Just Ask

My wife is wise.

One of her famous quotes is, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." This is absolutely a correct principle.

For example, I was recently asked to conduct a speaking session at a conference. However, if I wanted to attend any of the other sessions I was going to have to register for the conference at a $1,500 fee. Ouch!

So, I called the conference and asked, in a very nice way, if there was any way they could comp me in. After a few minutes on hold she said she'd talked with the head of the conference and they'd provide me a pass for free.

Today I'm traveling back from Chicago, I've got an hour before my flight and really wanted a quiet place to work. So I walked into the Delta Sky Club and asked if I could go in for a while although I don't yet have a pass to get in. The gentleman at the desk looked through my records and saw that I travel a lot and that I will soon have earned a pass. He let me in.

People are generally nice (with a few bad eggs thrown in the mix) and will usually try to be of assistance -- especially if you are courteous and kind to them. I know that if someone asks me for something, I will really try and help them out.

13 years ago I asked my wife to marry me. Either she was feeling especially generous on that beautiful San Francisco day or I asked the right way (or maybe a bit of both). She said "yes" and my life has been blessed ever since.

The next time you're in a bind or need a favor, crack open the jar of honey and just ask real nice. You won't always get the answer you're looking for, but you should always ask.

Happy anniversary Laura!

Have you heard about the Singularity?

I just finished reading this article on the coming Singularity. What? You haven't heard about this event predicted to occur in about 2020? I hadn't either...at least not in these terms. WARNING: The article will fry your brain around the edges a bit.

Here's a taster to get you interested:

The difficult thing to keep sight of when you're talking about the Singularity is that even though it sounds like science fiction, it isn't, no more than a weather forecast is science fiction. It's not a fringe idea; it's a serious hypothesis about the future of life on Earth.

This movement even has a university, SingularityU, and an annual conference. I have a friend from Denmark that actually paid the $25,000 to attend the university last year. He's trying to get me to go next year, saying that it is the most amazing experience he's ever had. I'll let you know if my wife let's me sell her car so I can afford the tuition.

So, read the article to get a glimpse of what this means. For me, I'm pretty excited about it all!