Seven Percent

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

It’s estimated that 93% of people who receive this email won't forward it. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'. I'm in the 7%. Remember, friends are the family we choose for ourselves.

Goodbye Catalog, Hello DVD

The company I've worked for off & on since 2002 stopped publishing a printed catalog for customers a couple years ago so we recently decided to produce a DVD for customers that do not have a computer and/or access to the Internet.

Since this is completely new to us we've tried to keep it simple & see how it goes by creating a Powerpoint Presentation then converting it to ISO to burn the DVDs using Wondershare PPT2DVD. Then to get the video on the web I've been using AuthorStream - pretty kewl site - it converts the Powerpoint file to MPEG & hosts the file for playing (kinda like YouTube) and provides the embed code if you want to display it on your web site.

So far, so good with getting it to a DVD but I'm about ready to pull my hair out with getting a good working copy on the web. I can get the video but when I do the conversion the audio is gone (I've tried using AuthorStream, PPT2DVD, & authorPoint Lite). From what I've read the sound file has to be embedded instead of linked but convincing Powerpoint 2007 to embed the file is beyond me.

Anyone have ANY experience with any of this? If so, I could use some feedback, suggestions or a bullet if I don't get this resolved soon!

Teachers vs. Educators

Lipstick in School

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the Bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back . Finally the principal decided that something had to be done.

She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers... and then... there are educators.

Secret Window

I've been reading Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King so thought I'd see if anyone else has read it. I must admit it's got me in a strange place mentally - but that probably isn't anything new to get honest. LOL Secret Window, Secret Garden