in other words
july12
Voice From the Crowd: The Secret to Happiness
By Miles Wickstrom
I gotta admit it – I’m a sucker for
simple questions with elusive answers.
So here’s one for you: what is the secret
to happiness? Just so you don’t stress
out too much, by the end of this article,
you will have the solution to that age-old
mystery.
I stumbled upon the key to
happiness while flying to Boston one
Sunday morning in 1997. Back then,
the security people weren’t nearly as
traumatized as they are today by tubes
of toothpaste or bottles of water and
since the body cavity searches were
kept to a minimum, I actually made my
connection in Denver on time.
I had the good fortune of sharing
a three-seat row with one other traveler.
I tell this story to people today and they
just naturally assume I’m making it
up because nowadays there’s no such
thing as two people in a three-seat row,
is there? No. Today, you’re far more
likely to end up with three people whose
combined body mass index is roughly
equal to five people in a three-seat
row. I like to think of that as the airline
industry’s ”super size me” equivalent at
McDonalds.
My seatmate turned out to be a
practicing psychologist named Rodger
who was going to an annual conference
in Boston. I was heading to Boston to
lead a three-day seminar at a different
hotel. Now, I don’t normally engage
people when I fly, especially on an
early Sunday morning flight. Being an
antisocial curmudgeon is a contributing
factor, but here’s the real problem.
Sunday flights to the East Coast leave
Portland at 6AM. That means I have to
get to PDX by 4:30AM. That means I
have to set my alarm for 2:00AM. (Did
I mention this was all happening on a
Sunday morning?)
Depending
on
which airline I use, it
is necessary to catch
a connecting flight in
Salt Lake City, Denver
or Minneapolis.
At a
minimum, that’s five hours
in the air, three hours in
airports (if everything goes
right), three time zones, all
the while knowing that on
Monday I’ll have to deal
with 200 people with 300
different issues each… do the math, and
you’ll see why hiding behind several
crossword puzzles is a whole lot safer
than taking the risk of talking with a
stranger.
Yet Rodger and I hit it right off
because, while we were on very different
career paths, we were essentially in the
same business.
Rodger’s specialty
in the field of psychology is stress
management.
My specialty in the
training industry at that moment was
time management. What neither of
us realized until that flight was how
interwoven those two topics were. We
discovered that the people who came
to his practice seeking to reduce their
stress levels tended to be rather poor at
managing their time. Likewise, people
who came to my practice seeking help in
managing their time tended to be stressed
out way beyond what was normal even
by 21st century standards.
That discussion led us to
two conclusions: 1), you can’t talk
about
stress
reduction
without talking about time
management, or vice versa.
And 2), you can’t talk about
time management without
also talking about lifetime
management. That’s where
the role of happiness comes
into play.
Somewhere over the
Midwest at the altitude
of 37,000 feet we talked
about happiness. I remember
chuckling about what Jack
Palance told Billy Crystal in City
Slickers (“it’s just one thing”) and
Rodger said, “Actually, he was half
right. The secret to happiness is not one
thing. It’s two things. Identify your
values, then support them behaviorally.”
Identify your values, then
support those values with behaviors. Can
it really be that easy? I tell you what
- let’s take that theory for a test drive
Can it really
be that easy?
I tell you
what - let’s
take that
theory for a
test drive
and see
if it floats.
2011
and see if it floats. I don’t want to see
any guilty looks out there because I’m
not here to embarrass anyone, but how
many of you value action, yet practice
complacency? How many of you value
thrift and have a wallet filled with maxed
out credit cards? How many of you
claim to love your families, yet readily
admit to spending a whole lot more time
at work than you do at home? How many
of you see yourselves tomorrow as being
greater than what you are today, AND
have taken one small concrete step to
assure the image you see in tomorrow’s
mirror is different than the reflection you
saw this morning?
When our values and our
actions are incongruent, the logical
outcome is internal conflict, also known
as unhappiness. Fourteen years ago,
a complete stranger on a flight from
Denver to Boston taught me one of the
greatest life lessons I ever learned and
I wrote this today to share his very
simple wisdom: if you want to be happy,
identify what it is that you truly cherish,
your deepest and most closely held
values, then objectively compare what
you value with what you do. The degree
to which they balance is the degree to
which your life is fulfilled.
P&C Construction
New Vernonia K-12 School
REQUEST FOR BID
Bid Package Four (BP-4): Photovoltaic System
Bids Due 2:00 PM PST, July 26, 2011
Bids for the “VERNONIA SCHOOL DISTRICT
– PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM: BID PACKAGE
FOUR (BP-4)” will be received by the Con-
struction Manager/General Contractor (CM/
GC), P&C Construction, 2133 NW York St,
Portland, OR 97210 by the time and date
listed above. Faxed bids will be accepted.
Questions regarding the proposal shall be in
writing and directed to Kevin McCall at P&C
Construction by fax (503.667.2565) or e-mail
(kmccall@builtbypandc.com). Late bids will
not be accepted.
The scope of work for this bid package in-
cludes, but is not limited to, a full design / build
Photovoltaic System on the roof of the new
Vernonia K-12 School in Vernonia, Oregon. It
is anticipated that work on site will commence
in September 2011 and must reach Final Com-
pletion no later than April 12th, 2012.
Beginning on July 12th, 2011, bid documents
may be examined at the offices of P&C or ob-
tained electronically by contacting Rosanna
Williamson at P&C Construction (503.665-
0165 or rosanna@builtbypandc.com). Bid-
ders must ask specifically for documents
titled “VERNONIA K-12 SCHOOL – ADDEN-
DUM#13 CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS”.
The photovoltaic system will be fully designed
and installed by the bidding subcontractor.
Bids will be reviewed based on total watts gen-
erated for no more than $328,000. Bids over
$328,000 will not be accepted. There are no
drawings or specifications specific to the pho-
tovoltaic system. You will have access to the
full set of construction drawings / specifications
and should note that there are specific areas
called out on the roof for the placement of the
photovoltaic system. The photovoltaic system
will need to be metered and tied into the green
screen as part of this proposal. Provide an Al-
ternate #1 for a lease to own option if one is
available.
and performance bonds covering the faith-
ful performance of the subcontract and the
payment for all obligations arising hereunder
should such bonds be requested by P&C. P&C
reserves the right to reject any proposer not
capable of securing said bonds.
This is Davis-Bacon Job. Subcontractor will
pay weekly (no exceptions) and will pay the
higher labor rate between BOLI (April, 2010),
or Davis-Bacon (OR100038 MOD 7 REVISED
08/27/10 OR38). Therefore, subcontractor
agrees to meet all guidelines and regulations
set forth and in accordance with governing
authorities. NOTE: Certified payroll reports
must be submitted to contractor as a condition
for payment. Subcontractor is required
to submit originally signed (ink signature)
certified payroll. All bidders must be registered
with the Construction Contractors Board
and in compliance with all other licensing
requirements at the time of submission of their
bids.
P&C Construction, on behalf of the School
District, reserves the right to: reject any and all
proposals; reject any proposal not in compli-
ance with the bidding procedures and require-
ments; reject for good cause any proposal that
would be in the public’s best interest to do so;
and waive minor irregularities in any or all pro-
posals. There will be no public opening of bids.
P&C Construction is an equal opportunity
employer and is actively seeking proposals
from minority, women, disadvantaged, and
emerging small business enterprises.
A sample P&C subcontract is included in the
bid documents. Therefore, subcontractors
must clearly make note of any exceptions to
the subcontract prior to bid due date and time.
P&C will consider and exceptions taken to the
P&C subcontract when analyzing bids and
making a selection for the firm that will perform
All bidders must be able to furnish payment the work outlined in the bid package.
15
Vernonia True Value
503-429-6364 • 834 Bridge Street • Mon-Sat 9:00-6:00 •
www.truevalue.com
Family owned & operated for over 40 years
