fourth from right in orange shirt... is our Andrew...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Yesterday was a wonderful day....
We have had a wonderful run as Grandparents lately... wow.... How luck Ann and I are.
We got together with Jon, Randi, Kaitlyn and Dylan along with Heather and Andrew and Madison and Jake and Trisha last Saturday to share some time with the grand kids... watching them play and grow.. especially grow is truly something. What a very special time this is... and those times are truly numbered and won't be around forever, and we know this too.
Anyway there are photos from that special day online, and then yesterday we went with Andrew on his Zoo Trip with his class from Skyline School in Stillwater.
What a time we had. I have not been to the zoo since being there last when the kids were little, and I mean little! How the place has grown. And to be honest I loved the flowers and trees as much as the animals... they have done an amazing job with the trees and flowers and other plants.
Anyway... we were waiting for the yellow school buses to pull up like all the other schools... and to our surprise... the Big Blue Pioneer School buses pulled up.... how cool....
Look at how this flower looks before....
it opens... and then below to see how it looks open.... click for the big view...
Sometimes....
God's handicraft is just under our feet... all we have to do is open our eyes... especially me!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Cover the tick
Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20),the tick will come out on it's own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away . This technique has worked every time, Oneil
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Recipe contest celebrates
Born and bread
 |
| Grandma Alice’s Applesauce Cake is a 100-year-old recipe from an Oklahoma family. |
  |
Recipe contest celebrates Made in Oklahoma products
By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
4/19/2007 4:23 PM
The deadline for the Made in Oklahoma Coalition's Recipe Roundup is just about a month away, but some of the early entries already look like winners.
Hundreds of Oklahoma cooks' recipes will be judged by a panel in May, and the grand-prize winner will receive a $7,000 KitchenAid makeover. Runners-up will also receive prizes.
Kimberley Bevins, a judge for the contest, has already tested some of the recipes, and shared a couple of favorites.
One standout in the main entrees category is a pasta with chicken, spinach, garlic and cheese.
"It's restaurant quality," Bevins said. "As soon as you taste one flavor, you come across another."
The pasta recipe was submitted by Susan Litchfield of Mustang. Hers is baked as a casserole in a 9-by-13-inch dish, but it can also be made in two smaller casserole dishes. Bake one for dinner and freeze the other for another day. It makes a lot, so it's a good recipe for serving a crowd, and even big families will have leftovers.
Bevins said there are many interesting recipes in a new category in honor of the centennial year -- authentic 100-year-old recipes.
Sandy Day of Oklahoma City sent a recipe for Grandma Alice's Applesauce Cake. Grandma Alice was born in 1884 in Oklahoma. She started cooking for her family's farm hands at about age 15, and did so most of her life.
Applesauce cake, made with home-canned apples, is a recipe Grandma Alice made all those years ago, and that her family continues to make today. It's an old-fashioned cake, with an almost fruitcake-like consistency and spice-cake flavor.
Bevins will make the pasta with spinach and chicken on the KOTV, channel 6, noon show on Thursday, and the applesauce cake on April 26.
There's still time to submit recipes to the Recipe Roundup. Contest entries should include at least two Made in Oklahoma products. A complete list of those products can be found on the Web site, www.miocoalition.com . Entry forms and contest rules are also on the site. Entries must be received by May 15.
Spinach Dippin' Chicken and Pasta
Makes 10 to 12 servings
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups Braum's shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/ 2 cups Hiland sour cream
1 1/ 2 cups Garden Club mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Head Country All-Purpose Championship seasoning
1 bag (20 ounces) Advance Fast Fixin' Fire Roasted Chicken Breast
12 ounces mini penne pasta
1. Thaw spinach and drain very well; chop with artichoke hearts and garlic.
2. In a large bowl, combine cheeses, sour cream and mayonnaise. Add spinach mixture and Head Country seasoning.
3. Boil pasta according to package directions; rinse and drain well. Meanwhile, cook chicken breast according to package directions (microwave method only takes 4 minutes). Slice cooked chicken breast thinly, and then add with pasta to mixture in bowl. Mix gently to combine well.
4. Lightly spray a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray; spoon mixture into casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes in preheated 325-degree oven.
Grandma Alice's Applesauce Cake
2/ 3 cup Braum's unsalted butter, softened
2 1/ 2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups applesauce
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 cups Oklahoma-grown pecans, chopped
4 cups Shawnee Best all-purpose flour, sifted
2 cups raisins (soak in water, see instructions)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans (9-by-5-by-3-inches).
2. In a small mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the applesauce and baking soda well; add the creamed mixture, and the salt, spices and nuts; stir well.
3. Soak the raisins in a mixing bowl with enough hot water to cover them completely; let soak for 20 minutes to plump, and then drain very well. Toss the drained raisins in the sifted flour to coat evenly. Add the flour and raisins to the batter and stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
4. Distribute batter evenly between the two greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
Austyn went to a Tiger Cub/Boy Scout Camp last weekend...
Here he is with some buddies playing games with their bows and arrows... They had a ball. Phil took these super photos... I stole this one, so I will have to ask him to tell about it here if he has time... and if it's ok to post more, or put them in an online album for you all to see.... ???? Enjoy the day!!
from the best kids in the world come the best grand kids...
not braggin' - just fact!!! haha...... enjoy the day....
Saturday, April 21, 2007
They may be cousins... but....
at this second... they are sharing something incredibly yucky... haha.....
Missy Maddie loves her Grandpa Blankinship....
yes she does... but on another note... do you see where her face is.... and how clean it is coming up.. haha... now that is a coy young lady..... haha... but oh my she loves her Grandpa Blankinship, and he loves her... they are fun to watch together... even if his shirt suffers... hahaha...
Click to enlarge....
Andrew got a great hit to open the season, and was, as Great Grandpa Moffat would have said... pouring on the coal to get to first.. he made it and ... SAFE! Great hit and great game Andrew! Ya Did Good!! And in my eyes.. they won, especially in the 'spirit of the game' area!
This might be a photo to share with some young man who comes calling... haha...
oh come on guys.... ya gotta love me with a face like this.... hahaha...... she was the 'hit' of the game.... but oh my goodness, Mom, you might get DHS after you... child endangerment, dirty face! section 341.a subsection 413.b.qe3! haha...
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Jon .. this is for you, sorry buddy.. haha....
BlackBerry Woes Getting Better
POSTED: 11:53 pm EDT April 17, 2007
UPDATED: 1:35 pm EDT April 18, 2007
NEW YORK -- New information emerged Wednesday on a BlackBerry system failure that NewsChannel 4 first reported. The company that makes the handheld device said things were repaired Wednesday morning. Research in Motion, the Canadian company that provides the devices and e-mail service, said the interruption affected users in North America. RIM said the cause of the problems was still under review, but that service for most customers was restored overnight. Online news reports cited message boards that claimed the outage began at 8:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday. A recording on the BlackBerry helpline acknowledged a problem getting and sending messages, but said little else. The company serves about 8 million subscribers, having added about 1 million of them in the last quarter alone.
I am an IMUS fan, and can not beleive that only now somone stands up for him... and look who it is... sigh... what happened to freedom of speech?
I don't agree with IMUS, but loved his show, fresh interviews of real folks in the news, current events, and great music... just had to close my ears to the chatter of the show, which I found I did not listen to much, cuz I hardly ever agreed... but this is AMERICA, right? and Free Speech is one of our principles??? anywho...
KERRY: IMUS FIRING UNFAIR
By MAGGIE HABERMAN
April 18, 2007 -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry yesterday said he doesn't think Don Imus should have been fired for his racially charged comments - a sharp break with the current Democratic 2008 front-runners.
"You know, the punishment has to fit the crime, so to speak," Kerry, the Democrats' defeated 2004 White House hopeful, told NY1.
Kerry, who had Imus' support in that race, said he might be willing to go on a future Imus show if the radio host finds a new station - but "if he goes back to doing the same old, same old, I'd have trouble doing that."
OH MY GOODNESS... and he defends the poor???
Q-C barbers call Edwards' $400 haircut 'impossible'
By Bill Wundram | Thursday, April 19, 2007Quad-City barbers put down their shears and sputtered words like “preposterous” and “impossible” Wednesday when they heard of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards spending $400 for a haircut. In the Quad-Cities, $10 or $12 is about average.
“If I charged $400 for a haircut, they’d come after me with white coats,” said Leo Fier, who has been cutting hair for 49 years at his shop in DeWitt, Iowa.
Edwards’ campaign committee filed a financial report with the Federal Election Commission noting that the White House hopeful paid $400 for haircuts in California and New Hampshire, and $248 for salon services in Dubuque, Iowa.
“That’s impossible, $400,” said Don “Dutchman” Braafhart, who runs Dutchman’s Barbershop in Davenport.
Next time he’s in town, Edwards would get a real bargain at Davenport Barber College, where supervised student barbers charge only $7.50.
Even some Quad-Citians who allow their locks to grow long are shocked by a $400 haircut.
“My Santa Claus long hair is my trademark,” said Terry Lunardi, Davenport restaurateur. “I just had my hair cut Monday for $10. And I have a lot of hair to cut.”
Kurt Ullrich, a Scott County deputy auditor whose hair runs long, said, “Edwards and I are of a similar age and I took note of his hair when I visited briefly with him in Davenport. His hair is thick, full and beautifully coiffed, whereas mine is counter-culture long. Sixteen dollars is the most I’ve ever paid for a haircut.”
There are a few Quad-City shops that rise above the $10 average. A man’s haircut may range from $18 to $42 at some specialty salons. Operators at two of those shops said they would welcome Edwards, and not charge his campaign $400.
A barbaric price for cutting hair may not be unusual. Jay Ledford, who runs Cut Rite, Moline, with his dad, Jay Sr., insists that a number of years ago, President Clinton had his hair cut in Davenport. “I can’t remember the barber, but he only charged him $150,” Ledford said.
Bill Wundram can be contacted at
(563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes
Singing competition auditions scheduled
Singing competition auditions scheduled
By RITA SHERROW World Television Editor
4/18/2007
KOTV has scheduled auditions for this summer's "Gimme the Mike" vocal competition for next weekend.
Auditions will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at Woodland Hills Mall, 71st Street and Memorial Drive. Those auditioning must complete the application, available online at www.kotv.com and at the station, 302 S. Frankfort Ave., and bring it to the open auditions along with a photo ID. All auditions will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
To be eligible, participants must be at least 18 years old or older at the time of the audition. Those performing will have up to 60 seconds to sing a song of their choice without musical accompaniment.
A judges' panel will select the top 20 finalists who will then compete on the fourth season of the televised competition on channel 6. Five individual winners, plus a wild card favorite chosen by the viewing audience, will compete in a one-hour live broadcast from Cain's Ballroom in August.
For more information, go online at www.kotv.com.
By RITA SHERROW World Television Editor
the shortest street in the world.
 Street measures up to new record | ||
A town in Caithness is to enter the Guinness World Records for having the shortest street in the world. Ebenezer Place in Wick measures 6ft 9in and has one address, the front door of No 1 Bistro - part of Mackays Hotel. A Guinness World Records spokeswoman confirmed that Craig Glenday, the editor-in-chief of the Guinness Book of Records, visited Wick. She added that Ebenezer Place had beaten the current world record of 17ft Elgin Street in Bacup, Lancashire. 'Great interest' Mackays Hotel owner Murray Lamont said he had always been confident Ebenezer Place would set a world record. He said: "Everyone is delighted. "The street was built in 1883 and people here know about it but I decided to put it firmly on the map. It has certainly become a great point of interest." Mr Lamont said he did not know where the street's name had come from. "It could have religious or Masonic roots," he added. Ed note: the kind of things that fill my mailbox each morning.. haha.. love them! and those that send them!! thanks for taking the time! | ||
no one would guess that this man has given away millions.
Unsung fortune: A rich man's secret
Untours' founder lives abundantly on little as his wealth aids world.
By Art Carey
Inquirer Staff Writer
MAX LEVINE
Hal Taussig, 82 is devoted to living a simple life. Taussig gave away his last car to a hitchhiker in 1973 and commutes to work on a bicycle. (Max Levine / For the Inquirer)
At age 81, he doesn't own a car. He performs errands and commutes to the office by bicycle.
He lives on the outskirts of Media in a narrow wood-frame house that was built for mill and factory workers.
And he has given away millions.
Given the fortune that Taussig has made through Untours, his unique travel business, and has given away through the Untours Foundation, you could call him the Un-millionaire. If he so chose, he could be living in a Main Line mansion and driving a Mercedes. But he considers money and what he calls "stuff," beyond what he needs to survive, a burden, an embarrassment.
"He really walks the talk," says Judy Wicks, owner of the White Dog Cafe and a fellow member of the Social Venture Network, which applies capital to enterprises that reduce poverty and advance social justice.
"A lot of people donate money to the less fortunate but live in high style themselves. Hal sacrifices in his own life by living very simply in order to have more money to give away."
In many respects, he's a 21st-century Thoreau. "Let your capital be simplicity and contentment," the sage of Walden Pond wrote. "Those are my sentiments precisely," says Taussig, who has three children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Taussig works three jobs:
He cares for Norma, his wife of 61 years, who was crippled by a stroke in 1999.
He helps run Untours, a tour-planning service that enables vacationers to experience foreign places deeply.
He directs the Untours Foundation, into which he pours all his profits - $5 million since 1992. The money is used to make low-interest loans to ventures and projects that help the needy and jobless - from a craft store in Hanoi to a home-health-care cooperative in Philadelphia.
"If capitalism is good, it should be good for the poor," Taussig declares. "I invest in entrepreneurial efforts to help poor people leverage themselves out of poverty."
As a boy, Taussig lived like a pioneer, in a log house on a cattle ranch in Colorado. His mother made his underwear from flour sacks. His Jewish grandfather married an evangelical Christian. Taussig was reared in a household where no one dare gainsay the Word of God, as plainly revealed in the Bible.
He was sent to Wheaton College in Illinois, "the Harvard of Evangelicalism," where he became a champion wrestler. Cursed by an independent mind, he balked at the story of Creation. It was preposterous, and he said so to God.
The Lord gave Taussig a pass, freeing him to craft his own faith.
"God created human beings in his own image. That is the heart of my faith," says Taussig, who now attends the First United Methodist Church of Media.
After college, Taussig returned to Colorado, where he and his brother resumed cattle ranching - and went broke.
"The cattle market took a nose-dive," Taussig says. "We invested in a sterile bull. We paid $5,700 for him, and sold him for hamburger."
Rather than feel ashamed, Taussig felt cleansed. He wanted, he says, to "own the failure."
"In America, we worship success, and making our way up, and leaving the masses behind," he says. "It's a shoddy ethic that leads us to value who we are by what we are."
In 1957, he came East to pursue a doctorate in American civilization at the University of Pennsylvania. During the day, he taught seventh grade in Upper Darby and later 11th grade in Springfield, Delaware County. After 10 years of teaching, he took a sabbatical, and drove a VW Beetle all over Europe.
Back home, Taussig wrote a book about his adventure, Shoestring Sabbatical. It inspired an idea: a travel agency that would enable tourists to get to know a place intimately by staying at least two weeks in a rented cottage, apartment or farmhouse. With a $5,000 loan from a friend, Taussig launched Untours in 1975.
"Europe is so enriching and rewarding, I decided to help others have a similar experience," he says. His ulterior motive: forging connections and understanding between people and cultures.
In the early '80s, Taussig was making more money from the tour operation than he needed or wanted. He decided to accept about $20,000 a year for his basic expenses.
First, Taussig gave the excess profits back to his customers. The next year, he split the profits among his employees. Finally, he decided to channel them into a foundation.
The motto of the Untours Foundation is "a hand up, not a handout." It provides low-interest loans, here and abroad, to create jobs, build low-income housing, and support fair-trade products: goods such as coffee that are sold at a price that guarantees producers and workers a fair wage and decent livelihood.
The loans, usually pegged to the U.S. inflation rate, range from $6,000 to $250,000. Over the last 15 years, about 50 individuals and organizations have benefited from Untours seed money. Some examples:
- Home Care Associates of Philadelphia, a business cooperative of mostly former welfare recipients who provide health care to the homebound, $250,000.
- A shop in Hanoi that provides a market for crafts made in Vietnamese villages, $8,000.
- A water-bottling company in England that uses its profits to bring clean water to developing countries, $130,000.
- A construction company in Media that builds handicapped-accessible housing while training the formerly unemployed, $275,000.
Along with the successes, there have been failures, but Taussig is heartened by the many ventures that have taken root, paid off their loans, and blossomed. In 1999, Untours received the Newman's Own/George Award for being "the most generous business in America." The award from Paul Newman and John F. Kennedy Jr., the late publisher of George magazine, came with a $250,000 prize, which the Taussigs donated to the foundation.
"He's authentic," says Elizabeth Killough, the foundation's associate director. "He has never tried to be famous or call attention to himself. For the first eight years, he didn't tell anyone about the foundation. It's always been very personal for him."
Taussig and his wife live on Social Security and savings from the modest wages Norma earned as a school secretary and Untours bookkeeper.
"In a world gone mad with greed, he really believes in the common good," says Bob Fishman, executive director of the nonprofit social service agency Resources for Human Development, who has worked with Taussig on several projects. "He doesn't do it to say 'I'm right and you're wrong,' but rather to show, in his own sweet way, that there's another path. By his example, he gets all of us to think, 'can't I do more?' "
Taussig does not consider himself heroic or saintly.
"This is my way of finding meaning," he says. "This is how I get joy out of life. The widening gap between the rich and poor is not sustainable. I fear there will be a violent revolution if we don't find a solution to poverty in the world."
For more about Untours and the foundation, call 888-868-6871 or go to http://go.philly.com/untours
Contact staff writer Art Carey at 610-701-7623 or acarey@phillynews.com.
Rec'd this from a friend online...
When Joni Mitchell was 22, she was a homeless folksinger - the courts took away her 2 year old daughter and the daughter was adopted out. Then Joni Mitch0ell wrote the legendary song, "BOTH SIDES NOW".
One stanza of her brilliant prose...
“Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I’ve looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed. Something is lost but something's gained in living every day"
SO FOR ME -- Life is a gift, HOWEVER, it is not a Disneyland ride. No one gets out alive.. spiritually maybe, you be the judge...
Love and much Respect,
Gilbert
One stanza of her brilliant prose...
“Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I’ve looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed. Something is lost but something's gained in living every day"
SO FOR ME -- Life is a gift, HOWEVER, it is not a Disneyland ride. No one gets out alive.. spiritually maybe, you be the judge...
Love and much Respect,
Gilbert
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Heather sends along this funny note....
My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.
We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green.
When I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big red mark on his forehead.
Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond.
Be The Change:
Be The Change:
Experiment with looking at the child within each person you interact with. How does this change the way you relate to them?
Experiment with looking at the child within each person you interact with. How does this change the way you relate to them?
You can understand and relate to most people better if
You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them -- no matter how old or impressive they may be -- as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much -- we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales. --Leo Rosten
Monday, April 16, 2007
A view from inside my world on Saturday, April 14, 2007...
I am sure this is not a big deal to some but as I got to thinking about it, it becomes bigger and bigger... haha....
When Ann and I bought our first computer it was a Tandy SX 1000 and it had 2 mgs of storage.... yes MGS. We also bought a subscription to PCLINK, the first online service available in Stillwater and when we got home, we could only dial up and hook up at 600 bps... and could only call the Stillwater Airport and get time and temp. nothing else.. then we discovered we had bought the first system available from Tandy in Stillwater, and then we discovered we were the first ones 'online' from Stillwater, OK. and on and on..
Well, Saturday was another first... We helped bring Pickens Auctions to the world.
What you see are my tools inside my office on Saturday. I used my Blackjack as a modem and hooked up my laptop and a Creative Live Pro webcam with audio and signed on to NAAlive. com and we had an auction open to the world. We had bidders from Mexico, Netherlands, and all over the USA. Now to a lot of you this is nothing, but it was quite an honor for me to be involved in this and now an even bigger honor of being the first in Oklahoma to offer this service and the first in Stillwater to do such. What a ride this has been. Al Gore may have invented the internet, but we have used it for as long as it has been open to the public!
it is still hard for me to believe we did the auction on Saturday. I had a total of about 3 pounds of equipment, three pieces and one cord and ran all off of the cigarette lighter in my truck! wow...
Wonder what will be next. It is such an honor to be working with Gregg Pickens, a long time family friend who loves to stay up to date with things...
Anywho.. just sharing an exciting time in my life.. haha... there are pics from the auction online at pickensauctions.com and then to the photo gallery two...
Enjoy the day....
Stan
Sunday, April 15, 2007
COWARDS KICK AWAY ANOTHER PIECE OF AMERICA'S SOUL
By KINKY FRIEDMAN
April 15, 2007 -- Author, musician and former Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman has been friends with Don Imus since 1975, when they met on stage at The Bottom Line.
I MET Imus on the gangplank of Noah's Ark. He was then and remains today a truth-seeking missile with the best bull-meter in the business.
Far from being a bully, he was a spiritual chop-buster never afraid to go after the big guys with nothing but the slingshot of ragged integrity. I watched him over the years as he struggled with his demons and conquered them. This was not surprising to me.
Imus came from the Great Southwest, where the men are men and the emus are nervous. And he did it all with something that seems, indeed, to be a rather scarce commodity these days. A sense of humor.
There's no excusing Imus' recent ridiculous remark, but there's something not kosher in America when one guy gets a Grammy and one gets fired for the same line.
The Matt Lauers and Al Rokers of this world live by the cue-card and die by the cue-card; Imus is a rare bird, indeed - he works without a net. When you work without a net as long as Imus has, sometimes you make mistakes.
Wavy Gravy says he salutes mistakes. They're what makes us human, he claims. And humanity beyond doubt, is what appears to be missing from this equation. If we've lost the ability to laugh at ourselves, to laugh at each other, to laugh together, then the PC world has succeeded in diminishing us all.
Political correctness, a term first used by Joseph Stalin, has trivialized, sanitized and homogenized America, transforming us into a nation of chain establishments and chain people.
Take heart, Imus. You're merely joining a long and legendary laundry list of individuals who were summarily sacrificed in the name of society's sanctimonious soul: Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, Joan of Arc, Mozart and Mark Twain, who was decried as a racist until the day he died for using the N-word rather prolifically in "Huckleberry Finn."
Speaking of which, there will always be plenty of Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons around. There will be plenty of cowardly executives, plenty of fair-weather friends, and plenty of Jehovah's Bystanders, people who believe in God but just don't want to get involved. In this crowd, it could be argued that we need a Don Imus just to wake us up once in a while.
There probably isn't a single one of Imus' vocal critics who come anywhere close to matching his record of philanthropy or good acts on this earth.
Judge a man by the size of his enemies, my father used to say. A man who, year after year, has raised countless millions of dollars and has fought hand-to-hand to combat against childhood cancer, autism, and SIDS - well, you've got a rodeo clown who not only rescues the cowboy, but saves the children as well.
I believe New York will miss its crazy cowboy and America will miss the voice of a free-thinking independent-minded, rugged individualist. I believe MSNBC will lose many viewers and CBS radio many listeners.
Too bad for them. That's what happens when you get rid of the only guy you've got who knows how to ride, shoot straight and tell the truth.
April 15, 2007 -- Author, musician and former Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman has been friends with Don Imus since 1975, when they met on stage at The Bottom Line.
I MET Imus on the gangplank of Noah's Ark. He was then and remains today a truth-seeking missile with the best bull-meter in the business.
Far from being a bully, he was a spiritual chop-buster never afraid to go after the big guys with nothing but the slingshot of ragged integrity. I watched him over the years as he struggled with his demons and conquered them. This was not surprising to me.
Imus came from the Great Southwest, where the men are men and the emus are nervous. And he did it all with something that seems, indeed, to be a rather scarce commodity these days. A sense of humor.
There's no excusing Imus' recent ridiculous remark, but there's something not kosher in America when one guy gets a Grammy and one gets fired for the same line.
The Matt Lauers and Al Rokers of this world live by the cue-card and die by the cue-card; Imus is a rare bird, indeed - he works without a net. When you work without a net as long as Imus has, sometimes you make mistakes.
Wavy Gravy says he salutes mistakes. They're what makes us human, he claims. And humanity beyond doubt, is what appears to be missing from this equation. If we've lost the ability to laugh at ourselves, to laugh at each other, to laugh together, then the PC world has succeeded in diminishing us all.
Political correctness, a term first used by Joseph Stalin, has trivialized, sanitized and homogenized America, transforming us into a nation of chain establishments and chain people.
Take heart, Imus. You're merely joining a long and legendary laundry list of individuals who were summarily sacrificed in the name of society's sanctimonious soul: Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, Joan of Arc, Mozart and Mark Twain, who was decried as a racist until the day he died for using the N-word rather prolifically in "Huckleberry Finn."
Speaking of which, there will always be plenty of Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons around. There will be plenty of cowardly executives, plenty of fair-weather friends, and plenty of Jehovah's Bystanders, people who believe in God but just don't want to get involved. In this crowd, it could be argued that we need a Don Imus just to wake us up once in a while.
There probably isn't a single one of Imus' vocal critics who come anywhere close to matching his record of philanthropy or good acts on this earth.
Judge a man by the size of his enemies, my father used to say. A man who, year after year, has raised countless millions of dollars and has fought hand-to-hand to combat against childhood cancer, autism, and SIDS - well, you've got a rodeo clown who not only rescues the cowboy, but saves the children as well.
I believe New York will miss its crazy cowboy and America will miss the voice of a free-thinking independent-minded, rugged individualist. I believe MSNBC will lose many viewers and CBS radio many listeners.
Too bad for them. That's what happens when you get rid of the only guy you've got who knows how to ride, shoot straight and tell the truth.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Andrew is getting ready to throw out the first ball of summer....
Good Morning all..
Andrew's first tball game is Friday the 20th at 6pm. They will play at Strickland which is behind Mexico Joes. We will be getting complete schedule that day with the rest of his games.
Heather
Andrew's first tball game is Friday the 20th at 6pm. They will play at Strickland which is behind Mexico Joes. We will be getting complete schedule that day with the rest of his games.
Heather
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I found this interesting... trust in the workplace, or relationship...
Why do you claim that "Trust" is the key leadership competency of the new global economy?
Covey: If you look at the nature of the world today, a foundational condition in Thomas Friedman's flat world is the presence of trust. Put simply, today's increasingly global marketplace puts a premium on true collaboration, teaming, relationships and partnering, and all these interdependencies require trust. In the book I point out that partnerships based on trust outperform partnerships based on contracts. Compliance does not foster innovation, trust does. You can't sustain long-term innovation, for example, in a climate of distrust.
In issue after issue, the data is clear: high trust organizations outperform low-trust organizations. Total return to shareholders in high trust organizations is almost three times higher than the return in low trust organizations.
So we assert that trust is clearly a key competency. A competency or skill that can be learned, taught, and improved and one that talent can be screened for.
Trust is the one thing that affects everything else you're doing. It's a performance multiplier which takes your trajectory upwards, for every activity you engage in, from strategy to execution.
How do you identify a high-trust or low-trust organizations?
Covey: Trust is a powerful accelerator to performance and when trust goes up, speed also goes up while cost comes down -- producing what we call a trust dividend. How do you know if you have a high trust culture? By observing the behavior of your people. In high trust, high performance companies, we observe the following behaviors:
• Information is shared openly
• Mistakes are tolerated and encouraged as a way of learning
• The culture is innovative and creative
• People are loyal to those who are absent
• People talk straight and confront real issues
• There is real communication and real collaboration
• People share credit abundantly and openly celebrate each others' success
• There are few “meetings after the meetings”
• Transparency is a practiced value
• People are candid and authentic
• There is a high degree of accountability
• There is palpable vitality and energy—people can feel the positive momentum
Another very visible indicator is the behavior of your customers and suppliers. What is your customer churn rate? Do you have a history of long-term customer and supplier relationships? What is your reputation or brand equity in your marketplace?
Conversely, when the trust is low, there's a trust tax which changes your trajectory downwards. In our work with organizations, we find that low-trust, low-performance organizations typically exhibit cultural behaviors like:
• Facts are manipulated or distorted
• Information and knowledge are withheld and hoarded
• People spin the truth to their advantage
• Getting the credit is very important
• New ideas are openly resisted and stifled
• Mistakes are covered up or covered over
• Most people are involved in a blame game, badmouthing others
• There is an abundance of “water cooler” talk
• There are numerous “meetings after the meetings”
• There are many “undiscussables”
• People tend to over-promise and under-deliver
• There are a lot of violated expectations for which people make many excuses
• People pretend bad things aren’t happening or are in denial
• The energy level is low
• People often feel unproductive tension—sometimes even fear
These behaviors are all taxes on performance.
The work we do is to establish trust as your organizational operating system. That's a high-tech metaphor, but it's appropriate. We know how trust works, how to measure it, how to establish it, grow it, extend it, and sustain it – with all stakeholders.
Why is trust such a hidden variable to many otherwise competent managers?
Covey: Unfortunately, too many executives believe the myths about trust. Myths like how trust is soft and is merely a social virtue. The reality is that trust is hard-edged and is an economic driver.
For instance, strategy is important, but trust is the hidden variable. On paper you can have clarity around your objectives, but in a low-trust environment, your strategy won't be executed. We find the trust tax shows up in a variety of ways including fraud, bureaucracy, politics, turnover, and disengagement, where people quit mentally, but stay physically. The trust tax is real.
There are many myths about trust, and in my book I present them in a table your readers may find helpful:
| MYTH | REALITY |
| Trust is soft | Trust is hard, real, and quantifiable. It measurably affects both speed and cost |
| Trust is slow | Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust |
| Trust is built solely on integrity | Trust is a function of both character (which includes integrity) and competence |
| You either have trust or you don't | Trust can be both created and destroyed |
| Once lost, trust cannot be restored | Though difficult, in most cases, lost trust can be restored |
| You can't teach trust | Trust can be effectively taught and learned, and it can become a leverageable, strategic advantage |
| Trusting people is too risky | Not trusting people is a greater risk |
| You establish trust one person at a time | Establishing trust with the one establishes trust with the many |
So trust is measurable? quantifiable?
Covey: Absolutely, trust is measurable. Smart organizations measure trust in three key ways: 1) actual trust "levels"; 2) the "components" or dimensions that comprise trust; and 3) the "effects", or impact, of trust.
We have found that one very simple way to measure trust levels is to ask one direct question and roll it up and down throughout the organization. For internal stakeholders ask: "Do you trust your boss?" to employees at all levels of an organization. For external stakeholders, like customers or suppliers, you might ask them: "Do you trust our sales representative or account manager?" These are simple, direct questions that tell us more about our culture than perhaps any other question we might ask.
Now, wouldn't it be great if "trust" showed up on the financial statements as either a 'tax' or a 'dividend'? Organizations would then use resources to eliminate the tax or create a larger dividend! Although a high trust or low trust culture doesn't literally show up on financial statements, it does show up in the following ways, which are measurable, observable and economically relevant (all of which make a strong "business case for trust"):
| The 7 Low-Trust Organizational Taxes | The 7 High-Trust Organizational Dividends |
| 1. Redundancy | 1. Increased value |
| 2. Bureaucracy | 2. Accelerated growth |
| 3. Politics | 3. Enhanced innovation |
| 4. Disengagement | 4. Improved collaboration |
| 5. Turnover | 5. Stronger partnering |
| 6. Churn | 6. Better execution |
| 7. Fraud | 7. Heightened loyalty |
| (The opposites of the 7 Organizational Taxes are also Dividends) |
What are the competencies, the behaviors that build trust?
Covey: Trust too often has been pigeonholed as based on character and integrity alone. There's nothing wrong with that, and that is clearly the foundation, but it's insufficient.
Trust is a function of both character and competence. Of course you can't trust someone who lacks integrity, but hear this: if someone is honest but they can't perform, you're not going to trust them either. You won't trust them to get the job done.
That's one reason why trust has a soft image- because it has been severed from competence and results.
So how does one apply trust to branding?
Covey: When I look at a brand, a brand is nothing more or less than trust with the customer, trust with the marketplace. The principle behind a brand is reputation. The brand stands for a promise and the ability to deliver on that promise. And in that promise is a company's character and competence, its reputation.
From the character side you start with integrity—honesty, congruence, humility and courage. The courage to be open, to stand for something, to make and keep commitments. Then there's intent—is there a genuine concern for people, purposes and society as a whole or is profit your sole motive? What's the company's agenda? And how does it behave? Sometimes poor behavior is simply bad execution of good intent.
On the competence side, you start with your capabilities—talents, skills, the ability to deliver. Is your company staying relevant, are you continually improving, do you have the right technologies to stay ahead of your competition? Brands need to reinvent themselves from time to time to stay relevant. Finally, look at your results. Your company and your brands are constantly measured based on past performance, present performance and anticipated future performance.
These four dimensions—integrity, intent, capabilities and results—make up the credibility and reputation of your brand. When the trust is high, you get the trust dividend. Investors invest in brands people trust. Consumers buy more from companies they trust, they spend more with companies they trust, they recommend companies they trust, and they give companies they trust the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong. The list goes on and on. On the Internet, a trusted brand versus an untrusted brand—the differences could not be clearer, you only give your credit card number to those you trust. And look what happens when a brand gets diluted or polluted or compromised, we see how fast consumers, and investors, turn away. They quit buying.
These same principles apply equally to companies and individuals.
What about the social responsibility of business? Is this part of the trust equation?
Covey: Initially many companies may move into this arena for PR purposes. More out of fear of not being in the arena, than really participating with their souls. But there are huge benefits that flow from this - the difference it makes with your employees first, then your customers, your suppliers, your distributors, your investors.
The distrust we see all around is suspicion, a response to the corporate scandals and vicious downward cycles of cynicism. But when a company focuses on the principle of contribution for all stakeholders, that becomes good business. Executives need to understand the economic benefits of this trust dividend, especially when the behavior is real, not artificially or superficially created as PR to manipulate trust. We will see more and more companies moving in this direction because it makes economic sense, period.
Trust varies by geography, as you've pointed out in your book. How do companies build trust globally?
Covey: There's no question that trust issues are global issues. There's also a country tax. The Edelman Trust Barometer tells us, for example, that trust is often based on country of origin. US companies are being taxed in Europe, in Germany, France and England, for example. How can companies like UPS improve their trust rankings?
Trust can be rebuilt. So how do you build trust? By your behavior. We've identified 13 behaviors which build trust:
1. Talk Straight
2. Demonstrate Respect
3. Create Transparency
4. Right Wrongs
5. Show Loyalty
6. Deliver Results
7. Get Better
8. Confront Reality
9. Clarify Expectations
10. Practice Accountability
11. Listen First
12. Keep Commitments
13. Extend Trust
Companies need to have a strong promise, because the promise builds hope. Keeping the promise is what builds trust.
My father has an expression: "You can't talk yourself out of a problem you behaved yourself into." So it is with trust.
Sometimes it takes a little time, but you can accelerate the process by declaring your intent and signaling your behavior, so others can see it.
People and companies can learn these behaviors. It's not a simple process which happens overnight. But it is a systemic, cultural process which can happen one leader at a time, one division at a time, one company at a time, and you can see the behavior shifting toward authentic, real trust-building behaviors as opposed to the more common counterfeit behavior of spin and hidden agendas and the like which tend to dissipate and diminish trust.
Is there a danger in being too trusting or even gullible?
Covey: One thing about trust is that everyone's for it.
However, there are three big objections which come up. The first one is that trust is a social virtue, to which I say no, it's much more than that; it's a hard-edged economic driver. Secondly, and we hear this all the time: "we can't do anything about trust, it's either there or it's not there." This too is a fallacy. Trust is a competency. It's something you can get good at. It's a strength you personally, and your team and your company can master. Being good at it will elevate every other strength you have.
The third complaint goes along these lines: "We've been burned before. We can't trust everyone. Are you suggesting we trust everybody?" That's where I suggest you exercise what I call "SmartTrust." Most leaders have been burned before, so they become distrusting. Our society is that way. After Enron and WorldCom, we pass legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley to force compliance, raising the "tax" on all businesses. The question is, "is there a third alternative?" An alternative where you combine a high propensity to trust with good analysis and judgment, so we can really assess the circumstances, the risk, the credibility of the people involved, so we can extend trust, and build into that trust a stewardship or responsibility.
If you're not trusted, you tend to reciprocate with distrust. That's how the vicious cycle of mistrust starts and spirals downward.
There is a risk in trusting people, but the greater risk is not trusting people.
SmartTrust says you look at the opportunity, the risk and the credibility of the people involved. And you add to that verification and analysis. So you trust and verify. As opposed to verify, then trust!
Let's look at Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffet. I mention them in the book as an example of a high-trust company, about the acquisition they made based on a hand shake without due diligence.
But did you know that's how the entire company operates?
They have a 192,000 employees with 42 different wholly-owned companies. How many people do you think work at corporate headquarters? '
Seventeen!
Why? Because they choose to operate in a "seamless web of deserved trust" as Charlie Munger calls it.
This is real. It's not blind trust, but smart trust.
Thank you so much. I truly believe The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
Monday, April 09, 2007
We had two takers for hunting eggs yesterday...
We had a very wonderful Easter, and hope you did too!
Heather and Ms. Madison and Mr. Andrew came over (Paul was at work and could not get away) and Jake and Trisha came too for the ole traditionally GREAT meal fixed by Grandma Ann! What a wonderful meal we had... and visit with them. Then it was time to get after the EGGS... and Andrew and Madison were truly ready to go. Of course they had on their nice Easter clothes to hunt in... but that did not stop them, haha...
Jon and Randi with Dylan and Kaitlyn spent the day with Randi's family, and then Jon hurried home to study ... and Phil, Tammy and Austyn went to my Cousin Doris and Jim Rowland's at Lexington for Easter.
Jon called last night and we visited for a bit, and he was taking a break from being knee deep in his studies... and reported they had a good visit and time and would be posting photos online this week from the days activities.
Ann and I are richly blessed. We are smart enough to know at 60 there are not a lot of holidays left and truly enjoy the ones we have with our family, as they can, and will continue to do this until...
Enjoy the day... smiling... what a nice day it is...
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