Stormbringer's Thunder

Buon giorno. First, I wanted to say that I had a "rodeo visitor" the other day. I call it that because he only lasted eight seconds. Time for some thunder today, since yours truly is very angry indeed. This has been going on for a while, and now I'm going to let it out. A few months ago, I purchased a 500 mb "My Book Essential" by Western Digital. (Cowboys usually like westerns, right?) It's an external hard drive that runs through the USB. These are a great idea: Back up your regular hard drive, install a second operating system, store all of that music that you downloaded illegally, store all of that music that you purchased legally, save the scanned photos of your ancestors, hide pictures you don't want your kids to see in an encrypted partition next to the government secrets you're hiding, store whatever you have downloaded or created over the years. I say again that it's a great idea. It's a great idea until it fails, that is. Then all ...

Buon giorno. I have talked to you about gaining and building trust . Today, I'm going to go in the opposite direction: How we lose trust. And in that negative, I'll make it positive. Trust me. I need to point out something fundamental. Different people will have their own experiences and "emotional baggage" or psychological scars that they bring into a situation. Someone that has been hurt and betrayed often and/or deeply will be less likely to be trusting. For instance, I am very suspicious of people at the top of The Organization because of harsh experiences that I've had. (I'm also suspicious of that guy hanging around outside, wearing the dark glasses and a long coat, but never mind about that now.) The opposite is true as well, that if someone has had successful experiences with trust will be more willing to trust again. When someone wants to be trusted, they can be in for a disappointment when that trust is not forthcoming. You can demand trust a...

Trust in the business world. In a word, fuggedaboudit. Or, to borrow from Tony Montana, "What, are you nuts?" I've learned from my own experiences, from the experiences of co-workers and from simply reading articles that trust is not something you give away freely. You have to be slow and sparing when you give trust in the worlds of government, espionage, counterespionage, organized crime and big business. All of these have elements in common in their organizational structures and interactions. Trust has to be earned, and it has to be earned slowly. I trust some members of my crew more than others. Some of them, I trust with my life. But guess what? I do not trust anyone one hundred percent! That is "thinking" with emotions, frankly. And in my businesses, you can't let emotions interfere. "Can I trust anyone at all, Uncle Bob?" It depends on how much you want to survive (literally or professionally). If you're not interested in friendship at th...

This discussion is more for the men, but I think women can get something out of it as well. "Bond, I've always tried to teach you two things", said Q. "First, never let them see you bleed." "And the second?" "Always have an escape plan." Although it is wise advice for the spy world, we're going to look at it and expand on it. "Gosh, Uncle Bob, are you a spy?" Let's just say that I've had some dealings with, uh, unsavory characters in my time. And some of them still owe me favors. Youse guys payin' attention? (Sometimes you have to talk that way so that they understand you.) Never let them see you bleed. Right. If you're wounded, the bad guys will be even more ready to charge in and finish you off. And you can't show your weaknesses. How does that work for daily living? In the business world, you can't let your competition see that you're wounded or vulnerable. That also applies to office politics. It...