Articles Parking Blog

1 – First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. – Second Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.

It read:

“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s’ bedside just before he passed away… God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”   Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 – Third Important Lesson – Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

“How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.

“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

“I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies..

You see he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 – Fourth Important Lesson. – The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s’ wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 – Fifth Important Lesson – Giving when it Counts…

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek.

Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away”.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Now you have choices.

1. Close this and forget about it, or

2. Share it with other people.

I hope that you will choose No. 2 and remember…

Most importantly…. “Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody’s watching.“

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat…We must find each other.”
Mother Teresa

Everyone keeps talking about recession, foreclosures, lost jobs. Bad news all over the place, bombarding us from every little corner. How did we get here?
Before you start blaming it all on greedy rich people who sit on the boards and corrupt politicians I want you to honestly think about it. Aren`t we to blame as well?
We wanted bigger houses and flat screen tv’s (and at least 3 tv’s in the house), we wanted better cars, more shoes and 10 pairs of jeans…we wanted commercials and the main role.
We competed with our neighbors, brothers, friends – if they have it why shouldn`t I? In our heads TO HAVE equals TO SUCCEED. But does it really? Do all those things make us successful? Happy? Fulfilled?
We have movies, soap operas ,reality shows, cell phones, laptops, Pc’s , X-boxes, twitter, facebook, myspace….., we even have computers driving our cars, showing us the right roads….never before has our lives been so technological rich and never before have we been so poor, empty and alone.
Family dinner at the table is replaced by virtual restaurants (everybody is raving about some restaurant game on facebook), coffee with our friends is done over  our cell phones, we hang out online leaving our messages on the walls. What the heck are we doing? Our kids will be unable to carry on a decent conversation because they don`t play outside, they don`t communicate, they don`t share.
Is this an advanced society? Or are we all brain washed? I see scared people everywhere, not a trace of happiness, fear is all around. They fear the “worst” (loosing their jobs and houses).
But what they don`t realize is that it all got started by wanting more than what we could afford. Those houses were not ours to begin with – they belong to the bank until the last mortgage rate is paid off. So, what are we actually losing? AN ILLUSION. NOTHING. A house does not make a home. As long as we have friends and family to stay with, we have a home. And we are going to be fine.
So, if you get that foreclosure notice, or if you lose your job – step outside the house and remember: LIFE IS BEAUTIFULL. You may think it is the end, but it is only a new beginning – a chance for you to be free. That house/car was just a burden  on your back, you were unable to sleep over it. So celebrate – you are finally free.  This is your opportunity to find out what kind of life you really want. Give yourself a chance for a fresh, clean start. You never know what could come out of it.
Lots of people find out later that losing their job or their house was the best thing that ever happened to them because they were forced to be creative while searching for a solution. Often they lead much better lives after the experience. Love life and life will love you back.
And the most important thing: share it with your loved ones.  No virtual reality can replace a real laugh with your friends, no computer can make you dinner, give you a hug or cry with you. When life strikes (or shines) only real people can be there with you and for you.  Just give them a chance. And even more importantly, give yourself a chance.

Ps. I will tell you a true story. There was  a great, loving lady that I met online. She helped a bunch of people with their computer and marketing skills, she used to talk to them over the phone for hours, only to help them. But, one day she lost her offline job. And she became desperate. Her husband had his hours cut, so then they had even less money. She started to worry about her house. She worried 24/7. She couldn`t forget about the problem, it was tearing her apart and instead of focusing on good, she was focused on bad all the time. One day “out of the blue” she started not to feel well. Every day after was even worse. It  lasted for 2  months until she was diagnosed with lung cancer.  She died a month after they diagnosed it – a month ago. It broke my heart. And the hearts of all that knew her.
So what is the point of this story? First of all I think her worrying about everything made her sick. If she knew how it would end do you think she would have worried so much? She spent her last 6 months thinking about losing her house and where did it get her? She lost her life. And the house still stands there.
So, whenever you start to feel desperate, remember this story. And be grateful for life itself.

Do you ever have those days when you feel that you don´t fit in with your own family? I am talking about parents of course. Whatever you do or don´t do is never good enough for them. Usually it begins in your early teens. Or to analyze deeper, it begins the moment you realize that you have your own opinion that doesn´t correspond with theirs.

I’m 32 and my mum still think that she knows the better way of me living my life. She often says that she doesn ´t know where she went wrong: she raised 3 of us to do all those steps that society expects, yet all 3 of us took different paths.

No mum, I didn´t finish a university just so you would be unhappy. I simply did not fit in. Maybe if I had a chance to go to a different university I would finish it.

Maybe I will finish it when the time comes. Maybe not.

No, mum, I didn´t find a steady permanent job. Why would I find a job from 9-5? To hate my life the majority of the day? I LIKED changing jobs,learning different things and gaining experiences. And no matter what you don´t understand that, I liked living without the “security” of tomorrow. Yes, I had tough moments. Yes, I still have them. Living without electricity for 2 weeks is ….well different in 21st century . But it gave me a whole new experience. And for 2 weeks I was focused on some maybe more important things. And I took a pledge that it will never ever happen to me unless I decide it. Because feeling helpless for a lack of money is no fun. And thank you for offering yours, but why should you pay for the consequences of my decisions. I never asked you for that. So, no thank you. And no mum, I don´t want to get a loan from the bank to “buy” my own property. You say it´s security, yet you don´t realize that there is nothing secure about our lives. It would only chain me to one place. And what is secure about a bank owning your home for the next 30 years?

And no mum, getting married and having kids was never my priority. Yes, a man that I love is next to me but I don´t need a piece of paper to prove to you (or anyone) our love.

And no, even if I do get married one day, I will not wear a wonderful wedding dress. And I will not get married in church. It will be him and me. Because mum, it is a celebration of OUR love. And yes, he has long hair, beard and a tattoo. Three to be exact. Does that make him not good for me? That is what you thought before you met him. And he proved you wrong.

And yes, I am 32 with no kids. Do I really need kids to fulfill something? You say it is natural. I say everyone has to decide what is natural for themselves. If we ever decide to have them, they will not be there to fulfill us. We will not live their lives for them and we will not think we know better. They will make THEIR choices and we won´t ever try to stop them.

I am trying to live my life without any regrets. On the other hand, you do have regrets. And yet you still think that I should listen to you. And yet you are still very judgmental about all my steps. And you still think that you know best. Why do you think that being my mum gave you the right to judge me? When all I needed and wanted from you was your unconditional love. Isn´t that what mothers are suppose to do?

And yes mum, I LOVE YOU. Unconditionally.

But that doesn´t mean that I will sacrifice my happiness (whatever that is for me) in order for you to be happy.

And btw, isn´t happiness something that each of us have to find inside of ourselves?

Let’s talk about something nice for a change. Let’s talk about friends. In my life I have been blessed with a few very, very good friends. I consider them a family that I have had a chance to create on my own. If I would lose all that I possess, I would still be a very rich person. All of my friends have keys to my apartment – and I have theirs. Numerous times they jumped in when I was in trouble – financial or other; 3 in the morning, no questions asked. And I have done the same for them. I think of them as the most valuable assets in my life. We have all went through rough situations in life when we literally did not have anything to eat, nor dishes to eat from. I’ll tell you just one story:

I lost my job and I was late with payments for bills and my apartment. So I decided to take a job in a different state for a few months, a state that I didn’t know the language (Germany) – but it was my only way out at the time. So I barely raised money for a bus ticket. I did not have one single penny in my pocket. But that did not stop me. And there I was, all alone at the bus station, waiting for the bus to show up and at one moment I saw my best friend coming towards me. She had a very tough surgery on her back just 2 weeks earlier and she was wearing a cast from her neck to the waist. I could not believe my eyes! I was very angry at her but happy at the same time to have her by my side at that moment. So I started to shout at her: Damn girl, you should be in bed, for god sake you have a cast on and the doctors strictly told you not to move until it is removed. She just smiled, hugged me and gave me an envelope. She said that she could not let me go without any money. But I knew that she didn’t have any money either – she basically gave me everything she had. But returning the money was out of the question – she didn’t want to hear about it. She just said: You are going to a place where you don t know anybody. I have people around me to help me. You need that more than me. 12 years have gone by since then. We are still very close friends.

I could tell you dozens of stories about my friends. But all that it comes to is sharing a life with those around you, through the good, and the bad. If I had the whole world and no friends to share it with I would still have nothing.

So I ask you: What will your friends do for you? How far will they go? And more important, how far would you go for them?

First of all, I was raised in Croatia, Europe  where all of us always had (and still do) free health insurance. With that said, I really, truly don`t understand how is it possible to live in a society where only rich are privileged to have it. How is it possible to have a broken finger and not go to hospital due to lack of money? (my boyfriend`s case – he broke his finger, he did not have the money to go to the doctor, and he can`t straighten it now because it healed the wrong way) How is it possible to be in your 60-s or 70-s and still work 2 jobs in order to barely survive, to pay the rent, bills and food?

Seeing  75-80-year old working in Wal-Mart was a shock for me 2 years ago (my last visit to USA). Most of them are working because they have to pay for their medications and what they receive from retirement is not enough. They are old and sick – but still working in order to buy pills prescribed by their doctors. Without pills they die.

So Obama wants to put an end to it. In my understanding he wants to help the poor, the sick, the uncovered, those that got rejected from insurance companies…check here for details: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare

I thought Americans will be happy (and covered with health insurance). But instead a million (mostly conservatives) marched  to US Capitol to protest against “Obama the socialist”. I could not believe it.  What is wrong with those people? Do they even know the meaning of a word “socialist”???

SOCIALISM – The set of beliefs which states that all people are equal and should share equally in a country’s money

Now, I am very happy for all those who are very rich so they can afford any health insurance they want. And I am happy for all of those who can call Emergency because they have the money to pay for it. Good for them.

But what about others? What about  those who are having a heart attack but they DON`T CALL emergency because they CAN NOT afford it? What about people who go bankrupt because they got sick? And those are majority.  Aren`t we responsible for one another? Who has the right to decide if one should  live or die according to the bank account? BTW, what if one of those  protesters  lost his health insurance due to the economic situation (recession)? Would he still protest? And why the heck didn`t they protest when Bush was spending $800 billion on WARS that were not his to fight in the first place????

Those people call themselves proud Americans?  They go to foreign countries to fight other people wars, and they proudly yell that they fight for their country! What exactly are they proud of?  Killing innocent people IN THEIR country? Chasing non existing terrorists? Or chasing OIL? At the same time they don`t want their fellow Americans to have  equal rights for  basic health insurance.

People are dying  because they can`t afford to live, people are losing their homes because they got sick, people are working 3 jobs just to survive…… Is that love for your country? Is that the American dream? Is that what America is all about?

Well, if that is the case, I would rather be a socialist than a rotten capitalist. And I would be proud to be called a socialist these days. That would only mean that I care enough not only for myself, but for others.

P.S. Don`t  conservatives swear to believe in God? Don`t they go to church every Sunday?  I DO NOT GO TO CHURCH. BUT I BELIEVE IN JESUS, HIS TEACHINGS AND HIS DEEDS. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT EVERY PERSON IS ENTITLED TO FREE HEALTH INSURANCE. AND I AM SURE  JESUS  WOULD AGREE.

½ Cup unsalted butter

2 1/3 C confectioner’s sugar

½ C cocoa

1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Centers: pecan, walnuts, whole almonds or after-dinner mints

Coatings: coconut, crushed nuts,confectioners sugar

Cream butter in large mixer bowl. Combine 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar and the cocoa; add alternately with cream and vanilla to butter. Blend well. Chill until firm. Shape small amount of mixture around desired center; roll into 1 inch balls. Drop into desired coating and turn until well covered. Chill until firm.

Makes about 3 dozen truffles

Don’t throw away those pumpkin seeds! Cook pumpkin seeds in your oven in no time at all. They can can be salted or spiced depending on your taste.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: pumpkin seeds

• Oil, olive oil, or butter

• Optional: Salt, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, or other seasoning of choice

Preparation:

Rinse pumpkin seeds. Remove all the pulp with your fingers. Drain pumpkin seeds and discard pulp. Spread out on a cookie sheet to dry overnight.

Preheat oven to 250 F. Line a baking sheet with non-stick foil.

Toss pumpkin seeds in vegetable oil, olive oil or butter. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, or your choice of seasonings. Toss to coat.

Bake about 1 hour, tossing every 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool pumpkin seeds before eating. You can store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 months.

If you like your toasted pumpkin seeds extra-salty, soak overnight in a solution of 1/4 cup salt to 2 cups of water. Dry an additional day, then proceed as above.

Bon Apetit