Volume 60, Number 4
Fall, 2005

Well, here comes another new year and -- surprise, surprise -- postal rates are going up again. What makes it even more painful, if you mail much more than the occasional letter, even the Post Office doesn't seem to know what all the new rates are. Wait in line over there, and chances are, you will be told that the new charts are not in yet. Save yourself the aggravation by going on-line to visit Pitney Bowes at www.pb.com/ratechange and look in the middle of the homepage for their "2006 Postal Rate Charts." You can download two optional PDF's and print out your own 8.5x11 chart or a wallet-size card. The Pitney Bowes chart is easier to understand than the Post Office model, too...if it ever shows up.

Did you know that Africa is 28% wilderness, while North America is 38% wilderness?

Next time you're putting leftovers away, remember that honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.

Did you know that entertainer Danny Kaye (1913-1987) was a painter at heart? He once said, "Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can!"

People may react better to your ideas if you tell them Ben Franklin said it first.

CISCO, the Illinois Prevailing Wage Council, and the Foundation for Fair Contracting are co-hosting a Midwest Prevailing Wage Conference planned to be held at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare in Rosemont on February 22-24, 2006. Registration costs $225.00 but is free to architects and public sector representatives (such as municipal employees). Workshops will cover responsible bidder ordinances in local municipalities and using web sites to track prevailing wage projects. You may register on-line at www.cisco.org or call 630/472-9411 and speak to John Freitag for more information.

Disaster news made up a great deal of all we heard last year...enough to make you jittery, just wondering when it would be our turn. Rather than just sitting tight, wondering and worrying, you can spring into action for 2006 by calling 800/878-3256 (M-F, 7 to 7) to request an excellent little publication entitled "Preparing Makes Sense...Get Ready Now!" from the Department of Homeland Security. The booklet will explain the best way to (a) assemble an emergency supply kit, and (b) develop a family plan for emergencies. Or, you could

visit www.pueblo.gsa.gov to order the publication on-line. While there, browse for other interesting free government publications!

"I once had a rose named after me, and I was very flattered, said Eleanor Roosevelt. "But I was not pleased to read it described in the catalogue as no good in a bed, but fine against a wall."

Mark Twain was known for a quick wit and strongly-held views. Once he was asked what men would be without women, to which he acidly responded, "Scarce, sir...mighty scarce."

On the philosophical side, Socrates once counciled, "By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be a prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. If it has no space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, remaining a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. Similarly, the ordinary bat can fly around at night easily. A remarkably nimble creature in the air, it cannot take off from a level place. Placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly, and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. Finally, a bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself. Sometime, aren't people like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee? Struggling with all their problems and frustrations, never taking time to relax, look around, or realize that the answer might be right there "above" them....

We'll wind up with the thoughts of Will Rogers, sage of Oklahoma, who died in a plane crash with his pilot, Wylie Post, back in 1935. 1. Never slap a man who is chewing tobacco. 2. If you find yourself in a hole, then stop digging. 3. Do not kick cow chips on hot days. 4. Never miss a good chance to shut up. 5. Always drink upstream from the herd. 6. Good judgment comes from experience...and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

BILL RANCIC ENTERTAINS, MOTIVATES CHICAGO PDCA-NiPDi JOINT MEETING

Bill Rancic, famed for his success as Donald Trump's first-season "Apprentice" TV program winner -- and a continuing employee of the Trump Organization -- has found yet another career on the "keynote speaker" circuit. In that capacity, he visited the Chicago PDCA/FCA & NiPDi/FCAI Joint Membership Meeting at Maggiano's in Oak Brook on September 14th to tell us about his adventures and lessons learned in life.

Bill grew up in Chicago, attended Carl Sandburg High School and Loyola University, and graduated in 1992. He worked his way through college by running a boat washing business for tuition money and earned a BA degree with cum laude honors. Then his instincts as an entrepreneur kicked into high gear. Founding a new internet business called "cigarsaroundtheworld" as a "dot com" enterprise in his studio apartment, he built it into a hugely successful, multi-million-dollar business.

Today, he remains involved in the cigar business, but also enjoys a new career with the Trump organization in real estate development. His assignment is the stunning new Trump Tower project in Chicago. In spare moments Bill also appears at speaking engagements for major corporations, colleges, and industry groups, to address achieving success through hard work and "thinking out-of- the-box." He delivers those messages to residents of Mercy Home For Boys as a volunteer tutor for underprivileged kids. Bill enjoys skydiving and scuba diving, and has run in two Chicago marathons. His new book is, published by Harper Collins, is titled, "You're Hired, How To Succeed in Business and Life."