Long Lost Relative

You've undoubtably heard the stories of people coming into an inheritance, out of the blue, from a long lost relative.  Someone they barely heard of or even didn't know about.  They are summoned to the reading of the will and find they are millionaires overnight.  I was musing about this probably 25 years ago with my Mother-in -law, Gloria.  I said something like, Who would there be in my family that would have that kind of money?  We were saying how great it would be because the person would not be someone you knew about and therefore wouldn't be saddened by their passing.  Gloria told me of a second cousin she had in Ann Arbor.  The woman was rich and there were very few heirs.  She was somewhat daft.  Her dress was eccentric and often she wore long dress gloves around, even as she worked with flower gardens.  She owned real estate in Ann Arbor.  I never met the woman, but I thought it would be interesting to see what she was like in person.

Well, we got the news last month that she had passed away.  There were about seven or eight people listed who were relatives of the deceased.  The estate is valued at 19 million dollars.  We're thinking of buying a place in Florida.  There will have to be a renovation of our Fenton place, of course.  I'm considering changing from Five O'Clock to Grey Goose.  That may be a little extravagant.  Stay tuned.

Here's hoping you have a long lost relative or benefactor at some point in your life.  Of course, if you've ever watched The Millionaire on television you know that the money doesn't always result in happiness.  The bad emotions of people come to the surface and of course government wants a part of the action.  You'd be lucky to have enough left to buy a new Lexus.  Well, I have to check Facebook to see if anyone commented on my status. 

  

The New Ken Lamson

Hi all.  This is the new Ken Lamson coming to you from the old sidebedroom.  The checkup at the hospital went okay.  There was quite a bit of waiting but it was nice to get to spend "quality time" with my wife.  I hate the fact that we accept terms like quality time and go on to promote them by using them. Forgive me for that.  Be that as it may, I was ready to be instantly transformed into a New Man.  I realize the doctor, when he said I'd be a new man, was referring to the change I would experience in my heart symptoms.  They have improved but are not completely relieved.  There are still more doctors that will look at the test results to get the complete picture.  The instant transformations come usually from the mental side
as in the hypnotists office.  The true power for change lies within.  I'm not getting on my soapbox, so keep reading.

As I started my day today, the first thing that came on the TV was an ad for a real estate system.  The, self described, little guy with the high pitched voice.  I thought, this is about me!  The new Ken Lamson should go with this.  I won't do it of course, unless a couple of you would like to go in with me.  Easy money and we could have meetings and discussions.  Are you reading this, Crawford?  We would be sure to put a solar panel on the top of each building we purchase so we could promote ourselves as "Green".  We could call our company, Drive-by Realty. We would train our managers by having them watch selected episodes of The Soprano's.  

I had better get off the blog.  I want to get on the treadmill for at least 15min.  If I keep doing the same things I did yesterday, I will never be the new man I want to be. 

Money

Why do I go here?  One of my pastimes is thinking of ways to make easy money.  Don't you just love easy money?  So far I haven't made much, and time is running out.  I don't want to cheat anyone and I don't want to take government money.  I don't want donations even though I told our house guests this week end that I might solicit $100,000 donations on this blog.  If I got three, I'd be set for life.   I'd feel awful about that, so don't even try.  When people have a fundraising event, and say we've raised a million dollars for this cause, I think they have taken that money from others.  It's just a form of begging.  Not where I wanted to go.

I would love to come up with an idea or invention that would be worth a lot of money to a person or business.  They would make money from it and I'd get a nice windfall.  Don't you love windfalls?

The fact is many of us have ideas and don't do anything with them only later to see them offered in the marketplace.  I had a great idea this morning for a new candy dispenser.  I'm sure they could sell a million of them.  I'd like a hundred thousand for my idea.  I'm pretty sure this is the last thing I'll do with the idea, but I might check to see if they already make 'em.  My children could probably tell you of some of my ideas.  The one that comes to mind first is a drive thru convenience store.  They had one in Ann Arbor and I thought why not in Flint?   Still a good idea if anyone wants to do it.  I'd be open 24/7 unless I found it unprofitable after trying it for a while.  You would have to make it robbery proof, of course.  Another idea I had was the iphone.  Who knew it would be such a hit? 

The easiest money I made was on ebay.  We were selling a bunch of hand bags, that Brooke had collected over the years, at one of our legendary garage sales.  The price was $8 each.  One of the bags was a Louis Vuitton.  No one thought it was authentic though.  I showed it to a woman and said,"Don't you want a Louis Vuitton for only $8.00?" she replied," If that were a L.V. this part would be genuine leather."  I looked at the bag and thought that it is genuine leather.  These bags are made so perfectly it's hard to tell.  I listed the bag on ebay and got a tremendous response.  The final price was over $600.  Later the man who purchased it said he had it checked and it was genuine and he couldn't have been happier.  I still have fantasies about opening a Louis store here in Fenton.  Another good idea for some entrepreneur.  I'm just a talker and a dreamer.  Good for being a hypnotist though.  Something else I probably will never do.

I'm going to stop writing now.  Tomorrow I get a check up on my new heart valve at UofM Hospital.
I'm on my way to becomming a new man!  Maybe he will put into play one of the money-making ideas of the old man. 

Quotations-Sayings-Truisms

I would hear from my parents, quite often, old sayings that would be used to teach, guide, correct or convince me of something.  Here are a few:


"A stitch in time, saves nine."
"Not caring comes to Hanging."
"Don't throw your pearls before swine."
"It's always darkest before dawn."


I did a search to find some other sayings and found,"I gave up on explaining to people why I ride a motorcycle."


My Mother would never have thought that was relevant.  But both parents would surprise us on occasion.  That is the royal us. If you doubt my royalty look at a picture of me, side-by-side with Camilla Parker Bowles.   


At any rate I was thinking of the danger of taking clever sounding quotes or mottos at face value.  My advice is to take the time to evaluate.  Accept what you can as true or useful.  Just because a saying has been around for a long time doesn't mean it should be accepted without question.  I like knowing some of the old sayings.  They are part of our culture and our lives.  When I hear one I often am reminded of a family member who was partial to that quote. 


"leave sleeping dogs lie."  ____________
"Leave sleeping drunks lie." ___________
"Don't mix your beers."  ____
"What you can conceive and believe, you can achieve."  ___________


See if you can match the above with these people with whom I associate.  Stu,  Matt,  Bo,  Buck


All learning can be achieved thru wise sayings.  I've heard one can learn everything important in life in Kindergarten, from movies or from watching Star Trek.


In conclusion, "Don't put all your commanding officers in the same space shuttle." (when playing with your Star Trek dolls.)


If you would like to add a couple of adages to my blog, please do.  If you want to enter the matching challenge (winners get a free cup of coffee or tea) do so with a comment or in person.


Leave with a smile, it will take you a mile.

MLK Day

This dovetails with my last post because I was doing my student teaching at Northwestern H.S. when Martin L. King was shot.  The students were angry and rioted.  The school was shut down and classroom doors were locked.  This had the eventual effect of many retirements in the Flint School System the following year.  I was one of the new replacement teachers.  That was a tumultuous time to be a teacher in Flint.  I'm not sure it ever got much better.

Emma and Suhitha took Gabe in to a Flint Clinic today and it was closed.  The stock market is closed and TV programming  even is affected.  Steve Jobs has gone on sick leave.  Banks are closed and there is no mail delivery.  I always liked MLK Day and Columbus Day when I was a mail man.  It was a paid day off and you didn't have to get together with family or anything.  Usually, they were all working. 

I'm thinking about making some muffins.  We had people over this last week end and Brooke made stew.  I love stew, goulash and lasagna.  In the cold months its time to make some so called hearty meals.  It's also the time to rededicate yourself to more healthy eating.  I started making oat bran muffins years ago when I was trying to get control of my cholesterol number.  The recipe I used was from a book called the Eight Week Cholesterol Cure.  My kids loved the muffins.  There was a good recipe for turkey chili in there too.  I make pasties once in a while.  They're great, but if unchecked I'll gain two pounds for every large batch of pasties I make. 

It is cold outside today but the Sun is shining and Gabe is visiting.  Happy MLK Day.

Getting Hired

How does one get hired?  I would like some feed-back on this.  If you have some good ideas that might put one at the top of the list, or simply get some advantage.  When there are a hundred or a thousand applicants, what can you do to stand out?

Twice in my life I think I got the job because I made a good impression with the secretary or clerk who was taking the application.  It may have happened more than that.  I showed up to apply and said to the secretary," How's my new best friend?"  I thought it was funny because of the obvious pandering.  I got the job.  Another job, one I just as soon not have gotten, I let the secretary know I was planning on attending UofM. It happened that her daughter was a student there and looking for a boyfriend.  I think it also helps to tell the prospective employer that you would be perfect for the position.  

I know there are some outlandish methods that have worked.  I was recently thinking of a strategy that might get one noticed.  Say you are looking to hire someone and you have an office with a secretary and maybe an intern.  Many applications are coming in for the position and they must be dealt with in some way, put in a box, filed alphabetically etc.  On Monday at 11AM an order of sandwiches is delivered by the local Jimmy Johns with compliments of you.  On Tuesday a small fruit basket arrives.  Wednesday maybe some flowers.  Now, the staff is wondering what will come next.  Thursday, you miss a day.  Friday, send a note saying you've run out of funds, you need a job. 

I'm not looking for a job right now.  Many people are though and I thought it a worthwhile subject for a blog.  What impressed you about a candidate?  What did they say or do that made you think, "Yes, you're the one!" 

What did you do that you believe landed you the job?  (Remember, this is a family friendly blog.)
 

Worry

Hello all.  I just turned on the wave machine and have also just finished reading a couple of how to quit worrying web articles.  My New Years Resolution is to become "Care Free".  I've been tending away from that over the last 15 or more years of my life, and I need to right my ship.

  What has brought this to the fore this morning is what happened while trying to sleep last night.  I slept pretty well but after waking about 5AM, I kept having thoughts/dreams that were worries.  I still dream of teaching and failing at that.  I dream of working at the post office and the pressures that were part of that job.  I thought,"These are just dreams and mean nothing; Why can't I have some pleasant dreams?" The one article I read made the point that we are conditioned to worry by society.
One needs to worry about ones future, grades, health etc.  It's not responsible to be care free.  Someone has to worry about things, so do your share, dammit!  I think the other point was the idea that in order to achieve happiness one first must do some worrying.  The problem is, we never get past the worrying.  

Of course there is guilt.  Don't forget the guilt.  How can we be happy?  There is no hope for happiness if there is worry and guilt.  One strategy suggested for worry relief is to write down the worries on a "worry sheet". Then put off worrying about them until a later time.  I think one of my main worries is that there is something I should be worrying about, but I'm missing it altogether.  That's both good and bad.  Hypnosis teaches that forgiveness erases Guilt and Fear.  You must forgive yourself also in this process.  Many turn to drugs for this in the short term.  We know the problems associated with that. I remember Emma getting some worry dolls from Gloria, her Grandmother, when she was about 6years old. I think you would put a worry doll under your pillow for each worry you had and that would take it away, or something.  I know Emma liked those little dolls.  There are also worry beads. I don't know how to use them.  Maybe I should open a worry shop in Fenton.  The new age coffee shop idea was shot down. 

I know one thing, I always feel better about things when I write a blog.  I might feel a little guilty if I think it's a bad blog.  Thanks for reading my vent.
Come by for a cup of tea. I've got 251 pictures of me in London that I'd like to show you.

Coaching Change

I just listened to the news conference of Dave Brandon, Michigan's A.D., announcing the firing of football coach Rich Rodriguez.  When you listen to something like this, as with listening to the C.O.O. etc. of a company giving the quarterly conference call, you try to listen between the lines.  I think the A.D. is very cautious and trying to stay above reproach as far as his procedure goes.  There is a lot of pressure on him and he is new on his job too.
I liked Rich Rod and would have given him one more year to show marked improvement.  This may be just being too soft but a lot is in place now that is his and with a new coach you're ripping all of that out and starting over.  It's a gamble.  Where are the men who you can feel confident in.  Men who you can imagine as military leaders.  Men who the young men playing for Michigan can look up to, want to play for and follow.  If there is another Bo Schembechler out there, please step forward.

Read Bo's memoirs by John Bacon.  Bo was larger than life.  He was as honest as the day was long. He watched over his players the way I wish I had watched over my kids when they were in college.  They would have hated it but  in the end, would have ended up loving and appreciating it. I think that kind of leader is timeless.  If you want to be a good coach, teacher or parent, it would be good for you to read that book.

So much for the old coach, let's hope the new one has strong character and leadership abilities.  They must be able to get along with the A.D. and most importantly WIN.