[linux-help] Re: [Fwd: Fwd: Fw: MARBLES]

[Craig Terhune <craigter@xxxxxxxxx>]

>                                                Marbles
>    [Future Diamonds read this column daily]    - author
>                                                unknown
> 
>   The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.
>   Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being
>   the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of
>   not having to be at work. Either way, the first few
>   hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
> 
>   A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement
>   shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the
>   morning paper in the other. What began as a typical
>   Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that
>   life seems to hand you from time to time.
> 
>   Let me tell you about it.
> 
>   I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band
>   on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning
>   swap net.
> 
>   Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap,
>   with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know
>   the kind, he sounded like he should be in the
>   broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was
>   talking with something about "a thousand marbles". I was
>   intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
> 
>   "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your
>   job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you
>   have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard
>   to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or
>   seventy hours a week to make ends meet.
> 
>   Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
> 
>   He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something
>   that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own
>   priorities." And that's when he began to explain his
>   theory of a "thousand marbles."
> 
>   "You see, I sat down one day and did a little
>   arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five
>   years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on
>   average, folks live about seventy- five years."
> 
>   "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with
>   3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average
>   person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me
>   Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
> 
>   "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think
>   about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that
>   time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred
>   Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be
>   seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left
>   to enjoy."
> 
>   "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble
>   they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to
>   round-up 1000 marbles.
> 
>   I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear
>   plastic container right here in the shack next to my
>   gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble
>   out and thrown it away."
> 
>   "I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I
>   focused more on the really important things in life.
>   There is nothing like watching your time here on this
>   earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
> 
>   "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off
>   with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This
>   morning, I took the very last marble out of the
>   container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday
>   then I have been given a little extra time.
> 
>   And the one thing we can all use is a little more
>   time."
> 
>   "It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time
>   with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on
>   the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and
>   going QRT, good morning!"
> 
>   You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this
>   fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think
>   about. I had planned to work on the antenna that
>   morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams
>   to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went
>   upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
> 
>   "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to
>   breakfast."
> 
>   "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh,
>   nothing special, it's just been a long time since we
>   spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we
>   stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some
>   marbles."
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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