Friday, February 8, 2013

Please have a Happy Attack and Grin from Ear to Ear


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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Please have a Happy Attack and Grin from Ear to Ear
My friends Terry and Marion often forward emails to me that have me rolling on the floor in peals of laughter. Today that happened again.

Today is also a heavy snow day with snow moving as my next task of the day. Sooo…. Here is the Repost of Terry and Marion’s email. I hope it lifts you way up today… so you will grin from ear to ear. Enjoy!

NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'
OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents ..'
KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar.. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone.. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now, she's hitting the bottle.
MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'
POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'
POLICE #2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?
ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'
'And why not, darling?'
'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'
DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and into the hole he goes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)
SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'
BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'

~ Murray Lincoln ~
For your inspection
To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/ and http://mistyhollow-digitalimages.blogspot.ca/

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Panic Attacks – Terrible Pain – and keeping the Customer happy


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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Panic Attacks – Terrible Pain – and keeping the Customer happy
I have never really thought of this before yesterday.  It never crossed my mind at all. All the years of shopping and being the customer I have never considered what happens when the store owner or the employee gets into personal trouble while on the job. Yikes – now I know!

Each week I have been given the great opportunity to be in the Mall working with the Crop Circles store in the Peterborough Square.  As many of your know I set up my table filled with my wood carvings and lace products.  And the best part is the day is filled with conversation with the folk that are walking through the Mall.  The engagement with potential customers is invigorating to say the least.

But… and it is a BIG BUT… if you get in trouble personally and have to suddenly leave your post – WHAT DO YOU DO?  Do you leave the goods that you are selling out in the open?  Do you cover everything up?  What if you do not have a cover?

What if the sudden, personal trouble is an attack of bowel problems?  What if the rumbling over takes the sound of the person’s voice you are speaking with… sheesh!?  Good old diarrhea can be disastrous!

I never ever thought about that until yesterday… not at all.

Well it did happen and it was a loooong day.

Now adding to my predicament of yesterday was the fact that the Mall’s washroom for men is often frequented by some really odd characters… and with only one urinal and one toilet sitter… it can get busy and embarrassing!

And if you have an accident how to you recover from an accident that is potentially a total disaster?

Well that didn’t happen yesterday – thank God for that. But the potential for absolutely mortifying, debilitating, wipe out that is so totally not cool – never happened!!!  But for 8 long hours I was sure it was going to happen.

Now if you are reading this early in the morning I apologize.  It isn’t meant to start your day off wrong.

By posting this small story about a big crisis personally I have a brand new appreciation for Mall staff, store owners and anyone caught in important customer service work.  You have my complete and unreserved respect for your job… and the grace that you show in covering your personal crisis.

It is a simple ‘thank you’ post as well to one staff member that was willing to stand nearby when I had to really shuffle off quickly down the Mall.  Thanks a million Kathi!!!!

Today is a marvelous day… a really good day. I can see wonderful things happening and no panic attacks at all.  What a RELIEF!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Discovering King Richard III – Wow!


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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Discovering King Richard III – Wow!
This is a fascinating story to say the least!  A woman walking by a parking lot at a social services building in England felt cold chills over her body. 

As the story I read has unfolded this led to the excavation and exhuming of a skeleton.  Tests run on this skeleton along with evidence collected from the living, that are relatives… has proven that this dead dude was a King!

No kidding! The king is none other than King Richard III, who was an evil man with a nasty attitude.

He was the King that died at the end of the War of the Roses and King.  The battle was known as the Battle of Bosworth. He was defeated by Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII.

When they did the forensics on the skeleton of this King they found a metal arrow head in his back and some huge damage to the back of his head at the base of the skull – likely made by a bladed weapon.

From a King to a grave one meter below the parking lot of the social services office – not a very grandiose ending to say the least.  And he lay in the ground at that spot, buried at or under a church for 500 years. However the church was gone a long time ago and houses were built on near that spot… and in the building of that row of houses – dear King Richard III’s feet went missing.

Check out the story here and see the photos of the newly constructed head of King Richard III.  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/richard-iii-facial-reconstruction-shows-1586792

Reading this and having studied some of the history of the time… as well as having watched the TV series entitled “The Tudors” made very interested.

Out of the super ugly times with the violence and hatred that existed then we have Royalty now.  Wow!  It give me strong feelings as well as I think of my ancestors that left that land to come to North America to find a better way to live and a new land that was free of that stuff of the past.

It is a fascinating story to follow as I have already stated.  Today when I have time I will read more.  And to think History in school used to be a drag.  I think it was the teacher(s) that I had… or maybe I am a little older. Hmmm?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
For your inspection
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Monday, February 4, 2013

Way too Much TV and TV Ads – Whoa!


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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Way too Much TV and TV Ads – Whoa!
Well the Super Bowl football is all over… Number 47 Super Bowl is history now.  One team lost and the other one won.

There were no brain injuries that I could see – elbows and knees… and a few bumps. Helmets flew off a few times… but no one was knocked out.  See yesterday’s post on this Blog.

But MY BRAIN was injured by stupid TV Ads.

You didn’t see them all… well look here for Washington Posts list of the worst ads… http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2013/02/04/the-5-worst-super-bowl-commercials-of-2013/

And all the Best Ad in my opinion can be seen here.. for Sketchers running shoes… brilliant!

You can see all the Ads below the Cheetah ad… by clicking on to the smaller photos…

If you tried to watch every ad as they came on TV – you would have no bathroom break from 6:30 to 11 PM.

Maybe that wasn’t entirely correct because just after the halftime show one half of the lights went out at the indoor stadium in New Orleans… too funny.

After watching that much TV last evening my brain is fuzzy today.  Oh Boy!!!

Enjoy the Links…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
For your inspection
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Sunday, February 3, 2013

“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy” (CTE) and Me


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy” (CTE) and Me
Today is Super Bowl Sunday for the World and for the NFL. Whoa!

It is a day that fantastic athletes are dressed in their bright colours and will show their tremendous talent for the whole world to see.  The money that will be paid out to the players is huge. The team that wins will brag about this day for a lifetime.

While the small amount of tremendous athletes do their stuff on the field… an estimated 100 million people will watch and cheer them all over the world. The unique thing is that the 100 million that watch will be terribly out of shape and should be on a field exercising.  They will be eating buckets of Chicken Wings each an guzzling gallons of liquid to quench their salt driven diets.

These overweight and over eating fans are not healthy for the most part.

But on the field some of the athletes are in worse shape or will possibly be in a few year’s time.

Many will eventually suffer from CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Wikipedia states…
“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a form of encephalopathy that is a progressive degenerative disease, usually diagnosed postmortem in individuals with a history of multiple concussions and other forms of head injury. A variant of the condition, dementia pugilistica (DP), is primarily associated with boxing. CTE has been most commonly found in professional athletes participating in American football, ice hockey, professional wrestling and other contact sports who have experienced head trauma. It has also been found in soldiers exposed to a blast or a concussive injury, in both cases resulting in characteristic degeneration of brain tissue and the accumulation of tau protein. Individuals with CTE may show symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression, which may appear within months of the trauma or many decades later.

Repeated concussions and injuries less serious than concussions ("sub-concussions") incurred during the play of contact sports over a long period can result in CTE. The brain changes in CTE and DP are similar and are delayed effects of repeated concussions and sub-concussions of the brain. In the case of blast injury, a single exposure to a blast and the subsequent violent movement of the head in the blast wind can cause the condition.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy )

Many of the young men that are playing come very poor backgrounds – but with their athletic talents and abilities they now will be paid salaries that the rest of us will only dream about.

Yet down the road they may never see the wealth that they have earned or realize what it is to see grandkids grow up – or to know them.

At the start of this Super Bowl Sunday there are something like a reported 3800 lawsuits filed against the NFL from families of former NFL Players.  These men have either died or are so seriously affected by CTE – they are not enjoying life – nor are their families.

Today as I see these guys play their hearts out.  And I will feel deeply for some of them.

It is way more than good TV commercials, chicken wings and football… way more.

Personally… my Grandpa Lincoln likely died of this or with this problem when I was about 11 years old. I never really knew my Grandpa Lincoln – only knew about him and his head injury.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Success is having ‘Lighthouses’ and ‘Lightning Rods’


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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Success is having ‘Lighthouses’ and ‘Lightning Rods’
How can I make my business succeed? 
How can I have a better Life? 
What can I do?

I have an answer to all these questions. Imagine an answer to a major life question!

The answer comes in two parts. I need ‘Lighthouses’ and ‘Lightning Rods’.

Think first what each of these structures do.

A Lighthouse is built on the shore near the water and particularly near the rocks and shallow water – where boats could be destroyed.

There is never one Lighthouse. Usually there are at least two… and if they are located along a river there will be numerous Lighthouses on each side all along the river banks indicating where the shore line is and where potential danger is located for the boats and ships that navigate the river.

A Lightning Rod is a metal rod that is mounted on top of a building. Leading from the rod to the ground is sturdy cable that is fastened tightly to another rod that is inserted into the ground down deep. When an electrical storm comes by and the possibility of the lightning discharge from the heavens comes by, the Lightning Rod draws the super charge to itself and directly into the ground. 

But in another way it also drains off the grounding charge upwards so that Lightning strikes are less likely. This ‘relieving’ of electrical pressure build up, wards off dangerous strikes of lightning.  An old barn without this Lightning Rod will be a highpoint and a great target for the strike to destroy it.

Now that I have fumbled with a Physics instruction class I will try to explain further.

In my Business(and Life) I need Lighthouses.  As I travel from the Big Ocean of Ideas, trying to find a Safe Harbour of Opportunity I need Lighthouses on the horizon.  Without these structures or people in my life I will sink my Business Boat.  Finding these reference points along the shore will help me miss big rocks and problems that will be disastrous.

Because my Life and my Business are pretty much connected in every way now both are affected by the Lighthouses.
So what are Lighthouses in my Life and Business?

Lighthouses are people that I have built into my connections. They are the people in my ‘networks’ in the larger community outside my own business.  They may not even be related to my business opportunities and in an altogether different area than I am. But we are connected.

I meet them at the Mall, in coffee shops, seminars and network meetings of all sorts.

Like a Lighthouse they are simply there as a marker.  What they are doing can be seen. They are examples to relate to.  Sometimes it is positive, others not so much.  At times what they are doing or have done something I might try… or more important… what they did or tried failed and becomes a warning to my business practices.

Simply I learn from these folks.

I can make a choice to not connect and never look their way. Perhaps even treat them with disgust and walk away. I can stay to myself because, “I know it all and can do much better”.

And it is so easy to do just that when you are busy and doing your own thing.

But making choices to be isolated will never let me see my possible Lighthouses.

It is the same in Life, each of us need many someone-s that will be there to listen to our ideas and challenge things that need to be questioned.

What about Lightning Rods?

In the Small Business world, just like real life, there are people that just don’t help.  They are negative and miserable. If they get into your life the super negative charge will be unloaded and something will burn up – just like the barn being hit by lightning. Kerpow!

Having negative people around you all the time is draining.  It is tiresome and does nothing to boost your energy levels.

Working at a Small Business where the downers speak out to tell you “That will never work here… other people have tried and failed… I wish you luck!” Or… ``I tried what you are doing and failed… Good LUCK!

After a few failures that normally come along in any good plan, you will simply star believing the Lightning Comments from these folk.

After a few failures in a row anyone can feel down. It happens to everyone.

I make sure that I have positive Lightning Rods around me.  These are people that will speak about great stuff that has happened and believe in great ideas.  Even if you look for negative feelings they will not allow that kind of thing into their lives.  One good person like this can neutralize about six of the other kind.

Not choosing to be a negative Lightning Rod yourself is a better way to live.  My speaking positively, talking about dreams instead of dread will broadcast a better message.  People want to be with you when you shine.

In life it is way more fun to stand out in the sunshine than it is to stand in the rain with the possibility of a lightning strike.

Some people say that is thinking positively. It definitely is living with a better outlook.

So there is one of my secrets… Lighthouses and Lightning Rods – positive ones.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
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Friday, February 1, 2013

My Trouble Tree


These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all my images are available.

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My Trouble Tree
Here is one old story that was shared with us about family and marriage and work..

A man bought a house and moved in. he was watching his new neighbours trying to find out who they were and what they were like.  Times were tough for everyone...

He watched one day as the man across the street returned home... walking slowly up the street towards home.  He saw the man turn into his yard... and then stop... in front of the big tree.  The man then placed his hands on the tree and held it for a while.  His head kind of bowed... then he looked at the bark on the tree... and stood there with his hands in place on the bark. It was longer that just someone stopping to look at the bark.

What the new neighbour saw was unusual... each day the man across the street did the same thing - over and over as he came home.

After he stood holding on to the tree he then picked up his things and went into his happy family - wife and kids...

One day the new neighbour could stand it no longer - he had to know why his across the street neighbour did such and odd thing with the tree - over and over again.

The man across the street smiled... and was happy to tell his new neighbour what was happening.

"The tree is not just a tree... it is my 'trouble tree'... each night as I come home all the stuff from the factory is really bothering me... things at work are not always good... things have me worried about my job and the future. Before I go into my house I stop and put my hands on my 'trouble tree' and give all of the thoughts and stuff that is bothering me to the tree.  It never complains and always takes the load I give it.  Then I can walk into my family and home without the things of that day being part of our family." the man stated simply.

This simple story has helped me over and over again as I deal with dumb stuff in my life.

Where is your “Trouble Tree” – and how well does it work for you?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
For your inspection
To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/ and http://mistyhollow-digitalimages.blogspot.ca/