I'm sure a few of us have been there before .....

GOOD OL' CORPORATE AMERICA!

A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

So American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

To prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program", with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment.

The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was outsourced to India.

Stan

Remember Hydrox cookies? They're back. I watched a good video about them on YouTube last night. Two partners had a cookie company, but their crooked lawyer took over their company. They started their own company and developed Hydrox - the original Oreo. The man running their original company developed a cheaper, less natural copy of the Hydrox and called it Oreo. He happened to latch onto an effective ad campaign featuring people twisting off one of the cookies to reveal the cream inside. Oreo took off, the partners from Hydrox both died suddenly, and Hydrox faded.

The brand was bought and sold over the years, and finally, it was dropped. A man started a company called Leaf to bring back a type of lollypop, and then he decided to revive Hydrox. Unfortunately, the company making Oreo - or a related company - messed up the Hydrox displays in stores, hiding them in the back, and that hurt sales of the new product. Then Oreo began calling itself "The Original." If you're wondering about the name, "hyd" is from hydrating, as in water, and "ox" is from oxygen - two things essential for life. "Oreo" comes from the name of the flower used for the design on both Hydrox and Oreos. Yes, the crooked lawyer even used the same flower for the design of his imitation cookie.

Hydrox are available on Amazon, but they're backordered. I'm on the waiting list.

Students back then were taught Etiquette. I guess there was more of an emphasis on good manners back then. We always stood and, in unison, greeted another teacher who entered the room. We learned to respect our teachers, police, and anyone in authority, play nicely with others and how to behave in public, say please and thank you, to hold doors open for others and giving seniors your seat on the bus or train.

The nuns were strict on discipline, but fair. Some of the "punishments" they handed out then would today be considered child abuse, but we all survived, and were the better for it. We learned the 4 R's: Reading, Riting, Rithmetic, Religion. We prayed, we attended mass on Sundays and sometimes on our daily schedule, and went to Benediction every Friday. During the month of May, we walked in procession around the school, honoring Mary with hymns and culminating with the crowning with flowers of a statue of Mary. We said the Pledge of Allegiance daily.

Boys wore white shirts and ties and blue slacks. Girls wore appropriate blouse and skirt.

Do you have any memories of your elementary or parochial school days?

Just for the record, wrist radios (then wrist TVs) were thought of around the time of the first video transmission. The problem was more to the size and the source of power. I think we will still have difficulty with salt and pepper shakers to act as skin sealers and surgical lasers. Again, the size and power source issues. As for the food replicator, I would be one to ask what is placed into the replicators chambers. I remember seeing the movie "Soylent Green". And plastic is still the basic material for the 3D printers. Yeah, for food, I will want it to be EXPLAINABLE!

One of my favorite TV shows was Captain Z-ro.