Halloween 2010 Update
On June 1st of this month I announced on Twitter, “I am going public. I will be posting my weight and weight goals on my iPhone WeightBot application daily.”

June 1, 2010
Almost instantly and a bit miraculously my weight began to fall off.
When faced with the glory of public praise or with public humiliation, most of us will opt for the former and do what we know is needed. I did!
If there’s something you want to change, GO PUBLIC with it. I have posted my weight every day for all to see, not only on Twitter, but here on this blog and occassionally on Facebook. The results tell the story. My long range goal was to get to my high school weight of 165 by the end of November, making for a 36.4 pound weight loss in five months. I still have a month to go. Take a look at today and tell me if you think I will make it. I do! Just watch; I can use all the help I can get. 

October 31, 2010
I have had my ups and downs during this four month period, and every “up day” led to a behavior change the next day. It has been me against me. If there’s something you want to impact, measure it. If you want to increase the impact, measure it more often.

“What’s Your Secret?”
People are now asking me what my “secret” is or “how” I did it. I respond by saying, “There’s no secret to weight loss or weight control. We all know how to do it. Simply eat less, avoid the fat and sugar, and get some excercise.” A friend and mentor used to say, “If we all had to go to the dinner table naked there would be very few overwieght people.” I think there’s some truth to that. I keep telling myself (when tempted) that “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.” I can attest to that. Go public with whatever you want to acheive. It works!

Big Bump
While flying from Maui to Oahu on Monday we hit a huge air pocket. For the first time I really appreciated having a seat belt on. Everything not tied down went airborne, including my precious MacBook Air. It did a flip and landed on my lap.  All seemed to be okay, so I just kept on working.
When I got to my office I noticed this damaged hinge and I felt sick to my stomach. I sent the photo above to Rolf (Da MacMan) at MacMouse.com. Rolf e-mailed back saying that they can fix it, and it may take a week or so.
Coincidentally I had just received an announcement from Apple that there was an all new MacBook Air just released.

Do It Now!
Not being one known for patience I went to the Apple Store and bought a brand new MacBook Air; lighter, faster, sharper screen, more ports and about $700 less than the one I bought two years ago.

Data Migration
Next was getting all of the data into the new computer. This part is way over my head; actually a bit scary in fact, so I went straight to MacMouse.com to see Rolf.

Early Christmas
As Rolf unpacked my new computer it felt like Christmas morning.

MacMouse Staff
As Rolf did his magic, the staff at MacMouse.com watched on as though this was something they had seen before.

Migration
It was amazing to see the data flowing from the damaged MacBook Air into the new one while we watched the World Series.

DONE!
By the time the game was over the migration was complete and everything looked and worked exactly as it did on the “old” computer.

Should I, or Shouldn’t I?
Next is deciding what to do with this $2,400 computer which works perfectly, but has a deformed hinge. My temptation was to trash it, but instead Rolf and company are going to repair it and Masae will get another hand-me-down electronic goodie to go along with the iPhone 3G she inherited when I got the iPhone 4. All is well.
If you ever need anything done with your Mac, or are just ready to go Mac; call Rolf at MacMouse.com. He’s the best.

20 Years Later and Still Going Strong
At my Success Rally at Whalers Village on Maui this morning I asked the question, “How many of you remember Mel Kitagawa?” One hand went up. Mel was the general manager for Whalers Village who engaged me to do monthly Success Rallies for their merchants.
At our first rallies we had about 15 people show up. Over the years the attendance has steadily grown, and this morning we had about 200.
Mahalo to Whalers Village, their management staff and the retail merchants for keeping this ball rolling through two wars, two hurricanes and what some have called a recession. In each of these cases I appealled to the people at the rallies to NOT PARTICIPATE in the negative.

Michael Han
Congratulations to Michael Han and the entire Wedding Ring Shop team. Retail Merchants of Hawaii presented Michael with the 2010 HO’OKELA Oahu Retailer of the year award at their annual luncheon today.
We at Success Dynamics are proud to have had several of our clients win this award over the past 20 years and are looking to many more in the years to come.

Whaler’s Village - Don Reaser - 2004

Maui Dive Shop - Jeff Strahn - 2004

Revisited by Request 

Life Saver

Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Here are five things you may not know you can do with your cell phone.

FIRST

In an Emergency

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND

If you lock your keys in the car

If your car has remote keyless entry, it may come in handy someday. If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car or trunk will unlock. Distance is no object.

THIRD

Hidden Battery Power

Should your cell battery become very low, you can activate Hidden Battery Power by pressing the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

FOURTH

How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone

To check your Mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.

Should your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so that even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won’t get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can’t use it or sell it.

High Stress Level
I was told recently that moving ranks up there with death and divorce when it comes to stress. As a new “Ho-Moaner” I/we have been dealing with many stresses in the past few months; Deciding to buy, looking for the right place, finding the right place, going through “Escrow Hell,” moving into the new place, Moving out of the old place, setting up all of the computer stuff, transferring telephone and television accounts, cleaning out the old place, giving away and selling old furniture, buying new furniture, tossing away years of accumulated and stored away “treasures,” renting a storage place for stuff too dear to sell or toss out, and finally getting reorganized.
If you never saw George Carlin do his classic routine about “stuff” CLICK HERE:

Big Box Service
Next was the dreaded visits to Home Depot to launch the remodeling of the “Right Place.” I’m not a fan of the service I have encountered in the big box retailers over the years, but I was shocked, delighted and impressed with what I found at Home Depot. The door greeters were friendly, helpful and approachable. The magnitude of the place was overwhelming. I knew I was going to need some help.

Busy but…
Apparently business is good because the parking lot was full and everyone was busy, but I found that the folks wearing the orange aprons, will stop what they are doing and walk you right to anything you are looking for, and answer any questions you have.

Mindboggling Options
Josephine in the window shade department was amazing as she guided me through all of the complicated options for custom solar shades for 15 floor to ceiling windows, arranged for an onsite measuring, and followed up by phone to make sure everything was on target.

Pay Up
Paying (for me) was easy too. When that part came I strolled through the store and let the CFO take over. Hey, I’m in the “Dollars Incoming Department.”

Ring Ring
At the exit door I kept hearing this loud cow bell ringing and every time it rang there was a thunderous cheer from the employees. As I departed I noticed that it was customers ringing the bell to announce that they had received great service. Wow; fun for the customers and well deserved recognition for the staff. Yes, I did ring the bell, and Yes, I will be back, many more times I fear.

Hawaiian Air - Saving Money the Right Way
Many businesses are looking to save money by cutting in areas that will negativly impact their service level. We have all seen enough adding of fees for food, checking bags, and anything else thay can think of to add revenue without appearing to raise ticket prices. These forms of not so subtle gouging have led to major dissatisfaction with the airline industry.

Clean Mo Bettah
Hawaiian Air has found some creative, if not revolutionary changes that we as passengers will barely (if at all) notice.
For example, they are power washing their jet engines more frequently, reducing the cruising speed on long-haul flights, and towing planes to the airport runways instead of using the jet engines. Hawaiian said these fuel conservation efforts save about $4 million this year. While that’s a small portion of their revenue, it is still a lot of money.
Hawaiian reportedly spent $291.6 million on fuel last year, so some may call this just a “drop in the bucket.”

Cool Looking Too!
The airline has invested $10 million to purchase eight winglets for its long-haul aircraft, in a move that saves more than 2 million gallons of jet fuel each year. The 11-foot-tall fin-like attachments will pay for themselves in four years, the airline said.
They are ordering lighter seats at a cost of about $1.5 million, which they say will pay for themselves in less than two years.
They have also purchased portable air-conditioning units for the interisland gates to cool planes in between flights. These will be used instead of the plane’s internal AC system, which is powered by the aircraft’s engines.

“Those who know how to think need no teachers.”
-Mahatma Gandhi