Teddy Burriss

Are you Listening to me

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Category: Life

  • Holding the flashlight

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    I recently heard a speaker say this, “I hated holding the flashlight for my Dad.”

    The speaker continued on with his perspective of this simple little task. He told how as a little boy his Dad always asked him to hold the flashlight while working on various tasks that needed just a little more light.  Fixing a blown fuse, a broken light fixture, switch, or something on the old Plymouth. What he remembers the most was when, (not if) the beam of light drifted from the work area, his Dad would snort which alerted this young man to pull the flashlight back into position. He hated doing this.

    I remember these days as well.

    As a youngster in the mid-1960s & ’70s, I held the flashlight and did many other simple tasks for my Dad.

    I carried and fetched tools, pulled weeds, dug holes, filled holes, used a sickle, swept the shop floor, wire brushed the spots Dad welded, stuck welding rods in the holder (I was always scared I would get shocked), siphoned gasoline, sanded the wood & metal projects, washed the cars, washed engine parts in gasoline, hauled fuel oil for the furnace, scrapped paint, held pieces of metal and wood as my Dad cut them, welded nailed or glued them together, washed his truck, scrubbed the tires, planted potatoes (eyes up) and pulled the electrical wire through conduit. These are just a few of the little tasks that I did with my Dad as a child and young adult. Often as I did these and many other tedious tasks, my Dad stood watching and coaching me on how to do them right.

    Back then I was not always happy doing that stuff.

    Today, I appreciate that I got to do them for a couple of big reasons:

    1. I learned by watching my Dad. I learned to do electrical work, welding, gardening, plumbing, woodworking, and lots more stuff.  I learned a lot.  Today I can do all of these things myself. Not only has this saved me lots of money as I raised my own family,  I also enjoy doing these things.
    2. I learned patience, attention to detail and doing things right.  Dad was a stickler to doing it right the first time. No cutting corners or doing anything just to get it done. Do it right, or don’t do it is what I learned from my Dad.

    When my girls were home I had them hold the flashlight for me. I snorted at them just a little bit when the beam of light fell away from the work area and they pulled the flashlight back into place.  I hope they learned as much from me as I learned from my Dad.

    Who is holding your flashlight and are they learning from you?

    Happy Fathers Day Dad. I love you and treasure the days of holding the flashlight.

  • My Offices

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    My Offices

    Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that my offices are every coffee shop and a few local pubs in the Triad area of NC. Here is a map of many of them.

    Here are 10 reasons I like to use local coffee shops as my office:

    1. Good coffee – Always freshly brewed
    2. Ice cold “soda” – one or two a week is not a bad thing
    3. Friendly and good people serving me
    4. Free refills – With the Starbucks Gold Card, I get free refills while I am in the office
    5. Good food in the pubs – a man has to eat, right?
    6. Free WIFI – Maybe it’s not perfect, but generally it works and it’s free.
    7. I am visible – often I get to say hello to customers, prospects and new connections who come to see me.
    8. When I get a chance to say hello, often I am asked what I’m up to. I get to spin this too, “How can I help you?”
    9. They are a more enjoyable place to have business meetings. It’s way more friendly
    10. My laptop has an ad on it – It gets seen by dozens of people every day
    11. Fresh pastries every morning
    12. I’ve done the math – $2 per day for a cup of coffee = max of $60 per month. No less expensive rent anywhere.

    I know these offices may not be the best for everyone, but they sure do work well for me.

    Follow me on FourSquare if you want to know when I’m in the office

    Thanks, @FinnegansWake, @NattyGreene, @Starbucks, @TheGreenBean & @Krankies.

     

     

     

  • Words to noodle on

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    Thanks to my buddy Rick for sharing this with me. Now, I’ll share it with you.

    The nicest thing about the future is . . .
    that it always starts tomorrow.

    Money will buy a fine dog . . .
    but only kindness will make him wag his tail.

    If you don’t have a sense of humor . . .
    you probably don’t have any sense at all.

    Seat belts are not as confining . . .
    as wheelchairs.

    A good time to keep your mouth shut is . . .
    when you’re in deep water.

    How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark . .
    to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

    Business conventions are important . . .
    because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.

    Why is it that at class reunions . . .
    you feel younger than everyone else looks?

    Scratch a cat (or dog) . . .
    and you will have a permanent job.

    No one has more driving ambition than the teenage boy (or girl) . . .
    who wants to buy a car.

    There are no new sins . . .
    the old ones just get more publicity.

    There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 a.m. . .
    like, it could be the right number.

    No one ever says “It’s only a game” . . .
    when their team is winning.

    I’ve reached the age where . . .
    ‘happy hour’ is a nap.

    Be careful about reading the fine print . . .
    there’s no way you’re going to like it.

    The trouble with bucket seats is that . . .
    not everybody has the same size bucket.

    Do you realize that, in about 40 years . . .
    we’ll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos? (And rap music will be the Golden Oldies!)

    Money can’t buy happiness . . .
    but somehow it’s more comfortable to cry in a Cadillac than in a Yugo.

    After 60, if you don’t wake up aching in every joint . . .
    you’re probably dead.

    Life isn’t tied with a bow . . .
    but it’s still a gift.

    I hope you enjoyed these statements.

  • The Whole Secret

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    The Whole Secret

    A friend of mine wrote this in her journal and shared it with us this week.

    I liked it so much I asked her for permission to share it with you.

    Do you know THE Whole Secret for being happy in life?

    Here is how she answered this question:

    “I love it when people ask me to tell them my secret for BEING HAPPY because I don’t really have a secret other than:

    1. I don’t think the Universe is out to get me
    2. I don’t listen very long to people who want to convince me that I should be unhappy
    3. I pay attention to things that make me unhappy and I stop doing them as soon as possible

    That’s pretty much THE WHOLE SECRET.

     

  • Dear Daughters – It may be time to leave North Carolina

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     North Carolina Education System Failures

     

    Hello girls. It’s Dad.

    I apologize for what I’ve got your family into.

    When we move to North Carolina in late 1996, we were excited about the possibilities.

    The cost of living was reasonable, the lifestyle was calm and relaxed, the school systems appeared to be in a mode of improvement. All of this while businesses were growing and changing as Tobacco, Furniture and Textiles were on the way out. Everything seemed positive to us.

    However, I failed to notice that one of the most important aspects of living here is quickly going to pot.

    I am afraid of the North Carolina Education System Failures

    The North Carolina Public Schools are failing your children, my grandchildren.

    I am embarrassed to tell people that I live in Davie County NC. The bickering, drama, personal attacks and narrow-minded opinions regarding building a new Davie County High School is pathetic. I quietly weep when I hear parents in this county say, “we can’t have two football teams” or “It’s not fair to build a new high school in the northern part of the county where all the ‘rich’ people moved” or “I don’t have any kids in school, I’m not agreeing to a new school.”

    I am embarrassed at how Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools administration treats their Pre-K programs. I am appalled at the way WSFCS treats these teachers, assistants and the development programs of these students. Forcing these Pre-K and Kindergarten students to learn in ways that they are not developmentally ready to learn, (i.e. not being allowed to play, explore, experiment naturally) is unacceptable to me. Trying to bring in math & reading programs into Pre-K classes is setting up our youngsters for educational failure.

    There are many North Carolina Education System Failures I see setup to negatively affect your children, my grandkids, including:

    • rapidly increasing and even unaffordable insurance benefits for our educators
    • requiring our educators to pay the school system when you use an earned personal day.
    • no raises in six years and the expectation that there will be no raises in 2014. As I understand it NC is now the 48 lowest teacher pay state in the nation.
    • increasing class size with no limits while reducing the number of assistants
    • the elimination of the teaching fellows, a great program for attracting new highly trained teachers.
    • the continuation of the three years probation period with no licensure renewal benefits and other limits that career educators do not have.
    • Merit pay programs tied to unproven and disparate measurements

    Is anyone else worried about the North Carolina Education System Failure?

    Regularly I hear our government civil servants tell us they are working hard to build our economy by encouraging businesses to move their operations to North Carolina. I can’t help but believe this economic development work is like a house of cards. How do they entice any great businesses to join us in North Carolina while at the same time ignoring the pressing needs of the school systems?

    The most recent failure is when our Governor Pat McCrory gave his staff pay raises in a time when every other civil servant is asked to do more for less. I applaud Aldona Wos, of Health and Human Services of declining the pay raise and pledging to work for $1.

    Girls all of these issues and the lack of belief that anyone has a good plan to correct what I refer to as a failing education system worries me. I am afraid of what will happen to your children, my grandchildren.

    I have started doing research to find a state that has a better vision than North Carolina. Yes, other states are facing the same budget constraints, however, I’m sure there are smarter people in our Nation who have found a way to keep education as one of the top priorities in their state.

    I’d rather not move or have you move out of North Carolina, there are lots of great reasons for living here. However, the future of your children and my grandchildren is my priority.

    Dad

  • Clemmons NC Black Bear – HIT & RUN

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    The Clemmons NC black bear – Hit & Run Death

    The Clemmons NC Black bear got hit by a car this morning.

    This bear had wandered into town, likely searching for good food and/or meeting someone new.

    However, as he traveled around the city he decided to attempt crossing I-40. Unfortunately, he did not navigate the speeding cars.

    Here is a video of the crime scene related to the Clemmons NC Black bear

    Here is a picture of the local police at the scene of the hit & run

     

     

    This story of the Clemmons NC Black Bear got picked up by WFMY News2, WXII 12, Journal Now, Fox WGHP, WBTV, News&Observer, DailyAdvance and ABCNew11

  • Are you with the Right Partner?

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    ARE YOU WITH THE RIGHT PARTNER?

    During a seminar, a woman asked,” How do I know if I am with the right person?”

    The author then noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so he said, “It depends. Is that your partner?” In all seriousness, she answered, “How do you know?” Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it’s weighing on your mind replied the author.

    Here’s the answer.

    Every relationship has a cycle… In the beginning; you fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls, want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn’t hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn’t have to DO anything. That’s why it’s called “falling” in love.

    People in love sometimes say, “I was swept off my feet.”Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU.

    Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It’s a natural cycle of EVERY relationship.

    Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse’s idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

    At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, “Am I with the right person?” And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when relationships break down.

    The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it’s learning to love the person you found.

    People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes.

    Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it.

    I’m not saying that you couldn’t fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you’d feel better. But you’d be in the same situation a few years later.

    Because (listen carefully to this):

    The key to succeeding in a Relationship is not finding the right person; it’s learning to love the Person you found.

    SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it.

    Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner), Just as there are physical laws Of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know how to apply these laws, the results are predictable.

    Love is, therefore, a “DECISION”. Not just a feeling.

    Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO! ♥

    Author Unknown

    Thank you to my daughter for sharing this article with me

  • Cowboy Bob

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    A cowboy named Bob was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in Montana when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

    The driver, a young man in a Brioni® suit, Gucci® shoes, RayBan® sunglasses, and YSL® tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?”

    Bob looks at the man, who obviously is a yuppie, then looks at his peaceful herd gazing nearby and calmly answers, “Sure, why not?”

    The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell® notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3® cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

    The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop® and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

    Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot® that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL® database through an ODBC connected Excel® spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry® and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

    Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet® printer, turns to the cowboy and says, “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.”

    He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

    Then Bob says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

    The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

    “You’re a Congressman for the U.S. Government”, says Bob.

    “Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

    “No guessing required.” answered the cowboy. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don’t know a thing about how working people make a living – or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep.”

    “Now give me back my dog.”

    AND THAT FOLKS IS WHAT THE PROBLEM IS ALL ABOUT.

  • Never underestimate an Old Guy

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    A banker saw his old friend Tom, an eighty-year old rancher, in town.

    Tom had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a ‘mail order’ bride.

    Being a good friend, the banker asked Tom if the rumor was true.

    Tom assured him that it was. The banker then asked Tom the age of his new bride to be.

    Tom proudly said, ‘She’ll be twenty-one in November.’

    Now the banker, being the wise man that he was, could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty-year-old man.
    Wanting his old friend’s remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Tom should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the ranch, knowing nature would take its own course.

    Tom thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon.

    About four months later, the banker ran into Tom in town again.

    ‘How’s the new wife?’, asked the banker.

    Tom proudly said, ‘Good – she’s pregnant.’

    The banker, happy that his sage advice had worked out, continued, ‘And how’s the hired hand?’

    Without hesitating, Tom said, ‘She’s pregnant too.’

    Don’t ever underestimate us old guys.

  • 97.54% of Statistics are real

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    97.54% of political season statistics are false & can’t be supported

    87.65% of the time statistics are only used to fuel a confrontation

    75% of the people polled believe that statistics that written are more likely to be true. 87% of the people polled doubt statistics that aren’t

    68% US citizens won’t participate in a telephone poll event unless they are getting paid for the time and information they provide the pollster.

    • Rats destroy an estimated 33% of the worlds food supply each year.
    • The Mall in Washington D.C. is 1.4 times larger than Vatican City
    • You have a greater chance of being hit by falling airplane parts than by being attacked by a shark.
    • 90% of New York cabbies are newly arrived immigrants.
    • American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad in first class.
    • A sneeze travels out of your mouth at over 100mph and can kill a fly.
    • Statistics are available for just about any subject. Most of the times statistics are intended to fuel the public opinion about something that is either political

    OK – let me clear something up right now. I made up the graph and the first four statistics and the other statistics came from a joke website.

    What is the point of this? To make us all think. To make us consider the power of the statistics we are reading and to consider the source of the statistics.

    While writing this post I found this question on answers.yahoo.com: “Is there a way to verify statistics given from a website?”

    One of the responses asked this follow up question “[….] Are there any government sites that would validate this statistic.”

    This is so typical. We are led to believe that our governments (National, State, Local) will provide us with real and honest statistics.  50% of us believe this may or may not be true (OK – I made this up too)

    Here are some interesting and humorous quotations about statistics:
    (Found on http://www.quotationspage.com & http://www.quotegarden.com/)

    • There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)
    • USA Today has come out with a new survey – apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population. David Letterman
    • Statistician: A man who believes figures don’t lie but admits that under analysis some of them won’t stand up either. Evan Esar
    • Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions. Evan Esar
    • Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics. Fletcher Knebel
    • A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. Joseph Stalin
    • There are two kinds of statistics, those you look up and those you makeup –  Rex Stout
    • Torture numbers and they’ll confess to anything.  ~Gregg Easterbrook
    • 98% of all statistics are made up.  ~Author Unknown
    • Statistics are like bikinis.  What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.  ~Aaron Levenstein
    • Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket.  According to the percentage people, you should be perfectly comfortable.  ~Bobby Bragan, 1963
    • Statistics can be made to prove anything – even the truth.  ~Author Unknown
    • Statistics are human beings with the tears wiped off.  ~Paul Brodeur, Outrageous Misconduct
    • Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.  ~Author Unknown
    • Lottery:  A tax on people who are bad at math.  ~Author Unknown
    • He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than for illumination.  ~Andrew Lang
    • One more fagot of these adamantine bandages is the new science of Statistics.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
    • Statistics are like women; mirrors of purest virtue and truth, or like whores to use as one pleases.  ~Theodor Billroth
    • Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say.  ~William W. Watt
    • Then there is the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.  ~W.I.E. Gates
    • There are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up and the kind you make up.  ~Rex Stout, Death of a Doxy
    • I always find that statistics are hard to swallow and impossible to digest.  The only one I can ever remember is that if all the people who go to sleep in church were laid end to end they would be a lot more comfortable.  ~Mrs. Robert A. Taft
    • Satan delights equally in statistics and in quoting scripture….  ~H.G. Wells, The Undying Fire
    • The average human has one breast and one testicle.  ~Des McHale
    • While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.  You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will be up to, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to.  Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant.  So says the statistician.  ~Arthur Conan Doyle
    • A statistical analysis, properly conducted, is a delicate dissection of uncertainties, a surgery of suppositions.  ~M.J. Moroney
    • Statistics may be defined as “a body of methods for making wise decisions in the face of uncertainty.”  ~W.A. Wallis
    • After all, facts are facts, and although we may quote one to another with a chuckle the words of the Wise Statesman, “Lies – damned lies – and statistics,” still there are some easy figures the simplest must understand, and the astutest cannot wriggle out of.  ~Leonard Courtney, speech
    • Statistics are just a way for the mathematician to evangelize his faith.  ~Hunter Brinkmeier
    • The theory of probabilities is at bottom nothing but common sense reduced to calculus.  ~Laplace, Théorie analytique des probabilités, 1820
    • I abhor averages.  I like the individual case.  A man may have six meals one day and none the next, making an average of three meals per day, but that is not a good way to live.  ~Louis D. Brandeis
    • I could prove God statistically.  Take the human body alone – the chances that all the functions of an individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity.  ~George Gallup

    In summary – Listen to statistics that are important to you – consider the source and if you find them hard to believe – try to validate them.

    By the way – 75% of the people who read this entire blog post will wish that I wrote more.

  • Donate to the Imagination Installations Project

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    We have some exciting news! 
    The Imagination Installations Project just launched it’s first mini-fundraising campaign via the exciting, and respected,Kickstarter web site.
    Now’s your chance to be part of making dreams in our community come to life.
    Here is the link where you can make a donation (every $1 counts big!) to help fund our exciting interactive art project —
    Dream Machines….. to be unveiled at Gallery Hop in less than 2 weeks!

    The campaign is only live for a few days, so please take a minute now to:

    – Check out the link NOW
    – Join me in making a donation
    – Share it with your friends via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (include a personal message about why you believe in this project and how fun it is).
    Why donate and share?  We want to make a big splash at the Imagination Installation’s 1st Birthday Party on October 5th with beach balls and balloons covered in dreams flying around, and fortune cookies filled with dreams from everyday people in greater W-S… aka your friends!
    We’ve been having a great time over the past year collecting and sharing dreams from thousands of people around greater Winston-Salem. Our successes include the Imagination Design Marathon and the Dream Tent we put up at Earth Day Fair 2012.  We have lots of other community outreach projects in the works including a permanent, public art installation for the sidewalk of 4th Street and Trade Street that will collect and share the dreams of every day people in our community using the statement Imagine When…
    Here’s the donation link again
    Have fun….
    Be part of the Dream…
    Unleash your imagination in Winston-Salem.

  • I want my refrigerator

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    Back in February 1997 I bought my first house in North Carolina.

    My wife and I visited the house a few times during the search and eventually agreed to buy it. We met with both Real Estate agents, (the Sellers Agent and our Buyers Agent) and put the plan together.

    Everything went well except for two things.

    1 – Radon test showed slightly higher levels so we had to get a Radon Mitigation Specialist to put in a Fan to suck the Radon out from under the basement Slab and blow it out over the roof. The cost was about $1000, but the homeowner was obligated to pay for this.

    2 – During all visits to the house there had been a refrigerator in the kitchen. During the final walk through on the day of settlement, the refrigerator was gone. I asked the Sellers Agent what happened to my refrigerator. She did not know.

    I told her, “No worries, we’ll settle upon the removal of the refrigerator at the settlement table.”

    We finished the walk-thru and headed off to the settlement table. While driving there with my wife I said, “I want my refrigerator, no if ands or butts!”

    I could go on and on about how the settlement table conversation went, but I’ll collapse it.

    I wanted my refrigerator, they said it was thrown away, my Settlement Attorney made one phone call and got me $1000 as compensation for the refrigerator that should not have been removed. I was happy, my wife was happy, the Sellers Agent and home owner were not, but that was not my problem. Success – I got my refrigerator!!!

    For most of us, this would be the end of the story, but it is far from over.

    We finished the real estate settlement work and I immediately drove to a local appliance store to get my new refrigerator.

    I decided to spend the entire $1000 on a really nice refrigerator. I went with the double door, extra-large one with the ice maker in the door.

    We picked out the color that my wife wanted and arranged for it to be delivered.

    Within two days the deliver guys showed up and brought the refrigerator to the front door.

    Here is FAIL #1 – it would not fit in the front door.

    The Delivery guys had to take the doors off and bring it into the house in three pieces.

    They rolled it into the kitchen.

    Here is FAIL # 2 – It would not fit in the space where the old one was.

    With a little chuckle in their voice, the delivery guys asked me what I wanted to do. “Leave it in the middle of the kitchen, and go away,” I said, not so happily.

    It took me almost a week to cut the countertop, move a top cabinet and adjust the spacer beside the dishwasher to get the refrigerator into place.

    The whole time my wife kept laughing at me.

    The previous home owner threw away my original refrigerator, I got my $1000 allowance for a new one and a week later I got it into the kitchen.

    It’s all good, despite the chaos I put myself thru.

    I do this often and used to it.

     

     

     

  • A gift to be given

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    We all carry the gift of life with us. If you can do it (weight & health wise), please share your gift of life.

    I strive every 56 days to give blood. The team @ the American Red Cross in Winston-Salem make it easy and enjoyable to do.

    They have a system in place that either mails or calls to remind me of my upcoming appointment. The phone calls are always pleasant and timely. I look forward to them emailing or better yet tweeting or Social Media Messaging me my appointment reminder.

    Bum & I try to make our appointments on Sunday mornings.  This morning (7/15/12) we noticed that at least one other person was on the same donation schedule as we are. That’s pretty cool to see there are others who have the same desire to give.

    The volunteers are always nice and know their roles at the Winston-Salem center. I love a good smile on a volunteer.

    The phlebotomist that work this center are very skilled and enjoyable folks. They love what they do and enjoy helping people thru their work at the American Red Cross. They keep track of the people who donate and their lives. Today Ann remembered that my wife and I just had a wedding, even remembered our daughter & her new husband’s names. Great customer relationship skills.

    The phlebotomist who took care of me today was very delightful, enjoyed her job and did it very well. She did her job while still chatting with me and even teasing me as I joked with her. She even educated me on an issue that I did not know about. Don’t squeeze hard while the blood is flowing. Gentle squeezes are much better than the death grip squeeze. Death grips squeezes actually slow down the flow.

    If you are not giving blood on a regular basis – I strongly urge you to go visit the good people at American Red Cross and share the gift of life.

    Tell the team there that I said hello.

     

     

  • A good view

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    I rode down I-40 into Winston-Salem this morning. Not much different than most mornings, except for the view and the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head.

    Most mornings I ride into a beautiful sunrise, today was not much different. I love riding into the sunrise. I generally will say out loud, “Thank you for this day God – please help me to make the most of it for you and for me.” Of course, at 70 miles per hour, the only one who hears me say this is myself, and hopefully God.

    This morning the view was a little different, my wife (affectionately called Bum) was driving her car just in front of me.

    It’s not a long trip from Advance to Winston-Salem, maybe 15 minutes. But driving into the sunrise with Bum driving in front of me made my mind wander differently than most mornings.

    My mind drifted from the normal “what am I going to do today” to “My life”. It was a great ride.

    I smiled as I thought about all that I have that makes my life good. The relationship I have with Bum and all of the things we have done together.

    As I came upon the split where Bum goes to the left and I go to the right, my mind was all over the future that we have together. The plans that we have for ourselves, our family and the people in our life.

    I sped up a little before I hit the split so I could wave at Bum. I know, go ahead and yell at me, but it was important for me to wave at my wife and see her smile as we hit the split.

    This was a better ride into the work day than any other day.

    Thanks Babe.

     

  • Beer, chum, fishing and cooters

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    A friend of mine, lets call him “Marc”  told me this true story today.

    He repeated a story that another guy told him.

    It’s useful to know the story originated with a guy who has 3 teeth, wears only wife beater shirts over his hairy body and prefers not to comb his hair or clean his fingernails. To protect the identity of this guy, let’s call him “Cletus”

    Here is Cletus’ story

    I went fishing this weekend. We got us some beer and drove down to the dock where the boat was docked. I snucked my cooler onboard. Good thing too. They wanted to charge us $6 for a beer. I guessed right, I got the same beer they selled.

    It took a long time to get out to the fishing area, but I figured as much, I brought me lots of beer.

    On the way out to sea I got sick and chummed all over the side of the boat. No one saw me. It didn’t matter much. I drank me some more beer.

    We fished for ever, but I didn’t catch no good fish. I didn’t care much since I still had some beer left.

    On the way back do shore I drunk up all of my beer.

    When we got back to shore, the first thing I did was go to the package store and got me some more beer. There ain’t nutten better than a good cold beer.

    It was dark, I was tired and I could not remember which way to go so I could get home. So I drank a beer and feel asleep in the back of my pickup truck.  I woke up to the noise of them sea gulls. I drank another beer. They were still cold.

    I know better than to drink while I drive. I stopped three times to drink a beer. I don’t know how they stayed so cold, but they were good.

    When I got back to the farm some of my kin wanted to go fishin in the big pond. I told um that I just came back from a fishin trip on the sea and still wanted to do more fishin. You can’t never do enough fishin.  I drank a few more beers while I walked down to the pond.

    I caught a few little fish, but nuttin much. I drank another beer and hooked sumpin really really big. I got scurred when I saw it was the biggest cooter I ever saw.

    (Editor note – a cooter is a snapping turtle and they get big)

    I got it up to the shore. I rested while I drank another beer.

    A buddy told me that cooter makes good chowder. I drunk another beer while I tried to figure out how to get in that shell.

    I got me a hack saw but it broke. I had me another beer while I went to get a little jig saw, but the blade was too short. I drank a beer while I went to get the cutoff saw.  You drink enough beer and put your head to it and you can get into any turtle shell.

    Once I got the shell opened the turtle did not look too good.

    I drank another beer and then went off to McDonalds.

    It was a great weekend.  What did you do?

    Thanks for sharing Cletus’ story Marc.

  • Public or Parochial School

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    In 1997 we moved from Maryland to North Carolina. It was a tumultuous time and very difficult on my wife and four daughters. I’ll write more about this later. Today I want to share the story of choosing a 9th grade school for our oldest daughter who was 14 at the time.

    Jessie had been in a very good school in Maryland.  She’s a very smart girl and was taking classes a grade higher than most of her class.  When we moved to NC the public school system in Davie County was having a hard time figuring out where to put her. After many constructive and a few un-constructive conversations with the counselors at Davie High School we decided to try some other options.

    We looked at a few of the private schools nearby, but being a single (low) income family, we decided that they were outside of our budget.

    I got the bright idea that we should try Gospel Light Christian School in Walkertown NC. It was about 20 miles away, but the commute could be tolerated. My wife and daughter were not excited about the idea. They tried to convince me this was not an option because we were not Independent Southern Baptist and would never be Independent Southern Baptist. They were sure that this was a mistake, but agreed to go with me just the same.

    I called the school and arranged for us to come by bright and early on a Monday morning. We arrived at about the same time all of the students were arriving.  All of the boys had on khaki pants and long sleeve white shirts, many had ties on. All of the girls wore ankle length skirts and long sleeve high collared blouses. Very few had on bright clothes. This created angst with my wife and daughter, who was dressed in jeans and some type of designed t-shirt. My wife was wearing pants and a bright shirt. They immediately commented that we stood out like sore thumb.

    We walked into the school and were greeted by a very nice lady, again in an ankle length skirt and totally covering blouse. Her hair was up in a bun, just like you would expect some older teachers to wear theirs.  She escorted us to a room where the “Head Master” waited for us.

    He greeted us at the door with, “Hello Mr & Mrs. Burriss, welcome to our school. Come in.” He didn’t even acknowledge our daughter.

    He walked around his big desk and sat down as we seated ourselves in three chairs in front of his desk. He was expecting us.

    He immediately went into the history of the school and the beliefs of the church. He rambled on about the graduation rates and successes of some of their students. He spent an inordinate amount of time sharing with us the beliefs of the church.

    Now, it’s important to know that my wife is the boss when it comes to our children’s education, what she says goes and she wants to make sure all of our children get the best education. Therefore, she had lots of questions for the headmaster.

    Each time she asked a question the headmaster would look at me and answer to me as if I asked the question. Each interaction he had with us was directed towards me. I’m not the smartest tool in the shed, but I quickly noticed this and as quickly I noticed the unhappiness building up in my wife. Not only did I feel this was rude, but it was also very disrespectful to my wife.

    At one point I asked Jessie if she had any questions for the headmaster. I can’t recall if she did, but it would not have made much difference. The headmaster had totally ignored her and likely would have treated her with the same disrespect as he gave my wife.

    I would have thought that he would have wanted to engage her in some conversation, maybe ask her some questions about her previous school or tell her about some of the great things going on at Gospel Light Christian School. Maybe, just maybe, try to get her eager to want to go to their school. But no, he totally ignored her and focused all of his conversation directly at me.

    Now, I don’t recall what the big tipping point was, but between my wife and I we figured out in short order that, yeah, my wife was right. This was not going to work.

    The headmaster did not want to communicate with my wife or daughter at all. It was obvious to me that he, and likely the religious beliefs of this school/church, were that men were in charge and women held no authority at all. Yep, this was not going to work for our family.

    In some ways I felt that the headmaster had judged us as Yankees and really did not want our daughter in his school.

    I do recall that once this clicked for me, I told the headmaster that we decided that this school would not work for us.

    Here was the final confirmation for us, he said, “Yes, I can see that this will not be a fit for any of us.”

    Wow – If I were not a Christian I would likely have responded in an ugly way.  I decided to just leave with a polite good bye, turned my back to his extended hand shake request and walked out of the room with my wife and daughter in front of me.

    As we walked out to the car I got to hear what I hear over and over again, “I told you so,” as my wife sneered at me with that look of unhappiness. I apologized with, “I know, that was a big mistake.”

    I agreed and never brought up the idea of a church school again.

    To this day I try not to bring this story up with my wife and daughters. They just shake their heads and look at me with that sneer.

     

  • Is it dead Dad?

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    Years ago we built a beautiful home on a 3 acre lot in Maryland. There were trees in the front of the lot, a long drive way up a hill to the house. It was a great place because we were nearly the highest lot in the community. Regardless of which direction we looked, we could see for miles and it was a grand view.

    We put a small vegetable garden back behind the house where we all had fun growing gourds, tomatoes, peppers and squash, lots of squash. We spent lots of time working our garden and loved the vegetables and the gourds we got from it.

    The far side of the lot dropped down to a fence row that separated our lot from a railroad track. Periodically a long noisy train would rumble up the track.

    We planted three rows of pine trees on the hill down to the tracks. Eventually they would grow tall enough to reduce some of the train noise and a lot of the wind that blew up that hill.

    It was a great place to raise our 4 daughters.

    There was lots of wildlife on this lot. We got to see an occasional fox, wild turkey and even a few loose horses. We experienced black snakes and squirrels and lots of rabbits. Really, lots of rabbits.

    However, there was one animal that we had far too many of. These were the ground hogs. The wooded area of the lot was filled with tunnels that the ground hogs made.  The ground was always soft and I was having a hard time getting grass to grow anywhere around that area.

    Every spring a new group of baby ground hogs were born. At times it was cute to watch them frolic on the lot. However, the cuteness wore off pretty quickly. We had four daughters who loved to play in the woods; however they were afraid of the ground hogs. This made the front area of the lot less enjoyable for all of us.

    We had a family dog that did not like other wildlife on our lot. Fortunately we had an invisible fence installed that kept the dog from the wooded area where the ground hogs were. However, periodically a ground hog would come up the hill towards the house and get into the area where our dog was.  I’m going to try to keep this story PG-13, so let me just tell you, once our dog caught a ground hog, regardless of the size, after a pretty tough fight and a lot of noise, it would be all over.  More often than not, there would be nothing left of that ground hog.

    It seemed to me that ground hogs are not very smart, and they don’t learn from the mistakes of other ground hogs, because every summer this happened on a weekly basis. At one point we thought the dog needed to go on a diet. So we cut back on the dog food.  He didn’t need us to feed him anyway.

    One Saturday afternoon we were playing out front. We were tossing around a Frisbee and having a good time.  A couple of times one of us would throw the Frisbee too hard and it would fall near the trees and one of the burrows where the ground hogs were.

    I was charged with fetching the Frisbee because no one else would go near the ground hogs.  Each time I ran down to get the Frisbee I would pick up a rock out of the driveway and toss it at the ground hogs to chase them away. It didn’t work.  The rock would hit the ground near them and it didn’t faze them in the slightest. Dumb ground hogs.

    My wife and our four daughters were having a great time running around, taking turns trying to catch the Frisbee and laughing at me each time I tossed a rock at the ground hogs.

    With one mis-throw of the Frisbee our game came to an abrupt end. The Frisbee landed near one of the tunnel openings and a small ground hog came out of the hole and stood up on it’s back legs. I picked up a small rock and this time, with great deliberate aim, I tossed it as hard as I could directly at it’s little head.

    BAM! – I hit the ground hog dead-center of it’s head.

    It fell down and never moved again.

    Everyone stopped and no one said a word.

    I looked at my wife, her mouth was open. Both of us were astounded at the fact that I hit it this time and that it appears that I had killed it. Worse than all of that, I just killed one of God’s creatures in front of all four pre-teen daughters.

    Then the questions started, “Dad is it dead?”, “Dad you killed it”, “Dad – why did you kill it?”, “DAD IS IT DEAD?”

    Then from my wife – “TEDDY BURRISS – you killed it!”

    Leave it to me to teach my daughters lots of life lessons, I’m generally proud of this. But, some lessons are hard to learn, and some are really not much fun to teach.

    Afterwards I tried to cover up the death of the ground hog with a bogus statement, “It’s unconscious, I’ll put it down by the railroad tracks and it’ll wake up later.” I’m sure my daughters were smarter than this. I felt good trying though.

  • Nudie bar Perfume

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    Recently as I walked thru a department store, I passed by the perfume counter.

    There spread out on the counter were dozens, if not hundreds of bottles. Thin bottles, tall bottles, wide bottles of perfume. All different colors and aromas. Likely, something for everyone.

    This reminded me of a true story. This happened to me back in early 2000

    A group of business men, myself included, were at a really nice restaurant in Portland Oregon. I think it was Salty’s in Portland Oregon on the Columbia River. Let me repeat, we were at a really nice restaurant.

    If my memory serves me well, there were about 10 of us at the table. We were celebrating finalizing a merger and it had gone well. The group was happy and having a good time chatting about the past week’s work.

    The owners of the companies involved were at the table as was the entire executive management team. There were a few of us at the table who had been a part of the due diligence process. I was a member of this group.

    Out of the blue, as a waitress walked by, a guy at the table, (not one of the owners or executive management team), interrupted the conversation with this loud declaration,

    “Wow, I know that smell,” he blurted this out loud enough for all of us to stop what we were doing and to turn towards him. I personally do not recall any aroma that stood out in the air at that moment.

    “Yep, I can recognize that smell anywhere,” he continued. All of us waiting to find out what he was talking about.

    “Uh huh, I guarantee you that’s nudie bar perfume. I’ve been in enough nudie bars to never forget that smell,” he said with no hesitation or forethought of what he was saying. You could see him cranning his neck left and right trying to find the girl who had just walked by.

    You could have heard a pin drop in the room at that moment. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes and looked at each other in astonishment.

    No one commented on his statements. We just went back to our previous discussions and ordered our meal.

    I don’t recall that guy attending any other management team dinners beyond McDonalds.

    The Moral of the story – If  you recognize nudie bar perfume in public settings, especially while in a fancy dan restaurant, keep it to yourself. No one wants to be noticed because she smells like a stripper and most business men don’t want to know that you are a major patron of strip joints.

    Just saying.

     

  • Great Book Reads from Teddy

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    Here is the list of the  – GREAT READ books I just finished reading.

     

    For me, reading is enjoyable, relaxing and helps me to improve. I find nuggets of useful information that helps me as a person, husband, father, professional as well as a community leader.

    I strongly recommend these books as GREAT READS for everyone:

    Graceful by Seth Godin – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047ZFFEA/

    Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FC1LH4/

    Up, Down & Sidways by Mark Sanborn – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OKF0M4/

    When I stop talking You’ll know I’m dead by Jerry Weintraub – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00351DSRI/

    Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X80U1E/

    Do the Work by Steven Pressfield – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PGO25O/

    Anything you Want by Derek Sivers – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00506NRBS/

    Other books that I recently read included:

    The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More

    How to Make Money with Social Media: An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business

    Nitty-Gritty Grammar: A Not-So-Serious Guide to Clear Communication

    Networking Is a Contact Sport: How Staying Connected and Serving Others Will Help You Grow Your Business, Expand Your Influence

    Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

    Let me know if you read any book that I recommend.