Found a way to remediate part of a bad situation.

[alibaba]

Thank you for calling me Sir, Sir! And I really like your advice in your blog. I know this sounds weird, but in thinking of the concept of "Thinking Outside of the Box" it never occurred to me that it could mean viewing it from the outside. When you are completely wrapped up inside your own situation, you cannot see things as well as you can than when you are outside (or seeing things from above, as some have called it) of the box and viewing things.

You are very motivational. You gave me a lot to think about.

You sir gave me a bit to think about. I have never considered looking in the box from outside it. Now that I have, I will reply. My mental concept of thinking outside the box is as if standing in the box, kicking down the sides and looking out 360°.

By your concept, you are standing outside looking in. I find that limits you to only seeing what is available inside the box. Expand your horizons. Throw the freakin box away and look outward, ahead, behind, underneath and above. NO LIMITATIONS!

Best of luck to you, now go kick ass. d

[charlesr]

Alibaba: This is so cool. We have both expanded our horizons philosophically. This is my kind of dialogue!

Now I'm going to go and kick some ass!

Thanks again.

[alibaba]

Alibaba: This is so cool. We have both expanded our horizons philosophically. This is my kind of dialogue!

Now I'm going to go and kick some ass!

Thanks again.

[alibaba]

Alibaba: This is so cool. We have both expanded our horizons philosophically. This is my kind of dialogue!

Now I'm going to go and kick some ass!

Thanks again.

[alibaba]

Thank you for calling me Sir, Sir! And I really like your advice in your blog. I know this sounds weird, but in thinking of the concept of "Thinking Outside of the Box" it never occurred to me that it could mean viewing it from the outside. When you are completely wrapped up inside your own situation, you cannot see things as well as you can than when you are outside (or seeing things from above, as some have called it) of the box and viewing things.

You are very motivational. You gave me a lot to think about.

I went back and re-read our posts Charles. It occurred to me that you are correct in the viewing from the outside. Much of my work is dealing with projects that engineers and contractors have tried multiple times to fix and cannot. Seems about the 5th time someone has paid to fix the job, I get a call. I am not an engineer, though many in the family, I am retired from contracting and though much experienced have forgotten a lot but the nice part is nearly every job I've ever done was a problem job and I was the one willing to tackle it. I am the "outside the box" non contractor, non engineer looking at the mess in the box to find the answer. Usually the problem is in the box. The answer is one never considered so the solution is not in the box either else there would be no problem. Leave all options open to find your solution. Nothing in life follows a script forever.

My wife has always told people to never tell me something cannot be done and if you do you better get out of the way as I am going to do my best to prove them wrong. Be that person. Short story, over 30 years ago. I wanted to move a barn from one farm to another, across a creek, across a box culvert much narrower than the barn, under a power line and up a steep grade. It was a close move of only about a mile. I laid awake 2 years thinking about it. One night about 2 a.m. I figured it out and left to start working on it. I came home about 10:30 a.m. for a bite to eat and found my wife crying. Having left in the middle of the night to start my project, she thought I had left her. She is used to that now. Yes I did move the barn in 2 days, complete. Used it until last year.

[charlesr]

Sounds like a heck of a project! Considering the "rigidity" of a barn, that had to be quite an undertaking.
You are right about never saying that something cannot be done. There is always a way.
I do like that "view from above" and "looking at the box from the outside" philosophy. I wouldn't have thought of it if you had not brought it up. I have a few situations where that strategy might just become quite helpful.

[alibaba]