Steve Harvey

Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America and Canada , while no American nor Canadian group nor Australia is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to have to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.

As you may have guessed, this wasn’t written by me. The original is by Robert A. Hall, a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. The full post (with updates) can be read on his blog

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about father,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.”

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note:
I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:
A rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that the Lord didn’t do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch – holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Junk telephone calls and mail are becoming more and more prevalent. Hopefully these tips will help put a stop to it all.

1) When you get a telephone canvaser call you, say “Hold on, please”, then put down your phone and walk off (instead of hang-up) and carry on with what you are doing. Then when you eventually hear BT’s ‘beep-beep-beep’ tone, you know it’s time to go back and hang up your handset… you have efficiently completed your task. Doing this would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

2) When you get those ‘pre-approved’ letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-prepaid return envelopes, right?
It costs them more than the regular postage ‘IF’ and when they are returned. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-prepaid return envelopes?!

Send an advert for your local chimney sweep to HSBC Bank… they might need one!
Send a pizza coupon to Readers Digest… in case their canteen packs up. You get the idea.

If you didn’t get anything else that day, then just send them back their blank application form…. after all, it is their form!

If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn’t on anything you return.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you just want to keep them guessing! It still costs them, and it is their envelopel… you are just returning it!!!!

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the post, but folks….we need to OVERWHELM them, in order to stop them.

Let’s let them know what it’s like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they’re paying for it…Twice!

Since the Royal Mail is saying that email is cutting into their business profits, let’s help them so they will not need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea!

At a recent sale I attended, I purchased an item that was labeled as a “Chinese Olympic Sailing Trophy”. I have searched eBay, Google images, the Beijing Olympics website and the home of Qingdao Sailing Club, but have yet to see anything similar.

After writing this post, my next course of action will be to send pictures of the trophy to the Olympic Sailing Commitee… both here in the UK and in China.

While I am waiting for a reply; I am hoping someone reading this can help shed some light on what this actually is, what it was presented for, approximate value, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this.

Below is some basic information and a few pictures. If you need anything more, please leave a comment or contact me.
My email address is steve at sharvey dot co dot uk

Dimensions:
Overall height is 25cm
Width of the base is 11.5cm