A good Pope says goodbye

Of all the ones I’ve known, Pope Francis has been my favorite and I’m sad he’s gone, even though I’m not a practicing catholic. Still I know that I’m counted into the 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide and that’s okay with me. 

That figure is based on the number of people who have been baptized into the Catholic faith. This said, it seems that the Catholic Church isn’t too exacting when it comes to keeping statistics, simply because of its sheer size, as there are more than 250 million Catholic parishes. 

Assessing the number of faithful doesn’t hinge on strict methodology, instead, parish priests are asked to estimate the size of their flock. That's partly a function of how many people turn up to mass, but they also make some sort of guesstimate of the number who might come along for rites of passage like baptism, first communion, weddings, funerals and so on. 

This may lead to some vast over-counting of anyone who has lapsed or left the Church altogether or has even died be still is counted, a problem that every religion faces, not to mention a natural human tendency for one-upmanship that most religious are guilty of. 

But back to Pope Francis, filled with humility, compassion and goodness, I can only hope that his successor will be as tough on the Catholic establishment and the Curia as his predecessor has been, and will continue on the path of meaningful reforms, for which I’m still ready to be disappointed...

Sure, Francis as a Pope wasn’t perfect as he stumbled with Ukraine, but even when labeled “infallible” who really is?  In the meantime, as Pope Francis discovers that there’s an afterlife or just nothing, I wish him a well-deserved rest!

Monarchy at a dead-end?

Now that QE II is gone, time to reprint or mint all the currency anew, change the mail-boxes or update the Royal Warrants (yeah, these accredited official supplier labels). 

That’s gonna cost a pretty penny but everyone seems to suggest that it’s part of the cost of UK’s tourism promotion, so everything’s okay, regardless of the actual hard cost. 

Well, that wouldn’t be so bad if the new banknotes replacing the Queen showed each member of the Rolling Stones, Beatles and Spice Girls, but the likeness of Charles is another story. 

Not only the guy releases negative charisma in his wake, but who can tell how long he’ll be able to live, let alone survive his son’s pressure to take his job, not to mention the inevitable debate about Monarchy’s questionable future? 

That perspective makes me see such a move as a dubious investment. Instead, I’d let the banknotes wear out, replacing them with likenesses of Mickey Mouse or Boris Johnson if my above suggestions fail to convince the Royal Bank of England. 

Besides, nobody uses coins or mail letters anymore and as for product endorsements, folks prefer glancing at their smart-phone rather check if Heinz ketchup is approved by Buckingham Palace!

If I were Charles III...

...I would want I would like my reign – however short – to be totally different. I’d want to be a different Head of State, make a big splash and be an agent for change. 

I would declare that it is time to put an end to this anachronistic practice called monarchy, and put an end to this costly and unproductive institution which focuses only on pageantry and tradition. 

Of course, I would set aside enough money for the entire royal family to live decently and with dignity during their transition to normal life. This would be an opportunity for Charles to leave a strong mark on our present civilization.

He will just have to do that in 2023, because if he decided to announce this good news this year, he would be largely eclipsed for the award of the Time’s Man of the Year title announced end of December and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will undoubtedly receive...

Differentiating between Goals and Objectives

I just finished reading “Illogical” by Emmanuel Acho. A best-selling self-help book targeted at the young people (like me?) trying to figure out their path in life. 

Among a few “nuggets” contained in that otherwise “feel-good” reading, I landed on what ought to be the difference between goals and objective, but since the crux of it was neither well explained nor developed by the author, I was forced to research the subject further. 

First, I must admit that I have been using both words interchangeably without even bothering to find out if they were distinctly different, so it was a good opportunity to educate myself on their meaning. I started to get some insight from the textbook definition of the two actions: 

A goal is an achievable outcome that is generally broad and long-term while an objective defines measurable actions to achieve the overall goal. To put is simply, a series of objective can be a mean to achieving a goal. As most of us know, setting goals and objectives helps achieve some desired results. 

This is a long way from the definition I deducted from the book I was referring to, so I’m glad I checked! While both are important, goals and objectives differ when it comes to the specific actions one should take. 

To start with goals, they come in three main types: time-bound, for setting timely actions, outcome-oriented that are focused on the end result, and process-oriented to address the way we should carry them out. Sometime, when time is tight, a goal may incorporate all three types. 

Objective also come in three types, they can be strategic in nature that is purpose driven, they can also take a tactical form focused on short-term deliverables and their results, and finally, they can be operational contributing to daily, weekly or monthly goals.

That seems a bit complicated while in fact it’s fairly simple, but we have made the whole story look that way by mixing them goals and objective like tangled up twine...

What would you do in Prince Charles’ shoes?

As I just finished reading “Prince Charles”, by Sally Bedell Smith, and learn a lot in the process, I happened to learn that Queen Elizabeth II could "step down" as early as next year and hand her royal power to Prince Charles, thus retiring from official duties during the rest of her lifetime. 

This would open the possibility for her son to rule as Prince Regent. While I’m not suggesting that a new minted Prince Regent might change everything, should his Mom pass away before him, as she ought to, he’d then become King and could call all the shots he want. 

He’s already showed the world that he was a very patient kid. After taking some pretty remarkable position in architecture, organic architecture and over climate change, I would expect to stay on his revolutionary path and finally do the right thing. 

What would that be? 

Simple, abolish Royalty. That would be big, that would be bold and so much Charles!

How to engage political adversaries

Political polarization is actively discouraging constructive discussions among people who are standing on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum and ends up encouraging isolation and breaking what could have been neighborly and friendly relationships.

Faced with this, there's only one way to constructively deal with it: Discuss it head-on, in a civil, smart and cool way.

Generally, I have a tough time with this approach because I'm so emotional that I tend to get hot around the collar too fast and for no good reason. This is an area where I must improve by bringing more self-control to the situation.

Another place where I need to get my act together, is by convincing through hard facts, common-sense reasoning and a disarming sense of humor. We'll revisit the issue when I have improved and have a developed a good strategy.

In the meantime, I seriously need to work on it!

Great planning, lousy facts

Several days ago, I had to have my car brake pads changed in Salt Lake City and since that work takes time, I thought it would be cool to stop by the Social Security office there, where I had something to check. After that, we'd return to Park City in order to attend a public meeting, and then we planned to have dinner at our favorite restaurant.

Things look terrific on paper and deep inside me, I was proud to be such an exacting planner. Reality would prove a lot different... Getting to the garage was easy, my appointment had been booked for 1 pm and the job would take about two and a half hour.

That left us plenty of time to hop in the garage's shuttle and visit with the Social Security office in downtown Salt Lake. When we got there, to my dismay, I saw a notice saying that office would be closed that Wednesday afternoon. Sure, it was opened every day a week from 9 am to 5 pm, but for some reason was shut down when we needed to go there.

With plenty of time ahead of us, we walked back to the garage under a 94 degrees heat! Since our car was ready on time, we returned home and waited till 4:45 pm to drive to the Park City public library where the hearing was scheduled. Upon getting there, I discovered that the meeting had taken place the night before. I simply had entered the wrong date on my calendar!

To cheer ourselves up we returned home for a well deserved drink, and while we were enjoying a cool one in the shade, I had the intelligent idea to call the restaurant, just in case, only to learn that it was only opened on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, during the late spring season.

Bottom line:

My planning was stunning, yet the checks and balances were terrible. I only got 25% of what I had planned. Another good lesson learned; next time, I'll call before going anywhere!

The “One-Sale” Salesman

Most of us have dealt with a wide variety of sales people over the years and in so doing, have seen a huge variety of different styles at work.

Arguably, the best one would be the one that truly tried to build a sincere rapport with the customer in order to foster a long-term relationship that would unavoidably lead – as a nice bonus – into multiple, pleasant transactions.

At the opposite end of that spectrum is the sales guy that has to make the sale no matter what it takes. Do accomplish that he or she will lie, cheat, deceive, insult, harass and bully. This sales approach is generally unexpected and most people facing it are so taken aback and ill-prepared that they can't handle it.

Chances are, the thug will trample them, may very well win the contest and ultimately get the sale, but this will be a Pyrrhic victory, or in more prosaic terms, a one-time sale.

While old men won't leave...

I was relieved to see Fidel Castro in public, recently, sporting a brand new Adidas suit. Seems that he let his contract with Fila lapse, or that the German brand gave him some extra pesos... 

I frankly thought he was long dead and kept in some cold storage until the Cuban Communist Party could find a story easy to believe for everyone to hear, but no, he seems still animated with some form of energy.

My point in observing Fidel make a short media appearance is that he deserves some credit for leaving the rudder to his brother.

I wish more old people (both younger and older than him) had the guts to leave their never-ending job and pass the torch to someone younger, brighter and more energetic for the good of everyone under their leadership...