We Are The Champions --- The Penny War

“One of the strategies, to know when to quit may be the best.” Chinese Proverb

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” Dalai Lama

I work in a small hospital that has been hard by the current depression. We have lost jobs, all hours have been cut, all raises frozen, it has been rough. But in spite of this we can still manage to do something that helps others. Friday we finished out the “Penny Wars or Kiss the Pig” contest. This is an Indiana farm community give me a break. ;-) The various departments were pitted against each other to try and come up with the most points and most money while trying to sabotage the other departments and force their manager into ending up having to kiss the pig for the local newspaper coverage.

The way this insanity worked was that pennies were positive points. All other silver and paper money was negative. You got a point for each penny and lost a point for each amount of silver or paper. A dime lost you ten points for an example. And let me tell you they were really gunning for us in the Business Office. Not only were we scrambling to try and get our pennies but also we had to try and overcome other department dropping coin in our “pig” container. Sheesh. Our department is the dumping ground any way for hostility because we are the ones who have to try and get the departments to submit their charges correctly, timely, and to the correct insurance company. We yell the loudest because we are the only ones who can get money into the hospital’s coffers. We knew it was going to be tough.

Cue the chorus of Queen’s “We Are The Champions!”

At the end of the week the Cancer Center fundraiser brought in $752.36 and that will be matched by the foundation. The Business Office, well we were not going to lose. We came in first with 3,713 positive points and our next closest competitor for positive points, 601 for Medical Records. Our dollar total was $209.63 and the next closest Housekeeping with $93.58. That is a lot of money for a community that is really hurting.

And now the whining begins. I had barely gotten home with the results on Friday afternoon only to hear my brother, whose department sucked, whine that the Business Office cheated. Oh yes we stole the election for Hospital champions. We were smart enough to realize that all we really had to do was go down to the local bank and buy rolls of pennies that made sure that we were never behind. We had someone who took charge of monitoring our piggy bank to make sure we didn’t lose. We are the champions because we were determined as a Department that the rest of the hospital may look down on us but we had the will to win. Yes we can. Yes we did. We are the champions, my friend. Whoo-Hoo!!!!!!!!!! And the beginning quotes well let’s say they are dedicated to the rest of the hospital.

Got to Love These Kids

“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” Oscar Wilde

There has been some pretty heavy news coming this week with the torture memos and the economy. So for something completely different let’s have some real humor. Enjoy.

1stgrade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!

1.Don't change horsesuntil they

stop running.

2.Strike while

the bug is close.

3.It's always darkest before

Daylight Saving Time.

4.Never underestimate the power of

termites.

5.You can lead a horse to water but

How?

6.Don't bite the hand that

looks dirty.

7.No news is

impossible

8.A miss is as good as a

Mr.

9.You can't teach an old dog new

Math

10.If you lie down with dogs, you'll

stink in the morning.

11.Love all, trust

Me.

12.The pen is mightier than the

pigs.

13.An idle mind is

the best way to relax..

14.Where there's smoke there's

pollution.

15.Happy the bride who

gets all the presents.

16.A penny saved is

not much.

17.Two's company, three's

the Musketeers.

18.Don't put off till tomorrow what

you put on to go to bed.

19.Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and

You have to blow your nose.

20.There are none so blind as

Stevie Wonder.

21.Children should be seen and not

spanked or grounded.

22.If at first you don't succeed

get new batteries.

23.You get out of something only what you

See in the picture on the box

24.When the blind lead the blind

get out of the way..

25.A bird in the hand

is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

26.Better late than

Pregnant

The Secrets of a Smile

“Whoever gives reverence receives reverence: whoever brings sugar eats almond cake.” Djalal ad-Din Rumi

“There’s no shop that sell kindness; you must build it within. You can transplant hearts, but you cannot transplant a warm heart.” Dalai Lama

There has been a lot spoken and written lately about Obama smiling when greeting other world leaders. I have always felt that a smile is one of the most potent weapons in the world. You can disarm someone who is angry with a smile. You can also make someone’s day with a smile.

A few year’s ago I was at a busy Mall. I was walking towards the door when a young African-American boy around ten years old ran past me. It turned out that he wanted to get to the door first so that he could open it for me. It was an act of kindness for a total stranger. I thanked him returning a smile for a smile. I also turned to his Dad and thanked him and told him his son was a real gentleman. I can still see Dad’s smile.

There have been times when I am doing my grocery shopping run that I will notice elderly women who have taken great pains to look their best. You can tell from the little that is in their cart that they are living alone. For them the high point of the week is to do this shopping because it gets them out of their lonely homes and at least seeing people. I always try and stop and give these women a smile and see if there is anything I can help them find. It is a random act of kindness that and takes only a few moments of my time. For the ladies however it may be the only real interaction they will get from a human being that week.

A true smile that comes from the heart is a sign of strength not weakness. A true smile says I have the inner peace and serenity that will allow me to approach anything calmly. You can’t truly smile if you are upset or angry.

A smile is a simple little facial movement that can show the world you are comfortable in your own being and it can be the one little moment that will makes someone’s week. Try it.

Enjoy Earth Day

As I type this I can watch the squirrels climbing all over the tree. It is a beautiful sight after all the rain of the last few days. Enjoy Earth Day.

“The earth is, to a certain extent, out mother. She is so kind, because whatever we do, she tolerate it. But now, the time has come when our power to destroy is so extreme that Mother Earth is compelled to tell us to be careful. The population explosion and many other indications make that clear, don’t they? Nature has its own natural limitations.” Dalai Lama

Please enjoy my newly revamped art web site at http://artbymichelewilson.com/art.htm

Happy Anniversary

“If you are not happy here and now, you never will be.” Taisen Deshimaru

“From the very core of our being we desire contentment. For harmony, each individual’s identity must be fully respected.” Dalai Lama

Memories allow us to go back in time. This story goes back sixty-five years. He was twenty-five at the time and she was seventeen. He was in the Army and she was working at the soda counter of the local drug store. Neither one was born to privilege or money and both started working early in life to help support themselves.

He graduated high school at fifteen having skipped grades. College was deferred until after his stint in the Army. He left home early to get away from a stepmother he couldn’t stand. He had lost his own mother to a brain aneurysm when he was only six. He loved his father and inherited his love of autos and the ability to fix them from him.

He had many stories to tell of his time on his own after high school graduation. His dreams of being a baseball star were shattered when he blew his shoulder out. He was working on the farm of John Dillenger’s father on the day that Dillenger was killed. The father never said a word about the death of his son. He worked in the CCC camps that Roosevelt had set up to try and employ people during the last great depression. He had a harrowing story to tell of driving a tuck with nitroglycerine in it. He told the story of becoming a boxing champion in spite of his small size. The Army was his choice to fight for his country during World War II.

She was the youngest surviving child of ten. Her grandfather lost the farm through drinking and gambling and his son worked at odd jobs to support his family. She adored her Dad who was Irish and nicknamed “Happy” because he always kept a sunny disposition. When he died later in life the church was packed with friends who loved him. She learned honesty from him and tells the story of his walking in the snow to buy bread for his family. The fifteen cents had fallen from a hole in his pocket but the Baker knew that he would be repaid. When the snow melted Happy went and searched until he found the money and paid the Baker for the bread.

She had given her picture to a boyfriend and even though they were no longer seriously going together he kept it in his wallet. He showed the picture to the man and he was smitten by the red-haired freckle-face girl and asked for her address. They started writing to each other. They first met when he was on leave. She was so nervous that she dropped the hot fudge sundae she was making on his lap.

Sixty-five years ago today they eloped to St. Louis. She had never seen a big city before and stared at the skyscrapers and fell off of the curb because she was looking at the high buildings. They found a minister who was actually cleaning out the church’s furnace at the time. He found a couple of witnesses for them and married they were married. He was on his way to the Pacific to join the war effort and it was common in those days for people to marry in a hurry before being deployed in the war.

The future would hold five children a granddaughter and three great grandchildren. Their last anniversary celebration together was ten years ago for a couple weeks later he would be dead from a sudden heart attack. He was the only man she ever loved. So happy anniversary Mom and Dad and thanks for the memories of that day sixty-five years ago.

Enjoy A Cup of Tea

“A superior ma in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.” Confucius

“In the present circumstances, no one can afford to assume that someone else will solve their problems. Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient; we must become actively engaged.” Dalai Lama

I personally like having a good cup of tea. Of course my tea generally comes from a box from Celestial Seasonings found on the web at http://www.celestialseasonings.com/ The company was just starting up in Denver while I was in school there. Tea can make a nice break from when I need something hot but am not in the mood for coffee or caffeine.

Today’s’ “tea bagging” parties crack me up. The original tea parties were to protest taxation without representation. For those people who paid attention in History class Americans did not feel that they should pay King George’s taxes since they were not consulted or represented in the legislative process. That is something the tea-baggers today forget about. They are represented and just because their candidate lost it doesn’t mean they are no longer represented in the legislature. The tax laws they are whining about were put on the books when their party was in power. The majority of Americans are getting a tax break. Gee I would love to be in the tax category where the extra tax break they have been having was going away. I could do a lot with $250,000.00.

The “tea-baggers” are not pro-labor. Ethical trade is also not in their vocabulary as they are get everything you can and run type of businessmen. Imagine their horror to find out that this is printed on boxes of tea-bags. From the Celestial Seasonings” site:

Ethical Trade: We’ve been working to establish sustainable harvests and fair wages for more than 30 years. By buying this product you’re supporting ethical trade practices that benefit the people and acres that produce our ingredients.

So enjoy a good cup of tea today and thank our forefathers who got us representation so that we have a voice in our taxes now. Heck we even have a choice in our government. We can enjoy our tea and support ethical trades and fair wages. But keep quiet about it you don’t want to ruin the tea-baggers day with the truth do you?

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

Haapy Easter

It is a beautiful morning here in the Midwest. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.

Music, Music, Music

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." William Congreve

Recently my boss has allowed us to bring in headsets and CDs to listen to providing we answer the phones promptly and take care of the customers when they come in and providing that no one else is bothered by other people’s music. You can listen to music but you must be able to do your work. The atmosphere is so tense where I work that I jumped at the chance to listen to something that I found soothing. For the couple of us who absolutely hate the politics going on we are now able to block out the voices of the back stabbers.

When I need to destress I will grab for my Oriental or Celtic music. If I’m having trouble sleeping I go for “Zen and the Art of Relaxation” by Anzan or “Feng Shui, Music for Balance and Harmony” by The Blue Cliff Ensemble or “Asian Serenity” by Guan Guo Sheng. Sometimes I will go Celtic with Carlyle Fraser’s “Celtic Serenity” or “Celtic Spa”. I have a lot of music by Clannad and Loreena McKennitt. My grandniece wanted to know what type of music do I listen to when I write or do artwork. Celtic based music is usually the way I go when creating.

I grew up with the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five and still have the original mono albums by many of the artists of those days. These days if I am rocking out I am rocking to Bono and U2. Elton John is still where I can reach him easily. My car has Bryan Adams in its player at the moment.

There are some artists I’ll listen to when I want to enjoy the lyrics as well as the music. Gordon Lightfoot has long been a favorite of mine. I saw the late John Denver in concert many times and one of my happiest memories is the evening that I took my Dad to see him. I didn’t know that he really loved John Denver until the drive home when he thanked me with tears in his eyes for taking him. My youngest brother sent me a couple of CDs from Hal Ketchum that still get plenty of airplay.

A group I have seen perform many times is the Moody Blues. I love their music. I remember seeing them at the Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver on a cold and cloudy night. In the middle of “Night in White Satin” as the orchestra swelled and the lyrics “and I love you” rang out the clouds in front of the moon moved and a bright full moon shown down on everyone. What an amazing special effect Nature gave us that night.

Another big love of mine is musicals. Being a theater major I love musical theater. I often will stick in “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Miserables”, or “Chicago.” My Dad had albums of all the great musicals like “Oklahoma”, “Carousel”, “Porgy and Bess,” Stop the World I Want to Get Off.” I grew up with that music. Telling stories through music is a wonderful thing.

I remember music on two very special occasions the wedding of close friends and the wedding for my niece. For my friends I sang two songs, Noel Paul Stookey’s “The Wedding Song” and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. The second one brought tears and hugs and thanks for singing it. My niece wanting a Celtic flavor wedding asked me to do “The Irish Wedding Song”. It has become a special song for me because it reminds me of such a happy day.

Music for me is the key to reconnecting with serenity. In a life that is increasingly hectic and frustrating the ability to plug in earphones and let the sounds wash over me is important to my well-being. Now that the taxes are out of the way I can devote the rest of the weekend to revamping my art web site. For that task I am thinking either Seamus Kennedy or the Irish Rovers. Sometimes you need music accompanied by the sillies.