| Prior Date | Archive Index | Next Date |
|
WITandWISDOM(tm) - December 13, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A rich child often sits in a poor mother's lap. - Danish Proverb Source: DailyInBox: Proverbs Plus, http://mailroom.dailyinbox.com/pplus/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Making the Ordinary Extraordinary You're not going to believe this, but trust me. The food was so good in a school cafeteria in Oregon that teachers, staff members, and even U.S. Forest Service employees go there to eat and to place takeout orders. Hey, I remember the meals that were served in "my" school's cafeteria. Friday was always fish sticks. Ketchup was the favorite vegetable at the table where my buddies and I ate. We'd always laugh about "mystery meat." The mashed potatoes we were served were made from powder rather than real spuds. And always counted it a treat to get something so gourmet as hot dogs! So why are things different for kids in the McKenzie School District? Her name is Bernadette Fleischer. And she is a gourmet restaurant chef who started working for the school district after her restaurant burned in 1993. Because food service funds are kept separate from the district's overall budget, Fleischer brings in extra funding by cooking dinner entrees once a week that staff members, teachers, and parents of students purchase to take a break from their kitchens. "This week I had orders for thirteen lasagnas," she told a reporter last week. "A big one costs $10, and we sell a smaller one for $6. It helps make enough money to pay wages and benefits for the people who work in the kitchen." Ms. Fleischer reminds me of people I've known who made life better for the rest of us by using their special gifts. A woman who is a talented artist paints murals throughout the hallways of her third-grader's school. A musician-father gets some of his buddies together for a benefit concert that puts new uniforms on the marching band at his daughter's high school. A man who manages an electrical supplies store gives both his time and skill to replace the outdated light fixtures in his church's meetinghouse -- and donates the fixtures as well. One option Fleischer had was to feel sorry for herself after the restaurant burned. The healthier one was to put her gift to work in an unlikely setting and for an audience that couldn't appreciate her expertise. The result speaks for itself. Stores and offices, dens and playrooms, nurseries and classrooms -- all of them are fairly predictable and ordinary. Then a creative soul comes along who puts his special talent to work. The ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary. Look around. Think outside the box. Don't wait to be asked. Is there something within your power that could turn the routine into the spectacular? From: FAX of Life from Rubel Shelly Source: Christian Voices, http://www.christianvoices.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Reasons to Buy a New Car 1. Your passenger seat is on the National Register of Historic Places. 2. Instead of an airbag, there's a whoopie cushion taped to your steering wheel. 3. You lose the stop-light challenge to a 14-year old on a moped. 4. 15-Minute Jiffy Lube lasts for only 3 days. 5. Thieves repeatedly break into your car just to take "The Club." 6. When you gas up, the attendant asks "Can I re-duct-tape that windshield for you?" 7. While waiting at stop light, people run up asking if anyone was hurt. 8. For the last five years, you've had to settle for making "vroom vroom" noises while sitting in the driveway. 9. Keep losing dates on left turns. 10 Your gas gauge measures in cubits. 11. Traffic reporters starting to refer to you by name when discussing morning tie-ups. 12. Hasn't been the same since Henry Ford borrowed it. Source: Gentle Humor, mailto:words@netcarrier.com?subject=GHSubscribe ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: After 22 years of military life that included drilling for countless hours and leading hundreds of parades as a first sergeant, I was nervously waiting to escort my daughter down the aisle to be married. As we stood listening for our cue to enter, she looked up at me reassuringly. "Remember, Dad," she said, "left foot first." Contributed to "Humor In Uniform" by Billy R. Frazier, Copyright (c) by Reader's Digest, http://www.readersdigest.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: CONFIRM.TO There is a little-known feature that hides an HTML tag which in turn triggers a relay system to post a read receipt to the sender. The tag is planted in Outlook Express 4.x and Netscape Messenger 4.0 or later (and possibly any email software that supports HTML message browsing). The message can be sent on any email software by placing "confirm.to" at the end of an e-mail address such as: "anyuser@sample.com.confirm.to" (without the quotes). When addressed this way, an email relay system (Postel Services) intercepts the mail, plants the tag in the message, and then delivers it to the recipient to which it is addressed. When the recipient displays the message online, the html tag triggers the relay system to send a read receipt to Postel Services which forwards it to you. No software or download is required for this to work. The relay is performed by Postel Services. The first 10 such relays are free and require a sign-up with your e-mail address and a password. Greater usage is available for about 4 cents per receipt by setting up an account at their site, http://www.postel.co.kr Source: Neat Net Tricks, http://www.neatnettricks.com/ |