346 - Confrontation

I am not sure about this one as a good deed.  Heather suggested it was and so I am putting it in the blog.  We shop at Giant and use the points to save on gas.  This usually puts us at the closest Giant gas station right at the end of the month.  The line gets so long that they put up cones and force people to line up on one side, while exiting on the other.  Normally there is an attendant, but with the cold and snow we were left on our own.  About five cars, myself included, watched as a guy whipped in the exit and pulled right up to a pump.  I decided to confront the guy and see if I could point out what he had done.  It seems there are so many oblivious people lately.  I hope that my confrontaion does some good to enlighten the guy.  My guess, he will continue being the obvious jerk he is!  Can't win them all.  1/29/11

347 - Candy Bar

I passed a candy sale box on my way to the vending machine. You know the ones parents get wrangled into by their kids. I don't eat candy bars, but I shoved in a dollar anyhow. 1/28/11

348 - Babies First

Upon arriving at the gym, I noticed a lady struggling to get the door open and her enormous baby stroller out. I did a very simple good deed and held the door for her. In the south this would be considered the norm, but in the north it is considered a good deed. 1/25/11

349 - Now Where Did I Put That Conference Room

While sitting in my cube this morning, I overheard someone down the hall askign about conference room locations.  The layout of the offices in our building seems to be more of an evolving process than a planned one.  This has ended up with conference rooms tucked way in the back of the building.  I stuck my head out and helped the guy locate the right one.  1/25/11

350 - New Software

I belong to an RC club and we have a website that is used for the forum.  The club is fairly new so we are still working out the bugs.  One is the free software that is used for the forum.  It works ok, but another version would serve our needs better.  There was a plea for donations and a raffle started.  I made my donation and bought a ticket, but that is not the good deed.  I decided to give the club one of the scale roll cages I have been making and selling.  I get about $50 for them.  1/23/11

351 - Wes' Pancake House

Heather has been putting in a lot of extra time on the weekends for her work project. All I wanted to do this morning for breakfast was cereal. Then I thought it would brighten Heathers day to make her some breakfast. Omelets were shot down but she jumped right on blueberry pancakes. The smile after she finished told me I did the right thing. After all breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What better way to enjoy breakfast than with the one you love! 1/23/11

352 - Parking Spot

Ok, so we are back to a snow related good deed. What can I say, it is winter in PA. After shoveling my driveway and sidewalk (help from Heather, thanks) I decided to shovel a spot where our neighbors daughter usually parks. It took about 15 extra minutes, but in the cold it felt like hours. 1/21/11

353 - Can I Get a Spot

Ok, so today's good deed is not exactly earth shattering. I was able to help out someone with a spot at the gym. Not a big deal but something I typically do not do. 1/20/11

354 - Rain, Sleet or Snow

I noticed that the neighborhood mail box had not been shoveled. We share one of those large boxes with about 30 of our neighbors. On the way to get my mail I shoveled the sidewalk. I then cleaned out the area in front and a spot for the mailman to pull in. 1/17/11

355 - Snow Removal

This morning while shoveling my driveway I decided to go ahead and shovel both my neighbors sidewalks. Not a huge deal, but one less thing for them to worry with. 1/17/11

356 - Coupons

After the gym I decided to drive to the mall and look for a new iPhone. I thought Heather might want something or want to go with me. When I called it turned out she did want something, but had a coupon to use. Even though it was out of my way I went back home to get the coupon. 1/16/11

357 - Roll Cage

For those that are not aware, I am into RC (remote control) rock crawlers.  I have a Jeep, Land Rover and modified crawler with a VW Bug body.  I belong to a local club and the president and I have become friends.  I did a lot of work helping him put together his Jeep a month back.  Today I gave him a brand new roll cage after the one he had was broken.  I have a bunch of these cages, since I was selling them for a tidy profit.  I hope to fix the broken one he swapped with me, but there is no guarantee.  1/15/10

358 - Doorman

Today I helped a guy get his luggage into the hotel. I am not sure why every grocery has automatic doors, but so many hotels do not. I mean everyone has luggage when coming to a hotel. 1/11/11

359 - Good Deed Denied

I have a conundrum on my hands. I am traveling and it snowed a good bit last night. When leaving the hotel, I noticed a guy trying to get out of his parking space. My intention was to help push him out of the parking space. I made it over but he would not let me help. Not really sure why, but I did take action toward my good deed. I pondered on if it counted or not. I guess since I am writing this down it is obvious that I decided it did. 1/10/11

UPDATE: I went in for coffee waiting for my truck to warm up. When I came back out the guy was still stuck. This time he let me help. Now it is an official good deed!

360 - Laptop Locked Up

I was talking to a guy about how a soda machine broke and took my money. He asked me If I was local because he needed help with his computer. He explained the situation and I told him how to restart his computer when it gets locked up. Who knows if it will work, but I hope it does. 1/9/11

361 - What...no freaking peanuts

On my flight to Chicago I overheard a man asking for some snacks. Since the overpriced tickets no longer cover snacks I started taking my own. I offered him a granola bar, which he gladly accepted. 1/5/11

362 - Traffic

Today was an easy one. A lady was jammed in traffic on an on ramp. Normally I would blow on by, but I decided to slow up and signal her into traffic. 1/5/11

363 - Sometimes Good Deeds Take Time!

Tonight after work I helped my neighbors boyfriend with a stereo installation in his "new" car.  It turns out is is new to him.  Actually it is a mid 90's Oldsmobile.  Those things are horrible taking apart and getting back together.  So, needless to say what I thought was going to be a quick install turned out to be a few hours work.  Tonight I learned that doing good deeds is sometimes more than just a quick thing.  Sometimes it requires a lot of your time.  1/3/11

364 - I need some Coffee

A coworker didn't have change for coffee this morning.  I pulled out my pocket and handed him fifty cent and said enjoy.  1/3/11

365 - Newspaper

Nothing big to start off.  I saw my neighbors newspaper out by the street.  Not an uncommon sight, but I figured I would hand deliver it to their door.  Next time I will try and think ahead and wear a coat though!  1/3/11

Starting on my journey

I can't say where exactly I was when I came up with the idea for this blog/project.  What I do remember was coming out of a Barnes and Noble and seeing a guy in a back brace approaching the door. I was hungry and it was super cold.  All I wanted to do was move on down to get myself a nice warm sandwich a few doors down the way.  Instead, I turned around and got the door for the guy in the back brace.  You can tell he was really appreciateive of my effort, regardless how small it was.  That is when I decided to start this blog. 

My goal is to accomplish 365 slightly un-selfish (will explain later) deeds during the year.  I thought long and hard about my original concept of one a day.  It was just too much pressure on me and I would be upset if I missed one.  So I decided on 365 in a year, which allows me to double or triple up some days and go without others.  My unofficial goal is to stay with one a day, but if not I won't feel disappointed.

Now I will explain about my term slightly un-selfish and what it means to me.  You see no deed is done for truly un-selfish reasons.  Well, atleast that is what I think.  My reasons is to finish the blog/project and to hopefully spread some goodness to others, kind of like the concept in Pay it Forward.  I also feel that this will make me feel better as a person.  So, even though I will do as many random and sometimes anonymous good deeds for others.  The real beneficiary will be myself.  I feel I will grow as a person and feel much better about myself.

I hope this is somewhat interesting.  Probably going to be a rocky start, but I am sure it will pick up as I get more practice.

Wes