Category: Motivation

The noise started whenever our CR-V hit 40 mph. Thump-Thump-Thump. It’s my wife’s car, so I drive it only occasionally – and usually with us having conversation or ‘E Street Radio’ or ‘College Sports Radio’ playing on Sirius XM. Thus, when she told me, several times, there was a problem, I said, “It’s not that bad.” Of course, I had purchased an inferior tire compared to what we always had, so there might have been a slight bit of hidden defensiveness in my response.

Months passed… then a year… and finally it became so loud that even I admitted something was amiss. So I showed up at Discount Tires one Friday morning when they opened. After explaining our situation to the young man helping me, he said, ‘You bought these more than a year ago, so I don’t have the authority to do anything.’ He walked over to his manager and spoke to him. The manager came straight to me and said, ‘Let’s to take a look.’

On the walk to our car, I told him what happened and suggested that he drive it to see for himself. He checked the tires, asked me to turn the wheel in each direction and said he didn’t need to drive it. We went back inside and he asked, ‘What would make this right?’ I told him: “I want to go home and tell my wife it’s resolved and that there are Michelins on her car.” He said. “How about I give you our best price, plus a $250 credit on these?”

Listened well. No excuses. Problem resolved.

Forty-five minutes later I got in my car and turned on to the access road. Thump-Thump-Thump. I wasn’t angry… just frustrated. So I called the friend who works on our cars, explained the issue and dropped it off at his house. He tested and said the bearings on the front left were bad.

New tires. New bearings. New silence.

From now on: only Michelins… and always, always, always address a problem when it arises. 

With kids heading back to school, I’m reminded of that perennial favorite first week assignment: “What I did on my summer vacation.” Many youngsters will respond: ‘We went to Disney’ or ‘I learned to ride a bike’ or ‘Stayed at grandmas’. In our house, however, we experienced something for the first time in 25 summers living here.

There is a crepe myrtle outside our circular laundry room window. In May, we noticed a robin building a nest… and soon sitting inside it. From our upstairs window we saw two blue eggs, so it became a daily ritual to regularly check on the soon-to-be chicks. After a couple weeks, as expected, there were two tiny heads tilted upward with mouths wide open – and momma would return frequently to feed them. (Two things: hatchlings are stranger looking than expected; and, you mean that’s how baby birds are fed?)

After a couple more weeks, the little ones left the nest and were hiding in our bushes, occasionally flying around the yard. It was a great experience to witness.

But wait. There’s more.

Who knew red-breasted females lay eggs more than once a year? Well, they do… and by July we embarked on a second journey – this time with one more settled in the nest.

Soon there were three little babies with mouths open… and we checked on them each morning until the day they tumbled out of their safe space. The past few weeks, I’ve watched with paternal joy as the family of ‘my birds’ hop around outside my office window. When winter comes and they fly north – or whatever robins with a two-year life expectancy do – I’ll miss the little ones and their momma.

So that’s what I did this summer.

The end. 

Part II of II

Time Capsule – Two of our traditions are watching schlocky Hallmark Christmas movies (this year beginning October 21) and listening to holiday music while trying to avoid getting ‘Whammed!’ (I made it to December 15.) The thing about Christmas songs is whenever a classic plays, I’m magically transported back to my childhood, as golden oldies unlock the joys of Christmas past. Singers like Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and Brenda Lee bring back memories of being at home with my parents, older brothers and little sister.

Never Assume – In October I was scheduled for an individual Birkman debriefing with a team member from one my group sessions. She didn’t join the Zoom call, so after 20 minutes, I sent an email: “Seems we had a misconnection today. I look forward to speaking soon. Please let me know everything is ok.” When she hadn’t responded two weeks later, I emailed the client sponsor to let him know. Within five minutes I received a reply that shocked me. This young mother, who was pregnant with her second child, suffered an aneurism the afternoon of our scheduled session and never regained consciousness. I immediately called him and listened quietly as he expressed how difficult those two weeks were on their team. Sometimes sitting in silence is the best gift. 

Slipping Away – Walking 18 holes of golf is the equivalent of a 10K, so in March I purchased a pushcart to carry my clubs and stopped riding. This month, I hit my tee shot left on the par three, sixth hole, and as I pushed the cart around a lake, saw my ball nestled at the edge of the trees. I grabbed it, took a penalty drop, and turned around to choose a club. When I didn’t see my bag, I thought: “Where did I leave the cart?” I looked down a hill and into the lake. The bag and cart were floating eight feet out. (The next words out of my mouth are unprintable.) I took off my shoes and waded out to retrieve everything, then sat on the hill laughing before walking back toward my car and emptying a lot of water on the grass. Other than ruining my rangefinder, there was no long-term damage… just an important reminder: always set the brake! 

Loyal Servant – Kathy just completed three elected terms and 12 years as a volunteer member of the Tomball ISD board of trustees, during which student enrollment nearly doubled to 20,000. Last year, the Houston Chronicle named TISD the top school district in the area. When another board member approached her to run in 2010, I asked how much time it would require: “Two nights a month,” he said. While that was true – and she attended 258 out of 264 meetings – he didn’t mention all the prep, sub-committees, community events, CEUs and other commitments. A quick back-of-the-napkin calculation totaled more than 4,000 hours. With a daughter who’s a high school English teacher, you can see educating youth is a high priority in our house.

Gift Giving – Kathy’s proudest achievement was championing creation of the Tomball Education Foundation. The mission of this independent nonprofit is to develop and allocate resources to enrich, enhance and maximize the quality of education for all students. Since 2018, they’ve distributed more than $225,000 to 68 district employees. One of this year’s recipients is a counselor who asked for financial support to help younger students that struggle to communicate. With the grant she purchased multicultural puppets that students interact with to develop greater self-awareness. If you are able, please consider supporting education in your local community.

I’ll conclude, as always, with a quote about the wonder of the season: “There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.” ~ Eric Sevareid

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Seasons Greetings. May the year ahead bring many blessings to you and your family… and continued success in all things. 

by Kelsey Handler

Part IV of IV

There are many things I’ll miss about Boston when I return to Texas, but in first place –  narrowly edging out a decent transit system and a climate that has seasons – is the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

A short T ride from my apartment in Brookline, this historic movie theatre shows feature films, new releases and old classics alike. Originally built as a church in 1906, the Coolidge was upgraded into an art deco movie palace in the early thirties and has existed as a non-profit foundation since 1989. It’s a place of great history and community, and for a film lover like myself, a mecca of cinematic magic.

In my audiovisual preservation class this semester, we learned from a guest lecturer that independent movie theatres are thriving while chains suffer in the post-pandemic economy. This is because indies have a broader understanding of what a movie-going experience can be; they offer a wider selection of films – old and new, conventional and cult – and hold special events like dance parties, lectures, and children’s programs. These bring patrons back again and again. Conversely, chains tend to only show new releases, and audiences will only go see the same new movie at the same theatre so many times.

The independent method of brand loyalty appears to be paying off for the Coolidge, as it is in the end stages of a $12.5 million capital campaign for a 14,000 sq ft expansion. This initiative will add two new screens and a new lobby, as well as support the preservation and restoration of the art deco features that make it such a special place.

Movies I saw at the Coolidge during my short time here:

We moved back into our home today… exactly 12 weeks after moving in with our son while we remodeled. Our contractor – a husband (construction) and wife (project management) team – were incredible. They promised their part would take 10 weeks, and they completed it in nine. Then the HVAC crew came in and did their work. We knew windows would be a supply chain challenge. They’ll be added the first week of January.

When we told several of our friends about this project, they said to prepare for all kinds of delays and to add 2-3 months on the backend. As it turned out, we didn’t experience any issues. Everything arrived on time and the craftsmanship is outstanding. Dan and Amanda provided incredible customer service from the first meeting to the end.

Another suggestion from a friend was to plan for an extra 20% budget bump for unexpected discoveries. “You have 24 years of wear and tear, so there will likely be some surprises.” None of those appeared, although we decided to add some things along the way. My favorite saying to Kathy became: “Change order. Change order.” Ultimately, we spent less than 10 percent above the contracted price.

While getting an upgraded house is nice, the best part of this adventure was being with our son. We did a lot of things together and had many deep conversations – and there was never a moment when we raised our voices or became frustrated with each other. I will remember these weeks as the gift that allowed us to experience our little boy as a grown man. I hope Kyle looks back grateful for the time he spent with us.