Wisdom of One

Last week I wrote about a book called "Wisdom of Crowds." The premise is that collectively we are all smarter than the most intelligent individual. But today I thought I'd write about some wisdom I've gained, individually, over the last couple of weeks.


1- Everyone needs a brother that you can call and ask "how do I do this." My oldest brother knows how to fix and do everything. I recently broke a sprinkler pipe while digging. I had seen my brother fix these before and thought I could do that too. I called him, he told me what to buy at Lowe's and how to do it. After letting it set for 24 hours, I turned on the sprinklers and was pleased to see my repair held! Yeah!!



Second "need a brother" experience-- my 11 year old television is dying. I bought a new one. I need to get cable or dish to get a good picture. My sister pointed out that I wasn't using the antenna on the old TV. Hum... So I called my brother. He told me to go to Radio Shack, buy and adapter and I would be set. Minor problem-- the antenna wire was too short. My brother said I could use an old extension cord. Hum.. I think I have one of those. I reluctantly cut off the end, got out a knife to strip away the white covering (I know you are supposed to have wire strippers, but I don't have any and I have watched my brother use this method before). End result, my TV now has great reception. Now, what do I do with the brand new TV?














2- The Scera Pool is a great place to spend the afternoon. I wish I had discovered this place earlier in the summer. It only costs $5 (a bargain compared to other places). I went there this week with my sister and her two kids. The major accomplishment was Justin going down the water slide by himself. Yeah!!! By the way, Justin finished Chemo last week. Yeah!! Yeah!!!



3- The US Postal System is not reliable in holding your mail while you are away.
I put in a request to have my mail held for a week. They did good Mon-Wed. They delivered mail on Thurs/Fri. They forgot to deliver the accumulated mail on Monday (but did it on Tuesday). This same thing happened to my friends the week before while they are on vacation. Lesson learned: have a neighbor pick up your mail when you are on vacation.



4- $2 Tuesdays at Thanksgiving Point = Insanity. My sister, the kids and I went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point-- along with the rest of the county. I thought everyone would be in school. Apparently they only have half days this week and all the mothers decided to take an outing after school. It was craziness. Bajillions of people with no manners. What happened to waiting your turn? Instead parents are telling their kids to push their way through, and say "excuse me" (well some of them say that, most just barge). Lesson learned: pay full price and avoid $2 Tuesdays.



5- The middle seat on the airplane is the worst place to sit. On my flight home from ATL is was stuck in the middle seat. I know, someone has to sit there, just wish is wasn't me. To my right was a lawyer, turned health care consultant who liked to hear himself talk and brag about his family and career. I am all about bragging on family (I do my fair share) but this was over the top. It didn't take long to see that this guy has some insecurities. He and the guy on my left had a nice long conversation (mainly one sided) for quite some time. Fortunately Mr. Lawyer decided he needed to do some work for his early morning meeting. Thank goodness. It was quite until we were landing and he had to put away the computer. Lesson learned: sit in an isle seat where you can get up and move around without annoying people (and leave if your seat mate is annoying you).