May 30, 2009

You’ve heard of evangelists, now read about a new society, a society where everyone procrastinates. In fact, why not join our society and be in good company. We meet once a month when we can decide on a date, and you’ll join great company if the other members can be bothered coming to a meeting.

There’s a benefit behind belonging to SLOP; for a start, you will never need to feel guilty about not completing any tasks because we will teach you the tricks of the trade where you can rationalize quite convincingly, that you meant to do it, but were far too busy. Of course there are other ways that you can explain away your procrastination, but you’ll have to attend a meeting to get those; when we plan it.

The founding two members meet regularly since we have desks next to each other. We support one another all the time by explaining to the other how hard working they are, until he feels good about not finishing the task. Phil, he’s the other guy who started SLOP with me, plans on making a logo for our group when he can be bothered; I look forward to seeing it someday.

We have a whole range of mottos, one being ‘look forward to tomorrow.’ Isn’t it great? I always set tasks for tomorrow since I know that tomorrow never comes. See how simple it is to make excuses? “Hey Ian, can you get ……….. finished for me?” “Yeh, no worries, I’ll finish it tomorrow.” Makes sense doesn’t it?

Guess what! We even have a theme song. Remember Peggy Lee? She sang ‘Manyana’ a song about putting it off until tomorrow. “And then I say Manyana and it’s good enough for me.”

In deed, we are in good hands. I have worked out that God has been misquoted. Why is the earth’s population increasing so rapidly? It was reported that God said, “Go forth and procreate.” That was an error. God said, “Go forth and procrastinate,” but since there wasn’t much to procrastinate about way back then, He was quoted incorrectly. So let’s correct God’s message of wisdom. Join us.

If you don’t think you will ever be as good as Phil and me, hey, we have a principle which will ease you in. It is called the ‘Conditional Manyana Principle.’ You can always say, “I am waiting for more information before I can complete this task.” It might be true, but we’ll recognize it as an excuse. No problem!

There is one thing that’s certain. Many of our students (yes, we are teachers) would feel right at home within our group. They learnt the principles all by themselves. Phil and I are quite proud of them. I mean, for me, I have less work to mark and the students have an excuse for failing. How can anyone say they have failed if the work wasn’t done. Think about it. How good can you feel if a fail grade is given when the work wasn’t done in the first place?

Even the perfectionist student can join SLOP. Oh yes they can! Why complete the work if it isn’t going to be as good as I would want? ‘Hey, if I complete the work, and it is good, then won’t , they the teachers, expect good work next time?’ See! It is that simple. Excuses can be generated from anything, so get off your butt and join us.

You may not be old enough to remember, but back in the late seventies, their used to be a round badge with the word ‘tuit’ printed on it. You know, it was for those who finally got around to it. Ha ha, but Phil and I plan to redesign the badge. No longer do we have to be humiliated by the sentiment behind that hideous badge. We plan on putting a big red cross through it. Yep, we will never get ‘a round tuit’, not because we are lazy, but simply because tomorrow never comes. It is difficult for us though when we set home work. I can’t set the due date for tomorrow, so, I violate one of our basic principles by giving an actual due date. Ah well, we can’t always be perfect at what we do best. But the students, they still stand beholden to the manyana principle

I expect my email box to be over flowing with requests to join SOP. Maybe not today, may be not in the next week, or month, because good procrastinationalists would take the time to think about what they are committing to. There’s no need to rush is there?

Many a good business venture has been lost because of prolonged thinking, but we would rather think that it wouldn’t have worked. So, dream on and have great success in your mind, let’s face it, you wouldn’t have succeeded anyway.

Good luck to you all. Look for our web page-when we get the time to complete it.

Phil and Ian

May 11, 2009

Cancer is serious. Like the flue or a cold, you can’t just take a pill to get cured. It cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, unlike the flue or a cold which are expressed very soon after contracting the disease, cancer can lay latent, hidden until the right moment to be expressed. But, cancer can provide us with warning signs which are often ignored, particularly amongst men.

Yes, I’m talking about cancer of the prostate. Symptoms include slow urine flow, slow to start, burning sensations, even a pain in the back. Just a sniff of cancer regarding the prostate and many men go into an apoplectic fit. “No ones going to stick a finger up my arse,” they laugh. But if they have the cancer, they don’t laugh for long. A lousy thing to say, but unfortunately true.

You know, there is no loss of dignity about the digital-rectal inspection. It is still rated as a major test for cancer of the prostate. No, it cannot diagnose the disease 100%, but it certainly suggests that the disease may exist within the prostate and is a prompt for more accurate tests, such as a biopsy.

Choose life, not false pride or manhood. I’m sure your family will be please if you do. Life goes on after the procedure. I have lived seven years beyond the operation which eliminated my cancer, and I expect to live a lot longer yet.

Be positive. Take the test and get satisfaction of knowing.

May 9, 2009

It is seven years since I had my prostate removed because of cancer of the prostate. Seven years is a long time when confronting cancer, and I believe that I will endure many more years yet.

Since my initial operation, I have had radiation treatment and Hormone therepy, now, I am at the will of the Gods, so to speak. I am free lancing, living from day to day without a thought for cancer. I bring it up now, because I need to demonstrate that you can fight prostate cancer.

Yes, there may be side effects which many men might find daunting, but I am alive and loving it. I have a new grand daughter, Mika making a grand total (no pun intended) of grand children of seven. Seven years since the operation and seven grand kids. A lucky number.

If I had not undergone a radical prostatectomy, I might not be here now to tell you about it, and I would have missed out on seeing my grand children growing up. Which is more important? Keeping my self image as a man alive or living to tell the story while keeping a watchful eye on my grand kids? I know what I would rather do, and I did it.

Since my operation, I know four other men who have since gone under the knife and had their prostate removed. All of them are grad that they did and are living healthy lives. I believe that we owe it to our families to live and enjoy life with them, rather than put them through the trauma of death. Why am I saying this? Because too many men refuse to have a check up and too many men refuse to do anything about it when they find out that they have cancer of the prostate. What a shame. Death is forever, life is short so why not make the most of life and have a check-up or, have the vital operation which will save your life. What have you got to lose!

Be a man, face your problems head on and live to tell the story.

Help support Kids with cancer. Look through my web pages and find my eBook on cancer of the prostate. 80% of royalties go the kids with cancer. I will add your story if you choose; send me an email telling me about your experience.

May 3, 2009

What a strange land of video this is. All sorts of silly stuff get on you tube so I thought I’d join them. Of course I had to use it to make a video to advertise my book so if any of you want to see a clip of me making a fool of my self, go to you tube and search for ‘Stay: The search begins.’

There was a clip of a guy pulling a funny face and it had 220, 000 hits. I can’t believe it! If I get ten hits I’d be happy. If I got more, I’d be ecstatic. If I got more than 100, you’d have to read my funeral information.

 

Ah well, that’s the way it goes. My fame might come from making an ass of myself on this media.