A Perfect Day For A Break

Hello kindly readers of DigitalRichDaily!

I am slammed today. I was worried there would be no time to do a meaningful or at least funny post this morning, but I worried for nothing.

A post I wrote a month ago or so as a guest commentator on GNMParents.com was published this morning. So I'm off my own hook. Go check it out...

Five Simple Ways To Help Keep Your Child Safe posted at GNMParents.com.

Later.

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Leadership Thoughts From An Old Book

I was organizing my home office and found an old book I read almost 10 years ago. While I dont think it made a significant impact on me, it did add some insight and understanding about leadership. Here are the some key points from the book that I highlighted when I read it in 1998:

From "Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way" by Dan Carrison, Rod Walsh

• Recruiting: Marines send out their top performers to recruit the best people. These experienced officers display a missionary zeal, and they personify the values and pride of a Marine. Carrison suggests that sales managers send out star performers who embody values of the organization to serve as role models for new recruits.

• Training: Marines spend 12 weeks in basic training. When the training gets tough, drill sergeants quote the old saying, "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." Boot camp is not designed to weed out people, but to cultivate everybody. While corporate America fires those who don't perform up to standard, new Marines practice until everybody graduates.

• Leadership: Marine officers lead by example. If a leader asks a platoon to climb a 100-foot wall, he will be the first one to start the climb. Of all military services, the Marine Corps has the highest casualty rate among officers. In corporate America, the best sales managers are not the ones who hide behind their desks, but those who go out to see the toughest customers with their front-line people.

• Commitment: The Marine Corps credo is DO or DIE. Carrison says that you have to be careful what you ask a Marine to do because he'll die trying. Marines in action show how much a highly committed team can accomplish. What if salespeople adopted such high standards for conquering new territories or introducing new products?

• Loyalty to the troops: While corporate America often tells employees that they are replaceable, Marines are told that they are irreplaceable. They know that the entire country and their fellow Marines depend on them. It's natural for a Marine to say, "I love my Marine Corps." how many salespeople say, "I love my company"?

• More and more companies are studying the Marine Corps model for motivation. Their sales teams take more pride in their product and in their companies. Imagine the possibilities. Imagine every salesperson in your company as proud as a Marine. Imagine how many competitive battles you'd win. Every year, thousands of loyal and highly trained Marines retire; why not deploy their talents to win more sales?
  

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Math On Moving Day

Saturday the dreaded day arrived. I had to help my sister-in-law move from her apartment in Franklin TN to her new home in Spring Hill TN. I dread moving days for three reasons:

1. No matter how well anyone prepares, if there is not a professional packing and moving service involved, there will be countless items still not packed that result in endless additional trips to and from the moving truck.
2. Murphy’s Moving Law #1- anytime you help someone move, at least one of the locations is NOT on the ground floor.
3. Murphy's Moving Law #2- People you thought would show up to help, don’t.

This move looked to be a bad one at the outset. Jackie’s apartment is on the second floor, and the stairway up was designed by a person that has never had to move out of, or into, an apartment.

7 steps up, U-turn on a tight landing with tons of wood guard rails and posts, another 7 steps up to a narrow walkway, hard turn left with posts all around to the ceiling, 6 paces, then another hard turn left with more posts, 6 more paces, hard turn right into the apartment whose door battles with the closet door right behind for the right to stay open.

As I walked up the stairs the first time, surveying the work ahead, and the boxes and storage bins to be moved, I quickly did the math. About 150 or so items to move, many heavy with books and over-stuffed miscellaneous items. About 100 trips up and down the stairway maze. 2,800 steps total, 1,400 up and 1,400 down. Oh- forgot- another 6 steps down to the street level on a gently slopping wide concrete stairway to where the truck was, throwing in another 1,200 steps, making a total of 4,000.

For your information:

• US National Monument- 897 steps
• Statue of Liberty- 354 steps
• St. Louis Arch- 1,076 steps
• Eiffel Tower- 1,665 steps
• Empire State Building- 1,860 steps

So, this move, just counting the steps up, would be like climbing the Eiffel Tower, except of course for carrying an extra 50-75 pounds in your arms to the top. Wonderful.

I told Jackie as I thought through the grueling hours to come, that laziness is the true mother of invention, and I wanted a minute to think through how to cut some of the work out. Then it came to me- she could drop each box and storage bin down to me from outside her door, about 14 feet up including the guard rail. She thought I was an idiot, but agreed to try it, since she would be doing the dropping, and me the catching.

It worked brilliantly, except for the heavy ones that I dropped, took in the gut (resulting in some light bruising), or jammed fingers with slightly greater bruising. No blood though. That didn’t come until we moved her stuff into her new house and I ripped open a finger with some pliers.

It was all worth it. We were able to drop almost everything from the second floor (including the mattress and box-spring), except for the couch, tables, and a few boxes that were too heavy for Jackie to drop over the edge to me. Fortunately.

We were able to cut the job down to roughly the Statue Of Liberty in terms of steps to climb. Cool.

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Five Important Things In Any Partnership

Five years ago I attended a meeting with Bishop T.D. Jakes. I found him to be incredibly motivating, and after he addressed our group I literally wanted to take up a sword and fight the good fight.

Part of what he talked about was directly related to a new partnership we were forming between his ministry and our company. Here is a paraphrased outline of what he said:

Here are five things that are very important in any partnership or union. There are others, but these are five that I wish to focus on today.

1. You can not be alike - it is better when we are different. Seek partners with unique or complimentary skills, knowledge and abilities. Before your partnership begins, clearly state your observations and thoughts in this area, and seek your potential partner's input as well. Make sure you are both understanding and appreciative of what each has to offer.

2. Together craft your significant message, brand, product and statement. What are you about by yourself? What are you about together? What are you seeking that brings you to this partnership, and what will be your joint-message?

3. Manufacture that message. Be fruitful. Once you decide on the message, brand, product and statement do it- quickly and aggressively. Be active, create, produce. It will not be perfect, but it is productive. Then meet together constantly to assess success and make adjustments and changes just as quick.

4. Market it. Tell it, show it, express and transfer your passion. If it does not move you, it won't move them- your customer, user, supplier, whomever. Don't be tentative in this area, you need tenacity, guts, and to lose your fear.

5. Motivation. Motivate yourself and your partner to convey it. Let yourself be motivated by your partner. Catch on fire, get excited, break your records, set goals and beat them. Go beyond who you were. Do not measure yourself against others. Push yourself to the limit. Go beyond limitations. Don't look to others to motivate you.






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The Postman Always Passes Twice

Last year I was brought on board The Safe Side Company, a start-up kids video venture founded by Julie Clark (founder of The Baby Einstein Company) and John Walsh (host of America’s Most Wanted).

Our first release, Stranger Safety, is now the best-selling kids safety video ever, and hundreds of thousands of kids have been exposed to its fun and effective lessons at home and school.

The video is based on 7 simple Hot Tips that teach kids how to be safer around people they “don’t know” and “kinda know”:

The Safe Side Stranger Safety Hot Tips

1. Keep your Safe Side Adult close. If you can see them, they can see you.


2. Never open the door without your Safe Side Adult.


3. Never talk to Don’t Knows unless your Safe Side Adult is with you.


4. Stop and Think! Don’t fall for tricks.


5. Don’t let anyone inside your Safe Side Circle. Run from danger!


6. Never go anywhere, with anyone, unless you ask your Safe Side Adult first.


7. Know your three Safe Side Adults.

My four girls, K (13yrs), L (11yrs), A (8yrs) and R (5yrs) have been steeped in these Hot Tips by watching the video many times, and also enduring discussions, lectures and dinner talk about personal safety. One of the most important Hot Tips for kids to understand is “Stop and Think! Don’t fall for tricks.” This is the one that teaches kids about Don’t Knows and Kinda Knows that may use tricks to get close to kids and start a conversation.

There are several stories about children tricked by people with bad intentions that "need help" finding their lost cat, puppy or child, or needing directions to the nearby park or mall.

The video expands on this tip by teaching that adults do not need help from kids. If kids are asked for help by an adult they don’t know, they should go get their Safe Side Adult (parent, grandparent, etc) immediately, even if the people that ask look important or official (security guards, businessmen, repairman, etc).

It was this Hot Tip that led to an interesting incident with our mailman (or more accurately, mailwoman).

The girls had got off the bus and started the long trek to the house- our driveway is a bit more than a 1/10th of a mile long. As they crossed the street and started heading to the house, the stopped traffic started to move again. Just then someone called out to our kids.

It was the mailwoman from inside her Jeep. After she got the kids attention, she asked if K would take the mail to the house since one of the parcels wouldn’t fit in the mailbox- it would save her having to back up in traffic, and pull into the driveway for the quarter mile round trip to the house and back.

K, remembering the Hot Tip, quickly said no, turned around, and the four of them started walking briskly home. The mailwoman, a bit surprised I’m sure, pulled into the driveway, passed the girls once on the way in casting a confused look at K, dropped off the mail on our front porch, and passed them again on the way out.

When we first heard what happened, Michelle and I almost told K that she should have helped, but we remembered the Hot Tip and decided that it would only confuse things if we did. She did a great job, thought quickly, and acted. We encouraged her by telling her she made the right decision and we were proud of her. Too many times parents unknowingly send mixed messages to their kids about personal safety.

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For God So Loved Bloggers

I was sitting in church listening to our pastor Rick White when he broke out of his normal speaking pattern and delivered a brief sidebar -

“I gotta park here for just a second, ok? I don’t know that I have ever been so disturbed, more upset, more angry, that what I am right now at stuff I read that’s coming across the internet."

Ears perked, heads looked up.

He departed for a bit from the sermon on love and wanted to talk about blogging. Wow. I am a new blogger, and now addicted to both writing my own blog as well as reading others’ thoughts and ideas. I was very interested in what he was about to say- my meter needle hit the red zone.

It was a well delivered call for love and kindness online, and a warning that the internet in general, and blog’s specifically, are just an extension of our tongues. Through our words we all have the power to give life and lift up, or bring death and tear down.

No need for me to detail everything he said- if you are interested in watching the segment, click the link below, and AFTER the copyright segment plays, and the music starts, hit fast-forward in your media player to get to the next segment.

mms://72.22.74.59/12-10-06

Once there, go to 21:08 to watch Rick White talk about blogging. Hope you enjoy.

My own sidebar- we had a world class guest musician perform. Brent Rowan’s guitar playing is enough reason to watch the first segment of the video clip. He is one of the most recorded musicians in history. Merry Christmas.







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My Stupid Revolution

As I take a few minutes to prepare for the coming week I thought I would share with you how I am waging war against junk mailers. Not spammers, but the old fashioned ones that fill my real-world mail in-box out by the road.

My desk is littered with projects to work on: proposals, bulging folders, an LLC tax return, and the mail from the past week that didn't look interesting enough to open right away. Sunday afternoon is when I catch up on it all.

In the boring mail stack are bills and the ever present catalogs, credit card offers and other financial product solicitations. The one day record at our home for the most credit card/financial product offers is seven (four from one company- CapitalOne), and in the mail order catalog category, the record is fifteen. Yes, I keep track.

I used to shred all the financial offers, fearing they might provide useful information for an identity thief rummaging through the garbage. Earlier this year the offers had increased in number to the point I had to start emptying my shredder 2-3 times a week, each time leaving clouds of paper dust on the floor and floating in the air. I needed another solution.

I no longer shred these offers. Instead, I remove the return postage paid envelope from each one and inside stuff all the offer contents, including the original envelope. I make sure any sensitive information is blacked-out except for my name and address, and I jot down a “no thank you and please take me off your mailing list” note on the offer summary page (this never works- but that's ok- read on). Then, I send the whole stack back to them to dispose of, on their dime.

Sometimes the junk mail is especially fancy- like thick glossy card-stock, velum, gold foil envelopes, or actual credit cards with “Your Name Here” stamped on them. In cases where the inserts are to big or wide to shove back into the return envelope whole, I rip them to fit.

One more bit of fun- I take other non-related trash laying around that doesn’t have any important or identifying information on it, and add that in too. Things like cigar wrappers, misprinted documents, printer paper-jam carcasses, scrap paper, you name it.




Sometimes, the envelope is so packed it won’t stay closed without wrapping scotch tape around it. I now only have to empty the shredder once a month. The office trash can is not filling up as fast either.

With the threat of identity theft increasing all the time, it angers me that these bozos are sending a never-ending flow of unsolicited financial documents with my personal information on them. This is my small and probably ineffective way of fighting back. But it is fun. It feels good to place 5 or 10 of these in the mail box at a time knowing the cost of printing, mailing, eating the return postage, and paying someone $5 an hour to open the envelope and rummage through the contents is taking a couple nibbles out of the elephants.

Want to join in? Let’s all do it and start a real revolution. If you do, send this post to a few friends. Oh, and if anyone has any ideas on how to combat all the mail order catalogs leave a comment.

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How Much Farter To Dallas?

I am sure you have heard about this story already- it's all over the news. A Dallas-bound American Airlines plane, flight 1053 defarting from Washington D.C. was forced to make an emergency landing right here in grand ole Nashville, Tennessee, after a seated woman passenger attempted to conceal her escaped vapors by lighting matches.

The pilot made the emergency landing after passengers complained of smelling the burned matches and he believed it was not safe to continue the flight.

If you haven't read it, here is the link: http://www.wsmv.com/travelgetaways/10466832/detail.html

I feel for this lady. My hope is that the media protects her identity. Can you imagine? If she is identified, she will never live it down.

I want to help in some way. I thought it might be a good idea to offer her, and other frequent flyers, some ideas on how to manage this type of problem. I took a few minutes to brainstorm these ideas, and while I have not personally tested them, they seem like they might work:

1. When you fly, bring along those fragrant bath oils that are in those little gelatin-like spheres. They have intense smell, are small and easy to place in your purse or pocket, and are well under the 4 ounce FAA limit. As soon as the wind escapes you, pop a couple of them and smear the oil all over the head-rest in front of you, your head-rest, and both your arm-rests.


2. If you have advance notice of the impending problem, order a cocktail that typically comes with an onion garnish, and ask for extra onions. Drain the drink, leaving the onions, and bring the cup into the bathroom. Crush the onions with your fingers, pour a few ounces of warm water in the cup, and covering it with your hand, shake vigorously to release the onionness throughout the water. Pour liberally about the bathroom floor and then let 'er rip.


3. Choose a strategic release time if you are able. I call this the "Oh My Gosh!" trick- or at least I do now. Keep your eyes open to see when another passenger is heading for the bathroom (if possible look for a large man or elderly person). Once you spot someone entering, get up and wait by the bathroom door. When the current occupant leaves, and is a few feet away, start to walk in and then pinch your nose and say very loudly "Oh…My…Gosh!" while waving your other hand in front of your face and securing eye contact with as many passengers as you can. When you get out, they will assume you are a brave and strong person to have withstood the odor from the previous passenger all that time, that even now still lingers.
   

I hope through this small contribution I may help this poor lady from American Airlines flight 1053. If not her, maybe some other traveler. If through this post I impact just one person, all of the work would have been worth it.






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DigitalHome

I am moving closer to my ultimate digital goal: Being able to consume the media I want, when I want it, where I want it.

Music
All 10,000 or so of our CDs are now digitized- not once, or twice, but three times. Each time I got a better digital music player, and increased the volume the music played on external speakers, I could hear more of the hiss present at the lower rip rates- so after moving from 128kbs to 256kbs, I then made the ultimate leap to Windows Media Lossless (essentially, the same quality as a CD). Each time requiring me to open up and re-rip each CD. Insane. I store it all on an external drive/media server connected to our wireless router. By the way, you can set your WindowsMedia Player to rip at this level by clicking Tools/Options/Rip Music.

Photographs

Now, almost all of our family photos are also available on our home network, accessible anywhere in the house (via laptop/desktop, tv). All that is left is to get our old photos converted from negatives to digital files (about 75 cents a strip at Wolf/Ritz Camera).

Video

The final frontier (at least as I can see for the time being) is to get our video content digitized. The goal is to move the cases in our family room that currently hold good old-fashioned plastic discs with movies on them to a final resting place in storage next to the dusty cases of CDs.

I have been able to get our home movies onto the network- the ones from the last couple of years were recorded on a Sony Handycam DVD recorder. The older ones were a bit harder. $30 a pop at Wolf/Ritz to convert our old Sony Handycam 8mm tapes to DVD. It only took a couple days, but with about 20 to convert, was not cheap.

Our DVD collection is next on the list. I have found a simple tool (and free as well if you use it right) to rip all our DVDs called MagicDVDRipper, so the only issue I can see is storage. Each DVD when ripped will take up about 4.7-15.93 Gig (depending on if the disc is single or double layered, has extra content, etc)- so I will be able to place about 30-60 movies per 300GB external drive (the size I use now).

I will likely wait a bit longer before ripping the full collection- maybe until something in the 5-10 Terabyte storage range if affordable so that I will be able to get all of our films on one drive- important as the new formats coming out (HD DVD, Blu-Ray) have much larger capacity for content.

File size will only get bigger- One hour of uncompressed Ultra High Definition Video (UHDV) consumes approximately 11½ terabytes of data. Can't wait.

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Taco Bell Beggar

The koo is a start-up band I manage on the side. Good kids, strong hearts- they want to change the world through music and the arts, and they are working hard to hone their performance and songwriting. Last night they played a show at a small club in East Nashville called The Five Spot. My wife and I went, grabbed a beer, and had a few minutes to chat before they went on. They sounded great.

After the show I decided to hit Taco Bell for a bite to eat- I didn’t have a chance to grab dinner, though my wife did. Drove up to the drive through, placed my order, moved to the first window.

As we pulled up towards the window, in line with one car ahead of us, we noticed a beggar sitting on the ground, with his back to the building and on a small strip of sidewalk between the Taco Bell and the drive-through lane. He must have been under 20 years old, but already haggard looking, dirty, broken. His eyes were half-open, glancing around every so often, and was clutching the standard-issue bent-in-the-middle cardboard sign with black sharpie scribbled words “will work for food” or something like that.

[Insert sound-effect: flashback cue from ABC’s Lost]

A few weeks ago when my wife was not feeling well we skipped church. I thought it would be a great opportunity to crack open the “Jesus” DVD someone gave us. The Jesus Film Project is an outreach that has shown the film to over 6 billion people (how is that even possible? Amazing). Our family had not been in that number. None of us had ever seen it.

The film was ok- definitely dated looking, and since it was based on the book of Luke and only used dialogue from that ancient account, it was a little hard for our kids to follow. Everything was going well until a scene from the film really shook me. Jesus was walking with some folks and talking about real life issues and how to deal with them. Among those things he said was something that somehow I never really heard before. It’s from Luke 6:30- if someone begs of you- give to them. Not just a generic “thout shalt do this,” but a good old-fashioned red-letter statement from the Man himself. 40 years and never caught that. Interesting.

So back to last night. Decided to give this kid some money, so I rolled the window down and called to him holding out a few dollars. As he got up he started to pitch forward like he was going to pass out. He regained his strength, and as he approached the car he lost his balance again and had to thrust his hand onto the car door to keep his balance. He was drunk and could barely focus on the money. He gently took the money, mumbled a thank you, and plopped right back down on the ground.

After a few minutes (the car in front of us was obviously ordering tacos for a Vanderbilt frat house that had the munchies- it was taking way to long for their order) he struggled to get up again, holding the money in his left hand, and started to walk away. I assumed he was off to find something to “drink” with his newfound riches ($3 to be exact), and so was instantly frustrated and disappointed with the kid. Instead, he changed direction, and started moving to the Taco Bell doorway. He tried to enter, but it was locked- closed. Only the drive-through was open, and they don’t take walk-up orders. He disappeared around the corner of the building and we didn’t see him again.

It was the first time in many years I had given money to a beggar. Now and then I have done it- especially when I was caught off-guard or if my kids were with me (ouch. A hypocritical moment for sure). I always justified not giving money to beggars by assuring myself that if given, the money will quickly find itself at liquor store (or worse) buying a high for the next hour or so. I told myself that what I should do is go buy some food and give it to them- but of course I hardly ever did that. Just didn't have the time since I saw them mostly downtown when I was trying to get somewhere on time.

What Luke reminded me was that there are two transactions that occur when someone begs and we give. One is between God and giver, and a separate accountable transaction between God and receiver. I am being called to only concern myself with the first.

If anyone happens to read this, and has wisdom, suggestions or thoughts on how best to respond to beggars I would enjoy reading it. Leave a comment. Thanks.

Secret Recipe For Bonfire

My friend Jeff invited himself over to my house for a bonfire. Actually, I invited him last year- and for several reasons it was delayed, and delayed, and then didn’t happen. He reminded me about it a few days ago, and so we finally did it last night. I also had my friend Jay over as well. It was a wonderful, cold and starry night and the fire was amazing.

About 4pm in the afternoon I went about the task of staging the bonfire. There is an art to this that I have learned over the last few years (and many failed bonfires).

How to build a bonfire:

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RICH’S SECRET RECIPE FOR “BONFIRE”
a 3-4 medium sized cardboard boxes, cut into strips about 24" x 6"
a 1 Gallon of gasoline, unleaded
a A stupidly large amount of wood, split and well seasoned
a A small greasy/oily rag

Set up the cardboard strips like you would a house of playing cards, leaning them into one another, leaving 5 or 6 strips for later. Then, gently stack the wood around the cardboard, standing upright and leaning into one another, in a growing concentric circle around the cardboard innards. Once you have built a rough circle with a diameter of about 5 feet, begin to lay wood flat on top of the structure in a loose pyramid leaving space between each log for air and fire to flow. Then, stack additional wood, standing up right, on top of the edges of the wood on the outer edge of the circle. Anywhere you can safely balance additional wood on the entire structure do so liberally. The last part of preparation is to take the remaining cardboard strips and tuck them into open spaces around the outside of the circle spreading evenly. Finally, carefully pour the gasoline, making sure that a large amount flows down to the cardboard center. Stand at least 15 feet away, light the rag, and throw anywhere on or near the wood structure. Quickly pull your arm back to save as much body hair as possible. Enjoy the mushroom cloud of heat and fire.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve with large amounts of beer, cigars, marshmallows, Hershey’s© Chocolate Bars and Graham crackers. Some prefer to bring along milk to down the ambrosia known as ‘S’mores’ but I prefer Shiner Bock or Blue Moon Ale.
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Last nights bonfire was a success. A roaring fire, good friends, good beer (until the Shiner Bock ran out and we switched to Corona) and dark but mild cigars. Oh yeah…the conversation was good too. There is just something about sitting out in the cold (it was about 30 degrees) with a huge hot fire warming you, and staring at the blue flames and dancing embers. It really is magical.

One other unrelated note- yesterday I let loose the information about changes at my company. No need to detail that here…in a nutshell, we took a flying leap for a year to prove a hypothesis. We did it! We proved it wrong. In the course of that journey, we determined the right direction, but unfortunately that new direction is headed towards a place I am not an expert in. Too bad. I love the company, its mission, products and people, and will continue to support it 100%. I am excited to continue some project work for them around a few interesting opportunities where I am able to contribute.

I sent out a message regarding the changes at my company to partners, suppliers/vendors, or folks that I have kept in the loop regarding developments with the company. I am overwhelmed at the encouragement and kind words these people have responded with. My purpose was not to solicit those comments, or anything else for that matter, but it came anyway.
It is wonderful to have many caring and interested friends and associates, and I am thankful more that I can express. So…I will just say thanks.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing“
1 Thessalonians 5:11

Great Lessons 4

Timeless lessons I found somewhere or other, and wanted to share. Enjoy.
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"The Obstacle In Our Path"

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

Then, a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.






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Great Lessons 3

Timeless lessons I found somewhere or other, and wanted to share. Enjoy.
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"Honor Those That Serve"

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies her tip.






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Great Lessons 2

Timeless lessons I found somewhere or other, and wanted to share. Enjoy.
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"Be Kind To All"

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her- generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry. She wrote down his address, thanked him and drove away.

Several days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others." Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole






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Great Lessons 1

Timeless lessons I found somewhere or other, and wanted to share. Enjoy.
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"You Just Never Know"

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'Hello'."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.






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