Author Archives: site author

I’m fortunate to live in a town that has a beautiful hike and bike trail along a river. It traverses most of the community. I can hop on it fairly close to my home and travel all the way to the recreation center. About fifteen years ago I started riding my bike there. I gotContinue reading “Unplug”

In owning an insurance agency for over thirty one years I learned the most important rule in business. Make it easy for people to give you money. I sold something people were required to have, either by the state and/or their mortgage company. It wasn’t a question of if they would buy it, just whoContinue reading “Easy Does It”

I have found a good way to know someone at a deeper level is to ask them about their grown children. They will start telling you about their kids’ jobs, where they live ect. Then I tell them “No, tell me what kind of people they are.” They usually pause, their facial expression will changeContinue reading “The Big Ask”

I coached girl’s basketball from age five to eighteen. The younger girls presented some special opportunities. It was an interesting experience to persuade little girls that they didn’t have to be polite on the basketball court. I’d say, “Was there ever a time when someone else had something and you just wanted to take itContinue reading “Grabbit Rabbit”

I learned a lot owning my own insurance agency. One of the most important lessons was to never guarantee anything over which I didn’t have direct control. We had high standards at my office and the company I represented provided quality service. However, once something was out of my hands things were less certain. IContinue reading “No Guarantees”

When I was coaching  basketball I kept track of two statistics, rebounds and turnovers. The one thing you have to have to score is possession of the ball. A turnover is when you relinquish possession of the ball without getting off a shot. The probability of scoring is 0.00% They are absolute poison to aContinue reading “Turnovers”

One of the first things I did with my girls basketball teams every year was ask if anybody could dunk the ball. They all gave a little grin and said no. I’d say, “Ok, then none of our shots have a 100% chance of going in the basket. Our job is to increase the probabilityContinue reading “Probably”

My favorite professional athlete by far was Yogi Berra. As great a baseball player as he was, ten world series championships, he’s more known for his sayings. I think the funniest is, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” The most quoted is probably,  “It ain’t over til it’s over.” Being a five on theContinue reading “Yogi Rule #1”

Like most people I’ve dreamed of things I’d like to do before I die, a bucket list. Also like a lot of people I hadn’t done much about it. A few years ago I started writing down the things I’d like to do and put it in a file. Again nothing much happened. Then IContinue reading “Little Buckets”

Artificial intelligence’s influence in our society grows every day. I heard it has been put in tractors so they can plow a field without a driver. There are some problems with dyslexia and paranoia. They have an irrational fear of getting a John Deere letter. I’ve given serious thought to using artificial intelligence. and chosenContinue reading “A-I”