Is it time to expect the unexpected?

I don't know what it is about shows like "America's Got Talent", "American Idol", etc. but nearly every season on each of them, someone gives a performance that you just wouldn't expect. Someone comes onto the stage that you know has absolutely no business being there. You can see it in the way they carry themselves, their shoulders are slumped, they have almost no self confidence. And some of them even admit "Confidence is a problem for me". But then they do what it is they do and you can tell at the end of it, after hearing the thunderous applause, their whole attitude has changed. Even Simon Cowell can't dissuade them and often times Simon admits "Wow, I never expected that!".

So why is it that based on appearances alone, we think that someone can't possibly be what they're trying to be? Why is it that we often times don't give em' a chance? What hidden talents do you have that people aren't willing to give YOU credit for? What hidden talents do you have that YOU don't give you credit for?

I remember in High School and really all through my whole school career . . . I was looked at as the "fat kid". Yeah, I was (am) bigger than most. But I had skillz. My buddy Randy and I were the reigning intermural pickleball champs. I was on the swim team and the water polo team. No one expected someone my size to be athletic. Especially when it came to running. Swimming sure, you could see that . . . extra padding he'll float, of course he can swim, but RUN? No way.

Every week in PE, we had to run a mile. And every week I got beat by our PE teacher. He was in his 60's. Every week he ran a 6:00 mile. On the dot. Not 5:59, not 6:01. So I made it my personal mission to beat the old man. Believe it or not, I was usually in the top 3 or 4 runners in the class. I ran a 6:30 . . . then a 6:20, eventually I was down to a 6:05. On the very LAST mile of the year, the PE assistants knew of my goal. I was right behind the old man on the first lap: "1:30 John!" was the call. Next lap "2:59 John! Keep it up!" I could feel it. THIS was the day. On the third lap I Pulled just ahead of him. "4:27 John! You've got it!" . . . beared down and gave every last drop of energy. With each lap, the assistants encouragement gave me that extra little push. Now I know I'm ahead of the old man coming into the finish, the only question was "How fast?" 5:55. I did it! I beat the old guy. People were stunned. They didn't expect that from me. Of course next week for "The Pit" run . . . 4.5 miles, he absolutely CRUSHED ME. But hey, I had my moment.

So who aren't you giving credit to? Let them know. You adore them. Give them that little push they might need to be GREAT! To be who they can be, without judgement, without restrictions. Make a difference in someone's life.

Here are two videos that inspired my post:

Paul Potts from 2007 "Britain's Got Talent" and Susan Boyle from 2009 "Britain's Got Talent" . . . enjoy!



For some reason, YouTube isn't allowing the video to be embedded . . . so here's a link to the video, watch it. Be inspired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

John's Favorite MLS Photo of the day . . .

As I look for homes for client, I come across all kinds of photos on the MLS . . . this one in particular struck me as very artistic. (not) If I ever shoot photos like this . . . or rather, if they ever make it to the MLS, shoot me. I TAKE photos like this all the time . . . I just don't let anyone see them. :-)

Enjoy:

Will do IT for Food . . .

It's a blessing and a curse being a geek sometimes . . .

Today I was sitting in the lobby of our office chatting with some colleagues when one whips out his brand new Treo and says "Hey John, can you configure this for me so I can get my e-mail on it?"

"Sure Kim, not a problem" . . . Treo now configured to get John L. Scott e-mail.

As another walks through and asks what we're doing, I say "I'm holding an IT session here in the lobby, do you need your phone configured to do anything?" (Sometimes I just want to hit myself with a ball and peen hammer) he replies "Well you know, could you show me how to get on the internet and on the MLS website?"

So a brief demonstration of how the internet browser on a Blackberry works ensued . . . Followed by the PDA login site for the NWMLS . . . .

To Kim's credit, he DID take me out to lunch . . .

Dan?

Times, they are a changin' . . . for the better

Interesting how a BBQ grill can be a reflection on the current state of your life. So last fall, I was at work and Teri had a girlfriend over and they were going to BBQ. They called me to say we were out of propane and I explained there was another tank next to the grill and to just swap it out. Well, in doing so, they cross-threaded the OPD coupling on the regulator hose. (Hi, I'm Hank Hill, I sell propane and propane accessories). So for the winter and up until now, we've basically been grill-less. Not too much of an issue because we rarely (why, I don't know?) grill in the winter.

Last week I ordered the part ($20.00 with shipping) from Coleman and it arrived at my office today all shiny and new. So by this evening, I'll be up and running again with my grill.

How is this a reflection on my life you might ask? I'm glad you did, because I'm going to tell you.

Step back in time 3 - 4 years ago and had this happened then, I would have said what a pain it was to order the part from Coleman, would have given away my grill on Craigslist and used the whole ordeal as an excuse to buy a shiny new grill. But these are leaner times my friend. With the downturn in the economy and housing market, we're all making different choices.

On the weekend, Teri and I would frequently go out to breakfast on Saturday AND Sunday. For some reason, breakfast is always $30.00 when we go out. And breakfast is about the CHEAPEST meal to make. So now, if we do go out, it's only on one of the two days and not every weekend. This weekend in fact, I bought $28.00 worht of groceries and we had breakfast at home both Saturday and Sunday and we have enough left over for next weekend too.

I've previously blogged about my new energy saving bulbs around the house and I'm constantly looking for other bulbs to change out. Now that Teri is eating beef, we've gotten Costco packs of Rib Eyes that typically come with three or four 16 oz Rib Eyes. We bring them home, cut each in half and freeze them. So normally I could wolf down an entire pound of Rib Eye in a sitting, I'm eating half of that and we compliment it with veggies to take up the slack. What would be a $70.00 or more meal in a restaurant becomes a $15.00 meal at home.

Movie tickets have recently hit $10.00 here on the west coast and now to see a movie, with dinner beforehand is about an $80.00 affair for the two of us. Enter our Netflix membership. Sure, we'll still go see the big blockbuster for a first run movie, but we're both perfectly content to wait for most of them to arrive on Blu-Ray in the mail.

So yesterday while I was pressure washing the back patio, I hit the grill a couple times and it's shiny and new again. Tonight, the gas will flow and we'll be back in business. Just like homes will start selling again (Nearly all of my listings have signed around offers on them) and the stock market will rise. My mamma always said "Life is like a BBQ Grill with a functioning OPD valve and regulator".

Small changes, tighter belts, all good changes for the better. When things return to "normal" I'm hoping we have the tenacity to keep these changes in place.