“If you cannot convince them, confuse them.” – Harry S Truman
Saturday, December 03, 2005
There is a Lesson Here Somewhere
The other day I was returning from a business trip to the Bay Area and had some extra time in the San Francisco Airport. So, I decided to eat dinner in a seafood restaurant that is just behind security in Terminal 3. I can’t remember the name, but you can’t miss it. They have excellent food—a rarity for airport restaurants.
I was seated, given a menu, offered a drink, and had the daily specials described to me by a competent and helpful Indian waiter. He was helpful without being pushy, polite, and didn’t bother to bother me with his name. In summary, he provided good service. I ordered, he brought my glass of wine and I settled in to read a few pages of my paperback novel while waiting for my food.
After a minute, the same waiter seated a distinguished-looking British man next to me and went through the same routine with him. The man ordered, after hearing the specials, and then said to the waiter, “Thank you for your excellent service. You really are a great waiter and provide great service.”
I was a bit surprised. Sure, the guy was a good waiter, but did he really warrant that kind of praise? Especially before the food or drink was even delivered?
The British man left his table to go to the restroom. The waiter immediately came to his table, adjusted the condiments on the table, noticed that the table was slightly unlevel, used a piece of cardboard from his order ticket book to level the table, and refolded the man’s napkin. Throughout the meal, the British man got extraordinary service. Now, the service was really good to start with, but his service was even better. His water glass was always full, his wine glass topped up. An empty plate disappeared without fuss. The service was kind of invisible, but very present at the same time.
I observed all this smiling to myself, knowing there was a lesson here somewhere. Perhaps it was that people will rise to perform at the level of your expectations. Perhaps it was that reward is a better motivator than punishment. Perhaps it was just that nice people get better service. I don’t know for sure what the lesson is, but I will be sure, in the future, to compliment an obviously competent waiter or waitress early in the meal instead of at the end!
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • The Business World • by Rick on 12/03/2005 at 10:24 AM
Permalink • eMail this article
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Detecting a Stroke
The other day my cousin sent me an email with the following contents that I’m passing along:
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6pm, Ingrid passed away). She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ - had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.
It only takes a minute to read this:
Recognizing a Stroke
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed an getting to the patient within 3 hours which is tough.RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms
of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
1. Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE , Coherently,
(i.e. . .It is sunny out today)
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting last February.
Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 11/22/2005 at 04:46 PM
Permalink • eMail this article
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
We Have Decisions to Make
Last week, not unexpectedly, I received my lay-off notice from work. There is major restructuring taking place, including the spin-off of the business I’m in. The new company will not have a presence in Colorado, so I along with maybe 100 others, are being “let go”. I’m not really angry or bitter. I saw it coming and it is a good business decision. And, Lynne and I have had a while to get used to the idea.
Still, after 26-1/2 years with the company, it brings a bit of a tear to my eye to be handed a packet of paper that ends it all.
So, we have some decisions to make about our future. And, exploring the alternatives, dreaming about the possibilities, investigating the options is really fun. One idea we have is to take a couple of years off from the rat race and live at our mountain cabin in Sand Creek Park. We are planning to build a garage to home the cars, an additional refrigerator, a freezer, and to provide lots of additional storage. We are adding satellite internet and TV. We are considering an addition of a bedroom to provide a bit more room in the one-room cabin. And, we are thinking about what we need to do to survive winters up there. It is all quite fun.
Of course, we’ll need a bit of money to live on, so we need to figure that out too. I’m starting up a small marketing consultling business that can provide both planning and implementation services. I’m pretty good with web stuff, so can provide services to host and manage small- to medium-sized businesses’ web sites. Lynne is great at creating advertisements, brochures, newsletters, etc. And, I’m also pretty good at marketing strategy and planning, having spent the last 26-1/2 years of my life doing that. So, maybe that will provide some income. Who knows?
In any case, we’ll keep you updated. And, if we do live up there, we will transform this web site into a daily blog of our activities, insights, observations, experiences, etc.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/18/2005 at 08:01 AM
Permalink • eMail this article
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
A Second Chance
We have a friend that we met through our passion for Bernese Mountain Dogs—Molly Bass. While she lives in Virginia, and we are in Colorado, we seldom see each other, and mostly correspond by email and instant messaging. A few years ago Molly was diagnosed with cancer. Miraculously, she has recovered through the use of a stem cell transplant. Please visit this link for a very short article on her story and how she met her donor.
Stem cell treatment really works. It has kept a vibrant young woman alive when confronted with a deadly cancer. Please support stem cell research.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/23/2005 at 10:42 PM
Permalink • eMail this article
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Keeping a Dog Yard Green
We have a back yard that is about 3000 square-feet of Kentucky Bluegrass. And, we have had between 7 and 10 dogs over the past 11 years and their outdoor area is the back yard. Many people have asked me, over the years, how I keep such a beautiful green yard with the pressure of a lot of dogs living on it. Here is what I do…
Posted under: Dog Stuff • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/03/2005 at 11:33 AM
Permalink • eMail this article