A Promise and The Apology

Promises like apologies are acts of free will. They are given uncoerced. Given, not simply offered. A promise is a commitment, a pledge to do something or refrain from doing something. It is an act of honesty. It gives the person to whom the promise is made the confidence that something will be done or not done, in other words the promise will be kept. An apology is offered in the same way. It's an admission of error. It's an expressed regret for something we did that we deem wrong, incorrect that we will regret later. It is offered, should be offered, sincerely because the person truly feels remorseful for their actions. It is not offered because it's expected but because it's felt.

An apology is not offered to get something back, it is offered because we sincerely regret an action that caused harm. Even if after we apologize we might err again. Promises and apologies are made with the desire to right the wrong without expecting anything in return. A promise is not made to get something in exchange, it is made because we simply want to make a promise that will yield a positive benefit. Promises... promises are made with the intent to be kept. They are not conditioned to "unless" Or "only if". They are made to be kept. I have made promises that I intended to keep and many I have not kept. Many of the ones I failed were/are about my temper. Some made to my kids "I promise I won't yell again". And when I have failed I have felt like crap. I have not rested until I apologized. Isn't that the way we should feel when we break a promise?

We can't simply wipe our hands in our pants, shrug our shoulders and sigh "oh well, I couldn't keep my promise". It is more than that. I have failed myself more than I have failed others. We are breaking not only a promise but the trust a person put in us. Breaking a promise is damaging. It hurts the person who trusted our promise will be kept. It damages the trust we have in them or they have in us. Promises and trust are not resilient. They cannot be broken and renew each time. Promises and Apologies are acts of honesty, if honesty is not present, they should not be made at all. They'll only cause damage.

The American Flyer Model Train

Although The American Circular theoretical account railroad railroad trains were at their extremum of popularity between the 1940's and the 1960's, they actually had a long history before that, and their popularity looks to be on the addition again today. William Hafner, working as a toymaker in Chicago, developed a clockwork motor for usage in plaything autos in the very early portion of the 19th Century and by 1905 was making plaything trains using that clockwork motor. With a friend, William Coleman, and using a little hardware manufacturing concern known as the Edmonds-Metzel Hardware Company, Hafner began producing plaything clockwork trains during 1906. These Edmond-Metzel railroad railroad trains were sold so successfully through some major retail merchants that the trade name name The American Circular was adopted for selling intents and by 1910, the name of the hardware company had been changed to American Circular Manufacturing Company. The American Circular trains proved very popular, in portion because they were less priced than other brands popular at that time, and also because their detailing made them more than realistic than other low budget theoretical account trains. Hafner left the partnership in 1913 to begin up his ain company and Coleman's American Circular trains did extremely well during the First World War as they had no competition in the United States from the German companies. By 1918, the first of the American Circular electrical railroad trains were in production and concern boomed during the 1920's but declined sharply during the Great Depression. In 1938, William Coleman Jr, boy of the company's founder, who had taken over the concern followers his father's decease in 1918, sold the American Circular to the Type A Degree Centigrade Gilbert Company. Gilbert had been manufacturing and merchandising an extended scope of playthings but not toy trains. He moved the company from Windy City to New Haven, Nutmeg State and immediately began to re-design the trains. He re-developed the American Circular as S-scale inch 1939, a scale of measurement which was a alteration of the very popular Type O gage theoretical account railroad trains then on the market. The Second scale, which scales of measurement railroad railroad trains to the 1:64 ratio and made them littler than the Type O scale of measurement of measurement trains, had a figure of major advantages in footing of the path and path layouts.

In 1946 Gilbert made another major alteration to the American Flyer. Until that phase theoretical account electrical railroad trains had run on three rails, with the Centre railing carrying the current. Gilbert developed a two railing system for running the American Flyer. This two-rail track, made the path layout, and hence develop operation, more than realistic as the path now looked like real railroad train tracka, and for kids see trains coloring pages. With the coming of telecasting, to deflect both little people and aged people from their regular avocations, together with the rise of the price reduction concatenation supplies which undersell terms and demanded less wholesale prices, A Degree Centigrade Gilbert Company ran into problem and in 1962 was sold to Wrather Group. The new proprietors produced lines of toys, including theoretical account trains, which were of very mediocre quality and gross sales dropped sharply until in 1966 production of the American Circular ceased. By 1967 the Company was bankrupt. At this time, Lionel Corporation, which was itself in fiscal problem although it had been the prima theoretical railroad train maker for many decades, bought the rights to the American Flyer. However, by 1969 Lionel Corporation itself was bankrupt and sold the rights to the industry of its theoretical account trains, including the American Flyer, to General Mills. General Robert Robert Mills began merchandising some of the original Gilbert designed American Circular railroad trains by 1979 but in 1984 sold its Lionel Company subdivision to a plaything manufacturer, Kenner who on-sold the company to Richard Kughn in 1985. Kughn was very successful for over 10 old age with the Lionel and American Circular trains but sold in 1996 to Wellhead Partners who put up the company Lionel LLC, which runs today selling a scope of theoretical account trains, including the S-scale American Flyer. Initially Lionel LLC concentrated on promoting the Type O and O27 scale of measurement railroad trains of its original lines but since 2002 have been releasing more than than than and more American Circular models. The American Circular then, is now more that 100 old age old, and have gone though a figure of ownerships and fluctuations in popularity. Dedicated S-scale partisans now believe that this celebrated theoretical account railroad train is once again making a resurgence.

Is it Time to Outsource Your IT Department?

There are many things to consider when running a sizable business. Maybe you started yours from the ground up and have grown it to 50 employees or so. Maybe you purchased the business and have spent the past few years fine tuning profit margins and product lines. Whatever the case, you have probably never considered doing anything different with your IT system. Perhaps you should. Managing your information network can be a cumbersome task. Routers, switches, relays, and ISP services all have to work together to get the information where it needs to go. In addition, there are security concerns that must be addressed.  In order to handle of these things properly you are going to need experienced people and equipment that will need to be maintained and updated.

Those things cost money. They can cost a lot of money when you put all of the pieces together. Bottom line, it is not cheap. Maybe it is time to outsource your IT needs. If it makes good business sense you should consider it. Here are some things to consider when making your decision. First, think about the money you could save from a staffing standpoint. No doubt you are spending thousands of dollars per year (possibly per month) for your information management team. Software development Romania could free up some of those dollars, contributing to cash flow and the like. Second, you are the warranty as it stands right now. If a piece of equipment fails you have to purchase a new item. Outsourcing helps with that by offering leases on certain types of equipment. Something to consider. 

Finally, you have help. Most outsourcing companies provide 24 hour call in lines for tech help and troubleshooting. This is a nice arrow to have in your quiver if there is a weekend blackout. The last thing you want to be dealing with on a Saturday night is making a 2 am phone call to your IT supervisor, and wait for him to arrive on site to remedy the problem.  It could take hours. There many more advantages to outsourcing that will be specific to your situation. The only way to know for sure if it makes sense is to run the numbers. Pull your company reports and assess what your IT needs are actually costing you. Then, get an estimate from a few companies who outsource. In the long run, you will be glad you did.

Versatile Blogger Award

Now it's time to pass along The Versatile Blogger award, so here are my required 10 choices, in no particular order: Gumbo Writer who I've just recently discovered. Her blog is filled with wonderful, honest writings and great recipes of the spicy variety. Bossy Betty, another recent discovery for me and a joyful one. You never know with Betty what you’ll find but it'll usually be tempered with humor and fabulous photos of nature. Jan's Sushi Bar is always filled with humor along with even more fabulous photos and tales of her wonderful family. Winds of Change, whom I've followed since my beginning in blogland. Pseudo proves to me, that there are still great teachers in America. Pearl, why you little, is filled with acerbic wit, on a regular basis.

Cricket and Porcupine, a husband and wife team where you'll never know what to expect, but whatever it is, it's always said with honesty. My Cleaning Lady Drives a Land Rover is constantly challenging all of us to view life in a variety of ways and always evolve. Holding Patterns where Sandi is so much more than the crazy cat lady she proclaims to be. Life at Willow Manor who educates us all with poems, genealogy, and a host of other subjects too "versatile" to mention. Tales of Extraordinary Ordinariness where Suzy can put you straight on many, many subjects with her thoughtful musings. I know you'll enjoy every one of these wonderful bloggers, as I do on a regular basis, well, maybe not as regular as I'd like, but when I do visit them, they enlighten and enrich my life every single time and I thank them for that.