I got to meet Mrs. Debbie Fields in person. She is the founder of Mrs. Fields Cookie Company. She was at a book signing at the Manhattan Beach Mall in the Los Angeles area in 1995.
Somebody asked her if Mrs. Fields Cookies was all over the United States. She said the company is all over the world. Then they asked her if she thought that she would own a worldwide company when she first started out.
She told us that when she first started Mrs. Field's Cookies in 1977 she was only 19 years old and only had a high school diploma, had absolutely no prior experience in business, no real support from her family or friends and no bank in the entire city of Oakland, California would give her the loan she needed because she did not have any collateral and nobody would co-sign for her.
Obviously with persistence and determination she made it past those few "minor" obstacles. She said that at that time she would have been totally satisfied to just have one successful cookie store where she lived in Northern California. So she left Oakland and moved to Palo Alto, California where she was able to open her first Mrs. Fields cookie store. Fortunately for all of us cookie lovers she eventually expanded her goals and did not stop there. Mrs. Fields was a millionaire before her 30th birthday.
It's interesting.
Some people never quit no matter how hard things get or how impossible it may seem.
Other people quit as soon as they encounter their first minor inconvenience or when they have to deal with and solve their first problem.
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Friday, June 22, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Triple Teachings
When I go into people’s houses, I always notice the pictures on the walls, on the mantels, on their desks etc. I remember one very interesting one.
I was told that it was a picture taken at the local Elementary School’s 75th Anniversary Reunion. All of the Alumni Students were invited back. They said that they had all 75 graduation class pictures hanging on the walls of the auditorium. However, the picture they had on their wall was very unique from that day.
It was a picture of the 2nd grade teacher taken with the 3 generations of kids she taught in the same family. The year after she graduated from college she taught the grandfather. Years later she taught his son. Last year she taught the son’s daughter, which was her original student’s granddaughter. It was just in time, because that teacher retired the next year.
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I was told that it was a picture taken at the local Elementary School’s 75th Anniversary Reunion. All of the Alumni Students were invited back. They said that they had all 75 graduation class pictures hanging on the walls of the auditorium. However, the picture they had on their wall was very unique from that day.
It was a picture of the 2nd grade teacher taken with the 3 generations of kids she taught in the same family. The year after she graduated from college she taught the grandfather. Years later she taught his son. Last year she taught the son’s daughter, which was her original student’s granddaughter. It was just in time, because that teacher retired the next year.
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Thursday, June 7, 2007
Homemade is Overrated
The terms Homemade and Made By Hand are both extremely overrated to me. I was in a small bakery where the owners took great pride in the signs outside advertising their Homemade and Made By Hand items.
I was investigating an accident and so I was taking an employee’s statement from inside of the Employee Break Room and looking out of a window that you see the area where they do the preparations and the baking.
One of the employees was wearing a tank top with no sleeves. He was mixing dough with his bare hands. It looked like it was enough dough to make at least a dozen loaves of bread or more. He did not have any plastic gloves on.
I saw him take a huge handful of dough in his right hand and patted in under his left arm pit like it was a big powder puff and then put it back with the rest of the dough. He mixed it a little bit more, and then he took another huge handful of dough in his left hand and patted in under his right arm pit like it was a big powder puff and then put it back with the rest of the dough.
He wasn’t finished bathing in the dough yet. He continued to mix the dough and took another huge handful and rubbed the dough behind his neck and then put it back with the rest of the dough and kept on mixing.
I was born in an age of high technology. So rather than all of that Homemade and Made By Hand stuff, I prefer to just to throw everything into a clean sanitary machine and turn on the power switch.
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I was investigating an accident and so I was taking an employee’s statement from inside of the Employee Break Room and looking out of a window that you see the area where they do the preparations and the baking.
One of the employees was wearing a tank top with no sleeves. He was mixing dough with his bare hands. It looked like it was enough dough to make at least a dozen loaves of bread or more. He did not have any plastic gloves on.
I saw him take a huge handful of dough in his right hand and patted in under his left arm pit like it was a big powder puff and then put it back with the rest of the dough. He mixed it a little bit more, and then he took another huge handful of dough in his left hand and patted in under his right arm pit like it was a big powder puff and then put it back with the rest of the dough.
He wasn’t finished bathing in the dough yet. He continued to mix the dough and took another huge handful and rubbed the dough behind his neck and then put it back with the rest of the dough and kept on mixing.
I was born in an age of high technology. So rather than all of that Homemade and Made By Hand stuff, I prefer to just to throw everything into a clean sanitary machine and turn on the power switch.
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Ride of Her Life
I cannot figure out why a person who has full insurance coverage including the California required liability coverage would get involved in an accident and then try to leave the scene. That is called “Hit and Run” and it involves very serious criminal consequences especially when it appears on the surface that the person was intentionally trying to kill the pedestrian in the process. At least that is how it was described to me by several of the witnesses that I talked to.
Depending on which witness you want to believe, our insured driver either ran a red light or entered on a very late green light or a yellow light. It was an intersection that did not have a delayed red light. A delayed red light is when the light is red in all 4 directions for about 2 seconds. So by the time our insured had crossed over to the other side of the intersection, the light was already green for the pedestrian to step off of the curb and cross over.
The front of his car hit her and the force of impact threw her on top of his hood. But he did not stop. He kept on driving down the street. She managed to hold on to the part of his hood next to his windshield wipers and went on the ride of her life. He increased his speed and was racing down about 3 blocks with her on top of his hood.
There were alot of people in the area who saw the whole thing and called the police. With their information the police were able to head him off and stopped him before the pedestrian fell off his hood.
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Depending on which witness you want to believe, our insured driver either ran a red light or entered on a very late green light or a yellow light. It was an intersection that did not have a delayed red light. A delayed red light is when the light is red in all 4 directions for about 2 seconds. So by the time our insured had crossed over to the other side of the intersection, the light was already green for the pedestrian to step off of the curb and cross over.
The front of his car hit her and the force of impact threw her on top of his hood. But he did not stop. He kept on driving down the street. She managed to hold on to the part of his hood next to his windshield wipers and went on the ride of her life. He increased his speed and was racing down about 3 blocks with her on top of his hood.
There were alot of people in the area who saw the whole thing and called the police. With their information the police were able to head him off and stopped him before the pedestrian fell off his hood.
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21st Century Gourmet Cooking
I had to take the claimant’s statement as part of an accident I was investigating. I got to his house earlier than the scheduled appointment, so I just sat outside and waited in my car parked in front of his house.
A few minutes later a man pulled into the driveway and got out with 4 kids. This was the claimant that I was waiting for. He came over to my car and asked if I was the insurance adjuster. I told him that I was and I know that I am early so I can wait out here until he is ready. He said I could come in now.
As all of us were walking in, he said he just had to take care of dinner. But don’t worry it will not take as long as his grandmother who used to chop up her own fresh seasoning and cook the dinner all day long. She would simmer the sauces for hours and bass the meats with gravy from her own recipe. It was usually finished off with a home baked cake or pie made from scratch. Sometimes the kids would take turns sitting on the ice cream freezer while turning the homemade ice cream.
His mother worked all day, so her dinners consisted of foods from a combination of cans, boxes and warming up frozen dinners. If she used any kind of seasoning, it came from a jar.
Now I will show you how I take care of dinner. He picked up the telephone and called for a pizza to be delivered.
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A few minutes later a man pulled into the driveway and got out with 4 kids. This was the claimant that I was waiting for. He came over to my car and asked if I was the insurance adjuster. I told him that I was and I know that I am early so I can wait out here until he is ready. He said I could come in now.
As all of us were walking in, he said he just had to take care of dinner. But don’t worry it will not take as long as his grandmother who used to chop up her own fresh seasoning and cook the dinner all day long. She would simmer the sauces for hours and bass the meats with gravy from her own recipe. It was usually finished off with a home baked cake or pie made from scratch. Sometimes the kids would take turns sitting on the ice cream freezer while turning the homemade ice cream.
His mother worked all day, so her dinners consisted of foods from a combination of cans, boxes and warming up frozen dinners. If she used any kind of seasoning, it came from a jar.
Now I will show you how I take care of dinner. He picked up the telephone and called for a pizza to be delivered.
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Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Dog's Space
I went to our insured driver’s house to take her statement about an accident. She was not rude or anything like that, but it seemed obvious that the only reason she was cooperating was because she was required to and she really just wanted to get the whole thing over. So as soon as I was finished taking her statement, I packed up my things as was starting to leave.
I couldn’t help notice the numerous pictures she had on the walls of a dog. Usually when I go to people’s houses that have dogs or cats, their pets are right at the door as soon as I get there or I can hear the dogs barking in the background. So I ask if that was her dog in the pictures.
Her whole attitude changed almost immediately. Her face lit up and she was very happy and excited to tell me everything about her pride and joy.
Then she asked if I wanted to see her room. Well, since I have never seen a fully furnished bedroom for a dog inside of any house I have to admit that I was very curious.
She introduced me to her dog Precious who was there inside of her own private room. She was lying on her doggie bed when we went in. The walls were freshly painted and decorated in bright colors. She had more framed pictures of her and her little dog on the walls. It had a tile floor installed on a diagonal. Precious had her own walk in closet with a mirror on the outside.
I got to see her full wardrobe where she had several outfits lines up and hanging on little hangers. Just a few things that I remember included a pink cashmere sweater, a red velvet coat and a long white fuzzy thing hanging down that I don’t even know what it was.
Precious also had her own chest of drawers, a jewelry box and a great big huge toy chest filled with all kinds of doggie toys. On the side of the room was her very own lounge chair. She said she cooks for Precious everyday because she does not like canned or packaged dog food. She prefers home cooked meals. There was also a bookcase with tons photo albums including pictures from the day she got her little dog to the present.
As I watched her interact, talk to and play with the dog not only did I notice a big change in her attitude, but also there was a change in her personality. I thought that this was a totally different person than the person I had just taken an accident claim statement from a few minutes earlier.
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I couldn’t help notice the numerous pictures she had on the walls of a dog. Usually when I go to people’s houses that have dogs or cats, their pets are right at the door as soon as I get there or I can hear the dogs barking in the background. So I ask if that was her dog in the pictures.
Her whole attitude changed almost immediately. Her face lit up and she was very happy and excited to tell me everything about her pride and joy.
Then she asked if I wanted to see her room. Well, since I have never seen a fully furnished bedroom for a dog inside of any house I have to admit that I was very curious.
She introduced me to her dog Precious who was there inside of her own private room. She was lying on her doggie bed when we went in. The walls were freshly painted and decorated in bright colors. She had more framed pictures of her and her little dog on the walls. It had a tile floor installed on a diagonal. Precious had her own walk in closet with a mirror on the outside.
I got to see her full wardrobe where she had several outfits lines up and hanging on little hangers. Just a few things that I remember included a pink cashmere sweater, a red velvet coat and a long white fuzzy thing hanging down that I don’t even know what it was.
Precious also had her own chest of drawers, a jewelry box and a great big huge toy chest filled with all kinds of doggie toys. On the side of the room was her very own lounge chair. She said she cooks for Precious everyday because she does not like canned or packaged dog food. She prefers home cooked meals. There was also a bookcase with tons photo albums including pictures from the day she got her little dog to the present.
As I watched her interact, talk to and play with the dog not only did I notice a big change in her attitude, but also there was a change in her personality. I thought that this was a totally different person than the person I had just taken an accident claim statement from a few minutes earlier.
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Gift for Mom
Oprah Winfrey said one time that she was so poor she could not even get a doll for Christmas. I thought about that when I was in a huge upscale mansion of a client that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. She had her own rags to riches story.
Many years ago she was laid off from her job at the beginning of April. Since she was a person that at that time lived pay check to pay check, she had to get an extension to pay her Federal and State taxes, then she had to beg her landlord to give her a little more time to pay her May rent. Her meals consisted of drinking alot of soup.
She never told either one of her parents that she was unemployed and had no income. She went to the cemetery the Saturday before Mother’s Day and after the funerals she stole a few flowers from several different graves. She did not want it to be noticeable so she made sure not to leave any holes or dents. Then she went to the 99 cents store and bought a vase.
Her mother got several flowers for Mother’s Day, but her bouquet of various types of multi color flowers was the biggest one and the most unique arrangement she got that year.
Luckily she started to make some money from her own internet business by Father’s Day and she was able to shop for her father in a regular store, not in the cemetery like she had to do for her mother.
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Many years ago she was laid off from her job at the beginning of April. Since she was a person that at that time lived pay check to pay check, she had to get an extension to pay her Federal and State taxes, then she had to beg her landlord to give her a little more time to pay her May rent. Her meals consisted of drinking alot of soup.
She never told either one of her parents that she was unemployed and had no income. She went to the cemetery the Saturday before Mother’s Day and after the funerals she stole a few flowers from several different graves. She did not want it to be noticeable so she made sure not to leave any holes or dents. Then she went to the 99 cents store and bought a vase.
Her mother got several flowers for Mother’s Day, but her bouquet of various types of multi color flowers was the biggest one and the most unique arrangement she got that year.
Luckily she started to make some money from her own internet business by Father’s Day and she was able to shop for her father in a regular store, not in the cemetery like she had to do for her mother.
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Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Bathroom Dangers
During the many years that I worked as an Insurance Adjuster in Los Angeles, most of the claims that I had to investigate were personal and commercial vehicles. The next most common type of claims were the slip and falls or trip and falls. However, there were a few times that I had to investigate products liability claims also.
There was one that stands out clear in my memory. It was a claim that involved an aerosol can. What I was told was that this guy went to the bathroom and started to spray the aerosol can but somehow or another it got struck and kept spraying. He pointed it into the toilet and kept playing around with it until he finally got it to stop spraying. Then he left the bathroom.
His wife came in later smoking a cigarette and threw it into the toilet then she sat down on the toilet. A fire ignited and cause severe burns on her butt.
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There was one that stands out clear in my memory. It was a claim that involved an aerosol can. What I was told was that this guy went to the bathroom and started to spray the aerosol can but somehow or another it got struck and kept spraying. He pointed it into the toilet and kept playing around with it until he finally got it to stop spraying. Then he left the bathroom.
His wife came in later smoking a cigarette and threw it into the toilet then she sat down on the toilet. A fire ignited and cause severe burns on her butt.
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Dedicated Employee
Public Transportation in Los Angeles which consists of the buses and the train systems is the responsibility of the MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority previously known as the RTD Rapid Transit District.
Arthur Winston worked as a Service Attendant Leader in the South Los Angeles MTA Division that was named after him in 1997. Up to his final days he was responsible for a crew of 11 employees that cleaned, maintained and refueled the metro buses.
He retired from the MTA in March of 2006 on his 100th birthday after 72 years of service as an employee for the company. During his 72 years of employment, he only missed one day of work when he took the day off to go to his wife’s funeral in 1988. I know alot of people who cannot even make it 72 days without missing one day of work.
Unfortunately, Arthur Winston did not get to enjoy very much time as a retired person because he died in April 2006, just a few weeks after he retired.
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Arthur Winston worked as a Service Attendant Leader in the South Los Angeles MTA Division that was named after him in 1997. Up to his final days he was responsible for a crew of 11 employees that cleaned, maintained and refueled the metro buses.
He retired from the MTA in March of 2006 on his 100th birthday after 72 years of service as an employee for the company. During his 72 years of employment, he only missed one day of work when he took the day off to go to his wife’s funeral in 1988. I know alot of people who cannot even make it 72 days without missing one day of work.
Unfortunately, Arthur Winston did not get to enjoy very much time as a retired person because he died in April 2006, just a few weeks after he retired.
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Monday, June 4, 2007
Introduction
Celebrities are all over the Tabloids in the magazine racks. This is the Tabloid for Everybody Else. It is about regular ordinary people, mostly unknown to the general public, who have a story.
I have lived in Los Angeles, California my whole life. I worked in the streets as an Insurance Claims Adjuster investigating accidents for many years and after that I was in Sales. I met all kinds of people in person, over the telephone or just heard about them through other people in addition to all of my own personal friends, relatives, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, clients and customers.
Their stories are a combination of interesting, boring, funny, sad, emotional, extraordinary, stupid, educational, incredible, exhausting, unbelievable or whatever.
Some stories are good, some may be bad, and others might just be average to mediocre. But none of them are the typical stories focusing on the typical people found in the typical tabloids.
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I have lived in Los Angeles, California my whole life. I worked in the streets as an Insurance Claims Adjuster investigating accidents for many years and after that I was in Sales. I met all kinds of people in person, over the telephone or just heard about them through other people in addition to all of my own personal friends, relatives, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, clients and customers.
Their stories are a combination of interesting, boring, funny, sad, emotional, extraordinary, stupid, educational, incredible, exhausting, unbelievable or whatever.
Some stories are good, some may be bad, and others might just be average to mediocre. But none of them are the typical stories focusing on the typical people found in the typical tabloids.
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