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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 6, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Castaneda Source: Molly's Quotes of the Day, mailto:molly.rhea@gmail.com?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In "Journey to the East," Hermann Hesse described the activities and relationship of explorers who were sent on a difficult mission by a certain order. A servant, Leo, cared for their every need: prepared the food, washed their clothes, and was at their beck and call. In terms of protocol, he was the lowest of the least. As the mission progressed, Leo's adaptability and spirit proved invaluable. The servant's worth became more evident when their ship was wrecked and Leo was missing. Trying to proceed without him proved impossible. Eventually one member of the party made his way back to headquarters, where he met the leader. And, lo, it was none other than Leo! Though assuming the role of servant during the expedition, in reality he was their leader. Hesse was saying: real leadership has more to do with service than status. G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, p. 210. Source: Illustrations, http://www.cybersaltlists.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A Canadian man lost his wife's designer purse - containing $1,000,000 worth of jewellery - on holiday in California. But a local man found the purse where he left it, on a park bench, and handed it in to police, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Shahla Ghannadian cried for most of the way home to Toronto after husband Said Khalili lost the purse in Sausalito. The designer purse contained her Cartier watch, diamond and ruby rings, pearl earrings, necklaces with large diamond stones and $500 cash. In total, it was worth $1 million, the equivalent of £575,000. But then they got a phone call from Sausalito police saying the purse had been found and handed in by John Suhrhoff, from nearby San Rafael. "My mom started to cry again and my dad became very emotional, too," said the couple's 28-year-old son, Ali Khalili. "That was a big deal. There are still good people in this world." Mr Suhrhoff said: "Every person I know or associate with would have done the same thing. I'm glad to be able to help." Source: Ananova http://www.ananova.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A box of candy means friendship, a bunch of flowers means love, but a diamond means business. Submitted by Betsy ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: In 1867, US Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. Critics quickly attacked Seward for spending so much money on an "icebox" -- which soon became known as "Seward's folly." However, at a cost of two cents per acre and with the discovery of tons of gold and billions of barrels of oil, history obviously holds Seward in much higher regard than did his contemporaries. It may have been the best land buy in the history of the world! Let's see what you know about Alaska... 1) If you could fish every day for 50 years, about how many lakes would you have to fish in each day to fish in every lake in Alaska? a. 7 b. 52 c. 165 2) What's the highest point in Alaska? a. Mt. McKinley b. Mt. Everest c. Mt. Rainier 3) What's the state flower of Alaska? a. mountain rose b. forget-me-not c. snow tulip 4) Alaska is over twice the size of Texas, measuring about 1,400 miles from the northern tip to the southern tip. How wide is Alaska from east to west? a. 1,600 miles b. 2,100 miles c. 2,700 miles 5) The largest national forest in the United States is in Alaska. What's the name? a. Denali National Forest b. Tongass National Forest c. Prudhoe Bay National Forest 6) What is the capital of Alaska? a. Juneau b. Anchorage c. Fairbanks 7) Which of the following is geographically the closest to Alaska? a. Russia b. (continental) United States c. Greenland 8) What ocean borders Alaska on the north? a. Pacific Ocean b. Aleutian Ocean c. Arctic Ocean And now for Alaskan-sized toughie... 9) Benny Benson is a famous Alaskan. Why? a. He hiked across Alaska at age 74. b. He designed the state flag at age 13. c. He's the only US postal carrier that delivers mail by dogsled. Answers below, here's the scoring: 9 correct: Perfection! 7-8 correct: Outstanding 5-6 correct: Very Good 2-4 correct: Fairly Fair 0-1 correct: Turn the TV off. Answers: 1) c. 164...there are over 3,000,000 lakes in Alaska 2) a. Mt. McKinley 3) b. forget-me-not 4) c. 2,700 miles, as wide as the continental US from coast to coast 5) b. Tongass National Forest 6) a. Juneau -- and it's only accessible by boat or plane! 7) a. Russia 8) c. Arctic Ocean 9) b. He designed the state flag at age 13. Source: Internet Tutor, http://www.gophercentral.com/sub/sub-tutor.html