Made it to India

Even though the flight from Frankfurt, Germany departed late, the time was made up in the air and we actually landed on time.

The second plane had much smaller seats in it than the first plane did. I could barely get my hips into the seat. There was an immovable divider between the seats, so I could not even take any of my neighbor's space even though I would have liked to have had the extra room. There are certain disadvantages to being big, and this is one of them.

All in all, the flight was uneventful - albeit, it was turbulent. The turbulence kept me awake for the majority of the journey.

Upon arriving in India, I had to go through customs. There were several long lines. I was fortunate and picked one that moved very quickly. Everything went smoothly.

Now I got to the baggage claim and it looked like all the people that were in customs multiplied by an order of magnitude. It took about 45 minutes to get my luggage. People were shoving each other to try to get to the very small conveyor belt ... I think most were surprised when I did not move when they tried pushing me out of the way. There are certain advantages to being big.

There were hundreds of people waiting outside to pick people up ... I had to find the person that was holding a card with my name on it. He was towards the end, but I did find him. Traffic was definitely different than any other place I have been. I am glad I have a driver.

By the time I got to the hotel, it was about 1:30 AM. I was able to get connected to the internet to let my wife know that I arrived safely. The silver lining to not being able to sleep on the plane was that I was tired enough to sleep when I got to the hotel.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. They might need help finding their luggage at the airport.

Landed In Germany

It is 8:50 AM here in Frankfurt, Germany as I write to you. Back home, it is 11:50 PM. My internal body clock is a bit out of whack because it looks like day time and it never really looked like night time on the plane.

The flight took the better part of 10 hours to complete the first leg of my journey. I was very fortunate and was able to sit in one of the emergency exit rows and did not have anyone sitting next to me – so I had plenty of space. One of the most interesting things I found was almost as soon I got off the plane I had to go back through security. Not that it is a big deal, but I still found it interesting.

The flight actually went through Canada and Greenland rather than across the United States. We could see the GPS tracking of the plane between movies on the plane.

I flew Lufthansa and the staff did a good job of paying attention to us and supplying us drinks and snacks throughout the journey.

We got to see the majority of 4 movies during the leg. We got to see the majority of Juno – the movie was interrupted during the baby delivery and we did not get to see the end of it; what I saw of the movie, it was good. We also got to see the sequel to National Treasure and it was pretty good as well. The third movie was Game Plan with Dwayne Johnson – it was good enough for me to want to add to my movie collection at some point. I don’t know the name of the fourth movie, but it stared Patrick Dempsey in a princess fairly tail. It was cute, but that is about it.

Make someone’s day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as talking to the person next to you to make their trip more pleasant.

4U not 2U

Most people think things happen to them. This is almost fine when it is good things happening, but it really becomes a negative mindset when bad things happen.

Change your mindset. Instead of things happening to you, think about things happening for you.

When good things happen for you, you should grateful.

When bad things happen for you, you should think about what the incident is preparing you for in the future. Don't complain and worry yourself about why something bad happened to you. You will not be ready for the good that is prepared for you after experiencing this particular issue.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be what someone needs to have happen for them.

Make a name for yourself

No matter what you do, you are going to represent someone or something.

If you are fortunate, your represent yourself (in simplest terms) in a positive way. I have a buddy, Scott Hanselman, that is thought of highly in most everything he does. He is a very upbeat, happy- go-lucky, intelligent guy. He is looked to as the guy who either knows or can find out anything. If he cannot, there probably is not an solution.

My wife, Yvonne, is looked at with great envy and amazement. She is a cancer-survivor that has such a lust for life. People wonder how she can have such a positive outlook on life after being struck with such a challenge. Her extended family thinks she is all that and a bag of chips.

Most people work for a company that is not their company. When they go out on business for that company, they still represent that company. They are a face to an otherwise unknown identity. When you make a favorable impression on the customers, you are not only making a name for the company, but also making a name for yourself. Remember, nonetheless, you still represent your company.

To a non-believer, you are the closest representation of God that they are going to see. The way you act, speak and live your life should all be done in the name of God. Everything you do, you do in the name of God. When you represent God in a favorable light, you also represent yourself in a favorable light.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. When you do a random act of kindness, you make a good name for yourself.