Paying the ultimate price

There are three holidays in the US to honor our military...Veterans Day, which we just celebrated on Saturday, Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day which are both celebrated in May. Many people get them confused or lump them all together, but each holiday celebrates a specific subset of former or current service members. Armed Forces Day celebrates those who are currently serving, Veterans Day honors those who have previously served, while Memorial Day honors those who died while defending our country.

I'm proud to be a veteran and I'm grateful to all of the current and former members of our military. I'm also thankful to those businesses who support the military and veterans by offering discounts or freebies. Many businesses offer freebies on Veterans Day, such as free meals or free services. The only one that I took advantage of was a free haircut at SportClips. Thank you Matt Kneeland, the owner of the SportClips in Turlock, as well as several in Fresno and Clovis. I appreciate your support!

As you've probably guessed by the title of this blog, I'm going to be talking about those who have paid the ultimate price.This post was inspired by a friend who posted the following picture on Veterans Day:

The thing that struck me was that she lost her husband in the line of duty, but not only that he was within just a couple of weeks of retirement! Any loss of human life is tragic, but it seems to be even more tragic when someone has made it through a tour and was just days or weeks away from going home.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it's not the service member who pays the ultimate price but the loved ones who are left behind...the spouses, children, parents and all the other family and friends. The service member dies once but to those left behind, their loved one dies every day!

I'm going to re-post this at Memorial Day to honor those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice!

And the women, too! At the time of this quote, women didn't serve in combat positions.

Interesting days

Today - Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, Operating Room Nurse Day, Pickle Day, World Diabetes Day and Spicy Guacamole Day

Tomorrow - Philanthropy Day, Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day and I Love to Write Day

Next Tuesday - Entrepreneurs' Day, World Hello Day and World Television Day

December 14 - Bouillabaisse Day, Monkey Day and Roast Chestnuts Day

Relationship Marketing 101

That's the name of a new webinar put on by Casey Eberhart and Phebe Trotman every Monday and Tuesday at noon and 7:00 PM Pacific Time. If you're a sales professional or a business owner, you'll learn how to keep more of your existing customers and attract new customers to your business.

What is relationship marketing? Basically it means to build a relationship with your customers and prospective customers outside the sales process. Dr. Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, was recently interviewed by SendOutCards CEO, Kody Bateman, and in this interview Dr. Misner talked about the "24/7/30 rule". This rule says to send a nice to meet you card within 24 hours of meeting someone, connect with them on social media within a week and meet face to face within a month. Although this rule was developed especially for meeting somebody new at a networking event, you can apply the same rule to your customers by sending an appreciation card instead of a nice to meet you card.

Seventy percent of customers leave a business because of perceived indifference...they don't think that you care about them. You may be thanking your customers online, but it may not be enough. Luckily the woman in this video found this out before she lost a customer. You may have to become friends with Darla DiGrandi to watch the video, but believe me, it's worth it.

Even though we love our individual customers, 80% of the 140 million cards that have been sent via SendOutCards have been from businesses. That's 112 million cards! Why have so many cards been sent by businesses? Because it works. They get results when they use cards to build relationships with their customers and prospects.

And if you want to get results in your business, watch Casey and Phebe. Also watch the interview with Dr. Misner, and then reach out to me via email, or you can call or text me at (707)685-1382.

Interesting days

Today - World Kindness Day and World Orphans Day

Tomorrow - Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, Operating Room Nurse Day, Pickle Day, World Diabetes Day and Spicy Guacamole Day

Next Monday - Universal Children's Day, African Industrialization Day, Peanut Butter Fudge Day, Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week and Name Your PC Day

December 13 - Violin Day

Your weekend guide to interesting days

This week

Sunday - Gunpowder Day, Love Your Red Hair Day, Zero Tasking Day and Orphan Sunday

Monday - Saxophone Day, Job Action Day, Broadcast Traffic Professionals Day and Nachos Day

Tuesday - Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day and Hug A Bear Day

Wednesday - Benjamin Banneker Week, X-Ray Day and Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

Thursday - Chaos Never Dies Day and World Freedom Day

Yesterday -  Area Code Day and Sesame Street Day

Today - Veteran's Day, Pocky Day and Origami Day

Next week

Tomorrow - International Tongue Twister Day, World Quality Day, Fancy Rat & Mouse Day and Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day

Monday - World Kindness Day and World Orphans Day

Tuesday - Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, Operating Room Nurse Day, Pickle Day, World Diabetes Day and Spicy Guacamole Day

Wednesday - Philanthropy Day, Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day and I Love to Write Day 

Thursday - Social Enterprise Day, Fast Food Day, International Day for Tolerance, Beaujolais Nouveau Day, Button Day and Have a Party with Your Bear Day

Friday - Take A Hike Day, Unfriend Day, Homemade Bread Day, Petroleum Day and World Prematurity Day

Saturday - Occult Day, Housing Day, Mickey Mouse Day and GIS Day

Next month

December 5 - International Ninja Day, World Soil Day, Repeal Day, Bathtub Party Day and Sachertorte Day

December 6 -  Pawnbrokers Day, St. Nicholas Day, Put On Your Own Shoes Day, Miners' Day and Mitten Tree Day

December 7 - Cotton Candy Day, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and International Civil Aviation Day

December 8 - Brownie Day, Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day and Lost & Found Day

December 9 - Gingerbread Decorating Day, Christmas Card Day, International Day of Veterinary Medicine, Pastry Day,  International Anti-Corruption Day and Techno Day

December 10 - Human Rights Day, World Choral Day and Worldwide Candle Lighting Day

December 11 - Noodle Ring Day and International Mountain Day

The Friday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish

The week in review

Monday - "Six Sigma - What is it?" Six Sigma and standard deviations. "I think this is it for statistics for awhile. My mind is totally blown at this point!"

Tuesday - "Fly like an eagle (again!)" Another SendOutCards promotion. "SendOutCards has changed its promotion requirements. Instead of needing ever increasing numbers of distributors, the new requirements are based almost entirely on sales volume. You do need at least one other distributor on your team, and while more would be helpful, there is not a fixed amount needed."

Wednesday - "15 reasons to love geocaching" From Geocaching.com. "If you don't know what geocaching is, you're in for a treat. Basically, it's a treasure hunt using a GPS and it's become much easier since most smart phones have built-in GPS."

Thursday - "Hedy Lamar #TBT" About Hedy's biggest contribution to society...and it's not acting. "So, we have Hedy Lamarr to thank, in part, for our cell phone and wifi communications. Happy 101st birthday Hedy!"

Interesting days

Today - Area Code Day and Sesame Street Day

Tomorrow - Veteran's Day, Pocky Day and Origami Day

Next Friday - Take A Hike Day, Unfriend Day, Homemade Bread Day, Petroleum Day and World Prematurity Day

December 10 - Human Rights Day, World Choral Day and Worldwide Candle Lighting Day

Hedy Lamarr #TBT

We're going all the way back in time to November 9, 2015:

Today's blog post is brought to you by today's Google Doodle. I had Hedy Lamarr on my list of subjects that I wanted to blog about, but I didn't know when I was going to post it. I went on Google to look up another subject I was going to blog about and I saw this Google Doodle for today:

And when I hovered my mouse over it, it said "Hedy Lamarr's 101st birthday". If you click on the image on Google (not here), you'll get to watch a little cartoon about her (make sure your volume is up). So that's why I'm writing about Hedy today instead of another day. But why am I writing about her at all? Because not only was she a beautiful actress

but she was also an inventor.

Per Wikipedia:

Early inventions

At the beginning of the war, she was told that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell war bonds, which she did with great success. But she wanted to do more, particularly by using her interest in science to aid in the defeat of Nazism. This desire only intensified as Hitler continued his relentless attacks on Europe. When German submarines began torpedoing passenger liners, she said at one point, "I've got to invent something that will put a stop to that". This desire would give rise to the invention for which she would become famous many years later. 

Lamarr's earliest inventions include an improved traffic stoplight and a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a carbonated drink. The beverage was unsuccessful; Lamarr herself claimed it tasted like Alka-Seltzer.

Also from the same article in Wikipedia:

Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum invention

Copy of U.S. patent for "Secret Communication System" 

Lamarr's reputation as an inventor is based on her co-creation of a frequency-hopping system with George Antheil, an avant garde composer and neighbor of Lamarr in California. During World War II, Lamarr was inspired to contribute to the war effort, and focused her efforts on countering torpedoes. In her home, explains author Richard Rhodes during an interview on CBS, she devoted a room to drafting her designs for frequency-hopping.

Lamarr and Antheil discussed the fact that radio-controlled torpedoes, while important in the naval war, could easily be jammed by broadcasting interference at the frequency of the control signal, causing the torpedo to go off course. Lamarr had learned something about torpedoes during her marriage to Mandl. Lamarr and Antheil developed the idea of using frequency hopping to avoid jamming. This was achieved by using a piano roll to unpredictably change the signal sent between a control center and the torpedo at short bursts within a range of 88 frequencies in the radio-frequency spectrum (there are 88 black and white keys on a piano keyboard). 

The specific code for the sequence of frequencies would be held identically by the controlling ship and in the torpedo. It would be practically impossible for the enemy to jam all 88 frequencies, as it would require too much power. The frequency-hopping sequence was controlled by a player-piano mechanism, which Antheil had earlier used to score his Ballet Mécanique.

On 11 August 1942, U.S. Patent 2,292,387 was granted to Hedy Kiesler Markey, Lamarr's married name at the time, and George Antheil. Although novel, this early version of frequency hopping soon met with opposition from the U.S. Navy and was not adopted. The idea was not implemented in the U.S. until 1962, when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba after the patent had expired. Lamarr's work was honored in 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave her a belated award for her contributions. In 1998, an Ottawa wireless technology developer, Wi-LAN Inc., acquired a 49% claim to the patent from Lamarr for an undisclosed amount of stock.

Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea served as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as GPS, Bluetooth, COFDM (used in Wi-Fi network connections), and CDMA (used in some cordless and wireless cell phones). Blackwell, Martin, and Vernam's 1920 patent seems to lay the communications groundwork for Lamarr and Antheil's patent, which employed the techniques in the autonomous control of torpedoes.

As the last paragraph says, frequency hopping spread spectrum is used in wifi and cell phones. 2G cell phone service was divided into 2 main technologies...TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). CDMA is based on Hedy's invention. 3G phones use a variation of CDMA called Wideband CDMA (also known as UMTS) while in 4G LTE networks, UMTS is the fallback technology when VOLTE (Voice Over LTE) is not available.

So, we have Hedy Lamarr to thank, in part, for our cell phone and wifi communications. Happy 101st birthday Hedy!

Interesting days

Today - Chaos Never Dies Day and World Freedom Day I love this video "Freedom"

Tomorrow - Sesame Street Day and Area Code Day How were area codes originally assigned?

Per Wikipedia:

Dialing a complete 10-digit telephone number could take up to ten seconds, during which hardware resources had to be dedicated to a circuit. The time to dial a digit was directly proportional to the digit, with the exception of the 0, which required ten pulses or one second. The area codes for a few large cities in the US were initially assigned based on the volume of telephone calls made in each area. The most populous areas received codes that required the least time for dialing using a rotary dial telephone. The densely populated areas of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Detroit had large incoming call volume and were assigned the shortest area codes, 212, 312, 213, and 313, respectively. Areas that covered an entire province or state had 0 as the middle digit. The first area code installed was 201 for New Jersey, while the District of Columbia received the second code (202). 

The second digit of all original area codes was 0 or 1, while the second digit of the three-digit exchange code was never 0 or 1, thus facilitating the recognition of whether a user was dialing a full 10-digit number or merely dialing within the local area code. Toll operators were able to differentiate between the two types of areas from the middle digit of the area code when a routing operator had to be consulted.

Next Thursday - Social Enterprise Day, Fast Food Day, International Day for Tolerance, Beaujolais Nouveau Day, Button Day (not to be confused with Count Your Buttons Day) and Have a Party with Your Bear Day (not to be confused with Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day)

December 9 - Gingerbread Decorating Day, Christmas Card Day, International Day of Veterinary Medicine, Pastry Day,  International Anti-Corruption Day and Techno Day

15 reasons to love geocaching

Today's post is from a blog from Geocaching.com. If you don't know what geocaching is, you're in for a treat. Basically, it's a treasure hunt using a GPS and it's become much easier since most smart phones have built-in GPS. Check out this quick video to get an idea of what it's all about:

I've done a little geocaching and I just found my first geocache in Modesto a few weeks ago. I've also found them in several other places in California, a couple in Texas and even a couple in Hawaii.

So, what are the 15 reasons to love geocaching?

1. You'll find that discovery, exploration and adventure still exist in the real-world. 

2. It gets you outside!

3. It's a great way to stay healthy while having fun.

4. It's fun for the whole family.

5. You can see the world.

6. And experience new places like a local.

7. Or discover places you never knew existed right in your own neighborhood.

8. You can learn fun facts about Planet Earth.

9. And help give back too!

10. You will be delighted by the work of artists and engineers.

11. And you can make the best of friends.

12. You might even fall in love.

13. It will stretch you to your limits - physically and mentally.

14. But also guide you to moments of peace and serenity.

15. You'll have stories to last a lifetime.

Download the app for your device and begin your search now!

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Interesting days

Today - Benjamin Banneker Week, X-Ray Day and Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

Tomorrow - Chaos Never Dies Day and World Freedom Day

Next Wednesday - Philanthropy Day, Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day and I Love to Write Day

December 8 - Brownie Day, Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day and Lost & Found Day

Fly like an eagle (again!)

Last week I wrote about the first person in at least five and a half years to be promoted to SendOutCards' highest rank - Eagle. This week it happened again. Melissa Barlock is the second new Eagle to be promoted in a week.

How is it that it's been at least five and a half years before Diane Walker was promoted last week and only a week between Diane and Melissa?

SendOutCards has changed its promotion requirements. Instead of needing ever increasing numbers of distributors, the new requirements are based almost entirely on sales volume. You do need at least one other distributor on your team, and while more would be helpful, there is not a fixed amount needed.

Not only are there 2 new Eagles, there are also 7 new Senior Executives and 50 new Executives in the past month. As well as numerous Managers and Senior Managers.

The requirements are basically:

Distributor to Manager - $500 in monthly volume
Manager to Senior Manager - $2,000 in monthly volume
Senior Manager to Executive - $10,000 in monthly volume
Executive to Senior Executive - $50,000 in monthly volume
Senior Executive to Eagle - $100,000 in monthly volume

There are two other requirements...no more than 50% can come from any one leg. You and your customers count as one leg. Any other distributors in your organization and their customers each count as an additional leg. And you must meet your volume requirements two months in a row.

There are also other requirements for Senior Executive and Eagle.

I'm currently a Manager, but if I can meet my volume requirements for Senior Manager this month and next month, there are special incentives - including VIP status at the Convention in April and a 20% reduction in the volume requirements to be promoted to Executive.

So, I'm asking everyone I know to please sign up as a customer for November and December, at least, although you may find that you like the service. If so, feel free to continue. Also, all bundles count towards volume.

If I can get the distributors in my organization to do the same thing, I just might be able to make it!

Please...help if you can! I'd really appreciate it! You can sign up directly, email me, or call or text me at (707)685-1382.

Interesting days

Today - Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day and Hug A Bear Day

Tomorrow - Benjamin Banneker Week, X-Ray Day and Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

Next Tuesday - Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, Operating Room Nurse Day, Pickle Day, World Diabetes Day and Spicy Guacamole Day

December 7 - Cotton Candy Day, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and International Civil Aviation Day