DAY # 196 -- Launch: T-13 Days!

UPDATE: Tuesday, 20-Dec-2005 10:42 PM

Another day spent "coasting" to the Christmas holidays and New Years, I must shamefully accept. I have been running double duty in the absence of our au pair, kids home from school and being sick. And my wife down with the flu after returning from a overseas trip. I am running a solo on many fronts, however, 100% energized.

Since I started working on this penny building, soul searching, business building, etc., etc. project that now encompasses a whole lot more, I have kept getting more and more focused at the task at hand.

These days have been the test to that when I have had to do everything including the laundry... oops. I'll be back... Had to through the last load of laundry from the washer to the dryer. DONE!

Anyway, the point I was going to make was that my mind seems to be "polarized" and focused on the tasks at hand, what ever it may be. For all but about 4 hours today, while all sick subjects got their rest, I was at work getting things done. And did I ever. A lot of work has gotten done in the past weeks. The countdown "clock" at the top of the page helps. I have a list of items that I want in the Member area, and it looks like all of them will get done.

There were some set backs, but again, those things are "part of the game" that has to be won!

One of the thoughts that has crossed my mind is the lack of inspiration of people to read these days. Next to my desk is a copy of WAR and PEACE that I plan to conquer this winter --all 1,400+ pages of it. Interestingly, I looked at the introduction today, and noted what was said about Leo Tolstoy. In 1847 he started a diary for "self-study and self criticism and ended up being a source for much of his material for 'War and Peace'..." And that got me thinking --Isn't that what I am doing here as well.

This diary, my blog has page after page about what I have gotten done, what I could not, and what I simply did not plan well. It's only covers about 18 months in a bit of detail, but it's about all of my life -mostly working life, which I think began at 13, so I've worked at one thing or another for a bit more than 25 years!

I think analyzing oneself is a great place to start when building success. However, I didn't think typing away on a computer is the best way to do it. I prefer the "scrap book style" where object, pictures and various details that are very much part of life are also kept. However, in the absence of that, this is the best one can do.

Getting back to success, I always wonder why?, and below is an article that sadly shows why often people fall through the cracks.

In my case, I felt that I was 90% there. Very close. But often that last 10% of success is harder than the previous 90% and that I feel too. It's like Zeno's paradox -always getting half way there, but never getting to the final destination. Then I reasoned that this was an entire journey that I need to enjoy. Now with my focus and the growth of the network, that is very much what I am enjoying.

I'll leave it at that and talk about what I want to do in the few days when all is quite at the office, not even a mouse is... well, you know the rest. During that time I have some writing to finish on my next report. I am sure it will be done, as I lately have finished a lot of things on time.

Today, I'll leave you with the below article... Sam out.

No advances made in adult literacy, study says
1 in 20 U.S. adults not literate in English

Thursday, December 15, 2005; Posted: 9:05 p.m. EST (02:05 GMT) I think this was by AP and posted at cnn.com.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- About one in 20 adults in the U.S. is not literate in English, meaning 11 million people lack the skills to handle many everyday tasks, a federal study shows.

From 1992 to 2003, adults made no progress in their ability to read sentences and paragraphs or understand other printed material such as bus schedules or prescription labels.

The adult population did make gains in handling tasks that involve math, such as calculating numbers on tax forms or bank statements. But even in that area, the typical adult showed only enough skills to perform simple, daily activities.

Perhaps most sobering was that adult literacy dropped or was flat across every level of education, from people with graduate degrees to those who dropped out of high school.

So even as more people get a formal education, the literacy rate is not rising. Federal officials say this trend is puzzling and worthy of research.

Adults with ability to perform challenging and complex reading tasks made an average yearly salary of $50,700 in 2003. That is $28,000 more than those who lacked basic skills.

The adults deemed illiterate in English include people who may be fluent in Spanish or another language but cannot comprehend English text at its most simple level.

"Eleven million people is an awful large number of folks who are not literate in English, and therefore are prevented access to what America offers," said Russ Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences at the Education Department.

Some 30 million adults have "below basic" skills in prose. Their ability is so limited that they may not be able to make sense of a simple pamphlet, for example. This total includes 7 million adults considered not to be literate in English but with enough knowledge of the language at least to be tested. The remaining 4 million deemed illiterate did not have enough English skills to be tested.

By comparison, 95 million adults, or 44 percent of the population, have intermediate prose skills, meaning they can do moderately challenging activities. An example would be consulting a reference book to determine which foods contain a certain vitamin.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy is considered the best measure of how adults handle everything from completing job applications to computing tips.

Black adults made gains on each type of task tested. White adults made no significant changes except when it came to computing numbers, where they got better.

Hispanics showed sharp declines in their ability to handle prose and documents. The background of U.S. adults has changed since 1992, when the test was last given; fewer people in 2003 had spoken English before they started school.

"We can no longer afford to ignore the unique needs this population has demonstrated for years," said Jose Velazquez, director of the Hispanic Family Learning Institute at the National Center for Family Literacy.

Overall, the study represents a population of 222 million adults. The results are based on a sample of more than 19,000 adults, age 16 or older, living in homes, college housing or prisons.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings pledged to coordinate adult education programs across the government. She also promoted the Bush administration's campaign to increase testing and specialized reading help in high school.

"One adult unable to read is one too many in America," Spellings said.

Millions of adults with limited reading skills have enrolled in literacy programs at high schools, libraries, workplaces and community colleges. Advocates of those programs said the new scores prove that a greater investment in adult literacy and research is essential.

"It's really hard to have a well educated and highly intellectual population of children if they go home to parents who do not have adequate reading skills," said Dale Lipschultz, president of the National Coalition for Literacy, a broad range of education groups.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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