Judy's Turn

Thanks for the Giving

 Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that you grow to love more as you experience life. Although a lot of food is involved, it's also a time to look around the table and appreciate each member sitting at it. This Thanksgiving was extra special for us. Sam had arrived safely in Taipei for his 6 month studies, Leah was home from Humboldt, our niece and nephew were with us from Los Angeles and Becky seemed to finally be kicking the Mono (as in Nucleosis) that had beaten her down for over a month. 

Our table consisted of 14 people. Just two were not immediate family - Laurie and Dan. Laurie had been with us for Thanksgiving a few times, but this was the first time that Dan joined us. Dan has a PhD in Organic Chemistry and is a scientist at Gilead. He spent a lot of time talking to Becky at dinner and offered to help her with her backlog in Physics and Algebra. She came home from her first day back at school yesterday overwhelmed with the amount of work that she had missed (Junior year of high school) and said that she would indeed need to take Dan up on his offer. I told her to contact him, but to be aware that he had an important job and might not be able to come over this week. 

Dan is sitting at our table tonight (one day later) talking about acceleration and friction with Becky. This is after a 10 hour work day and the only payment he'll take is the knowledge that he helped Becky catch up with her studies. It is truly wonderful to hear them talking and I know back there in West Virginia where Dan grew up, there was someone special in his life raising him to be a good man.

I am constantly impressed by the goodness in the people that I meet and know that many Dans are working tonight helping others without any expectations in return. And, as an older "early adopter" of social communication products, I'm glad that I have the ability to let you know about this little slice of life. Let me know if you have a story to tell.

OKAY NOW FOR THE BIG DEALS I GOT TODAY WHILE HANGING OUT ON THE PENINSULA:

Fleur de sel Caramels from Trader Jacques (for those of you who need a translation - caramels with salt from Trader Joe's) -- $6.99 (really taste good - up front at the Hillsdale TJs)

Really beautiful boxed soaps from France and Italy at Tuesday Morning in San Mateo for $7.99 - I think they'll go fast. At the front of the San Mateo store just to the left of the cashier.

 

Happiness Delivered

A couple of years ago, my niece was over at my house. She mentioned that she liked the shoes I was wearing and asked for the brand and style. I pulled the shoe off and told her, and as I was describing all of its benefits in detail, she was typing away on the computer. I assumed that she was checking her work emails and was surprised that in the middle of my discussion of the non skid soles she turned around and said, "I just ordered a pair. They'll be here in a few days." Zappos.com. Cool

I was familiar with Zappos, but had not yet purchased anything from them. That experience registered with me. A few weeks later I set up a twitter account (late 2007). Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, was one of the first people that I followed. 

Forward to prom time, 2009. My daughter found orange tipped grey pumps to wear with her dress. The problem was that we were just a few business days away from the prom and I didn't want to pay for one day delivery service. The shoes were inexpensive, so I told her I'd order them from Zappos, but she might need to have a backup because I didn't think they'd make it here on time. A day later, Zappos sent me an email saying that my order had been rushed at no extra cost and would be delivered in two or three days. They made it here in time for the prom and they were the perfect finish to a beautiful look. 

Today Tony tweeted a memo he'd written to his employees about the completion of the Amazon.com deal. Since I was a customer, and Tony seemed like such a nice guy, I decided to send him a DM (Direct Message) on twitter and congratulate him. Somehow, in 140 characters I let him know that his success was well earned,  wished him good luck on the upcoming publication of his new book, Delivering Happiness and mentioned that I wished CEOs were so great in the 1980s, when I was just starting out my career. He replied within a few minutes and thanked me with a smile :-) . He delivered. I was happy.

Jane Fonda is on Twitter and has a Blog

You find all kinds of people on twitter. Here's one of Jane Fonda's tweets from her bed on Oscars night:

Twittering from bed. Sick. Doing The View tmrw so won't stay awake till the end, alas. I'm so rooting for Sean. "Slumdogs" a sure thing.

She also just started a blog and I find the best part of it is the picture slide show at the top on the home page. If you are patient, it will eventually show a few pictures back to back of her with Harvey Milk in the '70s. Sean Penn nailed the part. Even the way Harvey looks.

A Tweet for You

A few friends have asked me to describe twitter. I think an example of a tweet is the best way to do that. I follow Virgin Air. Here's one that they posted yesterday. Remember, you have 140 characters to get your message across. At first hard. Then easy. ;-)  :


"New flight status page with real-time flight maps, now you'll know exactly where loved ones are when in route. http://tinyurl.com/3nux3d about 6 hours ago from web"