Feng Shui

Some interesting advice I received in May:


1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully

2. Marry a person you love to talk to. As you get older,the conversational skills will be as important as any other

3.Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want

4. When you say, "I love you, " mean it.

5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye

6. Be engaged at least six months before you marry or move in with each other

7. Believe in love at first sight

8. Never laugh at any one's dreams. People who don't have dreams, don't have much

9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it is the only way to live live completely.

10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling

11. Don't judge people by their relatives

12. Talk slowly, but think quickly.

13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk

15. Say "Bless you" when someone sneezes

16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions

18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship

19. When you realize that you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct the mistake

20. Smile when you picking up the phone. The caller will hear the smile in your voice

21. Spend some time alone

I Wish For You...

Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Gentle hugs when spirits sag,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Faith so that you can believe,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
And love to complete your life.
And if you can't have all that...

Then I wish you enough chocolate and wine
to make it through the tough times...
by Unknown
A 'friend' sent this to me...
but I took the privilege of adding "and wine" ;)

Borders and cell phones

Every Saturday when the weather is nice, my friends and I meet in White Rock and then travel across the line to the US to play golf. We do this for a number of reasons, price being one, we can golf at many of the courses across the line for under $20.00 Canadian rather than $50 and up in Canada. Another reason is the courses are never crowded so we don't feel rushed. The Border does present a bit of a problem as none of us have a nexus pass. We have talked about this for about three years, but have not as of yet taken action to apply, but we will soon. Last weekend, there was a cancer fund raiser where about 2500 bikers were biking to Seattle and would be crossing the border about the same time as we were, so when we met at 8:00 am we transferred the clubs to  three cars and drove off. Two in one car, myself and Jim in another car, followed by the other three. Now, for  those of you who have crossed at the truck crossing know that even if you are five minutes behind when you leave, you can be get behind for up to 20 to 30 minutes at the border.

Jim and I made it through and stopped for gas and morning coffee, and decided to wait for the others.  Twenty minutes go by and I decide to phone to see what the delay was with the third car.  The phone was answered and the response was, we are just at the border and should be there soon. We waited another 10 minutes the went to the golf course. A tournament had been scheduled for 10:00 so the four of us who were there went out and golfed before the tournament started.  We met the other three about 2 hours later and heard their story.

If you are at the border, do not answer your cell phone. The guys were just finished answering the border guards questions when the phone rang. As soon as it was answered, the orange card came out and they had to go in for processing. An hour later, they made it to the end of the line. The officer processing them just said, "Have a great day guys, next time don't answer your cell phone"

Lesson learned and hopefully remembered, but at our age that may be a problem.

Canons for life

I was reading the works of Thomas Jefferson, and was struck by a letter he wrote in 1825 to a son of an old friend. In the letter he wrote the following:

A Decalogue of Canons for Observations in Practical Life

1.   Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today
2.   Never trouble another for what you can do yourself
3.   Never spend your money before you have it
4.   Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you
5.   Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold
6.   We never repent of having eaten too little
7.   Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly
8.   How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened
9.   Take things always by their smooth handle
10. When angry count ten before you speak; if very angry , a hundred.

Advice to help us live even today.