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Today I posted on one of my sister blogs – www.theshrinkingwoman.com

Are you looking to shave a few (or a few hundred) pounds? Come join me and we can be miserable together.

Doing The Right Thing

No, I’m not referring to the movie.

Last night Mom was watching the Glen Beck show on CNN. Personally, I think he’s a fruitcake and a hate monger, but that’s just me. His guest was Jon Huntsman, a very accomplished business man and philanthropist. In the course of his lifetime this man has lost and made hundreds of millions of dollars. One of his most enduring achievements is the founding of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. (http://www.hci.utah.edu/index.jsp) This institute is doing amazing things in the area of cancer research. Not only are they looking to cure cancer, they are looking to prevent it as well.

According to his book, Winners Never Cheat, around 2001 his company took a huge financial hit. In order to come up with the working capital to make his commitments, payroll etc – he put 40% of his company up for sale. After long negotiations, he and the buyer came to an agreement of 53 million dollars. The men shook hands in agreement.

As with most business deals, the lawyers then come in and tidy everything up. It took six months for the paperwork to be finalized and in that time, Huntsman’s company came back with a vengeance and the 40% of the company was now worth 250 million dollars. The buyer came back to Jon and said, “Look, let’s split the difference and I’ll pay you 125million.”

Huntsman’s response was, “No, I shook your hand over the deal, you will pay me 53 million dollars, it’s a done deal.”

This man sold 40% of his company and lost almost 200 million dollars.

Huntsman then turns around and has to go to the banks to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to meet his financial obligations. When I’m talking about financial obligations, I’m not talking about payroll, I’m referring to his charity contributions. He’d given his word to meet these obligations to charities and he took out loans to do it.

This man lost 200 million, then took out hundreds of millions more to pay to charities – both of which he’d shook hands on.

So why am I bringing this up?

Growing up, my father instilled these same values in his children. A man’s word was his bond and shaking hands on it was as good as a signed and sealed contract. It used to be this was the rule, not the exception.

No matter what a decision will cost you personally, if you give your word then it should be a done deal. The only thing you really have in life is your reputation as a human being, your money and external accomplishments say very little about the core essence of a person.

So why am I bringing this up?

This morning the news reported that a new poll indicated that a growing minority of teens believe it is okay to lie, cheat and bully your way through life. That it is okay to physically accost a coworker as long as they are on the same level as you.

And this is the generation that will be running America when you and I are in our seventies.

This news report made me incredibly sad. Not only do I think we’ve forgotten where we come from, but we’ve lost our way as well. No longer is it enough to be a good person, you now have to have eyes in the back of your head so you can watch people as they stab you in the back to get up that ladder of life.

I don’t know about anyone else but I don’t want to live in that kind of world. In general I do believe in the goodness of people, but I also believe that we all could use a reminder of who we are and where we came from. That’s what the Huntsman interview did for me. I was raised right, to do the right thing no matter the personal consequences and I will continue to do so.

According to Huntsman, when the man who bought the 40% of his company passed away, it was in his will to ask Huntsman to speak at his funeral. Huntsman said it was one of the greatest honors of his life and worth far more than 200 million dollars.

I agree.

What happens when you put your underwear on backwards

In case you can’t tell from reading my blog, I’m a pretty rational, down to earth kind of girl. I’m not superstitious, I’m just what they call…sensible.

This morning I got up early, now when I say early, I mean it was still full dark outside. My plan was to hit the grocery store and pick up a few things then lock myself in the house until December 26 – that’s when I go out and hit the after-Christmas sales.

So I did my morning thing, got dressed, fed the dogs – you get the picture. After I got dressed, I was wandering around the house and realized that my drawers just didn’t feel right. I had actually put them on backward. (And you thought the header was just to get your attention!)

Well I was dressed with purse and coat in hand when I realized this. I wasn’t about to strip down and turn my drawers around. Let’s face it, shoe removal alone would’ve cost me a few minutes of time, let alone dealing with the whole drama that is pants removal when you’re wearing socks and the pants are cotton.

Ugly picture isn’t it?

Laughing at myself, I head out into the wilderness that is the local grocery store. That part of my morning was uneventful, thank goodness. I packed my car with my shopping and decided to splurge and hit McDonalds for a snack.

Yes, I know I am working on losing weight, but sometimes you have to give into a temptation. If you don’t, then at some point you will have a weak moment and hours later you will wake up covered in hamburger and pie wrappers. We don’t want that to happen now do we?

As I’m sitting in the drive thru, my car stalled. I wasn’t too shocked, it has done that before. I’ve had the car for five years and its probably stalled maybe 4 times. I started it up again and it purred like a kitten. I got my food and thought I’d head over to the car wash and get the road salt off my car. (I recently had my car detailed inside and out – my Christmas present to myself – and I’m completely anal about it now)

I pull out into traffic, all is well. I’m about to tuck into my heart-killer breakfast when WHAM – my car stalled again. Now this time, I was actually driving it when it cut out. After I struggled around the corner (let me just say that turning a corner in a Jeep 4×4 with no power steering is just ugly!) I put it in park and started it up.

Now I’m sitting at the corner of a major Ohio artery and a little side street. In front of me is a Goodyear auto shop and me, in my infinite backward underwear wisdom, decide that I can get it home instead of just pulling in there.

Putting it into drive, off I go down the street. I made it about 150 yards and BAM, it did it again. Now I’m concerned. My Jeep has been through some tough terrain, weather etc and I couldn’t keep it running on a flat, paved road. BWAH!

I did manage to make it another 300 yards or so until it died at a stop sign. After calling a friend and whining, I called AAA and they sent out a car hauler. (because it is a 4×4, they don’t tow them, they put them on a flat bed instead) I explained what my car did and the guy said it sounded like bad gas.

“Sounds like bad gas to me.” he said.
“No, that isn’t it.” I said.
“What do you think it is?”
“I put my underwear on backwards.”
He started laughing so hard his false teeth almost popped out.
“You don’t understand. This car has never broken down on me in five years and seventy-five thousand miles. But I put my underwear on backwards this morning and my car paid the price for my laziness.”
He laughed harder.

Ya know, sometimes people just don’t understand me.

Moral: If you put your undies on backwards, change them right quick or a man with false teeth will have to rescue you and he’ll laugh at you!

13 Last Minute Christmas Gifts

13 Last Minute Christmas Gifts 1. Online gift certificates! They are one size fits all and you don’t have to get dressed to buy them. 2. Flowers – I don’t know about anyone else but I just love flowers. 3. Breakfast in bed 4. A card you’ve made yourself – you have a computer, there are at least a million online card creation sites 5. Foot rub – oh yeah… 6. Give the wife / boyfriend / roommate a night off – pick up their household chores for the evening. 7. Make dinner 8. Pick up dinner 9. Wash your beloved’s car inside and out 10. Write a love note 11. Spa gift certificates – everyone loves a manicure / pedicure – even men 12. Pick up a much loved snack and a fun, new DVD and prepare for a relaxing evening 13. Gift cards – as with online gift cards – they are all one size fits all! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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