Friday, February 13, 2009

More of Friday.. How to fix hoists and influence yourself..

The broken car hoist at my workshop was causing me some concern. Not only am I not there to earn any income but with the main wheel alignment hoist out of action Kurt was having to turn work away.
I got on the phone to Murray and asked if he could come by on Monday and remove the damaged parts, show Kurt how to reassemble the hoist and also get the parts repaired by the engineers. Murray said it was a shame it couldn't be done today as he had been rained off for a job he was doing today.

Not long after that phone call the nurse told me that I could leave and get out for the afternoon if I wanted. I quickly phoned Murray back and he came and picked me up. I was soon decked out in my overalls and stripping the pulleys and cables from the four post hoist back at my workshop. Problem solved! Murray and Kurt have offered reassemble it on Monday night for me.

Sarah brought me back to hospital tonight at around 5pm and I'm now waiting for another thirty minute round of chemo at 9:00pm. I'm still feeling pretty good, just the usual dull feeling but nothing as scary as I was expecting. The other rooms here are full of really sick people and once again I almost feel like I shouldn't be here. Maybe it's a blessing that I always think I'm well when I'm sick.
Two weeks ago when I was admitted with a neutropenic fever I didn't think it was a big deal and I didn't really feel all that unwell. But once I really was back to good health I realise that maybe I was quite sick. It makes me think of that Monty Python movie, The Search for the Holy Grail, where the Knight has both his arms cut off and both his legs and he is yelling at his enemy to come back and fight and that it's only a flesh wound.

I've dragged out a couple of books to re-read. First of them is probably one of the most life changing books I've ever read. The first time I read it was about fifteen years ago. The Book? The terribly named " How to Win Friends and Influence People". I always feel embarrassed about the title when reading it in public and go to great lengths to hide the cover. Face it could Dale Carnegie have chosen a more insincere sounding title?. The fact is it's actually a really good read and although most people will read it and say "I already knew most of what he says", I myself often forget to implement the common sense advise that he offers. If you haven't read it, I suggest if you really want to make a huge difference in the way you see other people and other people see you, give it a read. It's not about influencing people in an insensere way to suit your own ends (as the title might suggest) but a way of understanding what people want and feel and using that knowledge to your mutual advantage in your work, your relationships and social life.

What I do know is that I have slipped back into my old ways, I used to be very critical when I was younger, Then I grew out of it and became a lot more positive. I've mellowed a lot in the last few years, but I've stopped implementing some of the good advice the book offers. A re-reading was definitely over-due.

Anyway.. back to it, just another couple of chapters to read. :)

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