Free ICE Water...

Imagine you are on the road for a family trip during the 1950s. It's the days before air conditioning, and with your windows down, your car still feels like it's over a hundred degrees (Fahrenheit). It's the days before bottled water, and (soda) pop is just too messy to be taken on your trip. Your kids are complaining about how thirsty they are. And while you're not complaining, it's not because you're showing patience—your throat is too dry to speak. And then. You see this:


Sure, you've seen Wall Drug signs since Ohio, but just this sign alone would make you turn around to visit this South Dakota attraction. Yet, even though you are in the middle of a deserted prairie, this oasis will only take a slight detour off the main highway.

Actually, this sign represents a foundational change to the business started in 1931. According to walldrug.com, the founder of Wall Drug had a strong sense that God was leading him to operate his small town pharmacy. However, business was bad for Ted and Dorothy Hustead. Cars just zoomed by their town and would rarely turn off onto their street (and even rarer; drive up to their store).

Nearly five years later, Ted was on the verge of quitting his dream, and leave the small town he had fallen in love with. One hot July afternoon his wife had a great idea:

"Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They're thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we've got plenty of ice and water. Why don't we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water?"

The idea was simple. The idea worked, even though it meant a lot more work for the Husteads: In the 1930s ice had to be chiseled off a large block. But with the free water they sold ice cream, other goods, and provided future customers with directions. And year by year their business grew to be a popular spot for thirsty children and tired parents alike. Even today, when many roadside attractions have settled into the dust, Wall Drug is a place people go to quench their thirst with free ice cold water.

There are many lessons this story can show. Good timing. Providing a service where no one else does. Not giving up. What this lesson means to me is during the dry times, you can be one dream or idea away from when God inspires you. Failure can turn to success when you trust in Him.

Picture Credit: kyletaylor on Flickr.com
Quote Source: www.walldrug.com/t-history.aspx

Top 7 list: Monster's Essential Job Skills

Here's a list of essential job skills that Monster identified. I used my own words to summarize their points:

1. Speaking
2. Listening
3. Writing
4. Having a strong work ethic
5. Relationship building (on and off-line)
6. Researching
7. Organized Thinking

I would have thought creativity would have been on this list but it wasn't. I can forgive them for that because many today consider creativity to mean the same thing as "being artistic." Actually, if you are creative, you can attempt to solve a problem on your own and improve your organized thinking skills. (So don't just be like Data or Spock, like the original article suggests; be more like Captain Kirk—while still obeying orders.)

However, the author omitted probably one of the most important skills; a skill that every job from janitor to CEO to freelancer requires. Forgive me for breaking parallelism here, but this magic skill is:

Time Management

If you can't properly organize your time on an even basic level then you won't be able to use any of the other skills listed here effectively.

To read the original article, check out this link.

What Your Body is Saying

Body language. Some say that body language makes up over 50% of face-to-face communication, but I would say that it is a much larger factor than most people realize. Many times when the subject comes up, article writers focus on the person that you are speaking to, and the mixed up signals you can send when your tone of voice and posture don't match what you are saying.

However, many miss a very important fact. It's not just the person that you are speaking to that matters, it's also the people who see you talk to someone else. The tone of your voice can be heard from farther away than the words people can hear. Also, the way you sit, stand or gesture--along with facial expressions--can be seen even when your voice can't be heard. If you are projecting anger, frustration, arrogance, boredom or fear, people will sense it. Maybe they will even sense it on a more regular basis than you will have a chance to speak to them.

If you have to talk to someone else about something negative, do it in private, where no one else can see or hear you. I have seen bosses, for instance, chew out an employee for a minor infraction, not only in front of other employees (which is bad enough), but on the sales floor; where any customer (including someone who might be connected with the media) could see it.

As an employee, you shouldn't be so casual in your body language either. While you shouldn't be doing something just because someone is watching, you should be aware that people are taking cell phone videos more often now than they were even three years ago. Your body language at your next office party--or during your next temper tantrum--can speak volumes for years to come.

"Now In Color"

I just learned that one of the slowest consumer technical advances to be accepted was colour televisions. I guess if you were only watching news reports from Vietnam, you wouldn't feel like you needed an upgrade. However it explains why "Now In Color" was the catchphrase of the late 60s and early 70s.

To see how well VCRs, CD players and other consumer entertainment devices fared during their first 7 years of existence, check out this article

New Sharpie Pen is a Lefty's Dream

My penmanship has always been very bad. However, it didn't have to be. If the Sharpie Pen had been around when I was a kid (and allowed in school) my marks would have been higher. I'm also sure my grade five teacher would have liked me better because she judged me by my smudged, unreadable papers.

All my life, I have had problems with using a pen. Anyone that is a lefty might share these problems that I have: The ink will smudge everywhere as my hand moves across the page and the action of pushing a ballpoint pen (instead of pulling it) actually causes the ink ball to release blobs of ink that smudge even more. I also had lower than average fine muscle control when I was learning printing in grade one, so I never learned how to do "the hook". Lefties you know what that is, but for you right-handers, a hook is when you curl your hand above what you are printing. This hand position supposedly gives the ink time to dry before your hand has a chance to smudge it.

So I used to get marks taken off in elementary school and junior high school for "neatness". It wasn't until high school when my parents bought me an electric typewriter that my presentation marks improved (a QWERTY keyboard actually favors a left-handed user).

Today it's not just a smudged paper that can reflect poorly on me, but a pen stained left hand. While many people use computers for even their "to do" lists and simple messages, using a pen is still sometimes part of my creative process. Sometimes I'm somewhere without a computer and I want to write something down. Other times, I just feel like getting away from a screen. So even though the majority of my writing is composed at the keyboard, I still do more pen writing than the average person.

But now, Sharpie Pen comes in a non-smudge version. And unlike some of the other quick drying inks I've tried, this one actually works. It doesn't blob because it's actually a super-fine marker, instead of a ballpoint. It also doesn't bleed or pass through the other side of the page. At last my hand can pass over what I've wrote and it doesn't transfer onto my hand or other parts of the page.

So yes, my papers in school would have been easier to read. Would my grade five teacher have liked me more? On second thought, probably not. She wasn't impressed by creativity. But at least she would have respected me.

P.S. I truly enjoy using the Sharpie Pen and I have received no compensation for blogging this.

Danica Patrick Photos

I don't have much to say today but I couldn't wait to put these up. Here are some Danica Patrick photos I took yesterday.




The Toronto race weekend is more than IZOD Indycar. Toronto also hosted a Canadian NASCAR series this. But still the Toronto Indy is the race I grew up watching (on T.V.) and to have the opportunity to go to the qualifying races for free was an exhilarating way to spend my Friday.

Bill 168 or The Changes to the Labour Law the Media Forgot

I can't help but wonder why the Ontario Government has done so little to promote Bill 168. It is legislature that will effect every worker and employer in Ontario, but many businesses have no idea about it. Most of the advertising for it has been by my competitors and myself, all of us eager to create the written policy that all businesses need.

What is commonly known as Bill 168 should now be called June 15th amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. That's because the changes that the former Bill addressed--concerning workplace violence and harassment--have now come into effect.

I have been going beyond offering a policy writing service. Many businesses have been helped by my suggestions, regardless if they've used my writing services or not. I am only too willing to be helpful because, while I don't believe in karma, I believe that good things have a way of returning to those who send them. But even if they don't, I am happy and satisfied that I did what I could to help businesses make a positive step. A positive step towards making sure that more employees are treated right. I just wish the law makers went further and addressed psychological abuse, because verbal and other "undercover" abuse are common in the hospitality industry. "Hell's Kitchen" is by no means exceptional. (What I do find exceptional in that show is abuse is new to many of the contestants: You've been in the hospitality industry for how long?) If employers could truly learn to protect their employees workplaces would become the places of productivity that bottom-liners dream of.

P.S. I'm sure abuse happens all across the board, but I worked in the hospitality industry for over ten years, so that is what I'm most aware of.