POSSUMS AND CATS

One night this week I went to the pump house at night to get something out of the freezer. As I stepped out, I saw a possum jump off the AC unit where he had been stealing from the cat's bowl. As I was crossing the yard back to the house, I stepped on the cat, who threw a scratching, biting fit, naturally. At first, all I could see was that possum, so I was dancing around pretty well. My ankle hurt for several days.

Lonely goodbye

One of the most poignant scenes Hollywood ever produced is that from Fiddler on the Roof when Tevye and his daughter are sitting on that isolated bench out in the middle of the vast plains of Russia at the train stop. She is about to leave to join her fiance who is in Siberia. She says, "Father, God knows if we shall ever see each other again." He replies, "Well, then we will leave it in His hands." It is heart-rending.

Subordinates have to "push back" to make companies better

No company can ever expect to improve if employees do not "push back," that, resist bad management decisions. They may have to end up doing them, but if the folks doing the work are discouraged from having input into the processes, the company will never improve beyond the level of management, which usually is puffed up with its own importance.