I'm not an enthusiastic follower of the F1 Grand Prix, but an article in the Yahoo! news catches my eyes today. It is a lesson that we can learn from race driver Felipe Massa's behaviour at the all-important, decisive finals of the race.
SINGAPORE, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Ferrari world title contender Felipe Massa had a disastrous Singapore Grand Prix Sunday but refused to blame the mechanic who ruined his race.
The Brazilian, ahead of rival Lewis Hamilton at the time after 15 laps, was given the green light to leave the pits but the fuel hose was still attached as he accelerated away, spraying petrol and knocking over one of the pit crew.
Massa ended up sitting in his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the crew frantically ran after him and managed to pull the hose free.
But he was given a drive-through penalty for almost hitting another car as he drove away and rejoined in 18th place, ending any hope he had of making the points.
Despite the disaster, he was philosophical.
"We could have finished first and second and it could have been different," he said as he slipped seven points behind Hamilton in the drivers' standings with three races left after the Briton finished third.
"It is hard to deal with losing in this fashion a race that was within our grasp with a car that was just the way I wanted it.
"But things can change in a moment and that's what happened today.
"We are all human beings, everyone makes mistakes. I am not the sort of person who goes to a guy and fights with him.
"So I went to the guy and gave him even more motivation because we need him and we need everybody together for the last three races of the season." [boldprint by me]
It was a race to forget for Ferrari with defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen failing to finish after ramming his car into the barriers with just four laps left when he was fifth.
"A black day, there's little else to day. We are very disappointed but that doesn't mean we are downtrodden," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali told reporters, brushing aside suggestions the mechanic would be reprimanded.
"You try to be quick, try to find the right slot for the car to be released," he said.
"It is a difficult moment. We have to have a lot of respect for these guys, who are not top drivers but are part of us."
David Coulthard in a Red Bull had a similar pit-stop blunder with his fuel hose also left on and a mechanic hurt, although his crew resolved the issue quickly.
I have written the following to help those who are, like me, tired of having to change to another font when we open up a new spreadsheet on MS Excel 2002, simply because we don't want to use Arial size 10. Ironically laziness breeds hard work, so I have gone to explore Excel to find out where I can change the default font. You can change font settings easily on Microsoft Word; on Excel it's easy as ABC too, just that the right place for doing the tweaks is hidden in some obscure nook in the software...
Changing Default Font in Microsoft Excel (version 2002)
1. Tools > Options
2. In the 'Options' window, click on the 'General' tab.
3. Under 'Standard font', choose the font style and size that you desire as your default, which means this font will be the one that shows up every time you open a new Excel spreadsheet.
4. Click OK.Excel will tell you that the changes will only take effect when you restart your computer.
So you can now have your spreadsheet welcome you with your favourite font, and you can get cracking with the important stuff!
Proko sent me this over email: an updated take on the good-old ‘Why did the chicken cross the road.’
Why did the chicken cross the road?
BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!
JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% .......... reboot.
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE: I invented the chicken!
LEE KUAN YEW: We have installed crossing lights at all traffic junctions. All chickens should be able to cross safely to the other side.
LEE HSIEN LOONG: Gantry points have been set up. All chickens wanting to cross the road are advised to top up their cash cards first.
ABDULLAH BADAWI: We have to be fair to all chickens. Some want to cross over the road, some do not. ........ Zzzzzz .......zzzzzz ....... Now what were we talking about? Ah yes, chickens. We will form a Royal Commission to decide whether it is right for them to cross the road.
MAHATHIR: Now even the non-bumi chickens want to cross the road? How can they disrespect and disregard the bumi chickens? We must be allowed to cross over first. It is our right!
ANWAR: We have enough chickens waiting to cross over in September.
SHAHRIR: All foreign chickens are welcome in Malaysia but they must not cross over the road within 50km of the border.
Wong Kan Seng: I am sorry that the chicken was allowed to cross the road. It was an HONEST MISTAKE. Let’s move on.
While sending Thow off, the topic suddenly shifts to one about budget airlines. Jia Shun tells us of this funny video, which you're about to click and watch.. (that is, if you haven't actually clicked and watch before viewing this message)
DISCLAIMER:
I blog on MS Word - and I frequently backlog because I don't have the time to write everything on the same day, so please ignore the TIME of post.