Monday, September 15, 2003

The journey is the reward....Chinese proverb

When our memories outweight our dreams, we have grown old.
(William Clinton)

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.
(Friedrich Engels)

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
(Henry Ford)

Great works are performed, not by strength but by perserverance.
(Samuel Johnson)

The needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many.
(Kirk - Star Trek III)

Thursday, August 21, 2003

It is important to review your RETIREMENT OPTIONS every 5 years. You may become amazed that benefits change, options and grandfather clauses lapse. You cannot reply on a single source for your retirement. Be prepared to SAVE at least 5% of your income and INVEST another 5% in other investments. "If things can go wrong - they will."

-----------------------------------

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Gandhi

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think - Socrates

There is IQ and I Will. -Beatrice Skinner

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough we must do. - Goethe

You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself. - Galileo Galilei

Learning is not a spectator sport. - D. Blocher

For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated. To be motivated, they must become interested. And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life. - Gus Tuberville, President, William Penn College

The only kind of learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered or self-appropriated learning - truth that has been assimilated in experience. - Carl Rogers

It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained. - Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (b. 1926). Television documentary, BBC1, 6 Feb. 1992.

I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. - Albert Einstein

It takes two to speak the truth,--one to speak, and another to hear. - Henry David Thoreau

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires - William Arthur Ward

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. - B. F. Skinner

Some, for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote.
- Edward Young

The road to wisdom?-Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.
- Piet Hein, Danish inventor and poet.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lao-Tzu (6th century B.C.), Legendary Chinese philosopher.

Some are born with knowledge, some derive it from study, and some acquire it only after a painful realization of their ignorance. But the knowledge being possessed, it comes to the same thing. Some study with a natural ease, some from a desire for advantages, and some by strenuous effort. But the achievement being made, it comes to the same thing. - Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

When you know something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say that you don't know. That is knowledge." - Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

What I hear, I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I understand.
- Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

Learning without thought is labor lost. Thought without learning is intellectual death. - Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all. - Arthur C. Clarke

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me. - Dudley Field Malone

I think, therefore I am (Cogito, ergo sum.) - Descartes

Teaching Quotes , Teaching Quotations, Teaching Sayings - Famous Quotes and Famous Sayings Network: "You can pay people to teach, But you can't pay them to care.
--Marva Collins "
What we think, we become.
--Buddha
--------------------

Thursday, August 07, 2003

Consider This.... Chicken Soup for the Soul
From: Chicken Soup for the Soul™ © 1993
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Health Communications, Inc. P 228-230
• After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933 said, “Can’t act! Slight balk! Can dance a little!” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hill Home.
• Louisa May Alcott, the author of “Little Women”],” was encouraged to find work as a servant or semstree by her family.
• Beethoven handled the violin awkwqardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.
• The parents of the famous opera singer Enrico Caruso wanted him to be an engineer. His teacher said he had no voice at all and could not sing.
• Charles Darwin, father of the Theory of Evolution, gave up a medical career and was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat catching.” In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and by my father, a very odinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.”
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for a lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupct several times before he built Disneyland.
• Thomas Edison’ts teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything.
• Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsocialable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
• Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15th out of 22 in chemistry.
• Isacc Newton did very poorly in grade school.
• The sculptor Rodin’s father said, “I have an idiot for a son.” Described as the worst pupil in the school. Rodin failed three times to secure admittance to the school of art. His uncle called him uneducable.
• Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, flunked out of college. He was described as “both unable and unwilling to learn.”
• Henry Ford failed and went brok five times before he finally succeeded.
• Babe Ruth, considered by sports historians to be the greatest athlete of all time and famous for the setting the home run record, also hold the record for strikeouts.
• Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until was 62, and then only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks. His greatest contributions came when he was a “senior citizen.”
• Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his humorous war novel, M*A*S*H, only to have it reject by 21 publishers before Morrow decided to publish it. It became a runaway bestseller, spawning ablockbusting movie and a highly successful television series.
• R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.
From: Chicken Soup for the Soul™ © 1993
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Health Communications, Inc.

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

We are all going to die
it is question of when
so enjoy life today
before it starts over again.

You are going to die
Let me say it again
Your are going to die
It is only a question of when.

You are going to die
And all your stuff will rot.
You are going to die
And your dreams will stop.

You are going to die
Perhap even today.
Your going to die
So remember to play.

Your going to die
As everyone else.

Kent Forrest

--------------------

Friday, July 25, 2003

Quotes for Living Well!

1.Know Thyself – Socrates. From ancient Greece comes this
reminder that introspection, keeping a journal, paying attention to
the heart of things, comes first. Before we can know the world
around us, and make wise choices, we must first come to grips
with who we are and what we value.

2.To Thine Own Self Be True – Shakespeare. In life there is no
substitute for integrity. My grandmother was fond of saying, "We
either stand for something, or we'll fall for anything." Integrity is
about going beyond the truth to full and complete honesty,
openness and fairness.

3.And the Greatest of These is Love – St Paul. He also observed
that "without love I am just a clanging symbol or a noisy gong."
Without love, caring relationships, and compassion, life is indeed
a dry and shallow thing.

4.Imagination Rules the World – Albert Einstein. The good life is at
least partly based on dreams that are worthy of us, dreams that
elevate and challenge and inspire our best. Bobby Kennedy
noted, "Others look at the world and ask, 'Why?' I dream of a world
that never was and ask, 'Why not?'" Martin Luther King's defiant
cry, "I have a dream!" will live long after most of us are gone and
forgotten.

5.Too much of a good thing is just right – Mae West. The good life is
about living large, about expressing the joy and love of life. It's
about song, exuberance, and about taking chances, and "going
for it".

6.Opportunities multiply as they are seized – SunTzu. Success
depends on the courage to act, and courage in turn requires a
level of faith that every opportunity acted upon will lead to more
and better ways to serve, learn, grow and prosper.

7.Do, or do not. There is no "try". – Yoda (The Empire Strikes
Back). Life requires action, boldness and decisiveness. Mae
West also observed, "He who hesitates is a damned fool."

8.Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but
when there is nothing left to take away – Antoine de St. Exupery.
Henry Thoreau recommended, "Simplify, simplify, simplify. Let
your concerns be as 2 or 3, not more." Friends, work, the media
and this thing called the Internet, along with our own "wish lists" try
to seduce us to complexity, busy-ness and anxiety. Keep it simple!

9.The artist is nothing without gift, but gift is nothing without work –
Emile Zola. Only focused, intelligent, diligent effort turns potential
into reality. Without creative effort, talent and "gift" seem to atrophy
and die. Truly a case of "use it or lose it".

10.There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a
miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert
Einstein. I highly recommend practicing the attitude of gratitude.
What else is there?

-- by Philip E. Humbert, Phd, a Psychologist, Personal Coach and
entrepreneur.
Visit NewDreams
--------------------------

Life's Little Instructions

1. Every so often you push your luck.
2. Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.
3. Never give up on anybody -- miracles happen every day.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Learn to listen.
6. Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.
7. Don't expect others to listen to your advice or ignore your example.
8. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.
9. Leave everything a little better than you found it.
10. Don't forget: a person's emotional need is to feel appreciated.
11. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
12. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
13. Make new friends but cherish the old ones.
14. Don't use time or words carelessly, neither can be retrieved.
15. Judge your success by the degree that you're enjoying peace, health, and love.
16. Smile a lot: it costs nothing and is beyond price.

-- H. Jackson Brown
Success Stories, motivational stories, marketing, success, carrers, entrepreneurs,: "Don't Be Afraid To Fail

You've failed many times, although you may not remember.

You fell down the first time you tried to walk.

You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn't you?

Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat?

Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot.

R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.

English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.

Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs.

Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.

Message published in the Wall Street Journal
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...
you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...
you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married...
you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful...you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

Count your blessings!
--- Author Unknown ---

-------------------------

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
* Bible -- Mark 8:36

----------------------

Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.
* Louis L'Amour

----------------------

* Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
* Confucius

----------------------

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.
* William Shakespeare

----------------------

Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
* Benjamin Franklin

-----------------------

"Avarice, envy, pride,
Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
On Fire." (Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, The)

-------------------

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."
(T. S. Eliot, Hollow Men, The)

------------------

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."
-William Shakespeare, As You Like It

------------------

"As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport."
-William Shakespeare, King Lear

-----------------

"To die, to sleep --
To sleep, perchance to dream, ay there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause; there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life."
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet

----------------------

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

---------------------

"Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even though they bring gifts."
-Virgil, Aeneid, The

---------------------

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
-Thomas Jefferson

---------------------

"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window."
-Stephen King

---------------------

Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you."
-Aldous Huxley

--------------------

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
-Dalai Lama

--------------------

"Knowledge is power."
-Francis Bacon

--------------------

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
-Walt Disney

--------------------

"When your work speaks for itself, donĂ¢€™t interrupt."
-Henry J. Kaiser

-------------------

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way."
-Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

-------------------

"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel."
-Ambrose Bierce

------------------

"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
-Robert X Cringely

------------------

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
-Carl W. Buechner

------------------

"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."
-Jonathan Kozol

------------------

Pick the low hanging fruit first. (anon)

------------------

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
-Josh Billings

------------------

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
-Oscar Wilde

------------------

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"
-John Greenleaf Whittier, "Maud Muller"

------------------

"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."
-Josef Stalin

-----------------

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."
-Aldous Huxley

-----------------

"A thief believes everybody steals."
-E.W. Howe

-----------------

"Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected."
-George Washington

-----------------

You can fool some of the people some of the time - and that is enough to make a decent living. (P.T. Barnmum)

-----------------

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life."
-Chinese Proverb

----------------

"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them."
-Benjamin Jowett

----------------

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
-William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"

----------------

"Everything that can be invented, has been invented."
-Charles H. Duell, 1899

----------------

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."
Lat., "Seize the day, put no trust in tomorrow."
-Horace, Odes

----------------

"To the man who only has a hammer in the toolkit, every problem looks like a nail."
-Abraham Maslow

----------------

"The definition of a beautiful woman is one who loves me."
-Sloan Wilson

----------------

Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be.
Jim Horning

----------------

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

You can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven - only thinking makes it so...
(George Bernard Shaw) - Man and Superman

-----------------

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

----------------

Life goes on....with or without you. (Kent Forrest)

----------------

You can make a difference

From the Orlando NTC "Navigator", by LCDR Tom Cook, NTC Command Chaplain:Ă‚ 

Once there was a man walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. Ă‚  As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance.Ă‚  As he got closer, he noticed the man was picking up
starfish that had been washed ashore and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.Ă‚  When the man asked what he was doing, he said, "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean.Ă‚  You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the beach.Ă‚  If I don't throw them back, they'll die from lack of oxygen." "I understand," replied the visitor, "but there must be hundreds of starfish on this beach.Ă‚  You can't possibly get to all of them.Ă‚  And this is happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down the coast. Ă‚  Can't you see that you really cannot make a difference?"Ă‚  The man smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one."Ă‚  Our lives do influence others...for good or bad.Ă‚  Even small insignificant acts set in motion great things. Ă‚  An encouraging word.Ă‚  A cold soda.Ă‚  The first, "Good Morning!" Ă‚  A strong handshake.Ă‚  Your every act or attitude will make a difference to just one!Ă‚  ...In everything set them an example by doing what is good ...show integrity."

--------------------

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage. (Robert Louis Stevenson)

--------------------

What ideal would you be willing to die for?

--------------------

We create our fate every day. - (Henry Miller)

--------------------

The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor hand well. (H.T. Leslie)

--------------------

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen" (Winston Churchill)

--------------------

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. (Stephen Grellet)

--------------------

Success is never final, failure is never fatal, it's courage that counts. (Winston Churchill)

--------------------

Dream as if you'll live forever... Live as if you'll die today. (James Dean)

--------------------

Minds are like parachutes. The more open they are the better they work.

--------------------

CARPE DIEM" (Seize the Day) --unknown

--------------------

You can go to California - you can fly, you can drive, you can walk and you can crawl. By any of these means you are going to your destination.

--------------------

"Illegitimis non carborundum" - (Don't let the bastards get you down) -- General Joseph Stillwell

-------------------

It's impossible to get out of a problem by using the same kind of thinking that it took to get into the problem." (Albert Einstein)

-------------------

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." (Anonymous)

-------------------

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis retain their neutrality." -- Dante Alighieri, "Inferno"

-------------------

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." --Booker T. Washington

-------------------

When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing." --Dwight Eisenhower

-------------------

Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead

-------------------

"The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." -- Theodore Roosevelt

-------------------

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make all of them yourself." --Sam Levinson

-------------------

I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
(Robert Frost) The Road Not Taken

-------------------

That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
(Friedrich Nietzsche), Thus Spake Zarathusra

-------------------

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Inaugural Address

-------------------

"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
N.B.: This is a paraphrase from the ancient Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer, On the invention of the atom bomb

------------------

We never know the worth of water 'til the well is dry."
-English Proverb

-------------------

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
-Albert Einstein

-------------------

"For many are called, but few are chosen."
-Matthew 22:14

-------------------

"This above all; to thine own self be true."
-William Shakespeare

-------------------

Never look down on anybody unless you helping him up."
-Jesse Jackson

-------------------

"Practice is the best of all instructors."
-Publilius Syrus

-------------------

"Our patience will achieve more than our force."
-Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790

--------------------

"You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her."
-Anon.

--------------------

"Come live with me, and be my love, And we will some new pleasures prove Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lines, and silver hooks."
-John Donne, "The Bait"

--------------------

"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'"
-Erich Fromm

--------------------

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
-Erich Segal

--------------------

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!"
-Sir Walter Scott, Marmion

--------------------

"The road to a friend's house is never long."
-Danish proverb

--------------------

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."
-Muhammad Ali

--------------------

In Japan - great Artists are judged as national treasures...

--------------------

He who has a thousand friends
Has not a friend to spare,
While he who has one enemy
Shall meet him everywhere."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

--------------------

"The only way to have a friend is to be one."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

--------------------

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
-Reinhold Niebuhr

--------------------

First they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not stand up. Next they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not stand up. Next they came for the Socialists, but I was not a Socialist so I did not stand up. Finally, they came for me - and there was no one else to stand up.
-Reinhold Niebuhr

-------------------

"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
-Ziggy

-------------------

"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses."
-C. G. Jung, Psychological Reflections

-------------------

You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do."
-Henry Ford

-------------------

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of Mankind is Man."
-Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Man"

-------------------

"The unexamined life is not worth living."
-Socrates

------------------

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
-Confucius

------------------

"It is said an eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him with the words, 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!
-Abraham Lincoln

------------------

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life."
-Chinese Proverb

------------------

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."
-Mark Twain

------------------

"The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money."
-Anon.

------------------

"There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there."
-Colonel Sanders

------------------

"A fool and his money are soon parted."
-Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry

------------------












Monday, July 21, 2003

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
(Mark Twain)

-----------------

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.
(William Jennings Bryan)

------------------

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
(Dale Carnegie)

------------------

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.
(Solon)

-----------------

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
(Japanese Proverb)

-----------------

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.
(Confucius)

-----------------

Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of virtue.
(Albert Einstein)

-----------------

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
(Lao Tzu)

-----------------

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.
(Victor Hugo)

-----------------

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself - (Henry Ward Beecher)

-----------------

No iron chain, or outward force of any kind, can ever compel the soul of a person to believe or to disbelieve. (Thomas Carlyle)

-----------------

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Chinese Proverb)

-----------------

Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. (Isaac Asimov)

-----------------

Learning HOW to learn is our most important life lesson plan. (KLF)

-----------------

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving . . . and that's your own self. (Aldous Huxley)

-----------------

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. (Charles Kingsley)

-----------------

Some of the worlds greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.

-----------------

What I do best is share my enthusiasm. (Bill Gates)

-----------------

Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

-----------------

Sunday, July 20, 2003

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
--Dale Carnegie

-------------------
The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.
G. K. Chesterton

-------------------

"The time is always right to do what is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

-------------------

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time--a tremendous whack. (Winston Churchill )

------------------

Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe,and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. (- Arthur C. Clarke )

------------------

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. (A. Conan Doyle )

------------------

Do not overestimate the decency of the human race.
(H. L. Mencken )

------------------

Murphy's law:
If anything can go wrong, it will.

------------------

"It takes two to speak truth - One to speak, and another to hear."
- Henry David Thoreau

------------------

Just think - there are more people alive on the face of the earth
than have ever lived in all the history before us. (KLF)

------------------

Half of art is knowing when to stopĂ¢€¦ AWR

------------------

I have often regretted my speech, but never my silenceĂ¢€¦ Publius Syrus

------------------

Empathy - Your pain in my heartĂ¢€¦ Jess Lair

------------------

If you type it more than once....your doing it wrong. KLF

------------------


Being a sex symbol has to do with an attitude, not looks. Most men think it’s looks, most women know otherwise.
- - -Kathleen Turner (1986)
-----------------
Be nice to your children, for they will choose your rest home.
- - -Phyllis Diller
-----------------
No problem is so large that it cannot be run away from.
(Snoopy)
-----------------
Am I dying or is this my birthday?
When she woke briefly during her last illness and found all her family around her bedside.
(Lady Nancy Astor, d. 1964)
-----------------
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom apparent until it be lost." - Charles Caleb Colton
--------------

Perception:

As Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were walking along a London street they passed a house with many windows. Holmes turned to Watson and asked "Did the house we passed have windows?" Watson replied: "Yes." Holmes than asked: "How many windows were there?" Watson replied that he did not know. "Ah", said Holmes, "You observed but you did not see."

-----------------
"Men are like a fine wine.   They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with." . . . Kathleen Mifsud

"The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they're too old to do it." . . . Ann Bancroft

"I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage.   They've experienced pain and bought jewelry." . . . Rita Rudner

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards." . . . Benjamin Franklin

"A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong." . . . Milton Berle

"I was married by a judge.   I should have asked for a jury." . . . George Burns

"What's the difference between a boyfriend and a husband?   About 30 pounds. " . . . Cindy Garner

"When women are depressed, they either eat or go shopping.   Men invade another country.   It's a whole different way of thinking." . . . Elaine Boosler
-------------------

Saturday, July 19, 2003

DEATH

You are going to die....it is only a question of when.
Live your life with the knowledge that tomorrow is
only a maybe....

Forbes (the billionaire) once commented that he would
live a long life because he ate well and had his own
personal physician who lived at his elegant estate.
He died in his sleep.
-----------------------
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS ENEMIES At an official reception during the Civil War, President Lincoln made a brief speech in which he referred to the Confederates as erring human beings, rather than as enemies to be destroyed. An elderly lady, a fiery zealot for the Union cause, scolded him for speaking kindly of the enemies of his country when he ought to be thinking of killing them. "Why, Madam," replied Lincoln, "do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" © 1998 Dr. Philip Ernest Schoenberg
---------------

They drew a circle and drew me out.
I drew a circle and drew them in....

Marlow Thomas
---------------
Ten Rules for the Good Life
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
Never spend your money before you have it.
Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will never be dear to you.
Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
Never repent of having eaten too little.
Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
Don't let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
Always take things by their smooth handle.
When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred.
(This is a list of "Thomas Jefferson's ten rules for the good life".)
The Rule of Benevolent Selfishness - (KLF)

It is most important to take care of yourself first
before addressing the needs of other people.

If you don't love yourself you will not be able
to help or love others, or truly be loved yourself.

----------------

It should cost $20,000 to get married - and $20 to get a divorce.
----------------
Make sure that if you marry - you marry your best friend.
----------------
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach - (close)
----------------

Friday, July 18, 2003

"Vulcans never bluff." (Mr. Spock)
--------------
Never lick a steak knife. (Or run with a refrigerator.)
--------------
There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
--------------
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.
--------------
Life goes on....with or without you
--------------
Perform a random act of kindness everyday.
--------------
Purchase some flowers and give one to each person you appreciate. Ask them to give the flower to someone they care for.....
--------------
The Front Nine Principles


Principle #1

In golf, it is important to have a good grip on the club. In life, it is important to have a good grip on oneself and on the game of life.

In either game, if we do not have a good grip, then we will have to make many awkward corrections and adjustments to compensate for not starting with the basics. Just as a good grip is a foundation for all that we do in golf, understanding oneself gives us a foundation for all that we do in life.

Principle #2

In golf, it is important to have a proper stance and proper balance. In life, it is also important to have a proper stance and a proper balance.

We are in balance when we plant our feet equally on the ground. If we put all our weight on one foot (our job, our relationship, our self interest, our fun, or our hobbies) we will be out of balance. When that happens, the game of golf and the game of life become a struggle. When out of balance, we are more likely to fall down, miss the target, or lose our valuables in the rough.

Principle #3

In golf, it is important to develop a good swing. In life, it is important to be able to swing with it, to go with the flow.

Timing is crucial and a good swing comes from practicing it, not just letting it happen by itself. Change that feels unpleasant or awkward at first, becomes easier and more natural with practice. In life, as in golf, watching someone who is swinging effortlessly and who is having fun, is a joy to behold.

Principle #4

In golf it is important to follow through. In life it is also important to follow through.

The swing does not stop when we reach the ball. It continues on through so we can look up and see our results. Our role does not stop when we hang up the phone, send off the letter, or wave good-bye. It is important to keep watching to see the results of our actions so that we know what to keep and what to change.

Following through shows style as well as substance. Following through allows us to enjoy the results of our efforts. Take a moment to appreciate and revel in the work you have done.

Principle #5

In golf, we play with old friends or make new ones. In life, it is important to have old friends and make new ones.

In golf as in life, it is important to have friends with whom we can share our successes and laugh about our misses. Although we play different holes, at different times, and on different courses, we are all in the game together.

Principle #6

In golf, instant successes, (such as a hole-in-one), are very rare. In life, instant successes are also very rare.

We improve mainly through practice. In golf and in life, it is important to first identify the target, our goal. We rarely get there in one stroke. We approach the holes and goals in several steps. We make corrections along the way. Unless we give up, no mistakes are permanent. We can always shoot again from a new angle.

Principle #7

In golf, we sometimes lose our ball in the rough. In life, we sometimes lose our way in the rough, rough times.

There are times when we have to start over with a new ball. Yet, we do not have to go back to the beginning. We may lose a few points, but we can keep going, perhaps a little wiser for the experience. Sometimes we find hidden treasures in the rough: hidden strengths, or hidden opportunities. Eventually, we can rejoin our group and get back on course.

Principle #8

In golf, it is better to focus on what we are doing well, rather than losing our cool over our errors. In life, it is better to focus on what we are doing well and what is going well, rather than losing our cool.

Focusing on the negative is like playing the game while wearing very dark sunglasses. You cannot see the ball, and you cannot see the goal. It is too easy to lose sight of the goal and view everything as darkness. Dark attitudes color every experience with negativity, impairing our vision and our passion. Removing those dark attitudes brings a clarity of vision. Instead of hiding from the fear or adversity, we grow stronger by confronting our fears.

Principle #9

In golf, as good players, we repair our divots and ball marks. In life, as good citizens, we make amends for our mistakes.

In both, we try to leave the world a little better than we found it. We can do that by repairing not only our errors, but also those errors that others have made. By repairing more than our share we can set in motion positive waves that ripple outward, touching many others with our kindness.

In golf as in life, we get to start over with each swing. Both games are more pleasant when we stop keeping score, and work on helping each other become better players.
--------------------------------------------------------------


Dr. Scott Sindelar
I've learned to backup daily....
---------------
The best way to invent the future is to invent it....Alan Kay
---------------
The mind is everything. What you think is what you become. Buddha
----------------
The world is a dangerous place not because of those of do evil but those who do nothing about it. (A. Einstein)
----------------
We fear things in proportion to the things we don't understand. (Livy)
----------------
When you are right no one remembers; when you are wrong no one forgets (Irish proverb)
-----------------
Your friend is one who knows all about you and still loves you
-----------------
Common sense is not so common (Voltaire)
-----------------
I have simple tastes: I always expect the best. (Oscar Wilde)
-----------------
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. (A. Lincoln)
-----------------
I've Learned...
That what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others is immortal.
----------------
I've Learned That being kind is more important than being right.
----------------
I've Learned That you should never say no to a gift from a child.
----------------
I've Learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
----------------
I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
----------------
I've learned that Love may be blind, but marriage is a real eye opener.
----------------
I've learned that you never really learned to swear until you have children.
-----------------
I've learned that you should never pass up the opportunity to use the restroom.
-----------------
I've learned -- that either you control your attitude or you will be offered medication.
------------------
I've learned that you don't want to be irreplaceible. If you can't be replaced you can't be promoted.
------------------



If you talk to God its call prayer.
If God talks to you its called paranoia.
-----------------
Action Phrases and Power Verbs

Describing your work experience isn't easy. To help you, we've compiled a list of action phrases and power verbs. The purpose of using them is to show employers that you know how to get results. Begin your job descriptions with a power verb or phrase: enlisted the support..., formed a committee..., sold, budgeted, improved, increased, maintained the client relationship.

Action Phrases
See also: Power Verbs


CHRONO RESUME
Design, develop and deliver
Conduct needs analysis
Write course design documents
Manage development
Consult with clients
Facilitate problem-solving meetings
Implement solutions
Develop and implement formatting
Developed and delivered
Revamped product training
Assessed employee and client training needs Analyzed evaluation data
Designed and implemented

EDUCATION EMPHASIS
Followed special task force
Assisted special task force
Proctored and scored
Facilitated discussion

SCANNABLE RESUME
Reduced manufacturing plant's burden
Reduced material costs

BLUE CHIP RESUME
managed an eleven-person team
negotiated over $tk
coordinated strategic five-year plan
created and implemented innovative approach developed new product


Power Verbs
See also: Action Phrases

A-B

accelerated acclimated accompanied accomplished achieved acquired acted activated actuated adapted added addressed adhered adjusted administered admitted adopted advanced advertised advised advocated aided aired affected allocated altered amended amplified analyzed answered anticipated appointed appraised approached approved arbitrated arranged ascertained asked assembled assigned assumed assessed assisted attained attracted audited augmented authored authorized automated awarded avail balanced bargained borrowed bought broadened budgeted built

C

calculated canvassed capitalized captured carried out cast cataloged centralized challenged chaired changed channeled charted checked chose circulated clarified classified cleared closed co-authored cold called collaborated collected combined commissioned committed communicated compared compiled complied completed composed computed conceived conceptualized concluded condensed conducted conferred consolidated constructed consulted contracted contrasted contributed contrived controlled converted convinced coordinated corrected corresponded counseled counted created critiqued cultivated cut


D

debugged decided decentralized decreased deferred defined delegated delivered demonstrated depreciated described designated designed determined developed devised devoted diagrammed directed disclosed discounted discovered dispatched displayed dissembled distinguished distributed diversified divested documented doubled drafted


E

earned eased edited effected elected eliminated employed enabled encouraged endorsed enforced engaged engineered enhanced enlarged enriched entered entertained established estimated evaluated examined exceeded exchanged executed exempted exercised expanded expedited explained exposed extended extracted extrapolated


F-H

facilitated familiarized fashioned fielded figured financed fit focused forecasted formalized formed formulated fortified found founded framed fulfilled functioned furnished gained gathered gauged gave generated governed graded granted greeted grouped guided handled headed hired hosted


I

identified illustrated illuminated implemented improved improvised inaugurated indoctrinated increased incurred induced influenced informed initiated innovated inquired inspected inspired installed instigated instilled instituted instructed insured interfaced interpreted interviewed introduced invented inventoried invested investigated invited involved isolated issued


J-M

joined judged launched lectured led lightened liquidated litigated lobbied localized located maintained managed mapped marketed maximized measured mediated merchandised merged met minimized modeled moderated modernized modified monitored motivated moved multiplied


N-O

named narrated negotiated noticed nurtured observed obtained offered offset opened operated operationalized orchestrated ordered organized oriented originated overhauled oversaw


P

paid participated passed patterned penalized perceived performed permitted persuaded phased out pinpointed pioneered placed planned polled prepared presented preserved presided prevented priced printed prioritized probed processed procured produced profiled programmed projected promoted promoted prompted proposed proved provided publicized published purchased pursued

Q-R

quantified quoted raised ranked rated reacted read received recommended reconciled recorded recovered recruited rectified redesigned reduced referred refined regained regulated rehabilitated reinforced reinstated rejected related remedied remodeled renegotiated reorganized replaced repaired reported represented requested researched resolved responded restored restructured resulted retained retrieved revamped revealed reversed reviewed revised revitalized rewarded routed


S

safeguarded salvaged saved scheduled screened secured segmented selected sent separated served serviced settled shaped shortened showed shrank signed simplified sold solved spearheaded specified speculated spoke spread stabilized staffed staged standardized steered stimulated strategized streamlined strengthened stressed structured studied submitted substantiated substituted suggested summarized superseded supervised supplied supported surpassed surveyed synchronized synthesized systematized


T-W

tabulated tailored targeted taught terminated tested testified tightened took traced traded trained transacted transferred transformed translated transported traveled treated tripled uncovered undertook unified united updated upgraded used utilized validated valued verified viewed visited weighed welcomed widened witnessed won worked wrote
Another Way - Chicken Soup for the Soul

From: Chicken Soup for the Soul™ © 1993
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Health Communications, Inc. P-55-58

Another Way

The train clanked and rattled through the suburbs of Tokyo on a drowsy spring afternoon. Our car was comparatively empty - a few housewives with their kids in tow, some old folks going shopping. I gazed absently at the drab houses and dusty hedgerows.

At one station the doors opened, and suddenly the afternoon quiet was shattered by a man bellowing violent, incomprehensible curses. The man staggered into our car. He wore laborer’s clothing and was big, drunk and dirty. Screaming, he swung at a woman holding a baby. The blow sent her spinning into the laps of an elderly couple. It was a miracle that the baby was unharmed.

Terrified, the couple jumped up and scrambled toward the other end of the car. The laborer aimed a kick at the reatreating back of the old woman but missed as she scuttled to safety. This so enraged the drunk that he grabbed the metal pole in the center of the car and tried to wrench it out of its stanchion. I could see that one of his hands was cut and bleeding. The train lurched ahead, the passengers frozen with fear. I stood up.

I was young, then, some 20 years ago, and in pretty good shape. I’d been putting in a solid eight hours of Aikido training nearly every day for the past three years. I liked to throw and grapple. I thought I was tough. The trouble was, my martial skill was untested in actual combat. As student of Aikido, we were not allowed to fight.

“Aikito,” my teacher had said again and again, “is the art of reconciliation. Whoever has the mind to fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate people, you’re already defeated. We study how to resolve conflict, not how to start it.”

I listened to his words. I tried hard. I even went so far as to cross the stree to avoid the “chimpira,” the pinball punks who lounged around the train stations. My forbearance exalted me. I felt both tough and hly. In my heart, however, I wanted an absolute legitimate opportunity whereby I might save the innocent by destroying the guilty.

“This is it!” I said to myself as I go to my feet. “People are in danger. If I don’t do something fast, somebody will probably get hurt.”

Seeing me stand up, the drunk recognized a chance to focus his rage. “Aha!” he roared. “A foreigner! You need a lesson in Japanese manners!”

I held on lighly to the commuter strap overhead and gave him a slow look of disgust and dismissal. I planned to take this turkey apart, but he had to make the first move. I wanted him mad, so I pursed my lips and blew him an insolent kiss.

“All right!” he hollered.” Your gonna get a lesson!” He gathered himself for a rush at me.

A fraction of a second before he could move, someone shouted “Hey!” It was earsplitting. I remember the stangely joyous, lilting quality of it - as though you and a friend had been searching, diligently for something and he had suddenly stumbled upon it. “Hey!”

I wheeled to my left; the drunk spun to to his right. We both stared down at a little old Japanese man. He must have been weel into his seventies, this tiny gentleman, sitting there immaculate in his kimono. He took no notice of me, but beamed delightedly at the laborer, as though he had a most important, most welcome secret to share.

“C’mere,” the old said in an easy vernacular, beckoning to the drunk, “C’mere and talk with me.” He waved his hands lightly.

The big man followed, as if on a string. He planted his feet belligerently in front of the old gentleman and roared above the clacking wheels, “Why the hell should I talk to you?” The drunk now had his back to me. If his elbow moved so much as a millimeter, I’d drop him in his socks.

The old man continued to beam at the laborer. “Whatcha been drinkin?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with interest. “I been drinkin’ sake,” the laborer bellowed back,” and it’s none of your business!” Flecks of spittle spattered the old man.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” the old man said, “absolutely wonderful! You see, I love sake too. Every night, me and my wife (she’s 76 you know) we warm up a little bottle of sake and take it out into the garden, and we sit on an old wooden bench. We watch the sun go down, and we look to see how our persimmon tree is doing. My great-grandfather planted that tree, and we worry about whether it will recover from thos ice storms we had last winter. Our tree has done better than I expected, though, especially when you consider the poor quality of the soil. It is gratifying to watch when we take our sake and go out to enjoy the evening - even when it rains!” He looked up at the laborer, eyes twinking.

As he struggled to follow the old man, his face began to soften. His fists slowly unclenched, “yeah,” he said “I love persimmons, too.....” His voice trailed off.

“Yes,” said the old man, smiling,” and I’m sure you have a wonderful wife.”

“No,” replied the laborer. “My wife died.” Very gently; swaying with the motion of the train, the big man began to sob. “I don’t got no wife, I don’t go no home, I don’t go no job. I’m so ashamed of myself.” Tears rolled down his cheeks, a spasm of despair rippled though his body.

As I stook there in my well-scrubbled youthful innocence, my make-this-world-safe-for-democracy righteousenss, I felt dirtier than he was.

Then the train arrived at my stop. As the doors opened, I heard the old man cluck sympathetically. “My, my” he said, “that is a difficult predicmanet indeed. Sit down here and tell me about it.”

I turned my head for one last look. The laborer was sprawled on the seat with his head in the old man’s lap. The old man was softly stroking the filthy, matted hair.

As the train pulled away, I sat down on a bench in the station. What I had wanted to do with muscled had been accomplished with kind words. I had just seen Aikido in action, and the essence of it was love. I would have to practice the art with an entirely different spirit. It would be a long time before I could speak about the resolution of conflict.

By Terry Dobson
--------------------
Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits. Your day's not so bad now, is it?
------------------
Dave Berry Humor

THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME 50 YEARS TO LEARN by DAVE BARRY

1. Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He WILL NOT use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
6. You should not confuse your career with your life.
7. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
8. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
9. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
10. Never lick a steak knife.
11. Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie.
12. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
13. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
14. You  should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that  moment.
15. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
16. "The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside,we ALL believe that WE are above average drivers.
17. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
18. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
19. Your friends love you, anyway.
AN EDUCATION ----

Four friends went up to Dallas for a party the weekend before finals. After the party, they slept all Sunday and didn't make it back to Austin until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they
decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They said they went to Dallas for the weekend with the plan to come back and study. Unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn't have a spare, and couldn't get help for a while. The Professor thought it over and said they could make up the final the following day. They studied that night and went in the next day. He
placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth 5 points. It was something simple. "Cool," they thought at the same time, each one in this separate room. "This is going to be easy." Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written: (For 95 points): Which tire?
-----------------
Age Barometer: How many do you remember? Count 'em.

> 1. Blackjack chewing gum
> 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
> 3. Candy cigarettes
> 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
> 5. Coffee shops with table side jukeboxes
> 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
> 7. Party lines
> 8. Newsreels before the movie
> 9. P.F. Flyers
> 10. Butch wax
> 11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive - 6933)
> 12. Peashooters
> 13. Howdy Doody
> 14. 45 RPM records
> 15. S&H Green Stamps
> 16. Hi-fi's
> 17. Metal ice trays with levers
> 18. Mimeograph paper
> 19. Blue flashbulbs
> 20. Beanie and Cecil
> 21. Roller skate keys
> 22. Cork popguns
> 23. Drive-ins
> 24. Studebakers
> 25. Wash tub wringers

> If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
> If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
> If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age
> If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!



Age Barometer: How many do you remember? Count 'em.
>
> 1. Blackjack chewing gum
> 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
> 3. Candy cigarettes
> 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
> 5. Coffee shops with table side jukeboxes
> 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
> 7. Party lines
> 8. Newsreels before the movie
> 9. P.F. Flyers
> 10. Butch wax
> 11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive - 6933)
> 12. Peashooters
> 13. Howdy Doody
> 14. 45 RPM records
> 15. S&H Green Stamps
> 16. Hi-fi's
> 17. Metal ice trays with levers
> 18. Mimeograph paper
> 19. Blue flashbulbs
> 20. Beanie and Cecil
> 21. Roller skate keys
> 22. Cork popguns
> 23. Drive-ins
> 24. Studebakers
> 25. Wash tub wringers
>
> If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
> If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
> If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age
> If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!



Just a reminder that the PAST is right around the corner for SOME OF US
and lost on others.....

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, this will certainly
change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts
together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mind set of
the incoming freshmen.

Here is this year's list: (2001)

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were
born in 1982.

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably
did not know he had ever been shot.

They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.

There has been only one Pope.

They were 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember
the Cold War. They have never feared a nuclear war.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums. The expression "you sound
like a broken record" means nothing to them.

They have never owned a record player.

They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.

They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was
introduced when they were 1 year old.

As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 33 cents.

They have always had an answering machine.

Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels and would have
no clue what the "U" channel is, nor have they seen a black-and-white
TV.

They have always had cable.

There has always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

They were born the year that Walkman were introduced by Sony.

Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They have never seen Larry Bird play.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as W.W.I, W.W.II and the
Civil War.

They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: Where's the beef? I'd walked a mile for a Camel,
or de plane, de plane. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea
who J.R. is.

The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew where it was.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.

McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.

There has always been MTV.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Do you feel old yet? Pass this on to the other old fogies.

------------------------

BEST SOUP IN NEW ORLEANS....

LaMadeleine Tomato-Basil Soup recipe posted by Pam Goodman on December 12, 1997 at 00:24:30:

LA MADELEINE'S TOMATO BASIL SOUP

4 cups tomatoes (8 to 10), peeled, cored and chopped (or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed)

4 cups tomato juice (or juice mixed with vegetable or chicken stock)

12 to 14 fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Salt to taste

Combine tomatoes and juice (or juice/stock mixture) in saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat. Cool slightly, then place in blender or food processor and add basil leaves.

Process to puree. (This will have to be done in batches.)

Return mixture to saucepan and add cream or butter. Stir over low heat until cream and butter are incorporated. Stir in salt and black pepper before serving. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve with fresh crusty bread.

Serves eight.

I found it in a news article - enjoy!
Learning

Learning is finding out
what you already know.

Doing is demonstrating
that you know it.

Teaching is reminding
others that they know it
just as well as you.

You are all learners,
doers, teachers.

From: Chicken Soup for the Soul™ © 1993
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Health Communications, Inc.
Love: The One Creative Force
by Eric Butterworth

A college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young bodys. There were asked to write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote, “He hasn’t got a chance.” Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the student learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businesmen.

The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each one, “How do you account for your success?” In each case the reply came with feeling, “There was this teacher.”

The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.

The teacher’s eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. “It’s really very simple,” she said. “I loved those boys.”

From: Chicken Soup for the Soul™ © 1993
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Health Communications, Inc.
----------------------------
THE ZEN of COMPUTING


"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory." ~Mahatma Gandhi

In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft Error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strict construction rules. Each poem has only three lines, 17 syllables: five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five in the third. Haiku is used to communicate a timeless message often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity -- the essence of Zen.

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

The Website you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.

With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.

The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao-until
You bring fresh toner.

Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

-------------------------------
SMOKING - Research Study....

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. During 1995, approximately 2.1 million people in developed countries died as a result of smoking.

1 Tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths in the United States. Based on data from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II, it is estimated that 430,700 US deaths per year were attributable to smoking during 1990-1994.

2 Although the number of cardiovascular deaths is declining, smoking-related cancer deaths continue to rise. Since 1987, more women have died each year from lung cancer than breast cancer, which was the major cause of cancer death in women for over 40 years. Approximately half of all continuing smokers die prematurely from smoking. Of these, approximately half die in middle age (35-69), losing an average of 20 to 25 years of life expectancy.

Lung cancer mortality rates are about 23 times higher for current male smokers and 13 times higher for current female smokers compared to lifelong never-smokers.

3 In addition to being responsible for 87% of lung cancers, smoking is also associated with cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, uterine cervix, kidney, and bladder. Smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths, is a major cause of heart disease, and is associated with conditions ranging from colds and gastric ulcers to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and cerebrovascular disease.

Trends in Smoking

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data show that cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 and over declined 40% between 1965 and 1990—from 42% to 25%.4 However, between 1990 and 1995, overall smoking prevalence was virtually unchanged. Between 1983 and 1995:

Smoking prevalence among men 18 and older declined from 34% to 26% for white men, and from 41% to 29% for African-American men. Smoking prevalence among white women declined from 30% to 24%; from 32% to 23% among African-American women.

Smoking prevalence among college graduates decreased by one-third from 21% to 14% and among adults without a high school education decreased only 12% from 41% to 36%.
Per capita consumption of cigarettes continues to decline. After peaking at 4,345 in 1963, consumption among Americans 18 years and older has decreased 43% to an estimated 2,423 in 1997.5

From 1991 to 1997, the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among high school students increased 32%; current cigarette smoking increased 80% among African-American students, 34% among Hispanic students, and 28% among white students.6

Past-month smoking rates among high school students in the US are on the rise—increasing by nearly a third from 27.5% in 1991 to 36.4% in 1997. Nearly half (48.2%) of male students and more than a third (36.0%) of female students reported using some form of tobacco—cigarettes, cigars, or smokeless tobacco—in the past month.6

Profile of Smokers

In 1995, an estimated 47 million adults (24.5 million men and 22.5 million women) were current smokers in the US: 20.1% of adults smoked every day and 4.6% smoked on some days.7

Smoking prevalence was higher for men (27.0%) than for women (22.6%), and highest among American Indians/Alaskan Natives (36.2%) compared with other racial and ethnic groups.

Smoking prevalence was highest among men who had dropped out of school (41.9%). For the more than 80% of adults who ever smoked, cigarette smoking was initiated by age 18 and more than half were already smoking regularly by that age.

The 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data 6 show that:

Nationwide, 70.2% of high school students have tried cigarette smoking. More than one-third (36.4%) of high school students were current cigarette smokers, i.e., smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days. Seventeen percent of high school students smoked cigarettes on at least 20 of the 30 days preceding the survey.

White students (19.9%) were more likely than African-American (7.2%) or Hispanic (10.9%) students to smoke frequently.

Cigars

From 1993 to 1997, consumption of large cigars and cigarillos increased by 68% to reach the highest level since the mid-1980s.5 Overall, cigar use (including small cigars) should exceed 5.1 billion in 1997 and the trend of increasing cigar use is predicted to continue.

Data from the California Adult Tobacco Use Surveys show that the rates of cigar smoking increased from 1990 to 1996 among adult males, with the greatest increase in occasional cigar smoking among younger men (aged 18 to 24) and men with at least a college degree.8

A substantial number of adolescents are also smoking cigars. In 1997, overall prevalence of smoking at least one cigar in the past 30 days was 22.0% among high school students; males (31.2%) were more likely to have smoked cigars than females (10.8%).6

US students in Grades 9-12 who used other tobacco products (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco) were more likely to report smoking cigars. Nearly three-fourths of male and one-third of female cigarette smokers reported smoking at least one cigar in the past year.9 Twenty percent of males and 7.8% of females in Grades 9-12 who were not cigarette smokers have smoked a cigar in the past year.10

Cigar smoking has been publicized by celebrities, and some nightclubs and restaurants are promoting new cigar smoking sections. Congress did not explicitly include cigars in the 1984 law requiring health warnings on cigarettes, so cigar packages bear no warning from the US Surgeon General. The following health consequences of cigar smoking are presented in the 1998 National Cancer Institute Monograph:11

Most of the same carcinogens and cancer-producing chemicals found in cigarettes are found in cigars.

Regular cigar smoking causes cancer of the lung, oral cavity, larynx, esophagus, and probably cancer of the pancreas.

Similar to cigarette smokers, cigar smokers have 4 to 10 times greater risk of dying from laryngeal, oral, or esophageal cancers compared with nonsmokers.

Smoking Cessation

In September 1990, the US Surgeon General outlined the benefits of smoking cessation:12

People who quit, regardless of age, live longer than people who continue to smoke. Smokers who quit before age 50 have half the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared with those who continue to smoke. Quitting smoking substantially decreases the risk of lung, laryngeal, esophageal, oral, pancreatic, bladder, and cervical cancers. Benefits of cessation include risk reduction for other major diseases including coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.

In 1995, an estimated 68.2% of current smokers reported that they wanted to quit smoking completely.7 Quit attempts, abstaining from smoking for at least one day during the preceding 12 months, were made by about 45.8% of current every-day smokers. About 23.3% of US adults (25 million men and 19.3 million women) were former smokers in 1995.

Teenagers find it very difficult to quit smoking—72.9% of teens who had ever smoked daily had tried to quit and only 13.5% had been successful.13 The 1990–1992 National Comorbidity Survey estimated that 23.6% of persons aged 15–24 years who ever used cigarettes went on to become addicted. This conversion rate (from use to dependence) was similar to rates for use of cocaine (24.5%) and heroin (20.1%).14 Although approximately 70% of adolescent smokers regret ever starting, cessation programs designed for young people have had very low success rates.13

Secondhand Smoke

In 1993, the US Environmental Protection Agency declared that secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a human carcinogen.15 Each year, about 3,000 nonsmoking adults die of lung cancer as a result of breathing the smoke of others’ cigarettes.

ETS causes an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are not current smokers.
Secondhand smoke causes other respiratory problems in nonsmokers: coughing, phlegm, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function. Each year, exposure to secondhand smoke causes 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in US infants and children younger than 18 months of age. These infections result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations every year.
Secondhand smoke increases the number of asthma attacks and the severity of asthma in about 20% of this country’s 2 to 5 million asthmatic children. Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ammonia, nickel, zinc, acetone, cholesterol, hydrogen cyanide, and formic acid. Four chemicals in secondhand smoke (benzene, 2-naphthylamine, 4-aminobiphenyl, and polonium-210) are known human carcinogens, based on EPA standards. Ten other chemicals in secondhand smoke are classified by the EPA as probable human carcinogens.

Public policies to protect people from secondhand smoke and protect children from tobacco-caused disease and addiction can be enacted at the local, state, or federal levels. Because there are no safe levels of secondhand smoke, it is important that any such policies be as strong as possible and that they do not prevent action at other levels of government.

Cigarette Exports

US cigarette exports have increased due to aggressive marketing by tobacco companies and expanding foreign markets. A 1998 tobacco report of the US Department of Agriculture5 estimates:

US tobacco net exports have increased from about 2.1 billion in 1986 to 4.9 billion in 1997, down from the peak of $5.9 billion in 1995. US cigarette exports for 1997 dropped from last year’s 243.9 billion pieces to 217 billion.
US cigarette exports to Japan have increased more than ninefold, from 6.5 billion in 1985 to an estimated 67.7 billion in 1997. Exports to the countries that formerly comprised the Soviet Union have more than doubled from 4.6 billion in 1991 to an estimated 14.9 billion in 1997.

Smokeless Tobacco

In 1986, the US Surgeon General concluded that the use of smokeless tobacco11 is not a safe substitute for smoking cigarettes. It can cause cancer and a number of non-cancerous oral conditions and can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence.16

Oral cancer occurs several times more frequently among snuff dippers compared with non-tobacco users.
The excess risk of cancer of the cheek and gum may reach nearly 50-fold among long-term snuff users.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, US output of moist snuff has risen 100%, from about 30 million pounds in 1981 to an estimated 60 million pounds in 1997.5
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that about 15.8% of male high school students currently used chewing tobacco or snuff in 1997.6
Among adults aged 18 and older, 5.9% of men and 0.6% of women were current users of chewing tobacco or snuff according to aggregated 1987 and 1991 National Health Interview Survey data.17 American Indian/Alaska Native (7.8%) and white (6.8%) men were more likely than African-American (3.1%), Hispanic (1.5%), and Asian American/Pacific Islander men (1.2%) to use smokeless tobacco.

Costs of Tobacco

Tobacco costs to our society are best measured by the number of people who die or suffer illness because of its use. Tobacco use also drains the US economy of more than $100 billion in health care costs and lost productivity.18 Health care expenditures caused directly by smoking totaled $50 billion in 1993, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-three percent of these costs were paid by government funds, including Medicaid and Medicare. Tobacco costs Medicare more than $10 billion per year.18 Smoking costs Medicaid alone $12.9 billion per year—about one-seventh of the total Medicaid budget. The impact of cigarette smoking on state Medicaid budgets varies among states, ranging from $1.9 billion in New York to $11.4 million in Wyoming.19 Lost economic productivity caused by smoking cost the US economy $47.2 billion in 1990, according to the Office of Technology Assessment.20 Adjusted for inflation, the total economic cost of smoking is more than $100 billion per year. This does not include costs associated with diseases caused by environmental tobacco smoke, burn care resulting from cigarette smoking-related fires, or perinatal care for low-birthweight infants of mothers who smoke. Even though smokers die younger than the average American, over the course of their lives, current and former smokers generate an estimated $501 billion in excess health care costs.21 On average, each cigarette pack sold costs Americans more than $3.90 in smoking-related expenses.22

For more information about tobacco use and other risk factors for cancer, please inquire about the annual American Cancer Society publication Cancer Risk Report (8600.98).

References

1.Peto R, Lopez AD, Boreham J, Thun M, Heath C, Jr. Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950-2000. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 2.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoking-attributable mortality and years of potential life lost—United States, 1984. MMWR. 1997; 46:444-450. 3.US Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No. (CDC) 89-8411, 1989. 4.National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 1998 with Socioeconomic Status and Health Chartbook. Hyattsville, MD: 1998. 5.Tobacco Situation and Outlook Report. Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, April 1998, TBS-241. 6.Office on Smoking and Health and Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco use among high school students—United States, 1997. MMWR. 1998;47(12):229-233.
7.Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. Cigarette smoking among adults-United States, 1995. MMWR. 1997; 46:1217-1220.
8.Gerlach KK, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Gilpin EA, Johnson MD, Pierce JP. Trends in Cigar Consumption and Smoking Prevalence (Chapter 2). In: Cigars: Health Effects and Trends, Monograph No. 9. Burns D, Cummings KM, Hoffman D, Editors, Bethesda, MD, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, NIH Pub. No. 98-4302, 1998.
9.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigar smoking among teenagers—United States, Massachusetts, and New York, 1996. MMWR. 46(20)433-440. 10.Letter from John Slade, MD, Chair, Committee on Nicotine Dependence, American Society of Addiction Medicine, to Jerold Mande, Senior Advisor to the Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, August 11, 1997. 11.Shanks TG, Burns DM. Disease Consequences of Cigar Smoking (Chapter 4). In: Cigars: Health Effects and Trends, Monograph No. 9. Burns D, Cummings KM, Hoffman D, Editors, Bethesda, MD, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, NIH Pub. No. 98-4302, 1998. 12.US Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No. (CDC) 90-8416, 1990.
13.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Selected cigarette smoking initiation and quitting behaviors among high school students—United States, 1997. MMWR. 47(19)386-389.
14.Anthony J.C., Warner, L.A., Kessler, R.C. Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances and inhalants: basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. 1994;2: 244-268.
15.US Department of Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Smoking and Tobacco Control, Monograph 4. NIH Pub. No. 93-3605, 1993. 16.US Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Using Smokeless Tobacco: A Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. DHHS Publication No. (NIH) 86-2874, 1986.
17.US Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups—African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1998. 18.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical-care expenditures attributable to cigarette smoking—United States, 1993. MMWR. 1994;44 (26): 469-472. 19.Miller LS, Zhang X, Novotny T, Rice DP, Max W. State estimates of Medicaid expenditures attributable to cigarette smoking—Fiscal year 1993, Public Health Reports. 1998. 113:140-151.
20.Office of Technology Assessment. Statement on Smoking-Related Deaths and Financial Costs: Office of Technology Assessment Estimates for 1990 Before the Senate Special Committee on Aging Hearing on Preventive Health. An Office of Prevention Saves a Pound of Care. May 6, 1993, p. 7. 21.Hodgson TA. Cigarette smoking and lifetime medical expenditures. The Milbank Quarterly. 1992;70:81-125.
22.The average economic cost of a pack of cigarettes is calculated by dividing the direct and indirect costs of smoking, as provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Technology Assessment, respectively, by the total number of cigarette packs sold in the US, as reported by the Tobacco Institute in The Tax Budget on Tobacco. 1994;29:6.








"Stanley Millgram set up a laboratory experiment. It was to see if he could get randomly selected people off the street to follow the instructions of an authoritarian "doctor" in a laboratory. It was an experiment to have a subject administer a mild shock to a stranger in another room, every time the stranger forgot something he had memorized from a list. Holding a clipboard, the doctor simply prodded, "You must continue. This experiment requires you to continue." The subject would then be expected to turn up the voltage and electrocute someone in another room every time the person made a memory mistake. Between 60 to 80 % of the randomly selected subjects in several experiments were willing to obey to the point of giving the stranger in the other room a heart attack. Many of the subjects had been WWII veterans and they had to be deprogrammed after the experiment because they were shocked to see that they were no different than the Nazis lighting the ovens to murder Jews." (source unknown)
----------------------------
Everything you need to know
about life - after Grade School

The following was directed toward newly graduating high school and college students. It is a list of things they did not learn in school. The author writes about how feel-good, politically correct teaching has created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, thus setting them up for failure in the real world. (Many of these points need to be drilled into the heads of the general population as well.)

Rule 1.
Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule 2.
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3.
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.

Rule 4.
If you think your teachers were tough, wait 'till you get a boss. He/she doesn't have tenure.

Rule 5.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

Rule 6.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' or someone else's fault. Don't whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.

Rule 7.
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades. They'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.


Rule 9.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you "find" yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10.
Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Rule 12.
If God had wanted you to have extra holes in your body parts, He would have put them there as original equipment.

Rule 13.
Free speech does not include trampling on the Flag, Constitution or the rights of others.

Rule 14.
Civilian stems from the word "civil." Contrary to popular opinion, you don't have the right to say or display anything you please - just to see if you can get away with it.

Rule 15.
Learn quickly that "Do Unto Others" applies to YOU, too.