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WITandWISDOM(tm) – November 12, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." - Warren Buffet Warren Buffet was ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world as of April 2007. For more about Warren Buffet visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffet Source: Leader Links, http://www.leaderlinks.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: A Railroad Detective Part 1 of 2 [November 12, 13] The following story is an excerpt from the memoir, Yard Bull, by Dean O’Shea, a retired railroad detective for Burlington Northern. This is a book that you will want to read all the way through with out stopping. – Richard Kicking my way through the tangled weeds with a flashlight, I nearly stumbled when my foot made contact with a body. My light revealed a young man with a few days’ growth on his face, leaning back on his elbows and clutching an empty bottle in one hand. His light colored shirt had a splatter of blood across the front. When he realized my presence, he jerked his head up, giving me a glimpse of swollen, bruised, eyes. He’d obviously been in a fight and could barely see past the puffy flesh. Lacerations crisscrossed his cheeks and forehead. “I’m with the railroad police, Looks like you’re having a bad week.” He exhaled loudly and shook his head. “Man, oh man.” “Tell me what happened.” He furrowed his brow for several minutes and then spoke as if each part of the story was painful to recall. “I remember gettin’ a bottle and this good-lookin’ chick appeared outta nowhere an’ asked if I’d like to party. I told her, ‘Sure thing’ an’ followed her an’ now I’m sittin’ here talkin’ to you.” “Before meeting your dream girl, were you carrying any money?” He rolled to one side and touched his back pocket. “Man, I had sixty bucks an’ my drivers license.” “Looks like she had a boyfriend in on the scam. Be glad you only lost your wallet.” Guessing he hadn’t been on the streets very long, I pointed to the bottle. “Why get drunk in the first place?” “I got problems and drinkin’ makes ‘em go away.” “Look like drinking made more problems this time. What’s your name?” His face went blank and then he blurted, “Dan Rayner.” “Well, Mr. Rayner, that bottle won’t make anything go away. I know—I’ve been where you are. Drinking just keeps you from growing up and learning how to handle life. When I made God my hiding place, I never regretted it.” He stared at me as if in shock, his lips barely moving as he whispered, “I’ve heard all that before…my dad’s a pastor.” “Then you must be breaking your dad’s heart and even worse, you’re breaking your heavenly Dad’s heart.” “Neither of ‘em care.” Daniel groaned as he stood up on wobbly legs. “Do you really know that, Daniel? Have they told you to your face they don’t care?” “They don’t hafta. I jus’ know.” He turned to go but I took hold of his arm. “Don’t you want to get medical attention for those cuts?” He broke my hold and muttered, “Forget it.” I called out, “I’ll be praying for you, Daniel!” but he never looked back. To be continued tomorrow . . . From: Yard Bull, by Dean O’Shea, a retired railroad detective for Burlington Northern, ISBN 9780979773891, http://theyardbull.com/ ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement -- not even her parent's divorce. Her mother had found the perfect dress to wear and would be the best dressed mother-of-the-bride ever. A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother! Jennifer asked her step mom to exchange it but she refused. Absolutely not. I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied. Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day." A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress. When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, "Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it." Her mother just smiled and replied, "Of course I do, dear. I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding." Submitted by Bev Roehrborn ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Sal, a pilot for a major airline, carries his running clothes in a backpack, freeing his hands for his luggage. On one trip, he told me, he noticed passers-by grinning at him in the terminal. Sal smiled back. Maybe some of them were on my last flight, he thought. His ego was brimming until he got to the cockpit and stowed his bags. That's when he saw the "Parachute" sign his co-workers had stuck to his backpack. Source: Chapnotes, mailto:xanmansa@chapnotes.org?Subject=Subscribe ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder If you ever have to reinstall Windows, you'll need the license key that came with your copy. But that string of 25 random letters and numbers isn’t always handy. This is a freeware utility that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install windows from your registry. It has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Windows Vista, Office 97, Office XP, and Office 2003. Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder, http://tinyurl.com/2mwpfp Source PC World, http://www.pcworld.com