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Vol. 24, No. 9 • September, 2006
You can find this newsletter and some past issues on the web @ www.Freeman-Spicer.com
Golf and Real Nice Gifts . . . . . . The spike in scandals parallels the rise in the number of registered lobbyists in Washington, which has more than tripled since 1996, from 10,800 to 32,900 in 2005. That’s 61 lobbyists for every single member of Congress. The amount of money lobbyists spend in Washington ballooned from $1.4 billion in 1998 to $2.4 billion last year. A good chunk of that money goes to gifts and trips for lawmakers and their staff. More than 640 former or current members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have received about $21 million since 2000 in the form of travel around the world at the expense of private organizations. The junket on the tip of everyone’s tongue in Washington, of course, is Abramoff’s golf outing to St. Andrews in Scotland a few summers back with Ohio Rep. Bob Ney and his staff. Private jets, five-star hotels, it was even by Washington standards, an eye-popper. But not all that unusual. “When I was on Capitol Hill,” Ney’s former chief of staff, Neil Volz, testified, “I was given tickets to sporting events, concerts, free food, free meals. In return, I gave preferential treatment to my lobbying buddies.” (Taken from an article in U.S. News & World Report)
Communication . . . . . . . . . Unquestionably, many of us have difficulty keeping our mouths shut. Some of us have simply developed a bad habit of talking too much. In fact, at the end of any day, most of us can recall at least one comment we wish we hadn’t made. By learning to keep quiet, we can cut down on self-recriminations and worry less about the damage our hasty or inappropriate comments may have caused. Instead, as we recall flip or ill-advised remarks we didn’t make, we’ll gain confidence in our ability to consciously control our speech and silence. As you practice holding your tongue, remember that sometimes as much is said with silence as with words. Indeed, saying nothing can be a very effective way to convey something. (Lions Don’t Need to Roar)
They’re Always Late . . . . . . . . I know plenty of people who are virtually always late, whether it’s to pick up the kids or prepare food for dinner. The interesting part isn’t the fact that they are always running late, but the shabby excuses that are used. They all boil down to “I didn’t have enough time.” When we use that excuse, we are usually fooling ourselves, virtually guaranteeing that it will happen again. The solution requires humility: First, admit that, in most cases, you do have the time. Then commit to starting a little earlier. It’s a simple thing that can ease stress and keep people from being frustrated with you. (Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work)
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) . . . . . . . . has put together a new web site to help combat identity theft. You can learn more about threats and how to protect yourself from them. http://www.onguardonline.gov
You find out interesting things when you have sons, like ...
1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42
pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied
to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a
bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball
a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they
can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy.
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still can't walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25.) 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid. (Lopatin)
Hurricanes . . . . . . . . . . Why are hurricanes named after people? Supposedly an Australian weather forecaster saw an opportunity to insult politicians he didn’t like by naming devastating storms after them. But naming storms also avoids confusion when there is more than one storm at once. During WWII, military personnel used radio code names such as Able, Baker, Charlie, and later, the names of wives and girlfriends. In 1953, female names were used for tropical storms. And in 1979, male names were added to the annual lists and alternated with female names ever since. French and Spanish names also date from 1979. (Do Fish Drink Water?)
Heard . . . . . . A message on an answering machine: “I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.” Also: “My wife and I had words, but I didn’t get to use mine.” And: “Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses. (LaFree)
For Management Only . . . . . . . . . Thoughts from leaders about leadership:
• Join the Andy Grove / Bill Gates School of Paranoia: Know your competitors & their products inside-out.
• Leaders can’t succeed if they care more about feelings than performance.
• The first principle of leadership is authenticity. People follow what you do, not what you say.
• If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself, at least 20% leading those with authority over you, and 15% leading your peers.
• The most important job for a leader is to create more leaders at more levels of the company than the competition.
• Sharing the wealth with everyone creates a vested interest for everyone to succeed. (Fast Company)
Perceived Value . . . . . . . . . People see what they want to see, experience what they believe they’ll experience. This means that anything and everything a service can do to convey quality, expertise, and the ability to perform will likely enhance client satisfaction. Conveying quality can be as critical to satisfaction as delivering quality. The issue for a service provider is not whether their service is so good that the client should feel satisfied; the issue is, does your client feel satisfied, and does that feeling persist? When it comes to satisfaction, the client’s perception is always right. And your job is not to deliver a service; it is to create satisfaction. Make your clients believe they’ll be satisfied, and they will be, especially if you do it with passion. (The Invisible Touch)
Why are American space shots all launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida? . . . . . U.S. space shots have always lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida (also called Cape Kennedy for a while). The reason for this is purely scientific. Southern Florida is the most ideal location in the continental United States for launching rockets into space. A multistage rocket needs a vast expanse of ocean over which to take off. There is nothing but water for five thousand miles off Cape Canaveral, until you get to the coast of Africa. Launching over the ocean allows the first two stages of the rocket to fall harmlessly to earth after they are detached. If they launched from the Midwest, the rocket’s stages could fall on populated areas. The reason the East Coast is preferable to the West Coast is due to the rotation of the Earth. The Earth rotates from west to east at a speed of 910 miles per hour. Rockets need to reach a speed of 17,300 miles per hour to enter orbit. Therefore, by launching in an easterly direction, the rocket already has a starting speed of 910 miles per hour while still on the launch pad and needs only to accelerate to about 16,450 miles per hour to reach orbit. If, on the other hand, the rocket were launched to the west, it in essence would start at minus 910 miles per hour and would need to accelerate to about 18,200 miles per hour to achieve orbit, a difference of 1800 miles per hour. (The Book of Totally Useless Information)
Watch a Virtual Tour . . . . . Instead of your kids watching junk on TV or on your computer, have them go to this web site and watch how “things” are made. Watch an airplane being built, watch how motorcycles are assembled. Much much more - go to http://manufacturing.stanford.edu to see these films.
Go to FactCheck.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President