Silent Vote

The conference discussion was dominated by the passionate few pleading their points. Many sat silent, pondering the principles and flexibly yielding to the passionate in the efficiency of time.  "Call the Question" and the vote was voiced - the majority absent in response.  After all, a "NO" uncomfortably breaks the silence, contaminates the unanimous, exposes the individual,  and .......

     slips the silent majority into a prison of dominance. 

Break the silence today.

God's Canvas

Sunrise  - Cincinnati, Ohio  11/4/13


 

Ellen pointed out the sunrise today - daylight savings time ended yesterday - were now on God's time :) .

 "How could anyone believe there isn't a God", was my remark. 

A constant living canvas - the master artist.


Sunset - Naples Florida  10/25/13

Texting Fingers

I was watching Jenna the other day as she was voraciously texting someone.  It made me wonder if there is a measure of speed of texting (e.g. texting words per minute) like the old days of typing. 

A quick search of Wikipedia shows the world record by Sonja Kristiansen of Norway who keyed in the official text message, as established by Guinness, in 37.28 seconds. The message is, "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality, they seldom attack a human."

The problem with statistics about texting is determining what a word is.  For instance is "U" a word for "you"?  Regardless, I can say my texting is as slow as a dinosaur (an appropriate word for my ability to use this technology). 

Maybe like the contest between John Henry and the steam engine (or Paul Bunyan and the chain saw), we should set up a contest between Jenna (on texting) and me (on the keyboard).

The Need to Read

I just happened upon a blogger's post - "Finding Time to Read" by Shane Parish and quickly cut and pasted it to send to Susan, Jenna, and Ellen.  I encourage you to click on the title and read it yourself.

Reading is a gift I received from Mom - and it's evidence in my life is plastered all over this blog:

Book Arrivals
Great Books
Book Redos
Parenting - Serious Stuff
Failing Vocabulary
Lyrics and Painting
Exponential Browsing
Fearing Not Enough
Browsing
Heavenly Books
Books and Movies

Add to that the tag - "Books" with 162 entries/references and the Shelfari bookself with 161 Books (oops that doesn't match) and approximately 5,444 pages (only a statistician would like that). 

"I feel the need ...... the need to READ .... yeaoh!"      Top Gun :)

Mechanic Mania

Just got my car back from the service department and struggled with the ugly bill - the 100K mileage service maintenance (I now have 95,462 miles on the 2006 DTS), new brakes, new battery, and misc repairs (Engine Strut Mount and Front Sway Bar Links).  The total cost was bad enough but what "steamed" my radiator was the fine print of the 15% discount coupon that I assumed applied to this service.

I am always cautious about reading the fine print of coupons and this one was full of caveats (present at time of service, applies only to parts and then an obscure reference to previously discounted maintenance menu items.  Hmmmmmm what' that mean?

Yes - you guessed it - that "catch all phrase" applied to everything except $150 of parts with a total discount of $23 on a maintenance bill of over $2K!  Needless to say, I was ready to drive the car through the showroom window.  It took a discussion with the Service Manager, and a 10 minute wait to calm me down.  In the end the dealership did the right thing and came closer to my expectations and discounted the bill about $200 (10%).

It is these interactions that create mistrust in the automotive mechanics industry (a close derivative to the feeling of interacting with a Used Car Salesman).   I will say this dealer neutralized a customer service situation and I would continue to consider both sales and service at this dealership in the future. 

Laugh Often with Others

It was a wonderful weekend visiting J.P. and D.P. at their place in Florida.  One of the highlights was dinner at Campiello Ristorante & Empori Viale Terza.  The motto "Eat Well, Laugh Often and Live Long" fits with 20 plus years of friendship.  The evening entertainment added to the excellent Italian cuisine.  Campiello was started in Cincinnati (or so our waiter said) but is no longer there as they moved to Minneapolis (1987) and have 12 locations there. 

I particularly like the "Laugh Often" portion of the motto.  As we were sitting on the deck, D.P. pointed out that children laugh about 400 times a day and then asked "How many times do you think adults laugh?".  My answer was 40 - and D.P. revealed it was 17 - YES only seventeen!  So how do you solve this adult void?  One way is to find the people who make you laugh.  In fact studies have shown the health benefits of laughter are more powerful when laughing with others than alone.

"Laugh it up Fuzzball" :)

 

Tarnished Trust

I could kick myself for missing the Jack R. Andersen Distinguished Lecture Series at Miami University on Oct. 9, 2013.  I attended the series back in 2009 (see Lead to Read) when David McCullough spoke.  The speakers this year were Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles and it is well worth the hour viewing! 

Alan Simpson pulls no punches when he talks about the generations. Sandwiched between the "Greatest Generation" and the "Greediest Generation", he claims responsibility for the financial place the United States has found itself in, yet he directly confronts the "wimps" without veracity and courage to correct the problem.

When asked about the current divisive atmosphere among our leaders in Government he poignantly described the issue:  "Trust WAS the coin of the realm ....  and it's gone.  It's a severely tarnished coin"