Friday, November 14, 2008

Random Act of Kindness -

This is a awesome story…

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Oct 05, 2008
The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog 'Leisha's Random Thoughts' has translated the story.
It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 dollars surcharge:


When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.


Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.


As tears streamed down her face, she heard a 'gentle and friendly voice' behind her saying, 'That's okay, I'll pay for her.'


Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.


-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.


She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
Who was the man?


Barack Obama.


Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated 100 dollars to his campaign:


-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.


Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:
In the spring of 2006 Mary's parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.


And Obama replied:
In a letter to Mary's parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped 'United States Senate,

      Washington DC', Barack Obama writes:

'I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me

of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I could help back then, and I'm delighted

to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes.

      Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator'.

     The parents sent the letter on to Mary.
Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the election, especially when race relations is the heated subject, she relates the story of the kind man who helped out a stranger-in-need over twenty years ago, years before he had even thought about running for high office.


Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along.

 

Happy Friday!

 

nan@brainybetty

Obama's Random Act of Kindness - Urban Legends

Monday, November 10, 2008

3 stubborn PC problems you can fix

This is a useful article to help you step by step when

a. you keep getting a "Your system is running low on virtual memory" message.

b. Your taskbar has disappeared or

c. Your windows slide off the desktop.

3 stubborn PC problems you can fix

 

Well, the election is finally over and its back to work and business. I, for one, am looking forward to a changed government and a changed country in the coming years.

 

logo Our new company Intellipodcast got incorporated in the last couple of months and we are so excited to see how people are using that site to create audio and video shows free online.

 

One technology teacher is using it at a high school to create video broadcasts with his students about daily announcements at the school. A real estate broker is using it to showcase homes and even video directions to his office. A composer is creating web broadcasts for his fans. Others are using private audio to create affirmations and download them to their mp3 players or burn onto CD. A movie producer is using the site to share video footage that was not used in a released movie.

 

We think that small businesses and organizations can create shows to communicate with and inform their audience and engage visitors on their own websites and blogs.

 

We invite you to check out the site at www.intellipodcast.com where you can sign up for a free account and keep it as long as you'd like! We think you'll find it as useful as our Brainy Betty site!

Happy Fall and have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

 

nan @ brainybetty