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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 10, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose." - Lou Holtz Source: Quotes From The Masters, http://mailroom.dailyinbox.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Note: The source for yesterday's Special Thoughts included an incorrect date. It should have been "Our Daily Bread, September 19, 2003". - Thanks to Terri ~~~~~ "What window needs fixing?" the repairman snapped as beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. It was a hot, humid August day, and the last thing I needed was a grouchy repairman. "Before I show you," I said, "let me clarify what I'd like to have done. I spoke to your supervisor, and she said you would inspect all my windows while you are here." "Look, lady, I drove around for two hours trying to find your house. Now I'm way behind schedule. I don't care what the main office told you, I don't have time to inspect all your windows." "But I've been waiting months for your company to send a repairman," I said. "These windows are brand new, and some of them are scratched. I specifically asked to have a repairman look at all the new windows." "Well, I ain't gonna do it, lady," he huffed. "Now, show me the window I came to fix." Fine, I thought to myself as I showed him the broken window. I'll fix you! After you leave, I'm going to write a scathing letter to your supervisor. Maybe you'll even lose your job. Good riddance. Who needs rude people like you to deal with? Just then something inside my head seemed to say Jeanne, what do you think this man needs? I don't know and I don't care, I answered. Give him something to drink, the voice seemed to say. It's hot. He got lost coming to your house. He's frustrated and tired. Offer him a pitcher of ice water. I'll give him some water, but I'm still going to write that letter, I responded. Pushing aside my ruffled feathers, I went to the house and filled a pitcher with water and ice. "Would you like some ice water?" I asked, handing him a glass and the pitcher of water. I would have preferred to pour it over his head. "Yeah, thanks," he said as he gulped the water down. Now, ask him if he'd like you to pick up some fast food for him when you run to the store, the voice inside my head seemed to say. He probably hasn't had time to eat. That's a little too much, I protested. But, reluctantly, I responded to the voice. "I have to return this video to the store and will be gone for just a few minutes," I told the repairman. "Can I get you anything to eat while I'm out? There's a McDonald's where I'm going." "Lady, you're a real lifesaver," the man said. "Here, meet my son. He's helping me today. We're so far behind on our schedule that we haven't had time to eat." Then, reaching into his pocket for some money, he told me what he and his son wanted. When I returned, the father and son stopped working and devoured the food I had brought them. I went about my work. A few minutes after they had finished eating, they completed the repair of the window. "Now, lady," the rough-looking repairman said, "what windows did you want me to look at?" After inspecting all my windows, he said, "By the way, here's my business card. If you ever have any problems with your windows, you call me personally." He left with a smile on his face. As I walked into my house, the voice seemed to say, Do you still want to write that letter? No, I thought. And in that moment I knew it was the Lord who had prompted me to show kindness when I wanted revenge. "Thank You, Lord," I prayed, "for giving me this window of opportunity to make a difference in someone's life." By Jeanne Getz Pallos, Laguna Niguel, California Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) July 2003, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com Submitted by Dale Galusha ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: At the construction site of a new church, the contractor stopped to chat with one of his workmen. "Patty," he asked casually, "didn't you once tell me that you had a brother who was a bishop?" "That I did." "And you are a bricklayer! It sure is a funny world. Things in life aren't divided equally, are they?" "No, that they ain't," agreed Patty, as he proudly slapped the mortar along the line of bricks. "My poor brother couldn't do this to save his life!" Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.shagmail.com/sub/sub-jokes.html ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: We had been on the road for 15 hours en route from New York to California and were looking for a place to spend the night. At four different motels, though, we were told, "Sorry, no vacancies." Heading back to the car, my seven-year- old asked solemnly, "Mom, are we vacancies?" Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) July 2000, http://www.readersdigest.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Waste Not, Want Not For a time last winter, Dennis Haubenschild's dairy cows were earning him 40 cents a day from their milk and 30 cents a day from their electricity. Haubenschild Farms is the first Minnesota farm to produce "cow power." The 760-cow family farm uses anaerobic manure digestion to produce methane for electricity. The waste digester supplies enough power to run the entire farm, plus 78 average homes. The dairy cows at Haubenschild Farms produce 22,000 gallons of manure a day. That manure, in turn, yields about 80,000 cubic feet of "biogas" a day - enough to generate 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Cow manure, together with recycled newspaper bedding, is scraped from the freestall barn, mixed to a smooth consistency, then pumped into a 350,000-gallon covered digester tank. There, the manure is heated to about 100 degrees F, speeding the action of beneficial bacteria in the tank. As bacteria break the manure down, they give off methane gas, which collects under the tank cover. Captured methane is burned in a retrofitted natural gas engine, which drives a 150-kilowatt electrical generator. About 45 percent of the Haubenschilds' electrical output is distributed on the farm, offsetting $700 a week of electricity expense, and the rest sold to a local power cooperative, East Central Energy, who pays 7.25 cents per kilowatt hour for the Haubenschilds' excess electricity - the full retail rate. The Haubenschild digester, called a plug-flow, has been operating since September 1999, generating electricity with 98.6 percent reliability. But the system delivers other benefits besides electricity. After three weeks in the digester, the manure is a lot less smelly. In addition, digestion creates a high-quality fertilizer, converting the nutrients in manure into a more usable form and destroying weed seeds. From: http://www.auri.org/news/ainjul01/05page.htm Source: Nybble Weekly Newsletter, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nybble |