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Wednesday, December 6, 2006

I only had 24 hours in Athens, Greece. Well, what am I going to do? Well, I knew what I wanted to see - the Acropolis, and there it is. It's on this hill that dominates the city, and it's there that the ancient Greeks built this incredible temple to their goddess Athena. Even after 20 centuries, I have to tell you, it's still an impressive, imposing structure and it still dominates the city. The Acropolis was the most sacred, most protected, most honored place in all of Athens. In fact, it was a serious crime to violate that temple, as it was in many ancient cultures. Hey, everybody knew the temple got first class treatment because the gods live there.

Monday, December 4, 2006

They often give you one when you check into some sprawling motel complex, or a big theme park, or a large convention facility. It's a map of the place. And for the directionally challenged like me, there's one important thing I look for on that map. It's that "x" and those three very helpful words, "You are here." See, you're not helping me very much by just giving me a drawing of where everything is. In order for me to use that to get where I want to go, I need that one fundamental piece of information - locating exactly where I am right now!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

As a general rule, I don't do hospitals. Oh, I visit other people in hospitals, but I don't stay in them. God has blessed me with wonderful health over the years. But there was the time I had such an intense bout with the flu that I ended up badly dehydrated. The doctor was concerned enough about me that he put me in the hospital for a short time, actually, to get me re-hydrated with intravenous fluids. Now I've got to tell you, I was not a happy camper when they told me they were going to admit me to the hospital. Oh, I was nice on the outside, but inside I was going "Rrrrrr." That was until my sister-in-law reminded me of something that she said I had told her once or twice. (I hate it when my own words come back to haunt me.) She said, "Remember who you are and remember why you're here."

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I have to admit that my wife and I were a little naïve sometimes in the months right after we were married. It was obvious the day this fast-talking vacuum cleaner salesman showed up at our apartment door. He showed us this high-powered machine that did everything but the laundry. He lured us with impressive demonstrations, he offered us an easy payment plan, and a deal (of course) that we had to act on immediately. Well, Mr. Newlywed, here, eagerly signed on the line. "All right! Hey, I am the proud owner of a high-tech vacuum cleaner! About five times more vacuum cleaner than we could possibly need!" By the next day, I wanted out, but I couldn't back out then. In my enthusiasm, I had simply left out the most important ingredient in the decision.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

During holiday seasons in America, and especially at Thanksgiving, you can actually call the Butterball Turkey Hotline. And, yes, you can get an answer to whatever turkey questions you may have. A famous news commentator said that they had monitored that hotline last Thanksgiving, and one lady called and she said, "I've had this turkey in my freezer for 23 years. Can I use it?" This is a true story! The man on the hotline said, "Well, if your freezer has been set on zero degrees the whole time and it hasn't been defrosted, then the turkey is probably okay. Maybe the taste isn't, though." Well, the lady decided she wouldn't use the turkey after all. She gave it to her church.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

One of our common send-offs to people is, "Hey, keep in touch!" Well, today we can do that better than ever. Just take telephones, for example. We've got them everywhere - for better or worse. Many of us have phones in several rooms at home or wireless phones so we can take a call or make a call anywhere from the backyard to the bathroom. When I get on the plane, there's a phone in front of me. And, of course, with cell phones we can be in contact with people, and they with us, virtually anywhere. Take a businessperson or an investor, for example. He or she can be in contact from home, in their car, at their office, or as they're walking into the grocery store. Actually, one of the secrets of successful people is doing a good job of keeping in touch.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Today's children have barely even heard of the disease, but when I was a kid, it was every parent's greatest fear for their child - that crippling, sometimes deadly, disease called polio. I can distinctly remember how my mother didn't even want me to be in big crowds because of how polio seemed to spread so quickly. But then along came the vaccine. We all got our shots and we were immune to polio. Since then, there are a lot more shots like that for everything from smallpox, to tetanus, to the flu. And they all work basically on the same principle: in essence, you get a little of the virus injected into your system so that your body will build up an immunity to what could otherwise cripple you or kill you. That kind of immunization can save your life. But, on the other hand, immunization can be really dangerous - even deadly.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not only the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but apparently, he was a creative practical joker, too. The story is told of one horrendous - although clever - practical joke that he played one time. He just wrote a short, unsigned telegram - all in fun - to 12 of the best known men in England. The anonymous message was the same - only six words - six scary words, "All is discovered. Flee at once." As the story goes, within 24 hours not one of those men could be found.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

I don't have much time for TV. But when I do, I don't usually watch gymnastics. But some time ago they showed a sports feature about gymnastics on my plane flight. As usual, I had too much to do to get the headset that carries the audio, but I did occasionally glance up at the video part. It was a gymnastics meet between the U.S. and Russia. You can probably guess who I was rooting for. Now, I couldn't hear any commentary, but I saw some impressive performances by these young athletes. I also saw an occasional replay. But every time they did a replay, all they showed was the gymnast's mistakes, anything that she was marked down for, and they kept replaying it. They had executed some great moves, but no, we don't go over those - only their mistakes.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Titanic could not miss that iceberg. These days, you can't miss the Titanic. Ever since they found the unsinkable ship where it sank two and a half miles beneath the sea, there's been a rekindled fascination with the Titanic. As they have studied the wreckage with the latest underwater technology, they have discovered some surprising new information about what happened to the grandest ocean liner in history. It was the equivalent of four city blocks in length! Now most people have probably pictured the Titanic plowing into this huge iceberg and opening up a gaping hole in the bottom. But now we know that the Titanic basically just sideswiped that iceberg; in fact, many passengers didn't even know anything had happened. And it wasn't some gaping hole that sank the unsinkable ship. It was what one newspaper called, "small wounds that doomed the Titanic." There were six relatively small punctures in the hull - "pin pricks" according to a TV special on the subject. Here's a ship that was 95,000 square feet in size, and it was sunk by little leaks that, all put together, would have been about twelve square feet - about the size of a door!

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