May 12, 2006

• Timmy posted this earlier...

  "A
  child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior,
  his learning and ultimately his earning power," states Michael Grose,
  author of "Why First Born Rule the World and Last-borns Want to Change
  It." "Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow
  has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far-reaching
  and just how significant that impact really is."
  
  Conley concedes
  that birth order is significant in shaping individual success, but only
  for children of large families -- four or more siblings -- and in
  families where finances and parental time are constrained. (In wealthy
  families, like the Bushes and Kennedys, it has less effect.)

  It was interesting, but it doesn't really apply to our family. I'm technically a middle child in grad school, a younger brother going to med school this fall, and younger siblings that are rockstars compared to me. The article does disclaim families where the parents are able to be at home a lot (full-time in my case) and money is not a restraint (and it really was not looking back).

  First Borns:
  More
  conscientious, ambitious and aggressive than their younger siblings,
  first borns are over-represented at Harvard and Yale as well as
  disciplines requiring higher education such as medicine, engineering or
  law. Every astronaut to go into space has been either the oldest child
  in his or her family or the eldest boy. And throughout history -- even
  when large families were the norm -- more than half of all Nobel Prize
  winners and U.S. presidents have been first born. Famous eldest
  children include: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, J.K.
  Rowling and Winston Churchill. And macho movie stars are First Born,
  too, including Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce
  Willis and all the actors who have played James Bond.
  

  Kinda describes all of us... except none of us are at Ivy League schools. Okay, so maybe money was a limiting factor.

  
  Middles:
  Middle
  children are more easy going and peer-oriented. Since they can get lost
  in the shuffle of their own families, they learn to build bridges to
  other sources of support and therefore tend to have excellent people
  skills. Middle children often take on the role of mediator and
  peacemaker. Famous middle children include: Bill Gates, J.F.K., Madonna
  and Princess Diana.

  Still, we're a family of easy going people. I had no people skills until recently, and they're starting to grow now... but maybe it's the nature of our family.
  

  
  Youngest:
  The youngest child
  tends to be the most creative and can be very charming -- even
  manipulative. Because they often identify with the underdog, they tend
  to champion egalitarian causes. (Youngest siblings were the earliest
  backers of the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment.)
  Successful in journalism, advertising, sales and the arts, famous
  youngest children include Cameron Diaz, Jim Carrey, Drew Carey, Rosie
  O'Donnell, Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal.
  

  
  In a good way, it reminds me of Esther who is the youngest. She certainly identifies with the underdog and is committing her life to helping them. It'll be interesting to see how Christina and Victoria go - I can see Christina (second youngest) being the one to choose an "egalitarian cause" to champion.
  
  

  ---

  This week at our company, we had fire extinguisher training! It was fun. You start with a fire and a fire extinguisher like John here:

  

  And ideally, you extinguish it like I am here. I've never done it before, but it was a rush! Highly recommended to anyone! Not recommended for children.

  

  ---

  How to Deliver Flowers to a Downtown Location

  Step 1

  Identify a cute girl who recently landed a sweet job in an office building near your dentist so that you can make a surprise delivery to her while she's working there. Check.

  
  Step 2

  Purchase flowers. Not necessarily spare no expense because it's the thought that counts, but at least get something nice. Even a single rose will work. In this case, a small bouquet is selected. For future reference, there are many flower shops in the downtown area.

  

  Step 3

  Locate cute girl. This is a challenging step. Here's an unedited, exclusive glimpse at the text message exchange required. *not work safe - contains mushy lines*

  Outbound: "Aaaahhh! I'm getting a cavity filled now! I'm numb!
  Inbound: "You have your first cavity?! bad boy. i love this job, i have to convince them to keep me"
  Outbound: "Awesome! What suite did you get assigned to?"
  Inbound: "1234"
  Outbound: "I mean what kind of office. I hope 1234 stays your work address!"
  Inbound: "Im [sic] the head receptionist. i want to give you lots of kisses later to make your mouth feel better "
  Inbound: "The 12Th floor with a view of the lake"
  Outbound: "Sweet what color is it? I might remember it." [note: this message was never delivered for some reason]

  Step 4

  Using the limited information, attempt to deliver flowers.

  

  

  Target's desk

  

  Step 5

  Leave flowers with substitute receptionist as part of backup plan since the target left for lunch until 1pm (coincidentally coinciding with my eye doctor's appointment today).

  

  Step 6

  Return to the rest of your day.

  

  ^^ numbed up with the truck garden in the back.

  Wait for the text message.

  So yeah, that was my day. I had my first cavity of my life - in a baby tooth that's been in my mouth for 20 years and has no adult tooth to replace it. So it never got the sealant that my other teeth did... Can I add that permanent retainers make it hard to floss your front teeth?! Wow, I was bleeding profusely! And then to have my eyes dilated and desensitized at the ophthalmologist... I was a basket case driving to lunch with my granddad. Headed off to Waupaca tonight. Catch you all later...

  • 7:54 pm
  • 16 Comments