Agent 86 and Me

My action surprised me.
"Would you believe..." I caught myself talking into my watch.

Yep, held it right up to my mouth and yelled at the watch face.
Purchased from Verizon to sync with the Android phone, this Gear 2 is especially designed to keep up with me.
I always said, "I need a keeper."
Three of us laughed that we combined to form one brain.

I would often forget to turn on the volume of the cell phone ringer after church or a meeting or a movie. I'd miss calls and texts. And, I am going so fast and crazy sometimes, I leave the thing at home and then I'm really "out of pocket."
"Sorry about that, Chief!"

Now, I put on this fabulous watch (Gear 2), which reminds me to put my phone in the car or in my purse. When the watch "beeps, tweets, or whistles," I need not search through my purse or fiddle with the car's sync-radio-map screen to answer.

Today, my cell phone was working especially hard and lost its juice; the battery was in shut-down mode. I told hubby to call me on my "secret decoder watch" if he needed to reach me. I shared with him the secret decoder watch phone number and only "missed it by that much!"

(Thanks, Anne Winchester. I was confused with numbers. Thinking of Car 54, where are you! LOL)

Practice Listening 101

       With pleasure I accepted a new challenge with the Clay County Times-Democrat. The editor asked if I'd like to try my hand at reporting on school board meetings and city council meetings. "Sure," I said. "Anything to help out." The editor said he'd proof my reports and give me tips on wording, etc. I love to learn new things (not electricity or construction), so I ventured into new water. I smiled at one chairman's remark when I entered the conference room, "We are pleased to welcome a member of the Press."  "Hmmm," I thought, "That's me!"
      As the articles must be written in a different style, I learned quickly how to phrase the reports to give the facts in a readable style but without emotional words. That's part of the pleasure of writing: choosing the one right word to covey the action without "saying too much."
     Yesterday, I had a revelation.
     This new assignment is about more than learning a new writing style. It's about learning to listen.
     The assignment revives my note-taking skills, allows me to revisit sitting, listening, and writing down what is being said by others.
      I've decided that God is using this writing assignment for another lesson. "God gave us one mouth and two ears," I've heard stated.
     

New learning for me: Keep Your Mouth Closed-101.
      Imagine me sitting in on a school board meeting for over an hour, listening and writing about school policy, financial decisions, staffing, on-line course offerings, and keeping my mouth shut. Oh, how I want to share in their discussion. But, I can't. That's not why I am there. I'm there to listen and report.
      I have no experience in city government, so I give close attention to how the councils conduct business, what is important to them, what they struggle to solve. I do not raise my hand to be recognized, to share in the discussion. I'm an audience member, a reporter, and I am biting the inside of my mouth. I am there to listen and report.
     What a wonderful exercise in self-control.
     What an opportunity to practice listening without responding.