Speak Out: Listing Some of Life's Little Lessons Learned Along the Way

Replies (35)

• Don't add sugar to the wine at a classy restaurant no matter how dry it is. I'll never forget the look on my wife's boss face.

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 5:17 PM

• Even back in the day, schools were always pushing students to sell something for some kind of fund raiser. In my seventh grade it was Christmas wrapping paper at 25 cents each. I saw a business opportunity and sold mine for 50 cents each.

  When my father got wind of my enterprise he made me approach every buyer with "I am returning the quarter I stole from you and I am sorry and will never steal again". Quite an ordeal since I outsold everyone in the class.

  -- Posted by Old John on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 5:41 PM

• Real-ist, You could also say "Never love something that can't love you back"

  Something else I learned. The best way to lose a customer is to embarass him, inconvenience him, or give him the impression that someone that should have cared didn,t. That last reason has sent me somewhere else many times even if I have to pay more.

  -- Posted by Old John on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 6:59 PM

• "I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become."

  -Real-ist.

  Put a slightly different way- until age 18 we are victims, but after that, we're volunteers.

  Lot's of good comments, Real-ist.

  Thanks.

  -- Posted by jean-louise on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 7:48 PM

• Yes, people can change if they are properly motivated.

  -- Posted by Real-ist on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 8:10 PM

  Been my experience that pain and discomfort are powerful motivators.

  -- Posted by fxpwt on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 8:19 PM

• Don't squat with your spurs on and always drink upstream from the herd.

  -- Posted by Mowrangler on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 9:03 PM

• When I grow up I'm going to find some principles to live by also.

  I've already learned, don't eat the yellow snow.

  Don't face into the wind when relieving yourself.

  No matter what anybody tells you, do not stick your tongue onto a pump handle on a January morning.

  And a few more.

  But I want to learn some of those fancy ones to live by. The above I mentioned are just cautions.

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Sun, Aug 29, 2010, at 11:07 PM

• There are only two kinds of people in this world. There are those who think there are only two kinds of people; and there are those that don't think it is quite that simple.

  -- Posted by blogbudsman on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 11:10 AM

• There are 10 types of people, those who know binary and those that don't.

  You can lead a child to the library but you can't make them learn.

  If a politician's lips are moving they're probably lying.

  The answer to life, the universe, and everything is simple, it's 42. What's complicated is knowing the question.

  -- Posted by non-biasedphilosopher on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 11:47 AM

• I'm 1 of the 10... it would be hard to be 0 of the 10... I think.

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 12:30 PM

• Never eat Kellogg's Corn Flakes when you can have Post Toasties...or was it the other way around. I forget.

  -- Posted by voyager on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 1:06 PM

• He that never changes his opinion, never corrects his mistakes, will never be wiser on the morrow that he is today. - Tyron Edwards

  -- Posted by Red_Rhino on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 2:04 PM

• Wheels,

  You're certainly 1 of the 10, but I think you're the other 1. 1+1=10.

  -- Posted by non-biasedphilosopher on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 2:04 PM

• Wheels,

  You're certainly 1 of the 10, but I think you're the other 1. 1+1=10.

  -- Posted by non-biasedphilosopher on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 2:04 PM

  Ummmmmmmm! Probably.

  Are you beginning to get the idea that all I know about binary is that it consists of 1's and 0's. I think??? ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:00 PM

• SpankTheTank wrote:

  "Why did this thread start turning into personal slamming?"

  All of them seem to, eventually. There seems to be about a two- or three-day shelf life on threads, before they start turning sour. Maybe we need to a 'post before' date on these things.

  This one seems to have soured rather quickly. Maybe it's because they don't stock fresh threads on the weekend, so it had already been turning sour even before you posted it. ;)

  -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:19 PM

• Spank,

  Not defending anyone here, but if Non was slamming me on the binary thing, it went over my head, binary is something that I know so very little about, and have not studied at all.

  They didn't teach it at Glennon grade school in the 40's and very early 50's. ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

  Hope you are doing well... and staying away from those holes in the fence. Papa Hubert shoulda warned you about that! ☻ ☺ ☺ ☺

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:21 PM

• Spank, a Great Aunt gave me a piece of advice once I've always remembered:

  "Take serious things frivolously and frivolous things seriously. Its the secret to a long and happy life." She was 91 when she died of injuries received the '49 Tornado. But I think I told you this once before.

  -- Posted by voyager on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:23 PM

• Anyone who needs to brag to strangers about such unverifiable facts clearly lacks the self esteem necessary to be taken seriously.

  -- Posted by Spaniard on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 1:55 PM

  Never trust anyone that is a leech on society. They will do anything for a free ride.

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:55 PM

• Spank,

  My Grandpa taught me about electric fences early in life. He grabbed me by the hand and said come over here, I want to show you something. He had a firm grip on my hand and grabbed the fences with a good grip. Want to guess who received the electrify experience?

  Bet old Pop about bit the stem off his hickory pipe laughing at you. Least that is what I think I remember him smoking. History is getting a little jumbled together in my mind.

  Sorry to hear about the brother. I know he has had some problems. Hope he gets straightend out. Glad to hear you are doing OK. Post more, we miss you.

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 4:09 PM

• Dear me... make that "electrifying".

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 4:12 PM

• Stay away from the squirrel with a broken tail.

  No good deed goes unpunished.

  Some people feel good by making others feel bad.

  When you see someone else drinking Stag - it probably came out of your cooler.

  When McD-dining with equally financially-challenged fraternity brothers - eat your fries first.

  You can't push on a rope.

  Pay your bills first, then what is leftover is yours.

  Beauty times brains is a constant.

  It only takes 10cc of green dye to make a keg a pretty St. Pats green. The rest is overkill.

  Older folks are closer to real 'reality' than they appear.

  Appearance often trumps substance.

  DC hurts way more than AC at a given voltage.

  -- Posted by fxpwt on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 8:33 PM

• Four bits of advice given to me by my Great Aunt when I was a kid:

  'First, never trust lawyers and avoid 'em whenever possible.

  Second, watch your banker like a hawk and never trust him either.

  Third, never vote for a damned Democrat.

  Fourth, watch out for good girls."

  Even asd a kid I understoodf the first three. After a lifetime, I'm still not sure what she really meant by the fourth one.

  -- Posted by voyager on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 10:16 PM

• I've learned that

  ... laughter, even at oneself, makes even disappointments a little easier to accept.

  ... anger takes more energy than laughter.

  ... a day is only 24 hours long, which often isn't long enough.

  ... early to bed & early to rise is a health hazard to those with Night Owl tendencies.

  ... crying isn't anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

  ... the Bad Moods of others are often contagious.

  ... sometimes, some people just don't want to be kidded into a better mood.

  ... a disaster can make some people stronger, and some weaker.

  ... it's too easy to be mean-spirited.

  ... what we are is what we make of ourselves, and the process is on-going.

  ... blaming others for our faults or failings is a cop-out.

  ... hugs are, indeed, healthy.

  -- Posted by gurusmom on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 11:57 PM

• From personal experience, Rick?

  -- Posted by voyager on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 8:35 AM

• Rick

  That must have been one heck of a night.

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 9:03 AM

• "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." James Dean

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 9:06 AM

• Hi Mom!

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 9:06 AM

• When the smoke dectector goes off supper is past done. Learned that one last night.

  -- Posted by Mowrangler on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 9:11 AM

• Hi back, WR ... Got the Dreaming part down pat ... having a problem with the rest of it.

  Thanks for a neat thread, voyager.

  -- Posted by gurusmom on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 3:41 PM

• Rick,

  Now you really don't get much of a chance to knock a Police Officer down; first sign of a fight and you get a bad case of the "gigiddies".

  -- Posted by Red_Rhino on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 4:14 PM

• At an early age I learned that when mowing you don't dicharge the grass on your big brother's new car and when entering his new car, you don't use his new chamois to wipe the mud off your feet.

  I also learned that when stopped for speeding you don't sit on the troopers hat when you get into his car. And if it happens to be Thanksgiving day when you get stopped, don't inquire about his turkey experience. He might say "I got my turkey right here!"

  -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 4:28 PM

• ...Non, you have been one of the worst. It seems like you can't post a comment without poking someone with a stick....

  - Posted by SpankTheTank on Mon, Aug 30, 2010, at 3:12 PM

  As I am at a loss to understand these "stick poking" instances you refer to, an example or two of such occurrences would be greatly appreciated.

  Wheels,

  I gathered you had limited exposure and thus offered the clue for you to figure out that 10 in binary is 2 in decimal. In all numbering systems the expressed value is dependent on the carrying function. For instance, 9+1=10 because we carry to the next placeholder. Same thing in binary but we only use 1 or 0 rather than 0-9, as in decimal, or 0-7, in octal, 0-F, in hexadecimal, and so on.

  -- Posted by non-biasedphilosopher on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 7:57 PM

• Hehehe - non - you're showing your age.

  Had the recent experience to troubleshoot a process computer with one of Rolla's finest cooperative education students.

  He was utterly blown away by the use of hexadecimal math to isolate the device causing the problem. I swear, if I hear 'awesome - uht, uht, uht' one more time, I'm going to slap that St. Pat's green right out of him.

  Unfortunately, he wasn't the first co-op engineering student to be 'wowed' by the old-school ways of being methodical and results-oriented. There is no 'app' to do your job for you here.

  On one hand, really disappointed by the abilities of the current crop coming out of my alma mater. Have to continually remind them that their rapid-fire, pointy-clicky, cut-n-paste, multi-tasking-from-your-cell-phone abilities are going to bite them on the backside, and open up new and unexpected career opportunity searches if they aren't careful.

  Not to mention the more serious possibilities of getting people hurt or major high-dollar equipment damaged. Real stuff happens real fast, with no do-overs or re-boots. This ain't no video game, junior!

  On the other hand - sitting back and thinking about that job security. :-)

  -- Posted by fxpwt on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 8:22 PM

• I gathered you had limited exposure and thus offered the clue for you to figure out that 10 in binary is 2 in decimal.

  -- Posted by non-biasedphilosopher on Tue, Aug 31, 2010, at 7:57 PM

  Non,

  I think you also know that I was just being a smart ***. ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

  Thanks for the effort, but I think I am way too far behind to catch up at my age. Always wished I had a decent background in math and computer science, but alas, when I became interested in computers, in the Radio Shack days and the Model I, I was way too busy trying to feed a family and keep a non-related (HVAC) business growing to get too invololved. Computers are more of a hobby to me, and while I do manage to keep myself mostly out of trouble. I am far from expertise I fear.

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Wed, Sep 1, 2010, at 12:34 AM

• I have spent considerable time working out a Probability algorithm and have come to the conclusion any guess is as good as the next.

  Trying to predict the turnover of a can of peas on a given shelf in a given aisle located in a given store at a given time is a senseless occupation at best and brain numbing at worst.

  -- Posted by voyager on Wed, Sep 1, 2010, at 9:20 AM