Archive for Back to the Basics
Back to the Basics #4: 7 Steps to Reconnect with an old friend (in 30 minutes or less)
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Today is a two’fer Monday!
My good friend and brother in heart, Phil Gerbyshak over at Make it Great! He’s quite the Relationship Geek that he claims to be; he really lives up to it with 500+ relationships on his LinkedIn profile. He’s a prolific writer and author of 10 Ways to Make It Great! and currently working on a second book. Without further ado from me, read up and read on!
Previously on Back to the Basics:
Back to the Basics #1: The Golden Rule
Back to the Basics #2: Be Grateful for What You Have
Back to the Basics #3: One Step Back to a Better World
7 Steps to Reconnect with an old friend (in 30 minutes or less)
Too often in today’s digital age, we go all high tech on our conversations. We’ve got Twitter, and Facebook, and MySpace, and on and on and on. But let’s get back to our basics. How do we have a simple conversation with someone we haven’t seen in a while anymore?
OK, so you’re busy. Me too. So how do you reconnect with an old friend, in 30 minutes or less, over a cup of coffee? Read More→
Back to the Basics #3: One Step Back to a Better World
Posted by: | CommentsI have asked several of my new bloggy friends and mentors to offer their own view out the window of getting back to the basics over the next couple of weeks. Here is the first guest installment for my Back to Basics series. Every now and then, we all need to go back to the basics.
To catch up of the first two issues of this series, visit:
Back to the Basics #1: The Golden Rule
Back to the Basics #2: Be Grateful for What You Have
Guest post by Terry Starbucker from Ramblings From a Glass Half Full. To quote his profile, he is a “Service Company Executive and a Founder of SOBCon, enjoying his business trips to the Rockies and keepin’ it positive.” I know him better than that… as a patient, helpful, joy-filled husband and traveler. If you are ever stuck in an airport, look for Terry and sit down and spend some time with him. It will be one of the best times of your life. Time to get on with the show!
How can we go backwards to go forward?
Back to the Basics #2: Be Grateful for What You Have
Posted by: | CommentsIt is amazing how much we take for granted in America. Sometime around 11:00 am, I was pondering how blessed we are to have a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms so early in our marriage. To get a house that has any more than what we have now (that can support more people and guests), it’s going to take a house as nice as my family finally got after I was 16. Wow. Those thoughts quickly disappeared into how bad things can get in a flash.
Just after noon, one bathroom backed up, but not in any normal way I have ever seen. We’re talking major overflow and the toilet just would not stop. I had to tip-toe through 1/2″ of toilet water to get to the valve to shut off the water. Of course, this deeply disturbed upset my wife, and freaked me out, because I saw water seeping into the edge of the bedroom carpeting (no molding piece to keep water in the bathroom… brilliant!). We quickly got a towel (ineffective in every sense of your imagination) and our bucket and sponge mop. By the time I got half of the bucket full, there wasn’t any water left on the floor; it had all been absorbed by our master bedroom’s carpet!
Maintenance on-call said “ok” to my issue, but didn’t say anything more. An hour later, I went to the clubhouse to complain to a live person and the maintenance guy was there calling a “real plumber,” as he called them. As it turns out, my entire building was experiencing problems. I went back home and we waited and watched TV to take our minds off of the mess of towels and stuff everywhere.
Then the second bathroom did the same thing, but stopped at the top of the bowl. I turned off the valve there, and went to see if the plumber was there yet. Nope. Minutes later, we heard major plumbing gurgling, so I thought that things were moving again. Yes they were, but not in the right direction. Things were moving into our tubs, one clear and one… let’s say cloudy. Ewww. Both tubs were at least 10″ full and the water level was just below the drains in the sinks. Crap (no pun intended).
By then it was time to start a contingency plan for the night. We called K’s parents and they laughingly said to pack our bags for a couple of days (which may not end up being too far off the mark) and come on over for a lasagna dinner.
As we left, we asked the maintenance guy whether it was him or the plumber that was going to be him or the plumber that was going to clean our tubs. He (hopefully ignorantly) said, “Neither. As soon as it gets unclogged, the water will go down and all we have to do is rinse it with warm water.” Right. I love rinsing e-coli with water. We’ll see what the weekday maintenance guys and the property manager say today when I call.
Got a toilet that flushes and dry flooring? Enjoy it. I know we will when we get it again.
UPDATE: K stopped by on the way to work this morning and saw a carpet cleaning service business card in the door. It said “water extracted, carpet cleaned” in handwriting. She opened the door and saw a nicely cleaned carpet throughout the entire apartment (even the office) and the tubs were debris-free. She got new shower liners already and we’ll clean the tubs with bleach and vinegar when I get home.
Related Post:
Back to the Basics #1: The Golden Rule
Posted by: | Comments-Vince Lombardi: Hall of Fame coach - Green Bay Packers
After years of being on the losing end of the scoreboard, the Packers brought in a new coach to turn things around. Vince Lombardi did just that with the simplest of methods: going back to the basics. Every year when training camp began, legend has it that he gave the following talk to ALL of the players:
“Everybody stop and gather around,” he said. Then he knelt down, picked up the pigskin, and said, “Let’s start at the beginning. This is a football. These are the yard markers. I’m the coach. You are the players.”
No matter how you cut it, to get into professional football, you have to be great - world class. Still, Coach Lombardi felt it was necessary to go all the way back to the beginning of their football lives and make sure they were all on the same page.
Every now and then, we all need to go back to the basics. I am starting a series to help you along the way. Most of these things would cause groans and moans of boredom in a business meeting or family conference, but your life will assuredly benefit from knowing the basics. Read More→
