toddcast

I recently flew back to Texas from a short trip and, since I'm not a frequent flyer, I am still amazed at the whole idea of flying.   I am especially awed by the view from above -- being able to see the world from a totally different perspective.   I prefer having a window seat and especially make sure that the window is up at takeoff and landing.      I love to see the world grow smaller and smaller as we ascend and then to see the world return to normal size as the plane approaches the runway.   The view is always impressive, but this trip I noticed that sometimes the view from above is not as spectacular as it is from ground level. On our approach I got to see the tops of buildings that are not visible from ground level.   Beautiful structures seemed not so beautiful as heating and air conditioning units are exposed and unsightly steel beams hidden by facades are visible.    Buildings that may have exceptional curb appeal are less ...

I just wanted a hamburger.   I was hungry.   I was driving by a fast-food restaurant, so I pulled into the drive through and placed my order.   "I'll have a hamburger," I clearly say.   But to get my hamburger I had to refuse a drink, french fries, an apple pie, and a pair of socks.   I might be making up the last one, but after being offered way more than I wanted I sort of zoned out and was saying no to everything! I'm told it’s a common sales technique called upselling.   It operates under the assumption that the customer really doesn’t know what he wants and if offered more will come upon the realization that they couldn’t live with just a hamburger.   Life will not go on without the apple pie.   Every time I'm upsold my dark side wants to say, "I would have ordered that if I wanted it," but my wife reminds me that would be rude and that the employee is made to read off a script that includes offering you more than what you order, ...

Have you ever bought one of those pieces of furniture that come in a box?   It looks great on the showroom floor and even though the display clearly indicates "some" assembly required you are not fazed by the challenge - until it arrives.   You open up the box and out comes about a bazillion pieces!   The instructions are in eighteen languages and printed so small that you can barely make them out.   Of course, the instructions come with helpful diagrams about as useful as some ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic accompanied by the suggestion "two people required for assembly."   Now we men read that as "two people required if you are a wimp -- a real man can do it all by himself." When it comes to putting these things together, here's my experience from early on in my marriage.   To "you know where" with the warnings -- I would try to do it on my own.   This normally meant that I would put pieces together wrong and have to take it apart ...

Back when my daughters were young it would not be uncommon for them to present me with   a little creation of their own as a gift for their daddy.   A page out of their coloring book or a hastily made craft project where some of their favorites, but I'll never forget a particular gift they gave me many years ago. We used to live on a street that dead-ended into a field that in the springtime would bloom with all sorts of weeds, some of which would be quite colorful.   Among them were dandelions.   The girls would play out in the field and one day they came in announcing they had a surprise for me.   From behind their backs they revealed a bouquet of "beautiful flowers" they had picked for me from the field and presented them to me as if they were the rarest and most beautiful flowers known to man.    And to me they were! In actuality they had handed me a bunch of weeds that probably wouldn't last through the day, but because of their l...