Whatever Happened to Keeping Your Word ?

I am continually amazed at how far we have fallen away
from the "good old days" ...
 - when a man's word was his bond
 - when a handshake was all it took to seal a deal
 - when getting married meant living "happily ever after"
 - when promises made were kept, if only because you said you would

I shouldn't be so discouraged by this, but it seems to be an epidemic affecting our whole society and the world at large.  Everywhere you look people are saying "I'll do this" or signing contracts that promise a certain quality of work, and then bailing as soon as things get tough or require real "work" to achieve.

I have a few work related examples from my own personal life (I chose work because it seems like any other area I pick, such as politics, parental responsibilities, scholastic endeavors, etc. would be subject to lots of different opinions and complaints about my "uneducated" perspective).  Here they are:
 - As leaders, we are promised "monthly reports" on the results of our team members by the first Friday following month-end.  I think this has happened once thus far this year.  33% commitment keeping is not a feel-good.  It also makes it very difficult to recognize improvement or decreases in performance early enough to give timely kudos or feedback.
 - I have direct reports who commit to making improvements in certain performance areas then simply shrug their shoulders and say "I don't know what happened.  I'll try to do better next month." when they see that they did not meet their goal.  The Jedi Yoda said "Do or do not.  There is no try."  Maybe I'll TRY do some Yoda coaching!  :)
 - I receive e-mails from peers or superiors promising responses to my questions or procedural updates or plans to meet with me by such-and-such date, only to see that date come and go with no response.  Truth be told, without follow-up on my part, I wonder if some of these things would ever get done.

I don't mean to rant here, especially since I am prone to the same decay of commitment.  I know that I personally have made commitments and not followed through.  I am fairly confident that it has always been an honest mistake, but I'm probably wrong on that at least every once in a while.  I try to make notes of things I have agreed to do.  I set calendar reminders and wherever possible I will complete the task or assignment immediately so that I won't accidentally forget.

I just wonder if society might not begin to be a better place if we started being more open and honest with one another.  Instead of worrying about how we might be perceived, why can't we just be straight with each other?  I think I will try (master Yoda would be disappointed) DO this in the coming week and report back in this blog.  Maybe then I'll have an answer to this blog title question.

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Is it ever okay to be Proud ?

I am not talking about selfish pride, or being boastful of oneself.  I think, in general, there is never really a time where this is "called for" and a more humble approach is almost always a better one.  Despite this belief I know I am prone to moments of being proud about myself ... all I can say is, I'm working on it!

What I am asking about is situations where you are so proud of a person you know and what they have accomplished.  Is it okay to boast of them when you speak about or to them?

Here's why I ask:
My wife is simply amazing!  For those that follow her blog, you already know of the struggle and challenge she has been dealing with as the de-facto President of the VGRA Pool Board (a local community pool in her parent's neighborhood that we have frequented for many years now, and the same pool she used to lifeguard at back in high school).

Karen became a member of the Pool Board two years ago, initially as a means to take advantage of the "free" membership that was offered to pool board members for their service on the board.  Through some unique events she became the Secretary for the board that same day she joined the board.  This caused an incredible amount of stress on her (not all bad, as some of it simply gave her an opportunity to expand her comfort zone) especially because the leadership and flow of the pool board meetings was non-existent.  Agendas?  Ha!  One person speaking at a time?  Please!  Stick to one subject at a time?  Are you crazy?!  Why would we do that?!

Anyway, she retained this position on the board that whole year, and then last year she agreed to continue on in that role (with some additional responsibility of handling some of the duties related to the Snack Bar at the pool).  Unfortunately the change in leadership from 2009 to 2010 did little to make anything run better.  In fact, it probably got worse.  As with any local small business (non-profit like the pool is or otherwise) individual egos come into play and communication breaks down, eventually leading to lots of "politics" and e-mails that should NEVER be sent.  Amidst all this turmoil, Karen remained as positive as she could and tried her best to keep everyone working together so that the community could enjoy the benefits of the pool (a pool Karen grew up using and has many fond memories of, even recent ones with our own children).

In September, 2010 everything finally exploded.  The pool season was over and like rats jumping from a sinking ship (and I do think those that "bailed" could definitely be called "rats" ... except that's kind of mean to real rats everywhere!) the President, Vice President, and another pool board member simply resigned their positions on the board.  Of note, the President had basically fired the Pool Manager and had also kicked at least one other pool board member off the board, if not driven away another.  Technically, these board members had made a 3-year commitment to the board when first elected ... and also, technically, they were not allowed to resign until their positions could be replaced (which can only happen at a special meeting of the general pool membership or at the annual general meeting, held in the first four months of the year).

My awesome wife stepped up (somewhat reluctantly) and took on the President's role.  She reorganized the other three remaining board members to ensure the main positions of the board would be taken care of.  She coordinated meetings with these members to cover essential and future-planning agenda items.  She outlined clearer responsibilities for ALL pool-related positions: the Manager, Assistant managers, Lifeguards, Pool Board general members and specific officers.  She called former board members to get their input on how things used to be so she would know how to reorganize everything the right way!  She balanced delicately the strained relationships of former board members, current board members, the fired manager, lifeguards, and general busy-bodies of the pool.

In addition to handling an unfair amount of clean-up, left behind by the last several Pool Board presidencies, Karen spent significant time re-building relationships with people she knew were needed for the better long-term future of the pool.  She recruited others to her cause convincing some of her remaining peers on the board that they were strong enough to handle the challenges dumped on them.  As a group they got the correct type and amount of insurance on the pool and its property.  They correctly outlined responsibilities of the Manager role, posted the position for applicants, and began interviews.  They priced and budgeted the opening and closing of the pool by an outside vendor (instead of hoping that board members just knew how to do this properly).

Above all this, she set the agenda for and facilitated over the General Membership Annual meeting this past week.  You just have to trust me when I say this is something that would be difficult, if not impossible, for even a moderately self confident person to do.  And Karen is very low on her self confidence (I still have no idea why when I consider how amazing she is!) and even through the aforementioned amazing leadership, I know she still felt overwhelmed by the task at hand.  With a little coaching and support from me, but mostly based on her own strength, she completely ran the meeting and put all the "complainers" and "detractors" in their proper place.  She was firm, but kind.  She used her very thorough knowledge of the bylaws of the pool to support her statements and referred those with questions to those very bylaws.  Her preparedness must have floored these disgruntled former board members, but it thoroughly impressed and amazed me!

I have seen my wife's emotions all across the board (and she has seen mine).  But I have never seen such an amazing sense of self-confidence in her as I did this past Wednesday evening when she got home from her meeting.  She was beaming with pride ... but not really pride ... more the satisfaction of a job very well done.  She would never admit it, but I think she is an even better leader than I am!  She has a sensitivity to people that allows her to empathize so much more effectively than I ever have.

It was no big surprise to me when she informed me that she was now the official Pool Board President (and not just the fill-in until another person could be called version she has been since September).  In fact, I think she was more surprised that one of the new board members (who incidentally has been a "detractor" in the past few months) recommended that she (my wife) remain as the President.  I was not able to be there to see her in action, but I am certain that her strong, persuasive, loving personality won this "old guy" (and all the others) over in support of her!

So I am proud of my awesome wife!  I am proud to be her husband (I always have been!) and I am excited for her to continue to flex her leadership abilities in this important experience.  I am most proud that she is re-gaining some of the confidence she seems to have lost since her independent college days as a paramedic.  I love you Karen!  And I love you even more when you love yourself enough to trust in your abilities!  I am so proud of you!

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So, What did YOU do on Spring Break?

Our First Annual Case Family Wii Tournament took place during the kids' second week of Spring Break (yes, here in District 49 in Colo Spgs, we get 2 weeks of Spring Break).  The "first round" was completed on Thursday, 3/31 with all but Myra (she's only 9 months old after all!) participating.  The top four scores from that opening round advanced to this past Monday's Final Four round (which I will blog about separately at a later date).

I spent quite a bit of time outlining the scoring and setting up the order in which we would play the games so that it could be fun and fair.  We had "adjusted" scoring for the three kids under 8 years old, which did what it was supposed to and allowed one of them (read on to find out who) to make that Final Round.

I did not take pictures of our family while we completed these games, but wanted to share some pictures of the games we participated in.  One big thing we all learned from this is that in future years we will have each participant be given the opportunity to pick the games we play as a family.  This was one of the key points of the Final Four (each participant in that round got to pick ONE game that we all had to complete) and arguably what made it the most fun!

So here are some pics and the corresponding scores of our family in each activity / game:

Hula Hoop (on the Wii Fit)
Arguably my personal best game, this is a relatively simple hula hoop game.  You swing your hips.  Other players toss you additional hoops (up to 5) if you are doing well enough.  Check out my wife's blog for pictures of me helping Brooklyn do this (it was sooooo funny!)
Scores for this game went as follows: - Savannah (17 spins); Cat (41 spins - she was easier to move than Savannah!); Josh Jr (35 spins - NOT his favorite game!); Brooklyn (77 spins); Ben (95 spins); Mom (228 spins - nice job!); Dad (298 spins - shoulda been 300!  Grrr!)

Soccer (on the Wii Fit)
Josh Jr has become more and more of an expert in this game, if only because he is good at standing on one leg!  :)  The trick to this game is to lean your body left, right, or in the center and "head" the soccer balls while avoiding the cleats and panda bear heads (don't ask me what happened to the bears themselves).
Our scores in this game ended as follows: - Cat (4 points); Savannah (7); Brooklyn (34); Ben (63); Mom (117); Dad (203); and Josh Jr smoked us with 221 points!

Ski Slalom (on the Wii Fit)
This is one of Karen's favorites!  Simple rules: ski downhill, fast, and navigate your Mii between the flags.  Penalties are assessed for missed flags and even if you go really slow you're likely to miss some.
Our times ended up like this: - Savannah (2:22.28 minutes and seconds); Brooklyn (2:00.25); Catalina (1:55.01 - she missed less flags); Ben (1:41.76); Josh Jr (1:24.38); Mom (49.95 seconds - she missed a few flags at the end when I cheered her on ... sorry sweetie!); Dad (45.13 seconds)

Ski Jump (on the Wii Fit)
This is one of MY favorite games.  You have to hold your body very still in a forward leaning position and then SNAP your body upward and hold perfectly still once you make the jump.  Cat tried this, but if you don't jump right you just roll down the hill as a big snowball.  She still loved that part!  She laughed each time and chanted in a perky upbeat Catalina-kind-of-way "I'm a no-ball!  I'm a no-ball!"
With two jumps each, the scores ended as follows: - Savannah (51 Meters); Brooklyn (122 M); Ben (180 M); Josh Jr (210 M); Mom (260 M); and of course Dad (306 M)

Table Tilt (on the Wii Fit)
This is the ultimate "balance" game as it requires patience and complete control of your body weight.  You basically shift your weight on the Wii Balance Board to get the balls to roll into the hole.  But as the levels increase, so does the degree of difficulty and the number of balls you have to keep balanced on the board.  I love this game!
Our scores went very evenly (except Karen and I): - Cat (20 points); Savannah (30); Brooklyn (40); Ben (50); Josh Jr (60 - with a beautiful save on his last level - he snuck the ball in at the last second!); Mom (98 points - you get 10 points for each completed level and then a bonus point for each second left on the clock, if you clear all 8 levels); Dad (114 points!)

Penguin Slide (on the Wii Fit)
Don't be fooled by the title, YOU are the penguin (or at least your character is dressed in a penguin suit).  And you slide back and forth by tilting left or right on the Wii Balance Board with the purpose being to collect fish which are worth different amounts of points.  This game is addictive!  The two littlest girls have not played enough other Wii Fit games to have earned this one, so they did not get to play - but that would have been fun to see!
Our scores ended as follows: - Ben (61 points); Brooklyn (64); Josh Jr (66); Mom (70); Dad (71 - yep, I just barely caught one fish at the very end to take home the win!)

Snowboarding (on the Wii Fit)
This event is just like ski slalom, except that the Wii Balance Board has to be turned sideways (like a snowboard).  Unfortunately Josh Jr had not "earned" this game yet, so he couldn't play or earn points for this game.  He made the Final Four just fine so don't get all weepy for him!
Our times in this game went like so: - Ben (1:40.56 minutes and seconds); Brooklyn (1:32.21); Mom (1:14.46); Dad (50.46 seconds)

Find Mii (on Wii Play)
It is hard to describe this game, but I will try.  You are basically trying to find "Mii"s that either: are identical, look like your Mii, are faster than other Miis, look a different direction than the rest of the crowd, etc.  We simply had everyone play one time against everyone else on this (and the other two Wii Play games) and you got one point for a win and no points for a loss (except those kids under 8 got a point just for trying!)
Our scores for the WHOLE Wii Play section ended like this: - Catalina, Savannah, Brooklyn, and Ben all had 3 points (1 per each game they "attempted" to play); Mom had 6 points (2 wins in each game); Josh Jr had 10 points (he beat everyone in Find Mii); Dad had 11 points.

 Charge! (on Wii Play)
Another game that is way more fun than you might originally think.  Your Mii rides atop a *crocheted cow along this unending course.  *The graphics are so funny!  Your goal is NOT to be the fastest, but rather to collect the most points by knocking over scarecrows that are lined up on the road.  You have to "jump" over barriers and you can knock the other cow-riding-Mii off the track if you bump them just right!  What a silly game, but soooooo addicting!

Shooting Range (on Wii Play)
Very similar to the original "Duck Hunt" game on the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System for those too young to know better).  What is better about this version (besides much better graphics, etc.) is that you go through about four different shooting competitions that test all kinds of hand-eye coordination skills.  I usually dominate on this, but the kids (and Karen) are getting much better with practice.

At this point I was guaranteed a spot in the Final Four, so I sat out the three Deca Sport games left to be played.  This worked out well because then Mom, Josh Jr, Ben, and Brooklyn could just play each game (all are 4-player challenges) once and gain points for 1st - 4th place.

Kart Racing (on Wii Deca Sports)
This game is nowhere near as fun as Mario Kart (coming just a little later in this blog), because the controls are way too sensitive.  But it's enjoyable enough anyway.
Our scores ended this way: - Brooklyn (3 points, 4th place); Mom (3 points, 3rd place); Josh Jr (4 points, 2nd place); and Ben finally won one! (5 points, 1st place!)

Snowboard Cross (on Wii Deca Sports)
This game is easy to play, very difficult to master!  You have to go fast enough to beat other players, but if you get going too fast then you spin out and fall behind.  Just like in the real Olympic sport, you easily knock over other players (and get knocked down yourself) when you bump into each other.
We ended in the following order: - Ben (2 pts, 4th place); Brooklyn (3 pts, 3rd place); Mom (4 pts, 2nd place); Josh Jr (5 pts, 1st place).

Supercross (on Wii Deca Sports)

This is probably my personal favorite motorcycle riding game on the Wii (but it may be the only one now that I think about it).  Much less sensitive than the Snowboard Cross or the Kart Racing, this game is basically just about timing your landing off a variety of jumps to make sure you land both tires at the same time.  Sure there is cornering and steering involved too, but the recovery from a bad landing is the one thing that will slow you down the most.

Our scores finished like this: - Brooklyn (3 pts, 4th place); Ben (3 pts, 3rd place); Josh Jr (4 pts, 2nd place); Mom (5 pts, 1st place)

Long before this time Catalina and Savannah had given up any interest in playing stupid video games.  About here is when we noticed they weren't even watching any more!

Mario Kart
Only people who have never played any version of Nintendo don't  know what this game is.  Josh Jr is our most dominant player in this game ... by FAR !!!  We did individual time trials as opposed to a group race and ... here's how close it came out: - Brooklyn, (1:27.614 minute and seconds); Dad (1:23.633); Ben (1:23.219); Mom (1:23.085); and the "king," Josh Jr (1:21.301)

So the final tally on scores looked like this:
 - Savannah and Catalina were "out" with 18 points each
 - Ben was "out" with 40 points
 - Brooklyn was "IN" with 42 points (she was the beneficiary of our "under 8 years old" modified scoring)
 - Josh Jr was "IN" with 49 points
 - Mom was "IN" with 53 points
 - And, of course, Dad was "IN" with 53 points (he was ranked the overall #1 seed heading into the Final Four round because of his courteous stepping down in the Wii Deca Sports games).

Check back in a few days to see my blog post about our Final Four round and the eventual crowning of the first ever Case Family Wii Tournament Champion!  :)
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Is your job this much fun ?!

Last Saturday I had the responsibility opportunity obligation assignment ... hmmm ... none of those word choices seem accurate enough ... or respectful enough ... let's try a different starting point ...

At work we are having a huge contest with LOTS of money available bi-weekly for anyone who is efficiently and effectively selling new insurance policies (Auto, Motorcycle, Personal Watercraft, RV, etc.)  It is called "Spring Into Sales" and for visual effect we were tasked (that word sounds right!) with creating a tree with "money leaves" to be displayed in our team area.  The details of how it should look, what criteria is used to earn the "money leaves" and other fun stuff like that was left to the individual teams or supervisors to determine.

So on Saturday (the first day of the contest) I determined that I would make our team tree and design our own personal "money leaves" (templates had been provided, but I thought they looked nothing like leaves so I didn't want to use them).  I only spent about 5-10 minutes designing the tree and the leaves.  The actual attachment of the tree to it's location (check out the pictures below) and the cutting out of "template" leaves took closer to 1 1/2 hours.  But my Saturday workload was very low (last day of the month and all my administrative stuff was done) and call volume for the reps on my team was low too, so they were all busy catching up on reading, etc.

I cut out the basic shape of the tree and then cut that main tree trunk into 3/4 inch wide strips, so they would fit on the individual blinds.  I then taped each row to the next single blind, until I got to the top of the trunk, at which point I individually cut the smaller branches so they would extend the tree beyond its base.  Overall I just love the look of the tree and it was the most fun thing I did at work that day!


 

This is the tree when hidden.



This is the tree when revealed.

 










I have to brag a little here, because it is my blog after all, but mostly because I am really pleased with how the tree turned out.  The leaves are less than spectacular, but they are simple to cut out and will look great when the whole tree is covered in them.  My favorite part is the fact that the tree is virtually "hidden" when the blinds are in their normal "open" position.  Even the "money leaves" are only partially visible (although the more we get on there the more noticeable it becomes) until the big "reveal" when someone closes the blinds.

Other teams did trees too, but I dare say NONE of them are anywhere near as creative or spectacular looking as our team tree!  I know you have nothing to compare them with, but what do you think?  Is this tree really that cool and unique or am I just getting a big ego over nothing?  Feel free to lie if you think it will make me feel better!  :)

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Are there questions we should NOT ask ?

I am big on asking questions.  Ask my family.  Ask my co-workers.  Ask my friends.

Ever since my LDS mission to Los Angeles (so many blogs will come later on the experiences I had during those two years ... awesome!), which was really the first time I had to learn to "make conversation," I have been a fan of asking lots of questions, all the time.

When Karen and I were first dating we played a game as we would drive around town (holding hands and kissing at red stop lights ... cue the "awwww" sounds), where one person had to ask a question.  The other person then had to answer the question (no matter what it was) and then it was their turn to ask a question.  The only other rule was that you couldn't just ask the same question back to the person who originally asked it.  You had to come up with at least three other questions beforehand and then if you still remember the original question you could ask it.

It may sound cheesy, but it was a great way to really get to know each other during our courtship.  I think it made all the difference in terms of our preparedness for being married, living together, raising children, where we would live, etc.  We should probably re-enact that game because I am sure there is plenty we could benefit from talking more about.  :)

Anyway, today I was reading a fellow blogger's post (shout out to my previously mentioned Choir Director Amy!) and she was talking about a question she is often asked when out in public with her 5 children.  That question is: "Are you going to have any more kids?"  Or "Are you done having kids?" ... or some variation along that theme.
I, myself, have been asked this question very often and am always surprised at the boldness of the person asking it.  Today, that blog got me thinking about questions we should probably never ask, so here is my list of questions that came to my mind this afternoon each prefaced with the situation in which you might find yourself tempted to ask said question (and with my comments on why not to ask that question, if needed):

To ANY woman EVER:


He must have asked
one of those questions

  - When is the baby due?  (Best response is "9 months from tonight if all goes well!")
 - Having a bad hair day?  (How is this question going to improve things if she is ?)
 - Got dressed in the dark again huh?  (Again, no benefit here)
 - Have you put on weight?  (Seriously!  Do you have a death wish?!)
 - Are those ALL your kids?  (If the answer is yes, then your next question should be "How do you do it?!" followed very quickly by "That's amazing!"  If the answer is no, then you're on your own.  I say don't risk it.)

To ANY man EVER:
 - Do these (fill in the blank) make me look fat?  (Not trying to be sexist here, but men are fairly simple creatures and we will answer this question and you won't  like the answer.  Like that Men's Wearhouse guy "I guarantee it!")
 - How long has your hair been receding like that?  (Despite our tough exterior, hair loss never feels good so please don't bring it up.  And while I'm at it, don't tell us it would look better parted the other way.  Trust me, we've tried.  It did not work.)
 - What happened to your face?  (Whether a guy has scars (big or small), a band-aid in an awkward place or a whole cat stapled to his cheek, one way or another you will eventually wish you had NOT asked this question.)
 - Would you like some dessert?  (A waste of your time.  The answer is always YES!!!)

To a friend who lives out of town and just stopped by your house for a visit:
 - Do you have a place to stay tonight?  (If so, they now feel guilty for not being good enough friends with you to stay at your place.  If not, now they will be staying with you.  Have you not seen Nat'l Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?!)

At a sporting event where you are cheering the visiting team:
 - Can you believe how bad (home team) sucks?  (People may soon afterward be asking you "What happened to your face?")

At a car dealership:
 - Do you have anything for (specific dollar amount) a month?  (Trust me when I say they might not have before, but they will now!  You just got ripped off!)

At a car repair shop (see also: brakes, tires, oil change place):
 - How much is this going to run me?  (Waste of your words.  You'll never get the total amount until well after the work has been done and now you're on the hook for whatever they thought was the "right thing.)

In any serious business meeting:
 - Anybody want to hear a dirty joke?  (This is what an old boss of mine called a CLM ... Career Limiting Move.)
 - Do we have to be here?  (Another CLM.  It may get a laugh from your peers, but it will land you in the office of someone you don't want to visit.)

To Josh (me) when I am at work:
 - Are you Busy?  (Link to my prior blog on this one for the full story.)
 - Do you ever do any real work?  (I'll answer you with one of many sarcastic responses ... and then I'll pull reports on your responsibilities and send a strongly-worded e-mail to your boss!  Okay, not really, but I'll think about doing it while I pretend not to care.)

So what question(s) have you learned NOT to ask?

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Myra Laughs at a Wolf ?

I am inching closer to the reality of being able to add my own music to this blog.  Despite numerous setbacks, I am going to figure this out.  Along the way, I am learning many things, such as ... how long it takes to add even a short video to YouTube.

Here's my most recent addition.  It is a video of Myra laughing with Josh Jr as he attacks her with a stuffed animal (one of his many wolves) and it just makes me laugh!  I hope you like it too.  Thanks Karen for taking such a cute video of our youngest at this adorable age!

This is NOT the video.
Just a blurry picture from the video.

I'm not sharing these videos "publicly" (where you can just search for them on YouTube), but I'll be posting the links here in the blog and then anyone can find there way to them whenever they want.

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Seat Up or Seat Down ?

Apologies in advance for the less-than-mature nature of this post.  (How cool is it that I found a way to use the phrase "mature nature" in a sentence?!  They're spelled the same except one letter but pronounced so different!)

Today at work I had the unpleasant experience of using the men's bathroom and ... let's just put it this way: I needed to finish some "paperwork."  Before I sat down, I did what I have done for years now (ever since I was a father of a child who was potty training) ... I checked the toilet seat for "drips."  Sure enough, some prior user had made the selfish decision to leave a "sample" on the seat, which I had to wipe off using more than enough toilet paper to cover my hands and arms up to my elbows (so I don't contract any venereal diseases or something yucky like that!)

This makes me so furious!



Lid lifted before "business"



Lid down ALL other times!

I am not going to tackle the old man vs woman debate about the toilet seat being put up or down.  For the record, I don't think it should be a debate at all.  The top toilet LID (not just the seat) should be down whenever possible.  PERIOD.

What I am going to tackle is the issue of men using the sit-down seats when there are perfectly good urinals less than 10 feet away.  If you must use the sit-down toilet for "onesies" then have the decency to do one of the following actions:

#1.  Lift the lid before you go and then put it back down after you finish.

#2.  Wipe the seat after you are done.

I cannot believe that "professionals" in a very clean work environment do not have the decency to abide by this simple rule.  What are you, in your 30s and still learning how to aim?!  Do you enjoy sitting down onto an already wet seat?!  Are you so blind you couldn't see where you peed?!  (No offense to blind people ... they probably never miss!)

Oh waitaminute ... I just had a thought ... what if it's a woman sneaking into the men's room to teach us a lesson about how the seat should always be "up when you pee and down when you're done" ?!  If so, score one for the ladies.

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