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Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Mental Contract

I was just thinking about the idea of contract. It is just so ingrained in our culture and most likely rooted in religion. For example, I was thinking of the idea of the Jews having a contract with their god. And, we living in a Christian society, so to speak, would undoubtedly be influenced by this arrangement. I am thinking primarily about the influence of the Christian Bible and of Judeo Christian influence generally.

Now, why is the idea of contract so important anyway? It is important because it binds and commits you - to something. You have obligations if you contract with someone. The idea of contract is a sanctity in our culture and is not to be taken lightly. When you contract with someone you are putting your reputation on the line.
And, contracts can be made without writing also. Just think about your personal relationships, for example. You have friends or you may be married. You want to maintain these relationships and the only way to do that is to live up to your contractual obligations. Your partner will be expecting you to. You may have made formal arrangements or you just do things by common agreement or precedent. Each partner begins to want the other to act on their own perceptions of their unique relationship.

As related to the personal relationship I think there is also something called the mental contract which I have just touched upon above. I just think that all people that come together in a close relationship develop some sort of mental contract with each other. I think that is what people do when they like and respect one another. No written contract is required. Just a basic understanding of one another and what a reasonable expectation of behavior would be. Consider, for example, the young woman starting out in life and thinking about getting married to a man that she is interested in. Now, the man she likes may be training to be a doctor and also very handsome and sexually appealling. What a wonderful catch for a young girl. The woman may have thoughts in her mind as to the future success of the man and she would like to be part of that life. She is mentally thinking about all of the possibilities of getting hooked up with the young man that she likes. She has mentally sized him up and she is very interested and without so much as even getting seriously involved with him. She becomes involved with the man and they have a relationship. And, the man, for his part finds the woman to be very attractive. He thinks her to be a wonderful partner. He mentally determines that she will be an excellent companion, perhaps even as a good sex partner for she is very attractive. He sizes her up and calculates that she will do just fine. So, they both have assessed each other and have mentally decided to get involved with one another. And, they make overtures to one another to let them know of each other's intentions. And, a lot of it will be done without saying a word. A bond will have been formed between them. And, that bond will be formed out of the mutual desire for each other; they have decided that each one has something that the other wants. As in any contract there is some consideration involved. Each party is going to give the other something to satisfy their intended relationship. They will mentally contract to do business with each other.

I think we should pay closer attention to these kinds of things because they form the basis of relationships. A good healthy relationship, I think, would include an understanding of these things and the ability to act on the expectation of each partner.

I just thought you might be interested in how I think the idea of contract is so important, not only in religious terms, but also at the personal level. I think, because someone a long time ago introduced the idea of an entity and made a contract with him then we should try to understand the implications of this for personal relationships. From this initial contract with a god we can easily see how people mentally contract with each other when they like each other. I think what we learn about this religious experience with contracting with a god is the idea that even a simple mental contract between two people is of no small consequence.

A healthy human relationship involves contract and that health is dependent upon the mutual agreement of that understanding whether spoken or unspoken. If two people like each other they will let each other know in some human way and a contract will be formed as a result. Hopefully, you will understand now when I stated in my personal philosophy that people do not do things for nothing because man is essentially a selfish creature. I think religion and the ideas contained within a belief teaches us that. See my posting "Philosophy, Christianity, and a girl " for this idea.
Here:
http://carl-baydala-wants-you-to-know.blogspot.com/2006/05/philosophy-christianity-and-girl.html


MY HOME PAGE HERE:
http://carl-baydala-wants-you-to-know.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-home-page_115336233019581745.html


Copyright: Carl Baydala 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Best Elevator in Vancouver: A Feature Report

Couriers do not work alone in the struggle to produce on time deliveries. An aid in this constant battle is the modern elevator. A Service Failure can occur any time for any number of reasons.
But, a bulwark in the success of on-time deliveries is an efficient, and well thought out elevator system. Couriers rely on these well-designed systems in times of stress, when literally, seconds count. Will your elevator be there when you press the button? Just how long will I have to wait and worry about the customer and his time sensitive document? Once on board will it take me quickly to my intended destination
These are crucial thoughts racing through the mind of a courier as he heads relentlessly towards his destination.. He is only seconds away from a Service Success or Service Failure. His confidence is buoyed by his knowing if the bank of elevators that he has now encountered will not let him down, or perhaps diminished by the sight of a failed system...

The above was my introductory piece for my elevator story which I present now. I am somewhat dismayed as I type this story for you because I had occasion to discuss this important topic with some of my courier colleagues, and, quite frankly, they did not seem to think that this was any burning issue for them. Needless to say, I was somewhat disheartened to hear their remarks because I sincerely thought that elevators, being the companions that they are would have engendered a more favourable response. But, it did not as I report to you now.

The main thing about good elevators is their consistency. You simply come to know which ones are reliable and which ones are not. You can feel better about your work and the job that you perform by knowing how these aids treat you during the course of your employment. They are like seeing eye dogs or even police dogs, for that matter. They are simply part of the job, and in many cases, you just cannot perform your task without them. You are not going to run up 30 stories just to deliver an envelope now are you?
But, even in the smaller structures you rely on them as well. The ones in the suburbs and in the Southside where many medical buildings are located, for example. Couriers do not usually run up 4 or 5 flights of stairs, they rely on elevators.
This leads me to my first criticism of some elevator sytems. And, I mention this West Broadway corridor in the Southside area as an example where you are going to run into many bad elevator experiences. They will be negative because of the structure of these elevators and the type of servicing that they do. Medical building in this area, for example are chronically slow and this is due primarily to the joining together of elevators that take you upwards from a lobby area, but at the same time can take you downward to parking levels. And, the more parking levels there are the more time consuming these elevator systems become. Some building are thinking a bit and separate the elevators. One goes down to parking levels while others simple go upwards. These are more efficient layouts.
My other criticism involves modern elevators in newer buildings that have elevators that can best be described as tortuously slow. Why? Why would any modern day designer of elevators put an obvious poor performer in a modern sleek building? It happens more often than you would expect. People have expectations and needs and they want them met. There is no reason for them not to be met, in my opinion. And, believe me I am not alone in my opinion of a tardy elevator system. I listen to the complaints as well.

I am not going to criticize the downtown core and its offering of elevator systems. I rank any high rise building about the same. They are all good and they have big jobs to do. Sometimes they are under stress and you can feel it, particularly in the morning and especially when the lunch crowd goes back to work. You simply have to wait sometimes. You cannot be overly judgemental under these conditions.

What I am striving to do though is to pick out the elevator, that in my opinion is a solid performer over time. I am not going to compete with highly capable machines in the downtown core because we are talking apples and oranges here. I am looking for that specimen which has never in my recollection let me down. When I press the button to open the elevator, it opens. And, it beckons me in. And, in less than a minute I am at my destination. And, it is waiting for me when I get back too. The winner is a simple two story building, sporting two elevator banks. Why is this important? Because, sometimes you can encounter a building with more levels with only one elevator. And, that elevator might also be serving the underground parking. I think you are starting to see what my values are when it comes to elevators. The winner of the best elevator in Vancouver is actually in Richmond at 5611 Cooney Road.




Now, just for contrast right across the street is a nortoriously slow elevator system. I show you the following picture so that you can compare the size of the two buildings. Our winning elevator system is located in the building in the foreground.




Compare the interior of the elevators and you can see how nice and simple the winning elevator system really is compared to its neighbour across the street.



Take note of the absolute simplicity of the design of this elevator. This system was born to serve and it also eager to perform when you ask it to. Compare this interior with the system directing across the street.



But, the elevator experience begins in this building even before you enter it. A treat for couriers is to have handy parking when you confront a structure as well. You don't want to waste time walking or going underground or parking in a lane or whatever. You want convenience and this building offers it. Look at the handy parking spot below.





Once inside the building of course you are immediately treated to the site of two elevators in a small building. What else could a courier ask for? Well, the answer is...a bathroom without a lock on it. Actually, I used to assign my private five star rating for this building because everything worked so perfectly. Courier friendly on all fronts. Except, I had to recently downgrade the full featured nature of this building because they have taken to locking their bathrooms like so many others. The reason given, so a receptionsist tells me was a break in and theft of a computer. A usual reason I suppose. I hope you like my pick for the winning elevator. That is all for now...

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

2010 Olympics Reminder Here...


These things are everywhere in dowtown Vancouver and the suburbs as well. I saw one of these characters quite a while ago and it did not click on me what they were supposed to be. I think they are weird looking.
It finally dawned on me that they are supposed to remind us of the Olympics in 2010, I guess. I just think they are dumb looking. But, if you are into bears then I guess they are OK. I have not actually taken a close look at some of these creatures. Maybe I will do that and let you know.


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Monday, July 24, 2006

Middle East Conflict




I am absolutely unimpressed with the action in the Middle East. I just think events are moving too quickly there. I also think that the United States, Britain, and Israel are trying to ratchet up the conflict a bit and bring Syria and Iran into the picture, to suck them in. What do you think? It just all seems too tidy to me and I simply do not trust the motivations of these three States in the Region. There is too much imbalance here and too much at stake. I remain cautious and not optimistic. My friends on the Secular Web The Secular Web are really going at it, take a look here:http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=172813
This discussion group above is really indicative of what is happening in the Middle East. Take a look at pages 17 and 18 of the thread here and witness the absolute hatred that is exposed. The Jews support Israel in this war and others do not. You are simply on one side or the other and no intelligent discussion is going to change that reality.



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Thursday, July 13, 2006

Best Elevator in Vancouver....Coming Soon

FEATURE STORY.....COMING SOON

Couriers do not work alone in the struggle to produce on time deliveries. An aid in this constant battle is the modern elevator. A Service Failure can occur any time for any number of reasons.

But, a bulwark in the success of on-time deliveries is an efficient, and well thought out elevator system. Couriers rely on these well-designed systems in times of stress, when literally, seconds count. Will your elevator be there when you press the button? Just how long will I have to wait and worry about the customer and his time sensitive document? Once on board will it take me quickly to my intended destination?
These are crucial thoughts racing through the mind of a courier as he heads relentlessly towards his destination.. He is only seconds away from a Service Success or Service Failure. His confidence is buoyed by his knowing if the bank of elevators that he has now encountered will not let him down, or perhaps diminished by the sight of a failed system...

In this quest for the best elevator system in the Lower Mainland I will be putting together a report for an upcoming entry. I already have the building picked out along with the winning elevator. I need to take a couple more shots of this winning entry so that you will be able to appreciate more fully the characteristics of a successful elevator system...

PS This is another view of the Central City building in Surrey where I live. It is not the winner of the best elevator award, however. It has a very good elevator system and has a big job to do now since this building is loaded up with tenants. The increased traffic in this building does not make it a good choice though for the conscientious courier. I remember when the building was nearing completion and there were hardly any tenants in the building. It was a joy to come here and zip up in the elevators. Now, unfortunately, the building has sufferred the same fate as all the rest; overpopulation. It is troubling coming here now though, particularly during the morning rush to the offices upstairs and finding yourself standing with all the rest, in bunches in the lobby area, like schools of fish waiting for the next opportunity to venture up stream.

MY HOME PAGE HERE:
http://carl-baydala-wants-you-to-know.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-home-page_115336233019581745.html

Copyright: Carl Baydala 2006

Thursday, July 06, 2006

A Cloudy Day: Time To Reflect







Please visit MY HOME PAGE to see my blog objectives: http://carl-baydala-wants-you-to-know.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-home-page_115336233019581745.html

The building in the background is Surrey Central. Simon Fraser University has a campus here and I live just a couple of blocks away. This area is loaded with services and the Skytrain runs right through the shopping mall. This Skytrain goes to downtown Vancouver

We have been experiencing very nice weather lately and today we got a break. It was cloudy, but pleasant. This pause allows me to reflect and think about things. My thought today concerns the idea of being too hasty or too aggressive. Now, just think back and ask yourself if you have ever liked someone a bit too much and maybe frightened them off. What do you think you did wrong? Anything? Did you learn anything from your experience? Or, have you ever noticed how things happen when you do not care too much if they do? I am talking about any event in your life really, from entertainment to relationship matters. It has been my experience, for example, that when I least expect something, or when I do not really desire for something to happen, well, it just happens. I guess it is kinda like going to a bar or something and expecting to meet the girl of your dreams. It is not going to happen. But, what I find does happen, that if you are casually, say going to the racetrack, just to use an example, of course. And, you were not even planning on going then sometimes good things tend to happen. Like maybe you win a big race that you were not even planning on betting. But, you did and you won. It has happened to me, lots of times. Maybe what is happening is that you are not over anticipating an event and you do not stand the risk of being disappointed. You are not setting yourself up for failure. And, what about falling in love. I bet you have been infatuated with someone or really fallen in love. You didn't just go some place and say to yourself: I think I will fall in love today. Not likely. When it happened, it most likely just happened. It crept up on you, and surprised you. What a pleasant surprise. Maybe you were just being yourself and someone took time to notice. Maybe that is the way all relationships should begin. Naturally. Well, these are just some of my thoughts for today. Hope they help. And, maybe the big lesson in life is to not expect too much and just enjoy life and accept whatever comes your way. If you want someone to really like you it might be better just being yourself and no one else.

Feature Report coming soon: The Best Elevator in Vancouver.

Copyright: Carl Baydala 2006