Friday, January 20, 2012

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One of the most challenging and graceful track and field events has got to be the pole vault. There's this athlete running, then he's airborne on that pole, now he's gliding up and over that bar. Can't you picture it? Well, up at least! Oh, no! The bar comes crashing down; the "vaulter" didn't clear the bar. But wait! Here come the officials! Listen to what they're saying to the unsuccessful "vaulter", "Oh, that a little high for you wasn't it? Listen, why don't we lower the bar a couple of notches? We'll just keep lowering it until you can clear it."

Thursday, December 15, 2011

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We have a wide variety of people that come to our front door. The salesmen; oh they're basically asked to stay on the front steps and give us their little pitch. And then there are those neighborhood kids who are, well, they are raising money. Well, they usually get inside the door; we'll let them in to the welcome mat, and we'll deal with them there. Now we have a lot of acquaintances and friends who we will just immediately invite into our living room to sit down and stay as long as they want. And sometimes at the door is a relative or real close friend, and they come in and they go straight to the refrigerator and help themselves. They go to the telephone without asking, they call whoever they need to call, they use the bathroom. So you can tell how close we are by how far a person is allowed into our house.

Monday, November 7, 2011

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When I spoke at a winter conference in Canada, the word cold took on a whole new meaning to me. It was 40 degrees below—that's Fahrenheit, not wind chill temperature! We added the wind chill in just to make it a little more exciting. It was the coldest, sustained temperature I have ever been in.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

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Wait! I thought Humpty Dumpty was just a nursery rhyme. You know, the big egg who sat on a wall, but had a great fall. Turns out he's got a lot of company these days—sitting on a high wall, and smashed by a big fall.

Take one of the world's most powerful financial figures, for example, in a $3,000-a-night Manhattan hotel suite one night, and then the next night, in a tough New York jail. He stood accused of serious sexual violation of a hotel maid. Now, those accusations had to be proven in court, but they did resonate with a reputation for mixing power with sexual aggression.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

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Over the years, two words that could really stir up some action at our house go like this, "Let's romp!" Yeah, uh-huh. You have to understand I was a father of two sons, and that meant that Dad is ready for some "rough housing" with one or maybe two sons. But I learned I had to be careful, because then one day they got to be my size. So I didn't say that much any more.

Monday, September 5, 2011

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Monday was not a favorite day for our local high school football players during the season. See, that was the day they watched the film of last Saturday's game. Oh, now, it's nice to see what you did right, but of course, coaches don't spend much time on that. Most of the coach's attention is focused on what you did wrong or what you could improve on. And so, on Monday you may get yelled at, critiqued, pushed to improve.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

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One severe weather system behind us, another one coming. Yeah, well, that's like spring living in Tornado Alley. Uh-huh... You know, I can look at our children and know that they are going to have, when those warnings go up, probably young children in bed with them before the night is over. And I can probably count on the fact that l will be waking up during the night to the annoying alarm on our weather radio and that robotic voice of NOAA radio. But that's OK. There's a reason all those weather guys strongly urge you to have one of those life-saving radios. And why I strongly urge me to respond when the warning comes!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

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Twice in a little over a year we were stunned by news of major earthquakes, and the images we won't soon forget. But they were in two very different parts of the world. The first one was in Haiti. When the ground was finished shaking...well, you remember. The homes, the businesses, even their President's palace were in total rubble. The second quake hit Japan, and for those areas that didn't get the tsunami—just got hit by the quake—most of their homes and businesses were left standing. What's the difference? The materials their structures were made of. You know, a quake has a way of exposing the strength or the weakness of what you're building on.

Friday, July 22, 2011

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Some years ago our family got to sample an extended period without Mom's touch. Mom had a prolonged illness, and that left a lot of work not being done around the house. So, our three children and I divided up the chores, which is why not a lot of work was not done around the house. But somehow the kitchen sink always seemed to go unattended. Those dirty dishes took on a life of their own!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

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A while back I was on my way to an engagement where it was very important for me to be on time, and I really should have had my wife with me. See, we have a little arrangement—works pretty well. I'm the pilot; she's the navigator. She's got a great sense of direction; I can't find my way out of my bedroom in the morning. So it's good to have her along, but she wasn't there.