The Indispensible Person

During the worst days of the Civil War, President Lincoln would often get away from the summer heat of Washington by riding up to a telegraph office on a cool hill north of the city. The telegraph was the first great technology of the revolution in telecommunications that over time developed into communications satellites and the Internet. The President would sit in the telegraph office receiving the very latest reports from the battle field.

One night a telegraph message came in detailing yet another Union army calamity. Confederate Calvary had surprised a Union camp near Manassas, Virginia, and captured a brigadier General and a hundred horses. With the telegraph operator watching, Lincoln slumped in his chair as he read of the latest setback. Moaning slightly he said " Sure hate to lose those one hundred horses."

The operator felt obliged to ask, " Mr President, what about the brigadier General ?"

Lincoln replied, " I can make a brigadier General in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace one hundred horses."


NO PERSON IS INDISPENSABLE

Vincent

Be yourself -

One of our most famous artist in the world was Vincent Van Gogh -

Vincent was laughed out of school.

People thought , as did he, that he would never amount to anything.
He had no friends and was very lonely his entire life.

He painted and drew over 2000 pieces that today are worth in millions.

He is studied by artist every day throughout the world.

Many think he suffered from epilepsy that back in the 1800's was not even recognized so many thought he was insane.

He continued to do what he knew and what he loved.

Two local places

Two local places I visit to keep prospective near by are Benny's and Little Miss Cranston .

Benny's is a local store that has everything from tires to candy and bikes and paints etc- The managers that run that store always seem to busy to talk to you or even look at you. They bark orders to the people that work there.
They remind me that even though you may hold a title or in charge of things outside the walls of your business who cares. Within those walls they may have " power " and they may feel important but in the overall they are simply people with a title and outside those walls it does not give them any more power than the next guy.

Little Miss Cranston is a local diner. I stop there sometimes for breakfast or lunch. They have a counter that you can sit at and tables. I am normally alone so I sit at the counter. I always take note on how happy the waitresses are and how the dishwasher comes out every 5 or 6 minutes to gather his dirty dishes. They all do their job and seem to get along and always have a smile. They remind me that it does not matter how much money you make or  how fancy your job may be it is how you act in your job and how you treat others.

We all get wrapped up in ourselves some times, I think that it is natural but every so often try to look around and notice others outside your work place.

 Which person are you ?

1961

1961

• President Kennedy advises all "prudent families" to have a bomb shelter.
• The DNA genetic code is broken.
• The IBM Selectric typewriter is introduced.
• The United States launches its first test of the Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile.
• Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.
• The Vietnam War officially begins, as the first American helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.
• "Barbie" gets a boyfriend when the "Ken" doll is introduced.
• Russians send the first man into space.
• John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States.
• President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
• The longrunning soap opera General Hospital debuted on ABC.
• Baseball player Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, beating the 34-year-old record held by Babe Ruth.
• Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity by a panel of 3 Israeli judges.

Who are you fooling ?

This week I watched a fellow employee move from desk to desk and stand around and chat and complain to anyone who would listen.

What they were complaining about I have no idea but if I was to add all the time wasted that day by this individual it would at least half their day.

So while they were on our payroll they stole a half a day's pay.
That is the way that I look at it.

It is grossly unfair to all the other employees that keep their heads down and work a full day.

The crazy part is these people that spend the day bitching about work could be so much better at their job if they actually worked at their job.

I have seen dozens of these type people come and go and they just don't ever get it.

They think they are getting something over on management or their employer but who are they ultimately fooling?

Do yourself a favor- if you are getting paid to work than work- If you do not like something than work the system to try to change it. Think of what YOU can do to help change things. If you can not think of any solutions or think the problems are to big for you than choose the right moment and your words and meet with your manager or supervisor. Always to try follow your complaint with a suggestion.

Trust me people see and note the people that are truly working and those that are here to just make time go by and the more they spend time visiting others the less time they have to actually work.

It is noted and eventually those people are just a name that we try to remember years later after they are let go.

Who are you fooling?

ENJOY THE RIDE

I hear the wavesSun beatin' down on my shoulders

It's a near-perfect day -Wishin' I wouldn't get any older

They say that it's gone before you know it

Quiet your mind
Soak it all in
It's a game you can't win

Enjoy the ride

I feel the change Goin' on all around me

It's strange How I'm taken and guided- Right where I end up right I'm needed to be


At the end of the water -A red sun is risin'
And the stars are all goin' away

And if you're too busy talkin'

You're not busy listenin'

To hear what the land has to say

Quiet your mind

NICE TO KNOW

In the past week we had to reach out to a couple of drivers to assist us in some challenging deliveries.

In both cases our owner operators were there for us and more important they were there for each other.

In one we had a challenging delivery on a Government services delivery in downtown DC- it was a Sunday and we wanted to be sure that we had the best help possible- we had a very good driver already planned on the delivery and we asked another driver- John Southall to help because he was in the area. Even though it looked like Sunday would of been John's only day off in a while and agreed.
Our driver Mark and the customer was sure glad to have John on the job.

The other was on the other side of the country- we had a huge VIP and a 30,000 lb account move being delivered in southern CA- we called our driver extortioner- Skip Austin for his assistance. And just like John - Skip has been working and running hard but he agreed to head south to help our driver Rich.

As we all know labor on the road is always challenging, to say the least, so to have two top flight drivers head the delivery teams on both these jobs was a huge help.

It is just good to know that there are still people out there that care and that help each other.

Thank you John and Skip...and of coarse Mark and Rich.

Thanks for helping and for restoring our faith in each other.