KNOWLEDGE PICKER'S ARCHIVE

Pick 36 - Silence

We Americans know the value of our constitutional right to freedom of speech. If that value is hidden to any of us, we are either living under a rock or are newcomers to the American way of life. However, there is a collateral value to freedom of speech that has remained well hidden. In fact, until the emergence of instant global communication this unofficial freedom has had a quiet life of its own. I am talking about the right to remain silent. As children growing up in the first half of the 20th century, we may have heard our parents or teachers admonish us that "speech is silver but silence is golden" Yes. We heard it but who of us ever promoted that pearl of wisdom. How could we pass that wisdom along to our children in an age sincerely dedicated to the proposition that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" This became ever more evident during the string of wars that have encrusted us since Vietnam. To remain silent about going to war was to remain unknown and even disenfranchised. So many of us spoke up for one side or the other. The same was true when the financial crisis of 2008 threatened the American Dream. Many of us protested and demanded accountability from our politicians and our bankers. We may even have expressed our views in the voting booth. A few of us chose to remain silent.

The hidden value in silence lies in its ability to clear the mind, to think before saying or doing anything. It is like the "pause" button on a media streaming application. The pause does not destroy the media itself. Silence does not destroy thoughts. Press the "play" button and whatever you were watching or listening to continues unabated. You can also "rewind" or "fast forward" and still retain the same media presentation. Silence works the same way for your mind. It provides time to rethink your stand on an issue or choose your words carefully. It also provides a level of privacy that is inalienable and has rarely been penetrated by tyrannical governments. That is likely to change if we continue to dilute our freedom of speech with banal, useless but addictive talk. Our only hope for rehabilitation may be to decode the hidden value in the admonition our parents and teachers once gave us: speech is silver but silence is golden.

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Pick 35 - Remain Silent

I have tried to avoid it but today I began to take an interest in the Presidential election. I confess that I do not have a favorite running in this race but I wish I did. In fact, it has been several decades since I was able to get really excited about one of the candidates. Usually it became clear by Election Day that I would have to pick the lesser of two incompetents--again. The person best suited to assume the Office of the President of the United States--in my opinion--was too smart or not crazy enough to seek the punishment this office is capable of dishing out.

In my lifetime I have voted in every Presidential election since Richard Nixon ran against Hubert Humphrey. I must admit that I envy those who can cut to the chase and go bonkers for the candidate their Party has selected to run. I cannot get past my skepticism to go down that road. Even when I voted for the candidate who offered the best solutions to the problems of the day, that candidate lost the election or worse yet, that candidate won, then proceeded to do the opposite of what he promised to do in the campaign.

If I actually vote in this election--I may still exercise my right to remain silent--I will not be able to decide until I am actually in the voting booth with my subconscious wisdom directing my finger toward the button I should press.

Sure, I tell myself, it would be a lot easier living in a country where the choice is not between two and sometimes three candidates but only one. That would be easy.
Just show up. Vote for that candidate and go home knowing that I had made the right choice because it was the only choice. And there would be no problem with Voter IDs or any other annoyances we Americans have managed to inject into a tradition that goes back centuries. NO. I am not talking about casting a vote. I am talking about the freedom to remain silent on Election Day. In fact, not only can I chose to remain silent without the fear of that ominous knock on the door in the middle of the night, I can even post a bumper sticker on my car the next day proclaiming: DON'T BLAME ME; I DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM.

That is the hidden value guaranteed by our Constitution: Not only are we allowed to vote for whomever we want to lead us; we are also allowed to remain silent on that question without incrimination or censure from our fellow citizens.

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Pick 34 - Soft Lenses

I have worn glasses since I was 12 years old. Well, that’s not really correct. I started wearing contact lenses when soft contacts became affordable in the early 1980’s. I still remember the first time I attempted to pop a contact into my eye. My wife had them before me and she made it look easy. Just place the lens on the tip of your finger. Bring your finger close enough to your eye to let the lens jump off your finger and attach to your eye. So after 25 years of spraying, wiping, scratching, misplacing and sometimes cussing my eyeglasses, I decided to give contact lenses a try.

For some twenty years my contact lenses served me well. Then I developed cataracts in both eyes. In earlier times this might have spelled the end of my contact lens days. All of the "older" people I knew who had the cataract surgery spent the rest of their sighted days wearing eyeglasses that resembled the bottoms of Coke bottles. Even if these glasses allowed them to avoid the "legally blind" stigma, they were still prohibited from driving or doing any jobs that required good vision. But it turned out that my cataract surgery had hidden value beyond my wildest dreams. When my eye surgeon removed my clouded natural lens, he implanted a newly developed artificial lens in the muscle tissue left from the natural lens. Within a day of the surgery I had 20/20 vision. With these new implants, I could see better than ever. The only drawback was that my brain could no longer control the severed muscles to focus for reading or close work. But a $5.00 pair of reading glasses was all I needed to remedy that. About a year later, my Optometrist found additional value hidden in those implant lenses. They were evenly matched for the best focal plane. This meant he could prescribe a single contact lens for one eye that converted it to a "reading eye" and my brain would focus from the eye that gave the best results: left eye for reading, right eye for driving. This was hidden value as far as the eye could see!

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Pick 33 - Google Ads

This morning as I was checking my e-mail--I use Google mail--I noticed that the ads quietly and unobtrusively appearing beside my messages tended to track my thoughts. If I used the word vacation in my message I was reminded that XYZ Cruise Line had last minute get-away deals. If I admitted that I had another sleepless night, the ads offered several natural remedies for insomnia.

I had never paid much attention to these ads because they are mostly text and not animated like those that scream out to you on Facebook and similar sites. Also, I felt it was a reasonable trade-off since Google's e-mail service provides free features that I use frequently. They help organize the hundreds of personal and business messages I send and receive each week. However, now that these ads have gotten my attention I wondered if this intuitive approach might have some hidden value.

To my pleasant surprise, I discovered that I can use the Google ads preference manager, to change my demographic profile. If I am getting too many ads oriented to my mature senior status, I can make myself younger and more vibrant to Google just by changing my profile in the preference manager. No more ads for senior-friendly cruises or remedies for incontinence. Now Google will guide me to Club Med and encourage me to use protection during those unplanned intimate moments. Einstein was right; time is really relative.

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Pick 2 - Happiness

The search for Happiness is a universal one. And in the USA, our pursuit of it is guaranteed by the Constitution. Some of us seek it in material wealth. Some of us expect others to make us happy. Some wonder why happiness is so elusive. And some of us would not know happiness if it poked us in the eye. Most of us have learned that a smile does not necessarily mean that the person flashing it is happy. Many of us believe we have had a taste of happiness at some points in our life. But that might have been when we were children and had not yet encountered disappointments and cynicism in our life. So can there be any hidden value in happiness that would make its pursuit worthwhile?

Perhaps a better approach would be to search for the hidden key to happiness that lies within us. I believe that hidden key is our own attitude. We can choose to be happy. We can choose to have a positive outlook on the events that reality throws our way. Or we can choose to stew in our own juices. Either way: it is our choice to make. And that choice is the hidden value in our attitude. We must pause to remember that our attitude is under our personal control. If we misdirect it then the consequences are all ours.

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Pick 32 - Diversity

This morning I took the usual stroll around my neighborhood. As I walked, I thought about the changes this blue collar neighborhood of 230 duplex units had experienced during the nearly 31 years I have lived here. For many of the residents who had moved in when these homes were built in 1979, this would be their "starter home" They would endure life here surrounded by struggling tradesmen and service workers until they could afford that dream house. My home was only 2 years old when I bought it from the original owner. He had made a killing in the emerging Industrial Cleaning business and he and his wife were moving to a Resort Area to open a Real Estate Management service. It would provide cleaning, maintenance, and security services to wealthy people who owned vacation homes that they rarely visited. As far as I know, he did quite well at that and likely bought his own "vacation" home where he lived year round. His story was not unique in the 1980's and 1990's. And I am sure it was repeated many times by former residents of my neighborhood.

Part of me was sad that I had not been able to capture that same dream. But part of me was happy I did not go for it. I raised three hard-working children here. They all went to college and two of them are now married with children of their own. Thanks to a low mortgage and a professional salary, my wife was able to stay home with the kids when they needed her most. She returned to her service job as a teacher assistant when our youngest child started school. Even then it was only part time until he was old enough to be home alone. We are both retired now and our home is an empty nest. Although it is small by "dream home" standards, the 1200 square feet of living space it provides now seems too much for just the two of us. Some of our friends sold their large colonials and moved to these new 55+ communities in our area. My wife and I considered that too but when we looked at the hidden value this home now holds for us, we decided to stay here until we are both too decrepit or too poor to take care of it.

Part of the hidden value we have here are the neighbors on our street. We don't get into each others business as I've seen in some of the 55+ communities. There are no restrictions on how we landscape, or what color our vinyl siding must be. We can park our cars in our driveway or on the street as long as they don't block mail delivery. Each home has its own rural-type mailbox at the end of the driveway. If you park too close to it the mailman will not deliver the mail. Some families have four cars and only three parking spaces but we work it out. No rules or police enforcement...we just work it out among ourselves. My next door neighbor has a rusty old pick-up truck with a snow plow parked in his driveway year round. It is a bit unsightly but I know from past years that when that big snowfall hits us, he will plow my drive way and clear our street parking spaces without my asking. My other neighbor has a snow blower. I don't. Two years ago when we had a snow storm, he plowed the sidewalk for our whole block. His reason? "I just got it and wanted to give it a workout." He continued to give it the same workout the rest of that season and last year too.

The other hidden value here lies in the newest neighbors who are chasing the American Dream. Just on my block we have an Egyptian family, a Korean family, an Indian family, and an Afro-American Family. We all get along but we do not get in each others business. There is a ball field and walking trail adjacent to our neighborhood. On any Summer Sunday there is a Cricket game on the field. In
Fall the Regional Rugby match is held there, Most other times there is either a youth Soccer game or Legion Baseball game going on. If you notice the hidden value here you we realize that while we are a diverse community, we are not a divisive community.

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Pick 31 - My Word

He needed a hand up and I happened to be the only one willing to provide it. I am not wealthy and there were times in my life when I was the one needing the hand up. But on this day I had the amount of money in my wallet that he needed and on this day I did not need it. So I explained the terms. This was not a hand out. I expected him to pay me back on the day I needed that money to be back in my wallet. He agreed and we shook hands on our agreement. I did not expect him to sign a note or give me any collateral. I am not a Pawn Broker or a Loan Shark. I just wanted his word and handshake that he would pay me back and that was enough.

On the agreed payback day, he met me at the agreed place and handed me the money. He wanted to add interest to the amount but, I assured him I did not expect that. Instead, I suggested he pay that forward. Give it to charity or use it to give someone else a hand up when the opportunity came along. I do not know if he did so or not. But I do know that I can trust him to keep his word.

That was not the case for some other people that I had helped this way. Despite the sincere handshake and promises, I received only excuses and delays. That would not have bothered me if the offending person really did have a run of bad luck and was willing but unable to pay me back. That was not the case. This person clearly decided to take advantage of me. His gain came at my loss. But from many years of experience with these things I know that my loss will be covered in some other way. It always seems to work out that way. I cannot say the same for the person who took advantage of me. The time will come when he will need a hand up again. But this time his word will have no value and his open hand will be seen as no better than a pickpocket. That is the hidden value in a sincere person's word and handshake. I know that same hand will be there for me if I need a hand up.

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Pick 30 - Heat Wave

For the past few days it has been in the 90's here in the North East. Many folks here consider that a heat wave and long for cooler weather. But I like to think there is hidden value in this heat wave. It is the beginning of August. In this part of the country we have grown up with the perception that it is always too warm and humid in August. So we usually complain and look forward to the cooler weather that Fall will soon bring us. However, what if we were to convince ourselves that it is not August but February--usually the coldest month in the North East. But we have been fortunate enough to afford a two-week stay at a luxury hotel on a Florida beach. Now we would begin to feel sorry for our friends and relatives stuck back in the cold North East. The temperature has not changed but our mental attitude has. Attitude is the hidden value lurking in our own mind and under our control alone.

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Pick 29 - Pennies From Heaven

Today as I stooped down to pick up the Morning Newspaper in our driveway I noticed a shiny new penny about a foot from the paper. Its newly minted glow so contrasted the black driveway that I could hardly miss it. I went to pick it up but hesitated when I recalled what a dear friend had told my wife and me about such pennies.

We were discussing the "pennies from heaven" stories that appear in the Dear Abby column from time to time. Most of the spotters of these pennies claim that finding such a coin had profound significance for them because the penny had some feature that connected it to a deceased loved one. Sometimes the mint year matched the birth date of the loved one. In other cases, the penny may have been a collectable that matched one in the coin collection of the deceased but the circumstances under which it was found may have been extraordinary--like it was in the bottom of a vase bought at a yard sale hundreds of miles from where the deceased loved one last lived. Whatever the significance, the penny was thought to be a sign from the deceased loved one--usually a positive sign. So the name "pennies from heaven" was coined into the English language.

In our discussion this dear friend noted that in her family, which was rooted in Eastern European traditions, when one spots a single coin on the ground it should not be picked up before determining if it is lying heads up or heads down. If it was lying heads down you'd best let it be because it is the purveyor of bad luck. The shiny penny I found was thankfully heads up. But the hidden value was not in the coin. It was in the fact that within the hour, my wife and I would be heading to the funeral of that dear friend. She had passed away a just few days earlier.

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Pick 28 - Bending Rules

Today I waited at a red light for at least 5 minuets. I was the fifth car in the line. I had gone through this intersection before so I knew something was wrong with the light. This is one of those smart traffic lights. It senses when no cars are coming through on one street and if there are cars waiting on the crossing street it bypasses the normal wait time and turns green for the crossing street. So either something was wrong with the light control or the timer reset itself incorrectly after a power outage. Whatever the cause, 5 minutes is a long time to wait for a traffic light to change. The person at the front of the line must have been an inexperienced driver or visitor from some foreign land. I say this because any experienced American driver would have waited the customary time and if the light remained red with no opposing traffic in sight, would have proceeded cautiously through the intersection against the red light. The fact that the driver behind the lead person did not lean on his/her horn indicates the driver at the head of the line would probably freeze up if horns were blown. So all five drivers waited in patience. Finally the light turned green and we proceeded through.

As I mulled over this experience, I realized the hidden value here. American drivers are likely the only drivers who, when faced with this kind of decision, would give the light its due respect and proceed through the intersection. It is part of our nature. We do not serve our technology. It serves us. So we are not afraid to defy a rule when it serves no purpose. I don't believe this is true in other parts of the world. In Germany, if faced with the same situation, the driver might wait all day or until a person in authority came by and waived them through. In Italy, the red light would probably be ignored most of the time so the driver would not even notice how long it remained red. In England, the driver would likely turn around then register a proper complaint with the Ministry of Traffic Control. But in America, there is hidden somewhere in our inner being the ability to distinguish between deference to a rule for the common good vs.a rule for the sake of having a rule. Traffic lights provide a prime example of this principle. We know we need traffic lights to maintain safety and manage access to public roads. But we also know that traffic lights are mere fallible machines. When they fail we are able to do the right thing without hesitation or the approval of a higher authority.

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Pick 27 - Middle Class

Yesterday I was driving past our local Little League field. I had to go extra slow because there was a Round Robin play-off game going on. The AA, AAA, and Major League fields surround an elementary school. Both have been pretty quiet since school let out and the regular Little League season ended in early June. But today the fields were crowded with players and spectators. The school parking lot, which doubles as the parking lot for Little League, was also full. There was no hidden value here. It was all quite open and obvious. And I am sure this scene is repeated in just about every town in the country. Unfortunately, such events may become unsustainable within a few years. No. They are not government-funded. They make do with volunteer help and funds raised through annual candy sales and advertising on their fields and on the uniforms provided by various sponsors. But like parks and public playgrounds, Little League is a Middle Class institution. It endures year after year because hard working parents are willing to pool their resources and donate their spare time to the benefit of the community. This, in turn, benefits their children far more than anything they could provide as an individual. And that is the hidden value, not just of the Little League, but of public libraries, community bands, walking and biking trails, even public beaches at the Shore. It is a Middle Class value that is uniquely American. But it is a value that may disappear if we fail to notice it before it gives way to private property, and privileged membership.

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Lesson 26 - Telemarketer

I absolutely despise Telemarketers. They steal my time and they use the telephone service I pay for to do so. I cannot think of another "nuisance activity" that requires me to register on a list to avoid it. Our local municipality has several ordinances on the books to protect me from noise, unwanted peddlers, and unsafe construction practices. I don't have to register to benefit from these protections. Just the opposite. The contractor, sales person, or party organizer must get a permit to do their thing in my neighborhood. And I can even protest the permit without cost, if I chose to do so. But, for some reason known only to the US Congress and my telecommunications provider, I am the one who has to register to get a waiver from the Telemarketer's right to steal my time and abuse my telephone service. It is called the DO NOT CALL list.
My land line telephone number has been on that list for the past 5 years and I still get these calls. Only difference now is the calls are made by machines. No sweet-talking human voice, just a pre-recorded sales pitch that informs me I am "entitled" to a very special discount price on something I never knew I needed. At the end of the pitch I am politely told to "Press 1 for more details, Press 2 to be removed from our call list" The first time I got such a call, I pressed 2 and the line went dead. A few weeks later I got a call from the same telemarketer so I knew pressing 2 was a waste of time.

Figuring I was a bit smarter this time, I pressed 1 and waited to see where that led me. Sure enough a human voice responded. The person on the other end seemed very happy that I had responded and in very broken English informed me that by signing up today I could get a 10% discount on whatever it was he was pitching. If I weren't so dang angry, this would have been a funny scene. It reminded me of that TV series last season called "Outsourced" It was based on a movie by the same name and it was hilarious. But I had a serious message to convey so I composed myself and asked if our conversation was being recorded for quality control. He responded yes. So I said I wanted my phone number removed from their Call List immediately. I noted that I had kept a record of the days and times they had called me and was meeting with my Attorney to sue the company he represented for violation of my DO NOT Call rights. Then I concluded with an apology to the sales person to recognize his humanity and assure him that this was not personal and that we both were victims of corporate greed. I told him I would pray that he got a better job and would not have to resort to such deceit to make a living. And that is where the hidden value lies in this incident.

Both of us were victims of a business model we did not create and would not accept if we had a choice. Yet when we remind ourselves that we are both human beings trying to make our way in these difficult times, then we can turn bad karma to good and that has more power than any ordinance or corporation.

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Pick 25 - Little Shop on Main Street

He has a tiny shop and storefront that he shares with a Chinese Take-Out on Main Street. I only met him a few years year ago when my desktop PC decided to crash its hard disk just when I was in the middle of a writing assignment. I have lived in this area over 30 years and I am sure I passed by his shop hundreds of times. There is an old sign in the small show window that proclaims "Custom Built Systems" and "Servicing All Major Brands" I normally would have taken my store-bought PC back to the big box store for repair but that would be expensive, take at least a week, and open my personal information to total strangers. So I took a chance and brought it into Larry's shop. I was amazed to see how many used PCs and spare parts he had stuffed in that little shop. It reminded me of a salvage yard like they used to have for junked cars back in the day. I brought my PC in and set it on the large wooden desk that served as office desk and work bench. Larry is not big on conversation. We exchanged information and almost before I finished telling him about the hard disk crash he had the case off and was inspecting the hard drive. Then he rattled off a price (quite reasonable) and said I could pick it up the next day if he was able to load Windows on the new drive and apply my license to get all the updates. "Call me before you come in." he cautioned. "I may run into trouble getting Windows up the way your PC likes to see it" So the next afternoon I called and he told me that he was having a problem with one of the loader applications and would need a few more hours. I came back at 5 PM and it was ready to go. After a few tips on how to restore the business applications I had lost in the crash he gave me the bill--just as quoted, and I took the PC home.

Tomorrow I am taking my PC back to Larry for another repair. this time it is the Power Supply. More than likely he will have a replacement immediately available and will repair it while I wait. But besides the quick service, I will again be happy with the cost. Both of these important details would have remained hidden inside the little shop on Main Street if I had not taken a chance and checked it out.

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Pick 24 - Political Parties

Today I am wondering if there is any hidden value in our current two-party political system. Most of my friends contend that neither party represents their interests anymore. Even worse, the differences between the platforms of the two parties is determined by the special interests of the large corporations who fund political campaigns. They say: follow the money trail--if you can find it--and it is easy to understand why Party A supports a national health insurance plan while Party B totally opposes it. Or understand why Party B opposes any environmental regulations on gas, oil, and coal extraction under the guise of cheap energy and more jobs.

But this blog is not a forum for political discussion. I want to point out the value of limiting our selection to two major camps even tough third-party candidates are free to enter the race and get on the ballot if they qualify. One hidden value of TWO is that it is natural. Think of all the expressions that support this:

"It takes two to Tango."
"Two is company--three is a crowd."
"Three strikes and you're out! (never two strikes )"
Even the US Treasury prints $2 bills but not $3 bills.
Every SW developer knows there are only two expressions that count "0" and "1"
Then there is the old "one, two, punch" If you got to "three" it was the other guy's punch knocking you out.
In the British Parliamentary system, elected Representatives sit on one side of the chamber if their party has the majority and on the other side if not. While relegated to the minority side, one is expected to oppose everything the ruling side does or wants to do. I think the objective is to proclaim "I told you so!" every time the majority makes a blunder that could have been averted if they had listened to "the loyal opposition" After enough "I told you so's" the opposition can call for a vote of "no confidence" in the ruling party. If enough voters agree, then a general election is held. If the string of blunders was so bad, the voters might elevate the loyal opposition into the ruling majority and they would switch sides with the losers. It is all fun to watch and costs the public little or nothing because it is part of the established political process and is telecast without charge to the political candidates. This does not preclude special interest groups or influence peddlers from large corporations. Unlike America, the British had the foresight to give these high-rollers a place of their own in Government. Its is no secret that the House of Lords represents big money, large corporations, and even the will of the Monarchy. That is what the Lords have been appointed to do. And that leaves the elected Representatives free to exercise their primary responsibility to the Crown: looking after the needs of the common people. After all, if there are no common people, then there is no need for a Monarch.
So the hidden value of our two-party system might be it's throwback to our British roots. Perhaps if the Democratic Party was to declare openly that it represents only those people who depend on a paycheck for their livelihood. And if the Republican Party declared openly that it represents only corporate, big money constituents--like those named in the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court--then the hidden value of our two-party system could be reasserted and we the people could fill the Senate with Republicans and the House with Democrats. It would not be long before a "loyal opposition" evolved in both chambers and that would make C-span the most watched cable network. Moreover, the politicians would not need to raise millions of dollars for re-election campaigns. They would just have to accumulate enough "I told you so's" to win control of their chamber.

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Pick 23 - Coincidences

Today is Sunday. I state this in advance because the hidden value I personally encountered today may sound like a testimonial and I want to assure you that I am not trying to impart spiritual wisdom in this blog. The fact that I chose to write on this today is purely coincidental. And it is the hidden value in the coincidences of our life that I want to address.

My whole life has been a series of coincidences. For most of my youth I gave them no thought. They just occurred. I shrugged and moved on. In middle age, I may have paid closer attention because coincidental events began to hold more meaning. For example, I made a major career change at the age of 35. Today such changes are all too common. But in that era few sane people did that--especially when they were well-established in their career paths and had a growing family to support. Looking back on it now I realize that what I thought was a coincidence may have been the conscious work of some Higher Power.

I did not have any intention of changing careers at that time. Oh yes...like most restless 30-somethings I dreamed of bigger and better things. However, I never projected those dreams into any action. One day out of the blue I found myself taking my brother-in-law around to different business sites in our area. He had been unemployed for nearly two years thanks to a consolidation of his employer with another company. Although he was a specialist in the work he did, he did not have the seniority required to hold onto his job and his counterpart in the other company replaced him. There were no equivalent jobs where he lived which is why he was unable to find work with an income capable of supporting his family. So we spent a Tuesday in March driving from company to company inquiring about potential openings in his specialty. Rather than just sit in the car and wait for him, I decided to engage in my own fantasy about changing careers. At one Blue Chip company, the HR people took the time to interview both of us and explain in detail how our skills matched their current needs. It was like a personal job fair.
In my case they picked up on my background in teaching and my love of writing. That was the first time I heard the term "technical writer" along with the encouragement that a new military contract had just been awarded that would create job openings for many technical writers. My brother-in-law was also encouraged. They expected immediate openings in his field.

So you may be wondering where the coincidence is here because most people get jobs this way. Except in our case, the next business office we visited happened to be the new headquarters for the start-up project. They had just moved in the furniture that day. Since they planned to start hiring immediately the HR person there asked us if "they had sent us over from the main building" Not realizing that this was the very military program or even the same company we had just heard about, we nodded an affirmative. My brother-in-law was hired on the spot and I was given a tentative invite because technical writers would not be required for a few months. I interviewed with the head of the new Technical Support department in late May and started my 28 year career there in July. For me it was like a fantasy come true. There were days when I could not wait to get to work.

Similar coincidences occurred in my 50's and 60's but by then I was ready to admit to myself that there are no coincidences in life. There is only hidden value that can be ignored or explored. If I chose to explore them, I realize that they are not the result of random chaos but are more like signposts showing the way. I don't have to go that way. But if I do, I am now sure that the place they guide me to will be the right place for me.

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Pick 22 - Friends

Everyone has friends and acquaintances. That is an essential part of human nature. Social media works because of this. Otherwise, why would so many of us spend so much time on-line following the Facebook and Twitter posts from friends and even celebrities who are total strangers to us. No hidden value there. But a closer look at the people I have friended over the years--some before the Internet age--reveals a hidden value in some of them. My best friend from childhood is like that. From grade 7 to high school graduation we did everything together. This included good pursuits like prepping each other for final exams and some mischief I won't disclose here. (My kids may be reading this.) When we each went away to different colleges then different career tracks, years went by with no contact except for a few letter exchanges. But when we both decided to attend our 10th high school reunion, we connected immediately. It was like the playbook of our lives had been Paused for a few seconds and then the Play button was hit. Neither of us had changed our political views. He was always Liberal and I was Conservative both in life and at the voting booth. We were in high school when JFK became President and we spent hours arguing about social vs. responsibility. We picked up the same discussion at our recent get-together. "Same tree--different monkeys" is the way he summed up the current political battles. I had to agree. Not with the assessment but with him. Even though he is actually a year younger, his Irish-German heritage makes it extremely difficult for him to concede any argument with me. That may very well be the hidden value in our friendship. The special connection we had in childhood is still there and ready to reactivate at the press of a button.

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Pick 21 - Search Engines

As a professional writer, I must spend a few hours each day doing on-line research. Although I sometimes find this tedious, I take comfort in knowing that the depth and scope of research I can do in minutes using tools like Google would have taken me weeks back in the days when the printed page was the only way to get information. But the hidden value I want to share today lies in the reach we gain by having a simple Internet connection and a Browser. Prior to the Internet, I had only one reliable source of information: the nearest library. It may have been the school library, a public library, or a professional library maintained by my employer. On rare occasions when the need for special information justified the expense, I could subscribe to a research service that would locate information in a distant or foreign library, photocopy the pages and mail them to me. This was an expensive process and still could take a few days. The FAX machine made this process faster but no less expensive. Today, as I am writing this blog, I can enter a keyword or phrase in my Google search tool and within the blink of an eye, have a plethora of leads to the information I want. Of course, it takes some skill to find the right stuff but, for me, that is more fun than having to read hundreds of pages in books to get to the pay dirt. And that is the hidden value for me.

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