A Miscellany

It is a foggy, gray October morning in New York City. I saw my daughter last night… we got a big search project over the finish line earlier this week… I have a large cup from my favorite New York City coffee shop, Marathon Coffee…

What could be better than this?

This week’s “Thoughts” is a miscellany:

Does anyone reading this have any connections to the US House of Representatives?

I would like to offer to have Caldwell Partners perform an executive search to find the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. This would not be a “pro bono” search; I will charge Congress the going rate for an executive search, seeing that they are charging me the going rate for my federal income taxes.

A search for the Speaker of the House of Representatives would be challenging, but… what search isn’t? What baffles me is that the person who is third in line for the Presidency need not be elected as a member of the House of Representatives. The United States Constitution says only that “the House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other offices.”

I need to do a little bit of research on why the GOP Conference adopted a rule that says that no one indicted for a felony punishable by more than two years in prison can serve in the leadership. Geez, that rules out quite a lot of people! What happened to the old “innocent until proven guilty" rule?

It will be a tough search, but I know we can do it. We need only find someone who can speak… in a house… and can wield one of those wooden hammers and slam it down hard one time. What’s so hard about that?

My "Book of the Month"?

Arthur Brooks and the “Patron Saint of Goodness,” Oprah Winfrey, have teamed up to write an excellent book with a very misleading title – Build the Life You Want – The Art and Science of Getting Happier. Truth be known, the “co-author” (Winfrey) is superfluous to the content and the message of the book. I can only imagine that, in this case, Oprah is involved to attract attention, kind of like television cameras seem to be attracted to Taylor Swift at NFL football games. (Speaking of that… will the Kansas City Chiefs start playing all of their games in Europe once Taylor Swift’s tour starts there in November?)

What I like about Arthur Brooks’ latest book is that he does a great job of weaving together religion, sociology, neurology, and psychology, in an interesting and understandable way.

I did not pick up this book because I was unhappy, nor because I felt a need to “build the life I want.” Instead, I just heard Brooks’ being interviewed by one of my favorite podcasters, Rich Roll, and as always, Brooks was informative and interesting. I really like his “four pillars of happiness”: family, friendship, meaningful work, and transcendence (spirituality).

Admittedly, I was hoping I would get a new car from Oprah after reading the book, but to no avail. That makes sense since a new car was not one of Brooks’ four pillars.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the latest love of my life.

No, I am still happily married to the woman I have loved for over three decades.

In fact, Jill introduced me to the “apple of my eye.”

Actually, this new object of my affection is the “Apple of My Wrist” – my new Apple Watch.

My Apple Watch is amazing! It measures everything about me and tells me everything I need to do… mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

My Apple Watch has replaced my need to think.

Now that I have “hit for the Apple cycle” by owning four Apple products (iPhone, earbuds, iPad and Apple Watch), I can hardly wait for the launch of the next Apple products! These include:

“Apple Shoes” – just put them on, and you will be taken to wherever Apple CEO Tim Cook wants you to go!
“Apple Apples” – designed with the elegance, beauty and grace of all Apple products, the Apple Apple will retail for $1,129, or roughly the cost of one Honey Crisp apple at Whole Foods.
“One Bad Apple Don’t Spoil the Whole Bunch, Girl” – This Apple product is basically a computer that doesn’t work and makes you feel grateful for all the other Apple products you own!