Teddy Burriss

Are you Listening to me

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  • Six Statistics about the Fourth of July

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    Interesting Info – I did not realize this:

    • 150 million – the estimated number of hot dogs that will be consumed this July 4th. That’s roughly one hot dog for every two people.
    • 1801 – The first 4th of July party is held at the White House.
    • 1941 – The 4th of July was declared a national holiday.
    • 56 – The number of people to sign the Declaration of Independence. John Hancock was the only person to actually sign on July 4, 1776. The other 55 signers did not sign it until later.
    • 26 – The age of the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, Edward Rutledge. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin at 70 years old. Most of the signers were in their 30s and 40s.
    • 2 – The number of people who voted to make the bald eagle the national animal. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national animal but was outvoted when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson chose the bald eagle.

    A Turkey – give me a break Ben – what the heck were you thinking?

  • Not really a Dirty Joke

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    It is hard to find a joke today without a dirty word or two in it, but here is one:

    Two tall trees, a birch and a beech, are growing in the woods. A small tree begins to grow between them, and the beech says to the birch, ‘Is that tree a son of a beech or a son of a birch?’

    The birch says he cannot tell, but just then a woodpecker lands on the sapling.

    The birch says, ‘Woodpecker, you are a tree expert. Can you tell if that is a son of a beech or a son of a birch?’

    The woodpecker takes a taste of the small tree and replies, ‘It is neither a son of a beech nor a son of a birch. It is, however, the best piece of ash I have ever poked my pecker into.

     

    I stole this story from SBaker – a Facebook Friend.

  • Happy Fathers Day 2012

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    Before they are born, a father prays that his children will grow up to be happy people.

    He carries his babies and never lets harm come to them, striving to make them happy, often to no avail as a baby is supposed to cry.

    A father prays to God that his babies will always be safe and happy.

    A father works long and hard every day to put clothes on his children’s back and food in their belly.

    A father will praise his children’s accomplishments and accept their mistakes, not without a tear or two, as his children travel thru those often tumultuous teenage years.

    A father will guide his children thru the developing years as they reach forward into life as teenagers.

    A father will pray to God that he has shared enough wisdom, morals and instruction for his teenagers to grow up and be happy.

    A father will encourage and guide his developing young adult’s passions and dreams as they ponder what the next steps of life will become for them.

    A father will support his developing young adults as they bang, scuff and scratch their proverbial knees, elbows and toes of adulthood, often with a tear, but always with a firm, steady hand when requested or needed.

    A father will pray that the work he did as the father of a baby, a young child, a teenager and then as a developing adult will have been enough for his teenager to grow up to be happy.

    A father will lend an ear, a shoulder even a needed dollar to his grown children, (aka friends).

    A father will be involved in his good friend’s (aka children’s) life, caring for them as a good friend (aka father) should.

    A father (aka friend) will listening to the stories of become a contributing member of society, professional, a business person, involved in the community and father or mother themselves. He will proudly watch them become all this, only giving guidance when asked.

    A father will work, laugh and play with these friends (aka children), as he would with any other good, trusted and loved friend.

    A father will smile when others speak of his good friends (aka children), and proudly admit to them, “That is my child!”

    A father will always give thanks to God that the work he did as the father of a baby, a young child, a teenager, a developing adult and adult has created a happy person and a good friend.

    Happy Fathers Day to me and all of my other father friends!

     

  • 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.

     

  • Teddy Gets a Sext Message

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    One afternoon driving up I-81 from North Carolina to Maryland with my wife and kids, my cell phone pinged from a new text message.

    I pulled the phone up to see who texted me and got quite a surprise when I saw the message, “Interested in Sex tonight?”

    I had just gotten Sexted.

    Note the earlier statement, my wife is in the car with me and for further clarity, back then she did not use text messaging, let alone “Sexting”

    The cell phone number was not in my phone contacts, so I did not know who it was from. I quietly & joking thought, “This sucks for lots of reason.”

    Becky asked me who texted me. “I don’t know,” which was an honest response. “What did they want?” was her next question.

    My response of “Nothing important” was followed with another query for more information, mostly to break up the quietness of the ride. “Nothing,” I said again, “Come on, what did they want?” was her next question.

    Now, being married for quite some time, I really have nothing to hide from Becky. I showed her the message on the screen.

    She looked at me and started cajoling me even more with more questions of doubt to my initial response that I did not know who it was from.

    I decided that the best way to put the line of questioning to bed was to call the cell phone back.

    I called the number and because of the traffic and cajoling noise from within the car, I could not hear the name of the person when their voice mail answered. So I responded as most people would expect me to respond.

    I left the following message, “Hey, I got your text message and appreciate the offer. I am traveling to Maryland with my wife and kids so I will have to take a rain check. Go ahead without me. I hope that you have fun by yourself.”

    Fast forward about 1 month. I had a position to fill at one of my clients and I was interviewing a candidate for the position. This is a guy that I have known for years.

    After the interview, I told him he had the job. You would have thought that I just given him a Million $$$. He thanked me for giving him the chance to prove he could do the job, especially after the text message he sent me.

    I laughed to myself and told the guy that he was really lucky that I was still going to hire him, despite the two mistakes that he had made.

    Mistake # 1 – He sexted me and nearly got me in trouble with my wife.
    Mistake # 2 – He told me that he sexted me instead of leaving wondering what hot nubile chick had sexted me on purpose.

     

  • 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.

     

  • Money Trucks are not locked

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    On two different occasions, I walked up to the back of Garda Money trucks and took pictures of the back of the trucks. Both trucks have high priced shiny master locks hanging on the two-door latches.  The locks were unlocked. Each time I watched the money runners get into the truck through the side door and the truck drive away with the locks still unlocked.

    I am quite perplexed as to the reason for hanging expensive locks on the back of these money trucks and not locking them.

    On the first day (April 6) I saw the Garda Truck outside of a local grocery store.  As usual, there was a driver inside and a runner in the store. I walked up to the truck and took a bunch of pictures and even waved to the driver as he waited inside the truck.

    Today (May 4) I saw another Garda Truck parked in front of another local grocery store.  Again, a driver inside and a runner inside the store.  I again walked up to the back of the truck, this time a little closer than I risked going last time, and snapped another bunch of pics.  I saw the driver in the mirror and he saw me with my iPhone poised for pictures. I again waved and the driver waved back to me.

    This time I decided to go find the Garda employee in the store.  I carefully walked up to him. I made sure to call out to him from a few steps so that he knew I was going to ask him a question and not take his money.

    I asked him, “Do you always leave the padlocks unlocked on the back of your truck?” He looked at me with a look of concern. I quickly figured out he may be worried about the reasons for my question.

    “I ask only as a general question. It seems like such a waste to have big padlocks hanging on the back of your truck and not use them, I’m just intrigued to know the business reason or process for keeping them unlocked”

    He still looked a little concerned for my line of questioning.

    He decided to say, “Sir, I have no idea why, but we always leave them unlocked. Have a nice day”, and he scurried past me out to the truck. Jumped in the side door and off they went, padlocks dangling on the back.

    I’m still interested to know the reason for the unlocked padlocks.  I’ll find out the logic one day.  Meantime, I doubt I will walk up to another money runner and ask security questions anymore.

    I may lock a padlock one day – maybe.  I’ll have my camera ready if I do.

     

     

     

  • SISTER MARY ANN’S GASOLINE

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    Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco Gasoline station was just a block away.
    She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

    She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

    As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street.. One of them turned to the other and said,

    ‘If it starts, I’m turning Catholic.’!!

    I stole this from a good friend (mother-in-law) in Maryland

  • 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.

     

     

  • Think before YELLING

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    A lady friend drove up to the bank. She wanted to go to the first window with the drawer, but the sign said “Out of Service”, so she pointed her car to the next aisle where the Flying bank tubes are.

    She pulled up to the tube and began filling out her deposit slip and signing the dozens of checks she wanted to cash. Being aware of her surroundings, fortunately no one was behind her because putting the deposit together was taking some time.

    It took a few minutes to put the deposit together, yet still no teller. She looked into the bank window and saw a teller sitting in a chair away from the window. It looked like she was reading a book. “I wonder why she is ignoring me,” thought the lady in the car.

    She decided to give the teller a few more minutes. To use the idle time she began looking at her email messages on her smart phone.

    Another few minutes passed and still no teller. She looked in the bank window and the teller was still seated in the same chair reading her book. The teller looked up in time to catch the eye of the lady in the car, and then looked back down at her book.

    Now the lady in the car was getting slightly pissed off. She started looking agitated and was just about to honk her car horn or even yell out loud, “WTH lady – come over here and help me!” Fortunately the teller decided to come to the window seconds before the lady in the car went off.

    The speaker turned on as the teller said, “Excuse me Miss.  If you need my help please use the tube or press the “Call Teller” button.  I’ll be happy to help you out.”

    “What an idiot,” said the lady in the car, to herself, about herself.

    “I forgot, thanks for reminding me,” she said as she reached for the bank tube.

    The point of this story is to remind us all to THINK before we YELL. It’s best to be sure who the Idiot is before you get all fired up.

    If you are the Idiot and you start screaming, you become the Bigger Idiot. Just saying.

     

     

  • Short Term Gig to help a friend

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     April 2012 Post – Positions filled

    I got $$ and need 3 workers on July 7th in Kernersville NC for a friends wedding.

    We need the following skilled personnel:

    2 Catering/Event Assistants for up to 6 hrs – Training will be provided onsite for the right pair

    1 bartender for up to 4 hours – no mix drink experience needed. If you can pour a bottle of wine and twist open a bottle of fine beer, you’ll do fine.
    We’ll pay cash, food, soda, cake, good fun

    Additional Requirements include:

    • Willingness to work with out constant supervision
    • Willingness to have fun
    • Must have a smile and be willing to show it while working
    • Must have the ability to laugh and say hello to strangers

    If you know of some young adults or even some old ones who can help with this friends wedding, get in touch with me

    Call 336-462-8827 or if you know me well enough – you have my other access info.

    Full disclosure – not big $$, she is on a tight budget.

    Thanks Friends

    Teddy

  • Is it spring already

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    This morning in Starbucks, as I diligently worked on a client project, I saw the following:

    A young lady in bright orange pants – bell bottoms from the 70’s

    A mature lady with a black hat, bright yellow top, white pants and strap sandals with clear crystal heals.

    A lady in a flowing black & white dress, looks like she just had her hair all “done up” with a flower stuck in her bangs.

    Lots of men in short sleeve shirts, some bright in nature.  Shirt colors like bright orange, glowing green and at least one fabulous purple.

    A lady in all white with bright red toenails, 6″ high strapped heals and a bright green purse.

    Lots of guys in sandals and short.

    Another guy in a purple shirt and shorts.

    A lady in all yellow – BRIGHT Yellow and a pink scarf.

    A few more turquoise and bright orange shirts.

    Lots of bright pink, green and even some flowery shirts & pants.

    A few people in bright blue and lots more sandals and bright colored flip flops.

    WOW Dude – That Orange is BLINDING!

    I think this area of the world thinks it’s Spring. I better break out my spring wardrobe.

    I hope I still have that silk flowery shirt.

    I do to – I love SPRING!

    Writer note – I captured these images from 6:45AM – 7:45am. What bright clothes do you see today?

     

     

  • The job still needs to be done

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    This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

    There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

    Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

    Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.

    Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.

    It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

    Be the somebody who does something.

     

    The author is unknown to me

  • OK I lied no donut

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    One day in June of 2001 I had to make a business trip to Spicer Minnesota.

    I flew into Minneapolis-St Paul the evening before and make the 2 hour drive thru the farm land of Minnesota.

    I got into the hotel at around 10:30pm. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. There was no one in the lobby with the exception of Steve, the night Manager at the front desk.

    “Hello, you must be Mr. Burriss,” Steve said. I love being acknowledged when I come arrive into a town I have never been to before. I assumed he knew my name because I was the only person who had not checked in yet.

    We chatted for a few minutes while I checked in.

    Steve asked me if I traveled much, which I did back then.

    “Yeah, I spend most every week on the road Steve. Most of the time I go to the same hotel in Newark New Jersey,” I answered.

    “I bet you really get to know the people at that hotel”, Steve responded.

    OK – here is where I really stretched the truth a lot.

    “Bill, the night manager at my regular hotel, likes me so much that every morning he brings up my favorite donut, a hot mug of bold coffee with 2 creams and a newspaper. I love his hotel and now, Bill and I are really good friends,” I told Steve, lying thru my teeth.

    “That sounds like a good hotel and a great night manager,” Steve responded.

    “Do you need a wake up call Mr. Burriss?” Steve asked.

    “Yes Steve, how about 6:15 in the morning,” I replied.

    “You got it Mr. Burriss.  I’ll make sure you get a wake up call then,” Steve responded.

    I began walking towards the elevators as we said good night to each other.

    The hotel room was nice, clean and away from the elevator, making it a quiet room. The bed was comfortable. The combination of these qualities made for a really good night’s sleep.

    I slept like a log until 6:15 in the morning.

    Someone was knocking gently on my door and calling my name.

    “Mr Burriss, it’s Steve. I’m here with your wake up call”

    I crawled out of the bed. I opened the door without putting any pants over my boxers.

    There was Steve holding a serving tray with a carafe of coffee, a coffee mug and a plate of glazed donuts.

    Under his arm was a neatly folded newspaper.

    “Good morning Mr. Burriss. I thought you might appreciate a regular wake up call so I brought you donuts and coffee,” Steve said.

    Wow, I felt both glad and embarrassed at the same time. This guy was trying to provide customer service like the guys in the big towns.

    “Steve, thank you very much, I really appreciate this,” I said as I took the tray and newspaper he was handing to me.

    “I work hard at providing the best customer service I can Mr. Burriss. Thanks for the idea of coffee and donuts for a wake up call. I hope to do this more often for our better guests,” Steve told me.

    I felt a little bad about lying to Steve and that he considered me one of his better guests.

    But, I am happy that I gave Steve an idea that he ran with and that he thinks will make him a better Customer Service guy.

     

  • Million $$ Ticket

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    In the early 1980’s the State Lottery program started up in Maryland.

    I worked at a chemical plant in Dickerson Maryland back then.  I’m not sure how it happened, but a group of about 20 people got together and decided each week to buy 2 tickets per person in the group.

    Some how or another because I was the token “computer guy”, I was responsible for collecting the money, buying the tickets, printing a list of ticket numbers and holding onto the tickets.

    If we hit any winning numbers I was also responsible for cashing in the tickets and distributing the money.

    It all went well for many months until the Big Money week.

    The pot was up to $20 millions, big money for back then. We had 20+ people in the pool. Everyone was excited about the possibility of hitting it big. During the week everyone pondered and played around with the numbers. 20 people in the pool, $1 Million each. Taxes back then were about 28% which meant we could take home about $720,000 each. Again, this was real big money for all of us.

    I had collected all of the money, purchased the tickets, typed up the list of numbers and pinned the list up on the break room bulletin board. Some of the guys took copies of the list home with them.

    I remember the drawings back then were done on Wednesdays. I always had a copy of the list of numbers with me so that when I heard the numbers I could write the winning numbers down on the list.

    I turned the TV on just in time to hear the numbers – “2,7,12,23,34,65”

    I wrote the numbers down on the paper and then started scanning the 40 sets of numbers for a match.

    Halfway down the list – MATCH – Exact Match!! This was unbelievable. The pot had actually grown to $21.5 Million which meant each of us would likely take home about $774,000 each after taxes. Of course this would be spread out over 20 years, but most of us didn’t make that much per year working at Neutron. This was great money for all of us.

    Before calling anyone I had to confirm the tickets, just in case I made a typo.

    I got my wife to help me read off each ticket.  Each week we read thru each ticket, just in case we had another typo that could turn a losing ticket into a winning ticket.

    We got halfway thru the list when we found what we thought was the winning ticket. My wife read the numbers out loud, “2,7,12,23,34,56”

    “Wait, don’t you mean 65,” I asked.

    “No, it’s 56,” she said again.

    “NO!!” I transposed the numbers.

    Besides not winning the Big Money, this was not a big deal except for one thing. I had published a list that had the wrong number on it and 19 of my best friends thought we had hit it Big!

    Just to set the stage a little more. This was back in the day before cell phones, text messaging, email or Social Media.

    It did not take long for the phone to ring. Billy Owens, one of my best friends had a copy of the list of numbers and saw that we “WON” big, at least according to the transposed number.

    My wife answered the phone and immediately told Billy that the list was wrong.

    Here is when my best friend turned into someone different.

    He hung the phone up and drove 15 miles to my house. He wanted to see the tickets and he wanted to see them NOW!

    I handed him all of the tickets with the good ticket on top. I pointed at the typo and explained the mistake.

    “Where is the winning ticket?” he yelled at me.

    “This is it BIlly. But I typed the number wrong and we did not hit the Big Money”, I replied

    I could not convince him I was telling the truth. It took lots of convincing from my wife for him to finally believe us.

    The next day at work I had to do some more convincing, but eventually everyone believed me.

    We cashed in the $1100 winning ticket and split it $55 to each player.

    I started making photocopies of each ticket and posting the copy on the bulletin board. No more typos.

    That was back in 1980’s.  I can’t imagine the threats and doubts that would have happened if the pot was $460 Million like the MegaBucks games of today (2012). I mean $640 Million – dang typos.

     

  • State of Davie event

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    I had the pleasure of attending the State of Davie this morning. Probably close to 200 people showed up at 7:30AM to meet over coffee and breakfast. The event was hosted at WinMock at Kinderton, an absolute jewel of Davie County.

    This mornings event was sponsored by CenturyLink, Frank L. Blum Construction Company & Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

    The Triad Business Journal Doug Copeland led the event and then handed off to Justin Catanoso Director of Journalism Wake Forest University who moderated for us.

    The Panelist were insightful and open with their discussion points

    Good conversations about the DC Economic Development Commission is doing to help draw new businesses and strengthen existing businesses in Davie County

    A lot of conversation about the arrival of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center West, due to have phase I completed by mid 2013

    Mary Rittling did a great job sharing the story of dedication and commitment from Davidson County Community College in Davie County.

    Terry Bralley gave us the numbers related to the decline of Manufacturing jobs (2003 -35% / 2013 -16%), Textile jobs (2003 -16% vs. 2013 -2% and Furniture jobs (2003 -12% vs. 2013 -<1%).

    Terry gave more numbers for us to be aware of

    • 60% of the residents leave the county every day to work in another county
    • 41,000 people live in Davie County
    • 104% unemployment and Terry feels it is much higher than this

    Terry went on to tell the story of a town in Texas where a large business was considering setting up a new operation. Because of the positive words of a quick mart employee, speaking broken english, but proudly about the town, Apple decided to setup up an operation there (Austin Tx I believe). His point was to remind us that we never know who we are talking with. Choose your words and statements carefully. You could be influencing a decision that can affect your future and the future of your community. Good story for us all to have heard.

    John McConnell spoke of the challenges (opportunities) related to medical costs skyrocketing, technology creating new solutions, innovation driving value and the need for more educational solutions to meet the demands of higher skilled workers. John applauded DCCC for the work they are doing developing more people that are needed to support the high demands for more medical care & professionals.

    John continued with his dedication and commitment to Davie County.  John told Mary Rittling that he dreams of the day when he is a chemistry professor at a Community College. That got John a hug.

    Mary Rittling did well to poke at Justin Catanos’ joke that he thought it was a typo that Davidson County Community College was on the panel at the State of Davie. Justin knew what he was saying, that joke gave Mary the floor to share the dedication and proud work that DCCC is doing in our county.  (me – we all are grateful)

    Mary told us that the Davidson County Community College campus in Mocksville is Davie County’s “University”. Since 2004 it has served >13,000 students and right now it is home to 1500 students. DCCC is working hard to replicate all of the educational programs that are delivered from their main campus here in Davie County as well.

    The panel ended with a quick Q&A session and the panelist listing the challenges (obstacles) that Davie has to work to overcome :

    • Lack of Capital $
    • Recruiting Faculty and staff to teach
    • Creating Sustainable solutions
    • Staying attuned to what the community, county, citizens want/need
    • Staying aware of the rapid changes in our world, community, culture, society

    Why did I write this story?

    I woke up this morning in Advance NC where I have lived for 16 years. I grabbed my business cards that say, “Burriss Consulting Inc.” on them and headed off to hear about the county that I live in and now have my own business in.  I need to be more involved and attuned as to what is going on in the county that I live and have a business in.  Count on it Davie – I woke up this morning.

  • High Five!

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    How often do you high-five someone for the great thing they did?

    How often does someone else high-five you for the great thing you did?

    It’s a great way to acknowledge success, excitement and even a really good joke.

    More often than not, it’s mandatory to accept a high-five request from a friend.

    Here is a story that is somewhat unusual

    Yesterday I was riding in the car with my wife. We were joking, laughing and having a good time.

    I cracked a joke about something my wife said and the laughter from both of us increased.

    My wife used her wit to spin the words I said and turned the joke around on me.

    What she said was far funnier than what I said, despite the fact that the joke was not on me.

    My wife raised her hand and barked out, “High Five!”

    Foolish me, in a knee-jerk response, I accepted her high-five of her witty joke against me.

    This made the joke that much more funnier.

    Never again, never again will I high-five my wife when she cracks a joke about me.