Faucets and Fido

Last week I met with a new member of the Rocky River Chamber.  Ric Carpenter works in sales for Cleveland Plumbing & Supply.  I met him briefly at the monthly lunch meeting when I won his door prize..a very nice new shower head.  So I contacted him and suggested that we get together. 

First I got a tour of their new Rocky River showroom and it is truly beautiful and amazing.  I told Ric, that it will sell for him!  At lunch that day, though, I found an entirely different side of Ric that meant we could have talked forever.  He is active in dog rescue groups and from the sounds of it has been for quite awhile.  Currently he and his wife have two dogs that are rescues and also one rescued cat. 

What was so interesting about this whole exchange was that I asked just one extra question of Ric after we had talked about his work and his family.  "What do you do in the little bit of free time you have?"  That opened the door to this whole other side of Ric.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself to ask that one extra question, because I get so involved with business conversation.  I guess that is a good lesson for me to slow down and enjoy the exchange!

What surprising information have you found out about someone?

A Well Taught Lesson

What can I learn from an orange cat?  Many things, especially in the networking world!

You see, last winter, that ferocious winter, all of a sudden an orange tabby appeared on our doorstep.  When I opened the door the first time, he walked right in.  I put him out because my hubby said that he didn't want the cat inside.  Of course, we had the slobbery dog in, but that is a different story.

So the feline stayed out ALL winter.  I guess with all the snow, he must have created an warm little igloo under the front porch, because that seemed to be his home.  I did decide to feed him, figuring that if his tummy was full, he would stay warm.

He stayed around all summer, coming to sit with me when I sat on either of the two porches.  He let me know that he was happy to be around.

Let me make this long story, short!  He is now inside.  Hubby changed his mind.  "Kitty" is the nicest cat I have ever had.  He is very loving, well-behaved and still likes to earn his keep by heading out to catch a mouse or two.

What's this have to do with networking?  Well, think about it.  He stayed around and developed a relationship over the long term.  He won me over pretty early on, but the big challenge was Steve.  That's the same as connecting with someone in the human world and then continuing to connect!  Some networkers think that if they just see a person one time, then the relationship should be profitable.  If it is not they are not willing to put in any extra time.

They could take a lesson from "Kitty."

How Far Will You Go?

A couple weeks ago our one year old Yellow Lab just seemed to disappear into thin air.  Hubby, Steve, had taken Gable outside after dinner.  Soon I heard Steve calling and calling for our pet.  Since we live on 13 acres, Gable does like to go exploring out in the field.  After awhile I realized that I STILL heard Gable's name being called.  Even though I was trying to complete a project, I decided that I should go outside to help.  Steve decided to widen the search by driving around our country block yelling Gable's name out the window of his truck.  He asked me to sit at the end of our long driveway to perhaps see the dog coming back home from the west and having to cross the busy road.  

I sat there for over two hours and it was starting to get dark.  Steve was still out in the truck.  All of a sudden a mini-van pulled into our driveway and the driver asked if we had lost a dog.  Sure enough Gable was sitting there big as anything in her car.  

She, Kristie, a teacher, was on her way to her school's open house when she spotted Gable out on the road.  She stopped and opened her car door and of course our friendly mutt climbed right in.  She didn't have time to find out where he belonged because she had to be at school, so she dropped him off at her mom's for the 1 1/2 hours of the open house.  Gable had tags, which identified our vet.  When Kristie called the vet, they said that they were sorry, but they could not help until the next morning when they went into their office.  Not to be deferred, she decided to drive back to the area and stop at a few houses.  When she saw me sitting at the end of the drive, she decided to stop.  And of course a very happy end to a very scary story.

But here's the thought for the day.  Kristie really went out of her way to help save this animal from sure death on the busy road.  She helped complete strangers and really went the extra mile.  

My question to you is, how far are you willing to go out of your way to help someone you know?  

Are you willing to make ten phone calls to get an introduction that a networking friend wants to someone else? 

Would you bring a boatload of friends to an event to help another friend who is hosting the event? 

Will you spend your own money to help promote a friend's business offering.

Are you a Kristie? 

Another Goodbye

The thing about relationships is that they are wonderful!

The thing about relationships is that at the same time they can be painful.

Today, Steve and I decided that our wonderful little brown, stripped, tabby cat, Maizy, was not living a good life.  So a little after five this evening we said a sad goodbye to her as Doc Martin helped to ease her from this life.  Our new puppy, Gable, has made it his job to torment her with his antics and last night she finally nailed him with a claw to his dew flap.  This frail little cat had a hold of that flap of skin pulling it away from his mouth.  I wanted to do a cheer leading jump in her triumph.  In the old days, the other four dogs that are no longer here either, knew who was the head of the household and it wasn't any of the four.  They would steer a wide path around her especially when she was sitting on the ottoman at the perfect height to slash with those ever sharp claws.

It has been sixteen fun years with her since she appeared at our window one summer evening as a very small kitten.  The best memory is of her running around with a lime green cast on one hind leg after being stepped on by one of the giant dogs. The vet had told us to keep her quiet, but he forgot to tell her.  She even fell into the water garden pond while jumping from rock to rock.  Evidently she was no worse for wear when the cast came of many weeks later.

I will miss Maizy, but know that in the past couple days her congestive heart failure was worsening.  I am sad.