Stories - FD Thornton

Being an analyst in the business tech field, it's my job to keep up with trends in technology. So like most folks in this "information age" I'm flooded everyday with something new to read. I remember a number of years ago speaking over the phone with a remote technician about an IT problem I was having at work. I was just starting my studies in the field, so after he resolved our problem, I couldn't help but ask some advice. The one thing he said to me that stuck to my brain was, "In IT you never stop learning, there's always a manual or text you have to read."  And through my studies and work, I've discovered he was right. You never stop reading.   While I'm more than sure most of us in any analytic field seem to be overwhelmed with data. The problem comes when we are looking for space to put all that information. There are any number of business data solutions out there that thousands of vendors are selling. My concern here is the informa

I think of myself as a big picture kind of guy. I can look at a situation at a given number of feet above it, and can usually see an answer to the problem. Or in some situations I can have a great idea and even plan out many of the steps. The place where I run into the most trouble is, staying true to the course and following through. While I'm sure a lot of you out there have the same problem, do any of us have a solution to our shortcoming? At times I have so many things running through my head, I lose track of which thought goes where. And while I can be laser focused on discovering an answer to a problem. The answer usually only comes when I walk away from it in strange moments of clarity. Being this way is why I choose analysis as a career. Honestly, I don't find myself attached to running a business as much as I love the challenge of solving a problem.  That may sound a bit "weird", but in all honesty it's the challenge of the hunt, that attracts me.   M

One of the ticks you can say I have, as well as many others, is my need for perfection. Perfection itself, I guess isn't a bad thing. I guess the problem comes from the idea that everything we (I) do has to be perfect. So many times during my work and school career, I have found myself disappointed even when the results were good. Just thinking about that for a moment is kinda sad, because of all the joy I robbed myself of because I want things perfect.  I can sit here and quote person after person, that has written about the anchor of perfectionism. But what I want to do is write how this anchor has weighed my self image down. On more occasions than I care to count, I've robbed myself of the simplest pleasure of doing well and achieving something. When I earned my Associates degree a few years back, my advisors were so happy because of the many hardships and problems I went through to earn it.  Looking back, I should be ashamed of my reaction simply because of the hollow u

If you have read enough of my post you know I try and put a positive spin on whatever life subject that I'm touching on. Most of my writing has come from my own experiences and the experiences of those I love. While many of the experiences that I've had can be looked it from a degree of sympathy. There is another in my life that have been dealt much worse hands than any I ever had.  This individual means the world to me, in fact the last 25+ years of my life have been devoted to giving her all I can. For many others this individual has be considered disposable or insignificant, but in my life she has fulfilled dreams and made miracles come true. On the surface she may be consider hard to understand or uncomfortable to be around. In all honesty I sometimes forget and speak harshly to her myself, but in time I'm reminded that in my harshness I am very wrong.  I often have been complimented on my taking on the task of caring for this individual. When in reality they should

Just last night I finished an ebook that I honestly didn't think I would finish. Not that it was boring (maybe a bit long winded), still it was informative and interesting. The book is by Steve Stossel and it's titled  My Age of Anxiety  (I put a link to Amazon here if you want to see it). The book is about Stossel's life dealing with anxiety and a bit of a history lesson in on how the world has dealt with depression and anxiety.  While most of my reading on the subject has dealt with, for lack of a better word, relief of anxiety and depression. Stossel's book goes more into an almost academic look into the history and thinking of depression and anxiety. So if looking for relief, I'd suggest sticking to the great works of Thich That Hanh . Still for those of us that have suffered from anxiety and depression, it is a good read for the more logical side of one's thinking.  My point here in discussing this is when dealing with anxiety and depression, while it t

I'm not one with great sleeping habits, as my wife can attest. No matter the hour I go to bed 10, 11, or 12 pm, I usually pop right up around 3 to 4 am. This doesn't mean I'm bright-eyed  and  bushy-tailed  ready to go. It just means for whatever psychological / biological reason I simply wake up.  Tonight being no different than any other here I am at 3:29 am wide awake. Usually I've settled to make practical use of my time by reading or checking the news on my tablet. But tonight seemed to be special due to my anxiety being up a bit and my body refusing to let me relax.  It's funny how this thing works , while I may have read up on all the latest about a particular thing I suffer from and have tried out the latest methods of treatment. It still doesn't prevent the condition from sometimes dominating your life. By that I mean, my heart can get a bit racy and a part of my mind starts running all the worst case scenarios it can. Still I know what's going

Recently I was filling out a health questionnaire for a doctor. While I wanted to be honest as possible with my answers, many of does answers I was not very proud of. I'm sure that most everyone reading this can agree there are many areas of our lives we could have done a better job.  As I grow older, I'll be honest and tell you, I don't feel old. But when I look at old photographs of family and friends I often ask myself, "when did they get so old?" The ironic part of that question is, they probably say the same thing about me. Yet life and death are all part of the cycle. I guess when we were younger 50 looks like a very far away thing. It isn't until you get to that mile marker and beyond that you realise some of the stupid shit you have done.  This brings me to the point of how to correctly use a rearview mirror. In this instance the rearview mirror is all of us looking back at those victories and defeats in our lives. We are bound to have a few of bo

One of the few things I don't like about Blogger is it seems you have to produce a title before you start working on the post. My thing has always been when I sit down to write, I usually don't have central thought in mind when I begin. I'm sure that if many of you that write may think that foolish or at least you now understand why most all my post are the way they are.  Still that's my stick and I'm sticking by it. Recently I've been playing around with a new venture. I've been trying my hand at keeping up a website called My Mid_Life . So far it's just a series of personal post not much different than what you see here. I suppose the thing I'm working to do is create and develop a personal brand. Personal branding seems to be the new buzzwords in marketing, companies have been doing it for years. And with, the explosion of social media now more than ever to get your face, name, or business out there by creating and developing your personal bran

Earlier today I wrote in my twitter account, "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. Today I'm the bug. #GoBug" As many of you well know the old saying is about being on top and sometimes not. So while today I'm not on top I still celebrate being the bug.  If you think about it that's a good attitude to take. Rather you're up or down take each moment as it comes. Anybody with any sense knows that not everyday is a winner, and that's okay. Because in the low points of our lives we can still learn and grow. So don't feel that everyday has to be sunshine and rainbows. Cause even storms bring much needed rain.  So while I lie here and work to get better, try and remember to take the good with the bad. We all hit low points, but they don't have to be low points. I mean understand, when your not your best, that's okay. You got more days ahead to shine.