We frequently hear about the need for governments—local, county, state, and federal—to get competing bids, and too often we learn after the fact that contracts were let without getting bids.  But many people ask, “Does getting competing bids really make any difference?”  I have the evidence for a definitive answer to that question.

Before telling you of a personal experience I had this week, let me point out that probably every reader of this blog gets bids for themselves.  For example, when we are in need of an expensive item (such as a new or used car, a new stove or refrigerator, a new washing machine and drier, or a new computer or printer), most of us will shop around, looking at different models and going to at least a couple of stores or dealers before deciding what to buy.  Although we do not usually ask the salesperson for a formal bid, we are, by shopping around, exercising our own process of bid taking. 

But sometimes we find it helpful to get formal bids.  That happened to me this week. Read more…

Last week when my wife and I were in the car, I was zigzagging down the road, having difficulty dodging all the potholes left over from winter, not yet repaired.  It was impossible to miss all of them, jarring the car each time we hit one.  My wife commented, “This is like trying to dodge the potholes of life.  You just can’t miss them all no matter how hard you try.”

How right she was!  Life has many potholes, and when you hit them, you are jarred, the wheels of life are knocked out of line, and sometimes your tires blowout and you have to come to a complete stop.  Of course, I am speaking metaphorically.  But you know what I mean by the potholes of life, and unless you are a very unusual person, you have experienced many of them yourself. 

Just how does one cope with the potholes of life?  Read more…

While at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, a series of twelve large posters that extended for about thirty feet caught my attention.  The twelveposters were all under one heading: “12 Habits of Highly Healthy People.”  Note: not just healthy people, but “highly” healthy people.  I spent some time in thinking about each of the twelve habits.  Some were not surprising–others were, at least for me.  Space does not permit my going into each in great detail, but here are some highlights. 

Habit 1: Physical Activity.  We’ve all heard from numerous sources that physical activity is good for people, but here are a few important details: finding a physical activity that you like (enjoy) and committing to doing it, every day, for about thirty minutes.  It may be as simple as just taking a walk.  Logging daily results will help keep you on track.  Read more…

A good friend of mine asked me the other day if it was correct to say, “taken back” as an expression of surprise. The answer is “no”; the correct phase is “taken aback.” That may sound funny to some people, but it is correct.

This caused me to think about another word and some prefixes. So I decided to write about “aback,” “unkempt,” and how to use “in” or “im” or “il” or “ir” as a prefix with adjectives. Let’s take them one by one.

Misunderstood Words: “Aback” and “Unkempt”

“Aback,” an adverb, dating from AD 1,100 and coming to us from Middle English, has three historic definitions: Read more…