My Daily Smile

Life is short - begin every day with a smile!

Do this when you get a customer service rep you can’t understand

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Living (and loving) Life

Have you ever called a customer service or tech support line and ended up having to talk to a rep you couldn’t understand?

Well, me too, and to say it’s a very frustrating experience would be the understatement of the year.

Many large companies now outsource their call center operations to third-party companies located in foreign countries.

And as you well know, that can create quite a language barrier if you happen to get a rep who doesn’t speak English all that well.

But as luck would have it, there’s often a very simple solution to this problem… [Read more…]

Video: 15 of the world’s most beautiful remaining castles

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Throughout much of recorded history castles played a major role in protecting both royalty and supremely wealthy families from attacks by marauding armies and gangs.

Many of the castles of centuries past now stand as stark ruins while others have been completely destroyed by attackers and/or the elements.

However, quite a few of these historic structures are still standing tall against the surrounding countryside, looking much the same as they would have looked centuries ago.  [Read more…]

Life is but a vapor. Make every day count.

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Living (and loving) Life

“…For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.“
     -–James 4:14

Have you ever walked through a local cemetery and looked at the headstones of the folks who passed on a century or more ago?

If so, you probably saw at least a few that bore your own last name, especially if the cemetery was located in the community where you and your ancestors were from.

Now, think about this… [Read more…]

Why astronomers measure distances using a term that’s related to time

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Living (and loving) Life

I’m sure you’ve probably heard astronomers use the term “Light-Year”, but do you know what that term actually means?

The use of the word “year” makes it sound like “light-year” would be used to measure time, but in reality it’s a measurement of distance.

So why is a word related to time used to measure distance?  [Read more…]

Courage isn’t the absence of fear (and that’s a good thing)

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Living (and loving) Life

Every now and then we see news reports about ordinary people doing heroic things.

Here are just a few recent examples that come to mind:

  • In the heat of a fire-fight, a wounded soldier runs into the path of heavy enemy fire to rescue a wounded comrade.
  • A police officer rushes towards a flaming vehicle and pulls an unconscious accident victim to safety right before her car explodes into pieces.
  • A jogger jumps into a raging flooded river and rescues a child who is holding on to a tree branch for dear life.

When we hear about folks doing heroic things like these it’s natural to assume they’re fearless and have nerves of steel.

But truth be told, that’s rarely the case.

[Read more…]