January 9, 2018 – davidbruceblog #2

girl-1531575_1280

https://pixabay.com/en/girl-glasses-mop-cleaning-clean-1531575/

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DIRTY HOUSE

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Why should I clean now?

I need some motivation

I’ll throw a party!

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Note: Knowing that people are coming is excellent motivation to clean.

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money-95793_1280

https://pixabay.com/en/money-dollars-currency-benjamin-95793/

At the Constitutional Convention, when the founding fathers got together to create the Constitution of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was very helpful in persuading people to compromise when necessary. When disagreements threatened to get completely out of hand, Mr. Franklin told the story of a little French girl who marvelled that out of all the many people in the world, she was the only person who was always right.Anyone who has ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail knows that in the movie King Arthur and his knights did not ride horses; instead, they were followed by people using coconuts to make horse-riding noises. During the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the budget was quite low and filming had to be completed in only five and a half weeks. In fact, the comedy troupe couldn’t afford to use horses, which would have lengthened the time it took to make the movie. However, they managed to turn a weakness into a strength by substituting the use of coconuts for the horses.

A deaf married couple arrived at a motel late at night. The wife turned in for the night, but the husband drove to a store for some supplies. Returning to the motel, the husband couldn’t remember which room he and his wife were staying at, and unfortunately, the motel office was closed. However, he was able to quickly solve this problem. He leaned on his car horn, awakening almost all of the people staying at the motel. Soon, lights were on in every room — except the room where his deaf wife was sleeping soundly.

Medical school textbooks are quite heavy, and Maria Montessori — one of the few women in Italy to attend medical school in the late 19th century — had a difficult time holding them up to read them. Her mother, Renilde, solved the problem by dividing each heavy textbook into sections that were easier to hold up and study. At the end of the school year, Renilde had the sections bound together into one textbook again.

During World War II, Agnieszka Budna-Widerschal saved the life of several Jews in Poland. Once, she had to figure out how to get two Jewish men past several Nazis in the street. She succeeded by pretending to be drunk and having the two men on either side of her hold her up. The Nazis looked at her, and they ignored the two men. One Nazi, filled with disgust, even said, “Ach, that’s just like a Pole!”

As a child, Nicole developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which reduced her ability to carry around heavy books. However, she developed ways to solve that problem. For example, one of her classes used a very heavy book, so she received two copies of the book — one to keep at home, and one to keep at school. That way, she doesn’t need to carry the book back and forth between home and school.

In 1913, P.E. Turnball of Lee, Massachusetts got tired of hunters mistaking his cows for deer and shooting them. Therefore, he had several blankets made up for his cows to wear during hunting season. On the blankets appeared the words, “Don’t shoot me. I am a cow.” The plan worked. Mr. Turnball didn’t lose any cows that year, but souvenir hunters did steal seven blankets.

Eric Gregg used to umpire in the Dominican Republic, where the poorer kids made sneaking in an art form. They waited until the national anthem of the Dominican Republic was being played, then swarmed over the fence, because the people standing up made hiding easier and because they knew that the police would not chase them while the national anthem was being played.

Before travel by air was common, international athletes had to train while traveling by ship to a competition. While traveling to the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden, American athletes figured out how to practice throwing the discus and javelin on board ship. They attached ropes to the discus and javelin, hurled them out to sea, then retrieved them by pulling in the ropes.

Quaker humorist Tom Mullen has an older brother named Frank, who lives in New York City. During strikes by the people who collect the garbage, Frank has discovered a creative way to get rid of his garbage. He gift wraps it, then leaves it out in plain view. Someone always comes along and steals it.

Lesbian author Gail Sausser used to live with several lesbian housemates, all of whom were creative problem-solvers. For example, whenever the house got too dirty, they would decide to throw a party, which motivated everyone to clean to get the house ready for guests.

Architect Julia Morgan designed the Berkeley Women’s City Club — not just the building, but the linens, dishes, lighting fixtures, and even the chairs. To make sure that the chairs were perfect, she wanted them to be tested by a committee made up of a tall person, a short person, and a fat person.

When he was 13 years old, Steven Spielberg had a problem with a bully who tormented him. He solved the problem by inviting the bully to star in a film he was making of soldiers fighting the Nazis in World War II. During the filming of Battle Squad, the two boys became best friends.

Stand-up comedian Steve Mittleman found an original way to handle a heckler at the Comedy Store. He said, “Sir, I just want to share the fact that I really love you and care about you.” This was not the reaction the heckler had expected, so he kept quiet after that.

Sports director Doug Wilson was faced with a problem — how to create a camera shot that would reveal the movement and the feel of skating. He solved the problem by putting a camera person in a wheelchair on the ice and having a skater push the wheelchair.

In the old days, people who had need of a wooden leg sometimes made their own. Having a wooden leg was helpful in solving the problem of socks that tend to fall down. One gentlemen simply tacked his sock to his wooden leg.

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Day: January 9, 2018

HAIKU: THEY CALL IT HAIKU

Never

davidbrucehaiku: courage and fear

Die Another Day

davidbrucehaiku: dirty house

Happy New Year from Bansko — kirilson photography

davidbrucehaiku: SOME PROBLEMS ARE FACTS

David Bruce: Problem-Solving Anecdotes