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While I agree that the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do Unto You” seems to be a generally good idea (i.e.; being “nice, respectful, etc.”), but it comes with limitations, and in my opinion, one glaring issue…that of the belief that everybody wants to be treated the same. I would…
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The Great Gretsky calls Gordie Howe “THE GREATEST” and over the years all who love the game of hockey call the late, great Gordie Howe “Mr. Hockey.” Before I get into my love affair with NHL hockey, and the Detroit Red Wings, and the Howe family, I want to share a short vignette about a…
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Remember that song from 1969 by Zagar and Evans? Actually, the year in the title was 2525, not 2025. Probably like you, I remembered the name of the song and maybe the year, but not who performed the song. Maybe Zagar and Evans predicted Artificial Intelligence (AI) back in 1969? Check out the lyrics… “In…
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Folks, a couple of weeks ago I posted a story that I had previously told at a local storytelling monthly competition in my new hometown of Foxboro, Massachusetts know as “Foxtales”. Please see KC#33 for more info on Foxtales. Well, two nights ago I competed with 6 other story tellers and I told my Rock…
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So folks, I have decided to try something new… I participate in a monthly story-telling competition known as “Foxtales” in my relatively new home town of Foxborough, Massachusetts. The stories are supposed to be about seven minutes long and they are akin to the internationally known “Moth” tales. (The name “Moth” tales originated in the…
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“Good morning class! My name is Mr. Sanders…I moved to Massachusetts from the State of Maryland just three months ago. I served in the United States Army for 23 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel. That makes me a real “Colonel Sanders”! Yup, just like Kentucky Fried Chicken. I know, it’s kind of funny,…
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Sick and Tired of Serendipity? OK, for now, this is my final story which falls into the category of Serendipity on Steroids! Do I hear a loud AMEN! out there? OK, so this Serendipity Story really is Serendipity, and it has to do with all of my favorite football teams. And broader than that, it…
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Less than a week after I signed up for the Senior Serenaders (please see previous post CK#29) , I found myself attending my first meeting of the Township of Foxborough’s “Cultural Council” on November 1, 2023. Quite frankly, I had no idea what the Cultural Council did, but I figured that my learning a little…
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October 25, 2023 was a beautiful sunny day in Foxborough Massachusetts. My day started with a swim at the local YMCA followed by a half day of substitute teaching at the Ahern Middle School. After classes around 11:30am I headed to Fred’s Auto Repair in Mansfield to get a plug put into my leaky tire…
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If you are just tuning in to my blog site for the first time, I recommend you go back and read the most recently posted story entitled “Serendipity on Steroids” which is also referred to as “SoS#1”. Today’s story is a follow-up to “SoS#1” and describes how my Lyft driving assignment triggered my current love…
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Wow, what can I say? It is now February 2024 and all I can say is that in the last 7 months my life has been like “Serendipity on Steroids” Just to make sure I wasn’t using a big word (Serendipity) inappropriately, I looked its meaning up in Websters Dictionary. Here is what good old…
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The topic of LEADERSHIP has been the passion of my life, ever since I was in Den 3, Pack 1670 of the Cub Scouts in Southfield, Michigan (Chase ’em down the alley, run ’em down the street, Den 3, Den 3, Can’t be beat!). It continued through my glory days at Levey Junior High, Southfield…
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It has literally been years since I last published one of my “life stories.” To date I have published 25 stories and I have at least that many in “queue”. I chose to write “Life goes on – Corky and the Bartender” next as it is heartwarming, miraculous in its’ own way, and falls under…
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HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY It has been a long time since I have posted any stories on colonelskernals.blog and there are many reasons (some would call them excuses) and I am reminded of my plebe days at West Point where I was only allowed four answers to any question: 1) YES SIR!, 2) NO SIR!, 3)…
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An historic streak began on May 30, 1982. Does anyone remember what streak that was? Yup, you are right, it was the date that Cal Ripken, Jr., an All Star professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles started his 2632 consecutive game streak. He was/is called “Iron Man” for the stamina, courage, and strength he…
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Ok friends, I’ll admit that I love attention, especially positive attention. I’ve been getting a lot of it lately which fuels my passion to “keep on going”. Thanks to all of you for encouraging me to write more often….it is a calling that I had forgotten about many years ago, but it is back now…
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If you have ever seen the program “Breaking Bad”, you know that sometimes people make difficult decisions, and not all of them good ones. In that show Walter White, a chemistry teacher, “broke bad” and began producing illegal drugs in order to make a lot of money to cover his future medical bills and provide…
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Friends, this is the 20th story that I am posting on “ColonelsKernals” and through this experience I am seeing a thread that I hadn’t thought about before. Although it should be “intuitively obvious to the casual observer”, this thread didn’t present itself to me until recently. (By the way the phrase “intuitively obvious to the…
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Greetings to all! If this is the first time you are reading one of my blog posts I am going to stop you right now and ask you to first read my KC #5 post entitled “Keeping it all in perspective!” As a matter of fact, even if you have already read it, please read…
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For those of you who have been reading my posts, you will see a familiar pattern. I have described “silver linings” often which usually indicates an unfortunate experience that leads to a good experience later. This is a story which starts good and gets better. The downside is that the bulk of the story occurred…
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“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear…is fear itself.” These were the opening words spoken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his first inaugural address after winning the 1932 presidential election against Herbert Hoover. It was the peak of the great Depression, and people…
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Today (June 2) is a big day for me. It was 44 years ago today that I graduated from West Point, along with well over 800 other classmates who comprised the “Spirit of ‘76”. Every West Point graduate knows that he or she graduated from the best class ever to come out of the Academy,…
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If we have learned anything through this Covid-19 experience, it is that we never know what tomorrow brings. The phrase “you only live once” trivializes the importance of “taking care of business” while we still have time. I realized that I haven’t done proper estate planning (made a will, looked at all contingincies or “what…
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Last week I dabbled in my magic world of RUNet 2000 at Rutgers University (remember Mike Fox) and mentioned I would talk more about that great project and the great people I met working at Rutgers in a later post. This post is not that post. There will be quite a few posts highlighting my…
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Why is space sometimes referred to as “the Final Frontier”. I do not know, except that 1) it is far away, and 2) there is no air out there! I can’t help but share with you a photo of a gift from a co-worker, Mike Fox of Tishman Technologies. Mike worked with me back in…
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OK folks, I must say I have been bouyed by your responses to my earlier blog posts. Much of the feedback is coming from Facebook and from Linked-In. Which reminds me of a story (DUH)…. and today’s topic is NOT Linked-In. However, my first paragraph is about when I retired from my last permanent job…
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Ok, I’ll admit that the title of this post is misleading. As a matter of fact, it can’t even be passed off as “social honor”, it’s just a lie! (See earlier post entitled “Leadership – You Gotta Believe!!!” for an explanation of “social honor”) All I know is that my dad told me from a…
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OK, if you read my last post about meeting legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes you know that the only reason that this very exciting event happened for me was that I had endured a very bad event that had a silver lining! Remember, I, as a West Point cadet who had been in…
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Back by popular demand! Many of my personal friends from Michigan, Ohio, and West Point have asked me to tell them my “Woody Hayes Story”… So, here it is…. Of course, with the Colonel, there is never just one or a simple story…so we will get to Mr. Wayne Woodrow Hayes and why he spent…
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I have found throughout my life that having a good sense of humor can be a life saver, sometimes literally. I’ve read that having a good sense of humor has even saved marriages! Can you remember any times when you got so mad, and you WANTED to stay mad at your better half, but you…
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Friends, those of you who know me personally know that my favorite topic is LEADERSHIP. However, that topic is so broad that I like to talk about it by taking baby steps, or one bite at a time. I also like telling stories, so today I hope that my story can highlight one very important…
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You may have heard the following riddle: Question: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time” That is often used when there is a huge tusk, I mean task (pun intended) ahead that is so overwhelming that you don’t know where to start. That is NOT what today’s discussion is about.…
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For me, this topic has some very real, and in the beginning, very sad memories. But the theme today is to not give up hope…..in other words… THIS TOO SHALL PASS! Let me get through the sad part first to make a point…… On August 7, 1987 I received both the most exciting AND most…
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Bull Shit…there is plenty to do if you really think about it. If you are like many people who are imprisoned in their own home most of the time now, use this time to plan your future. Some thoughts…. Start with what you CAN and CANNOT control. This is not a CDC lecture, you all…
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It’s been a while since I posted here, but I am still living and enjoying life. My first two stories brought me back to my youth…one story of when I was a cub scout and one was of making mistakes as a baseball umpire. Both stories took place in my “formative years”. Today’s story took…
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Most people in America know that Little League baseball is for children up to the ages of 12. Where I grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area after 12 you could play Pony league which was for 13 and 14-year-olds and Colt league which was for 15 and 16-year-olds. While this story is about baseball,…
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Everybody has a their own personal “What were you doing when (fill in the blank)” memories. For people in my generation it was “the day President Kennedy was shot” and “the planes hit the twin towers on 9/11” . For me and my ninth grade classmates at Levey junior high it was “when the Tigers…
