A Wonderful & Exciting Week!

I'm not by nature a depressed type of person. I'm usually happy most of the time: always joking, always smiling, always laughing, but sometimes life can really get to you. Especially if you are experiencing hard times--which I have been. Through it all I have tried to remain optimistic and my usually jolly self, but it has been harder and harder to accomplish this. I know I am certainly not the only one to have problems and feel down sometimes, so I know most people can relate to what I've been going through.

After two weeks of feeling depressed because of financial reasons, I have finally had a wonderful week. I cannot tell you how much it was needed. The first thing to happen was that I got a call from the Census Bureau asking me if I was still interested in a job. Since I haven't worked in over a year, the answer to that was, "Um, YEAH!". So I start training on the 27th. It's only temporary (maybe a couple of months) but it pays well and I REALLY need the money. So it is certainly good news.

The second thing that happened was that I received a $10 gift card in the mail from JoAnn's! Yes, I know, that sounds pretty silly, but I believe all my crafty friends can relate to how exciting this is lol.

The third thing (and don't laugh) was that my hot chocolate man of Wednesday night's "Criminal Minds", Shemar Moore was on Ellen. Oh YUMMY!! I truly enjoyed that! And best of all--he was on Weds afternoon so I got to see him TWICE that day!! Woo hoo! Hey, it's the simple things in life.

Now ALL that happened on Weds. Now let me tell you what happened last night. As I was coming in from outside, I noticed a HUGE hole in the old maple tree stump (if you can call it a stump since it's 5' tall) with a bunch of "shavings" on the ground below it. Naturally, I thought "WTH"?? I asked Mike about it and he said he noticed it when he came home. I of course wondered what in the world could've done that. My first thought was "pileated woodpecker". Ooooooo--more excitement! Let me tell you, I have been waiting for 10 YEARS to see one of these! We hear them across the road in the woods all the time beating on trees but had never seen one.A few minutes later, I had gone into the kitchen to finish my womanly duties (i.e. wash dishes) when Mike called me into the bathroom. Lo, and behold there it was--a pileated woodpecker!! I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how excited I was!! Mike had tried to take a picture of it from the bathroom window but the screen was on and all he got was, well, screen. So he took the screen out of the bathroom and bedroom window so we could try to get a decent shot of it. Naturally, it had flown away by then and night was falling so I didn't think it would come back again that night.

But TODAY--there he was in all his woodpecking glory! And I managed to get a few decent shots!! Hey, what did I say earlier about the simple things in life?

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'
Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.' Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal,Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card. 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' Harvey asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?' Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining!

Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'' 'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers weren't friendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.....The ball is in our hands!