to beat each other into a better relationship on this trip!  Tell me now who is crazy!

Thank
you fellow National Speakers Association member Jana Stanfield
whose song, If I Were Brave provides the music score.  She's
gracious about granting permission for use.

For the record, I did
jog from Frosty Mtn. back to the car in just under an hour.  I had a few
stops to chat with other hikers, drink water, and walk some of the
uphill sections.  Then I hit the road and drove home to Winter Park.  What a great day!

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Embrace Life

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SeatbeltImage via Wikipedia

All I can say is, "Wow!" 

Thank you Sussex Roads Partnership for sharing this message of seat belt use safety.  This adds a whole new meaning to buckle up, family love, and the guardian angel nature of seat belts.  

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Customer Service Laughs

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We all have our travel war stories.  I just had to add my most recent experiences to the "I wonder what they are thinking" file.

Wireless Wonders
OK, so I check into the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, AZ for a convention. My wife and I just traveled way too many hours thanks to a thunderstorm over the Atlanta airport that had us missing our connecting flight and the next flight because it was already overbooked.  I go to power up my laptop to handle a few items while my wife is taking a bath before we crash for the night.

I'm greeted by a screen that informs me internet connections are $12.95 per 24 hour period or $3.95 per hour.   Let's face it – when Hampton Inn can give you free wireless access, why is a five star resort gouging its patrons by making wireless internet service a profit center?   Frankly, I was ticked off about it.  Here I was stuck for four days at this beautiful resort and I couldn't shake the feeling I was being raked over the coals.  At least they didn't have a meter on the water for the shower and bath tub.

Thinking there might be some sort of group rate or discount available, I called the front desk and asked if there was a group rate for wireless service.  "No," the woman told me.   Admittedly, I vented my frustration when I said, "Gee, Hampton Inn gives you free wireless; you would think the Phoenician would have this service for free."  Her response was priceless:  "Sir, we're a five star resort not a Hampton Inn."

The message I got was if you can't afford the car, then don't complain about the price of gasoline.  So come on Phoenician, get into the 21st Century of basic services for guests. 

Great place to stay otherwise!

Delayed Thinking
So we're heading home from the trip to Phoenix.  Delta Airlines calls my cell phone around noon Eastern time to say our connecting flight from Cincinnati to Orlando is delayed from 8:15 PM to 10:00 PM.  I'm impressed. 

We arrive at Cincinnati to find the 10:00 flight time is still the mark.  About fifteen minutes before boarding we're informed that the flight departure is now delayed to 11:30!  So with a 1 hour and 49 minute flight that puts us home at 1:30 am.  Thankfully, we've adjusted somewhat to the three-hour time difference in Phoenix. 

What few of us in the airport realized was the food court and all shops closed at 9:00 on this Sunday evening.  That meant you had about 200 souls and two vending machines tucked behind the food court half a concourse away.  Now Delta had only about ten hours to make other arrangements for the plane, but they bet they could get this one on the ground fixed.  About 10:30 someone from Delta threw a flat of water and some biscuit cookies and peanuts on the counter and announced, "Come and get it."

Judith and I were fine sitting there.  It was the families with all the little kids heading to Disney World for whom I felt true compassion. 

Fortunately, when we got on the plane, the flight attendant, Peter, had a plan.   A free movie and headsets for everyone. He did a great job of apologizing to the passengers.   The movie was 17 Again.  You aren't going to believe this, but the plane landed just before the movie ended.  So if anyone knows how the movie ended… email me!

It gets funnier…

Bathroom Humor
We land in Orlando just past 1:30 AM.  Judith and I head to the baggage claim to get our bags.   The Orlando airport is empty except for passengers from our flight and another from Atlanta.   They place all of us at carousel 30.   About this time, nature is calling me so I head to the bathroom for an on-purpose pee.  I see it has one of those bright orange cones in front and a cleaning cart.   I walk in and a woman is cleaning the men's room.   She scolds me for coming in and tells me to leave.  I comply. 

I walk half a concourse to another men's room.   It is closed with a barricade.   I walk back up to baggage claim 30 hoping the attendant is finished.   She's standing in front of the entrance blocking people from going in.  Get this… a male attendant is standing in front of the women's bathroom entrance blocking women from going in. Do you think they could have switched?  

So here you have about 400 people all waiting for the bags with the only two bathrooms within 500 yards being blocked by staff of the opposite sex from the bathroom they are cleaning.   Could they have switched bathrooms?  No!  Could they have accommodated the only two flights left to come into the airport at now 2 AM?  No!  My Spanish is not good otherwise I might have argued the point.  What were they thinking?

I just had to laugh… fortunately not hard enough to wet my pants.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin