Bottom of the News… Friday, March 19, 2009 “11 Rules for Kids”

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Just this last week it came out in the news that Bill Gates is now the #2 richest guy on the planet, now behind a telcom guy from Mexico. Gates still continues to be popular as a speaker at high school graduations. He shares 11 Rules every kid should know that they never hear in school. His speech talks about feel-good, politically correct teachings that sets up a concept of reality for kids that typically results in real world failure. Here are Gates 11 Rules…

Rule 1: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop or the bar and go to jobs.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with your own assistant until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try cleansing the critters living in the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one!

There you go, 11 rules to share with your kids as our Bottom of the News Friday, March 19, 2010. ###

Bottom of the News… Friday, March 12, 2010

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. It has been awhile since I have talked about historical events. So, on this day in history, March 12th…

1755 - The first steam engine was made in New Jersey.

1884 - Mississippi opened its first state-supported college for women called Mississippi Industrial Institute and College.

1889 - Almon B. Strowger filed a patent for his new invention, the telephone. Three years later Alexander Bell’s telephone was deemed much more reliable and Strowger’s patent was revoked.

1894 – In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.

1912 - The Girl Scouts we started by Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, GA. Original name was Girl Guides, but quickly changed. Almost from the beginning, they made chocolate mint and peanut butter-filled cookies for their meetings. Those eventually served as the beginnings of their national fundraising campaigns.

1951 - The comic strip, "Dennis the Menace", appeared for the first time in 16 newspapers across the U.S.

1959 – Both the US House and the Senate voted approval for Hawaii to officially become a US state.

1974 – The "Wonder Woman" TV movie was shown on ABC, starring Cathy Lee Crosby.

And how about #1 songs on this day March 12th...
1959… Venus by Frankie Avalon
1967… Penny Lane by The Beatles
1975… My Eyes Adored You by Frankie Valli
1983… Billy Jean by Michael Jackson

And finally, on this day, 2002 – I incorporated my first business and signed the paperwork on a loan, the first SBA loan for a new bank called Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust.

And there you have it headlines from this day in history as the Bottom of the News on this Friday, March 12, 2010.
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Bottom of the News… Friday, March 5, 2010

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Today my thanks to brother Carpenter for his news contributions. He provided some very special “thoughts to think about” (from a Far Flung source) that may make you think, or then again maybe not. Okay, so here we go…

 I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

 Nothing is worse than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

 There is great need for a sarcasm font.

 How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

 Was learning cursive really necessary?

 MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

 Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

 Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after BluRay? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

 I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

 "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever...

 I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

 I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

 I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night that more kisses begin with Miller Lites than with Kay.

There you go, thoughts to think about. Hey, welcome to the weekend and this is the Bottom of the News on this Friday, March 5, 2010. ###