Monday, December 30, 2019

Funny how we touch lives along the way

Today, I grabbed lunch with an old friend from my government days. We worked in the county attorney's office together. Then I was promoted to head HR, and he moved on to work as an attorney in one of the other county departments.

We ran into each other a few weeks ago at the train station, and that's when we said we should get lunch and catch up. So today we did.

When the waiter brought the check, he grabbed it and said it was a thank you that was 20 years overdue. I said, "a thank you for what?"

Apparently, when he was looking at two different job possibilities, I looked into them and advised him on what I thought was the better choice, and my advice panned out well. That was nothing special. I'd do that--and did that--for anyone who wanted the advice. But it seems it helped him get on a great career path that has worked well for 20+ years now.

It's nice to know a small gesture made such a difference!

Saturday, December 14, 2019

What's that smell?

There's a part of Savannah about 8 miles from our house here where we do a lot of shopping. From supermarkets to department stores, there's a lot out there. But sometimes when we go out that way, we find ourselves wondering about a not-too-pleasant smell in the air.

I've never been able to figure it out, but it was quite noticeable when we went out there yesterday, so we started talking about it. Jeff and Marc have plenty of Midwest experience, where there are more plants, slaughterhouses, etc., that created some noteworthy smells.

So these two college buddies started kicking it around. Jeff landed on his best guess pretty quickly. "Smells like a paper mill to me."

As a suburban New York boy, I had no frame of reference, but Marc thought that seemed right. So I asked Google to tell me the nearest paper mill. It said,
"International Paper 1.6mi"

Well, whaddya know! Good call, Jeff!

They also discussed some old non-favorites, like slaughterhouses and sugar cane processing plants. Sugar cane? Really? But yes, apparently they're quite stinky, despite the sweetness of their product.

I actually enjoyed the whole discussion, as I learned new things.