710

A few days ago I was having some work done at my local garage. A woman came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten. We all looked at each other and another customer asked, "What is a seven-hundred-ten?"

She replied, "You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one." She replied that she did not know exactly what it was, but this piece had always been there. The mechanic gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like. She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710.

He then took her over to another car which had its hood up and asked "is there a 710 on this car?" She pointed and said, "Of course, its right there."

Click here to see a picture of what she pointed to...

DON'T FORGET TO FEED THE DOG!

Read this...

SKOKIE; STARBUCKS; CHEESECAKE FACTORY & BOOK THOUGHT

I'm sitting in Starbucks in Skokie, IL and this "older" woman with big hair is walking around with a Frappuccino in her hand asking, "Is this cold? I don't drink coffee cold." I'm just curious why she would think that something called a "FRAPPUCCINO" would be a "typical" coffee drink in the first place.

Anywho...

I'm on a day and a half break in Skokie w/ family. Skokie is actually a pretty nice place. The Old Orchard mall is nice. Amanda is happy - she found a pair of $80 jeans for $14. My Visa card is happy about that too.

Had dinner last night at Cheescake Factory. All I can about that place is: HUGE MENU!!!!! I've been there a million times now and every time I go I get overwhelmed as I sit and stare at the menu. That menu sends me into sensory overload and my A.D.D. kicks in full gear. Then it's all over.

On a "reading" note... I started re-reading a great book last night entitled, Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, Richard E. Boyatzis. It's a Harvard Business School Press book. Talks about how emotions are at the heart of effective leadership. Lots of practical advice backed up by strong research.

I read this about a year and a half ago and it's amazing how when you are at a different place in life/leadership how you can pull out a totally different aspect from a book.

More later...

BRITISH SCIENTIST KILLED BY ANTARCTIC SEAL

Ok - check out THIS story. A couple of questions:

1. Why was this woman snorkeling in the Antarctic? I mean, if a seal hadn't gotten her, hypothermia would have.

2. Why did all the by-standers just stand by and watch? I guess they earned the title "bystanders" with this one.

3. What was up with this seal? I mean, look at this little guy and tell me why he would do something like that.

The article states, "Leopard seals are incredibly inquisitive, but are not normally aggressive. If a diver can see a leopard seal, then they will not go in the water because there is a small risk. But to our knowledge, this has never happened before."

The seal was quoted as saying, "Hey, don't blame me. I'm just a sucker for a woman in a tight rubber suit. I can't help it, so step off and talk to the flipper!"
A Seal, on an iceberg in sunny Antarctica

There's a reason they call this a "wild" animal...

Goodnight...

SADDAM'S SONS CONFIRMED DEAD!

Click here for full story at Foxnews.com

Yes, it's true. Odai should now be pronounced O-DIED and Qusai should be pronounced GOOSE-EGG. Sorry, that was lame.

Anyway - good news for the poor people of Iraq. Now we just have to take care of the old man...

FLICK REVIEW & LATE EVENING THOUGHTS

Saw The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen tonight. On a scale of 1-10, I give it about a 6. It was a fun movie, but certainly not "extraordinary". The movie is basically about a group of "heros" who come together to wield thier powers to save the world.

You've got a group consisting of Dr. Jekyll (this guy is UGLY!), a vampire, an immortal, a hunter (Sean Connery), a spy, Captain Nemo (not the fish...), and an invisible man who come together to kick some evil butt. A few good effects, but not as good as XMEN 2.

5:30am wake up call so I'm off to bed. Here's my quote of the day:

"If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it - Now quiet, they're about to announce the lottery numbers!"
Homer Simpson, Modern Day Philosopher

Top 11 Signs your ISP has given you up to the RIAA as a dangerous KaZaA user:

11. All the files in your favorite MP3 play list are now "Lars Ulrich sings 'Feelings'"
10. Your KaZaA rating changes to "Defendant"
9. Eminem insults your mother in his next single
8. Recording Industry Association of America president Hillary Rosen sends you e-mail messages with embedded .wav files of heavy breathing
7. All the spam in your inbox is from Motion Picture Association CEO Jack Valenti
6. You get a bill retroactively charging you 99 cents per downloaded track. Total bill: $29,700
5. A Tommy Mottola screen saver suddenly pops up on your computer
4. Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer picket your home with signs that read, "Piracy don't pay my bills"
3. You receive a request from someone using outdated hacker wannabe slang claiming a friend said you could "hook me up" with the latest Snoop Dogg album
2. You suddenly have numerous songs from someone named Avril Lavigne
1. CD-shaped crop circles appear in your backyard

Sun Night/Mon AM update; Bill Bright in Heaven!!

1:45am here in Chi-town. Storms tonight...again. Pretty good day today. Services were good - Ted Egly spoke on "community". We had a Ministry Leaders meeting (about 30 "core" leaders) today.

We watched a Bill Hybels DVD entitled, "360 degree leadership". Fantastic stuff. The "jist" is that as leaders, we often focus way too much attention on leading DOWN (those under us) and not nearly enough time leading UP or HORIZONTALLY - or more importantly, leading OURSELVES. Good points.

Heard today that Bill Bright passed away on Saturday. He was 81 years old and perhaps one of the most influentual leaders in the Evangelical church world. He was the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and was the man behind the Jesus film.

According to the "Jesus film" website, over 5 billion - YES, you read right - BILLION people have viewed this Jesus film which has resulted in over 188 MILLION decisions for Christ. Amazing.

Check out the memorial site when you get a chance...

I can only imagine the party Heaven had when this guy walked in. I'm sure that the party is still going on...

Thanks Mr. Bright for your inspiration to all of us.

Goodnight.