purpledragon3

10:36 am: Note for myself
Last year was told I needed to be more assertive, ended up writing the idea off as assertive seemed to equal aggressive which I really didn't like. Just got this in a 'Priotity Learning Link' and want to delete the e-mail hence... note for me:

People who face conflict aggressively

Are secretive about their real objectives
Exaggerate their case
Refuse to concede that the other person has a valid point
Belittle the other person’s points
Repeat their case dogmatically
Disagree
Interrupt the other person


People who face conflict assertively

Are open about their objectives
Establish what the other person’s objectives are
Search for common ground
State their case clearly
Understand the other person’s case
Produce ideas to solve the differences
Build on and add to the other person’s ideas
Summarize to check understanding/agreement

10:15 am: Friday...
E-mails recieved (at work) today:

So on the way to work this morning I was involved in a discussion that we just couldn’t find the answer to, and it seemed we weren’t the only ones, so I put it to you.
Which one would you choose?
1) Kicking in the front seat
2) Sitting in the back seat

I not only want to know which one but why. I’m looking for quality more than quantity.


Followed by:
On further reflection, clearly there isn't sufficient data available to make an educated decision. Suffice to say, I could nominate a choice, but you'd likely refute it due to a lack of explanation as to why. We'll have to make a few assumptions:

Firstly, who's car is involved.
If it's Tse's car, front seat, no further question.
If it’s a bus, probably somewhere comfortably in the middle.
Any other car will lead to further decision making.

Number of people involved.
For spacious reasons, if there are more than two people in the back, the front is probably the preferred choice. Unless you're one of those naughty people that cram multiple people into the front seat. (Then again, if you've gone that far there's probably at least 10 people in the back).

Who's in the car.
Again, certain people bring out certain traits in other people. Suffice to say, that with the right people in the back seat, all hell can break loose for those in the front . If my choice over back seat or front seat comes down to either me finding my diabolical twin in the back seat, or preventing someone else from finding theirs, then it's probably the best option.

Fundamentally though, the answers seem to be all mixed up - should be sitting in the front seat, or kicking in the back seat.
Reasoning? From the back seat you can easily kick the people in front of you, but this simply isn't true the other way round.

09:30 am: The legal system
Another terrible accident on New Zealand roads by a driver breaching their licence, also mostly speeding and over the alcohol limit. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4939357/Fatal-crash-car-had-too-many-passengers
There was a chance the driver would face criminal charges.

On the face of this, no problems with our legal system right? My question is why is every other person in that car considered a 'innocent victim' when the car crashes and people die? The media and the family of the victim often blame the driver and the courts blame the driver, but what about personal responsibility?

Sure if they crash and kill someone in another car or a pedestrian then that's a different matter (or if the passenger is a child). But often in these situations these people chose to get into a car that is overloaded, chose to drive with someone who isn't licenced to drive them, chose to drive with someone who'd been drinking (in one case recently convinced the driver they should drive cos they were 'the least drunk'). How are these people innocent victims, why is there considered to be nothing wrong with making these choices?

Disclaimer: This may appear likely I want the driver to walk away scot free which is definitely not the case. They should face criminal charges. I just don't think the passengers in a lot of cases are 'innocent'.

01:44 pm: Caffeine
I only had one coffee this morning. I'm not sure how that happened... I would be more proud of this if I hadn't caught myself falling asleep at my desk earlier and wasn't currently drinking coke and eating chocolate covered coffee beans

07:08 pm: What could possibly go wrong..
I had too much caffeine today. I am craving chocolate. The only chocolate I have is chocolate covered coffee beans.

10:41 am: Update
So it's been 3 months since I last posted... in that time I have fixed nothing and broken some more stuff. On the plus side I've been keeping busy, distraction is my friend.

02:12 pm: Broken
My stomach is broken. My brain is also broken. Time for a trade-in on a new me.

10:06 am: Cartoon
http://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/cartoons/1251886/Tom-Scott

12:54 pm: Mess
Ok my new resolution is to stop cleaning up other peoples mess and stop complaining about other peoples mess. Unfortunately due to my personality I believe this means I can no longer use the work kitchen, the kitchen in my flat or the lounge in my flat. Mmmmm....could be a great new diet.

04:35 pm: Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!
I just came home to find a huge rat dead on my doorstep! I went to get a plastic bag and pick it up and put it in the rubbish bin. At that point I realised there are worse things than finding a dead rat at your door - finding a mostly dead rat at your door. It was still moving! Ew ew ew ew ew! About then I stopped being self sufficient and turned into a wimpy girl and went to find a boy. My lovely neighbour came over and hit it with a spade. So rat is now very dead and tied in multiple plastic bags in the rubbish.