The other day, I was stopped at a traffic light, waiting for my turn to go through the intersection. Soon, a beautiful convertible passed in front of me. A woman was driving while a man sat in the passenger’s seat. He had the seat pushed back as far as possible making him almost vertical. Wearing…
Orange paint scratches
I really didn’t know what to do for her. She looked lost and I don’t think that having me watch was helping a bit. It happened the other day as I was pulling into the Whataburger parking lot. The entrance had two lanes, both had large arrows painted on the pavement, indicating entrance only. On…
“He wasn’t asking the right questions”
I was having problems with my email account. A 30-minute call to the 1-800 help desk solved my problem on the laptop, but I had to go and to see “the guy” at the store to fix the problem on my phone. As I sat, waiting for my turn to get help, I overheard a…
What you believe makes a difference
I have heard too many politicians discuss an America that I do not recognize. They talk about a nation where hope and respect have died and where fear and violence reign. They infer that American culture and heritage are inappropriate for future generations to retain or to celebrate and that our history is shameful. Their America is…
Happy 3rd of July
It’s the 3rd of July, or “the 4th of July Eve.” John and I are with family, ribs are ready to be put on the grill, a watermelon is on ice, and there are fireworks planned. We are ready for the holiday. I have noticed that we celebrate holiday “eves” inconsistently. New Year’s Eve is…
Bananas and leadership (Yep, I do have a point!)
I had to buy bananas again! It seems as if I am going to the store every three days. Wait, I AM going to the store to buy bananas EXACTLY every three days, because I only buy three days worth at a time. And, why is that? Well, I get frustrated when bananas get too…
Instructions
Mentor was not a word that Dr. Vern Wedell would have ever used and he certainly would not like me to use the word to describe him. Vern Wedell was sarcastic, intolerant of stupidity, hard-working and generally a gruff, old codger. But, I loved him and he cared about me. Dr. Wedell was my first…
Barnabas and Saul
I was reminded this week of an interesting day in my life several years ago. Early one morning, I was checking my blackberry and saw an email from a senior Navy official (one of my boss’ boss’ bosses). That month I was on a team planning an event being hosted by the sender; and, apparently,…
Too perfect
The other day I mentioned a rock that had sat on a shelf in all of my homes for over 30 years. I picked up that stone during a visit to Dachau, one of the German Nazi concentration camps. Since telling you about my rock, that trip to Germany has been on my mind. Today,…
Performance Counts
On this day before Father’s Day, I thought that I would share a story about my father and a lesson he taught to me regarding performance. I was getting ready to start my first year of college. My parents had told me that they would pay one-half of my college expenses. They understood that I…
Dr. Carla Jill Stein 