The Most Over Utilized Word in Business

And I just utilized it in my title and again now. Yes, I'm talking about the word "utilize". I sat through a presentation this morning, and I wish I would have counted how many times it was utilized.

Definition time: u·til·ize (ytl-z)tr.v. u·til·ized, u·til·iz·ing, u·til·iz·es To put to use, especially to find a profitable or practical use for.

What happened to "use"? Is it considered a lesser word because it's only one syllable? Is this just another example of people trying to sound smarter than they really are, so they utilize a word that sounds fancy? I think it's like synergy, another word that keeps popping up. Do the executives and sales people who utilize synergy even know what it means?

And to be fair, it's not just business that utilizes "utilize". I recently watched an episode of Designed To Sell, and guess which word was utilized quite frequently? It wasn't synergy.....

I've utilized that word seven times in this post so far. Did my IQ increase with each usage? Or would that be utilization? That has a lot of syllables, so I must be really smart, right? To be fair, I know that there are situations where utilize would be more appropriate than use, and I have no complaints about those situations. What I have a problem with is that this word is just everywhere.

I have another presentation on Friday. I will count how many times I hear "utilize" and post the results.

Super Bowl Bound!!!!

Peyton's pointing the way to the Super Bowl. Whoo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!

Hundred Dollar Hamburgers

Yesterday Larry invited me and Mike for a flight in his plane. It's been a long time since I was in a small aircraft, and Mike had never been, so we were both very excited about the invitation. It was a little cold out, but the skies were fairly clear and the sun was shining. A perfect day for a flight!

Our destination was Lansing Airport, and a bar/restaurant called Shannon's Landing. This was a place that I never would have known about, but if I lived in the area I would be there all the time. The atmosphere was comfortable, the food was outstanding, and the view of airport and the small planes taking off and landing was a lot of fun.

And the flight was a blast! I absolutely love the sensation at take off. No matter if I'm in a commercial jet or a small plane, I can't help grinning like an idiot when we take off. In this case it was even better because I was in the copilot seat, and we also had headphones so we could not only talk to each other but hear the pilot chatter. At 5500 or 6500 feet in the air, you also get a much different view of things. I spent most of the flight simply staring out the window, with my tongue practically hanging out. Larry also showed us the various readouts on his instruments, and explained what everything meant. You sure don't get that on American Airlines!

On the way back we could see that the clouds were starting to creep in. At Lansing there had been a lot of traffic, and that was probably due to the weather that we received this morning (snow!!!). A lot of pilots were getting in a last minute flight before they were grounded for a few days. Coming back, we could see the clouds starting to come in, and by the time we got back to Champaign it was overcast.

From the wide open skies I went the opposite way to the crowded grocery store. I pretty much had to climb over big groups of people (don't have your family reunion in the main lane to the produce section!), and many of the shelves were empty, causing me to make a side trip to another store. What a let down after feeling so free!

Thanks Larry for an awesome time!

Words of Advice

I've been taking yoga classes for the last 2 years, and along the way I've learned some things. The problem is, I don't often remember to take my own advice.

The first thing to remember is to throw away the deodorant that has been sitting in your desk drawer for the last six years or so. When deodorant is sitting around for that long, it can't be good. Sure it smells all right, but it tends to crumble after being applied to your armpits. This means that you have deodorant dingleberries under your arms, and that's just not attractive when you're wearing a tank top. Not to mention that every time you raise your arms (which is frequently), some of these dingleberries fall off. I think I spent about half of my last class brushing deodorant crumbs away from my pants and my yoga mat. On the plus side, it did make the class go by really fast.

The next bit of advice comes with a warning-it may include Too Much Information. If you're not comfortable reading about my underwear just stop now.

Always always always wear comfortable undies when practicing yoga. I cannot stress this enough. No thongs, no cheeky panties that may crawl. Stick to the basic full coverage panty. In fact, this might be the only situation where granny panties are acceptable. Seriously, if you wear anything that tends to move and shift there is a good chance that the underwear will end up in a place it really isn't supposed to be. You may even be cut in half (hmmm....a plot idea for CSI?)

So, if you start practicing yoga, remember to breathe, calm your mind, and wear comfortable underwear. Now if I could just remember to take my own advice....