I did a little bit of research on The Law of The Garbage Truck and came to find that this is copyrighted by David J. Pollay.  Below is a segment from David’s blog which explains The Law of The Garbage Truck.  Check it out and take The No Garbage Trucks! pledge. 

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck^TM.” He said:

“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.   So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

Now ask yourself: Are you happy with the results?  Were there any relevant results?

Okay, now Google search your company’s name.  Ask yourself the same questions.

Question: What is the point of this excercise?

Answer: To many people this is who you are, like it or not. 

• When you apply for a job odds are the HR department will do a Google search and review the results as part of a background check.   
• When a potential customer is deciding if they are going to work with you or not, they are probably going to do a Google search on you and your company.
• People even do a Google search before they decide if they really want to be your friend or go on a date.  Another form of a background check.

Unlike keywords such as “cell phones” or “cars” your name and company name are something you can realistically own (in most cases).  This is very important to your brand and your company’s brand.  It is also very interesting to note how many of your search results are social media profiles.  In my particular case, Facebook, LinkedIn and Smaller Indiana are all on the first page of results.  This is an important extension of extension of your name and brand as well. 

So ask yourself:  Do you really own your name online?  If you do not or if you are unhappy with the results – what are you going to do about it?

Ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?  What are you supposed to do?  Just roll with the punches or put your foot down and make a change? 

Luckily I started my day off by reading a blog titled Eeyore or Tigger which served as a reminder that we ultimately determine how our day will go.  Whether it involves our work or personal life, we can control our outlook.  Reflecting back on this post helped me get through my “nothing can go right” day and allowed me to go on and make the best of it.  It also prompted me to check out the following motivational quotes that can surely help most people get through a bad day.  So bookmark this post and the next time you are having a bad day, come check it out.  Heck, I bet these thoughts could even help you make a good day a great day.  It is also a good idea to start your day off with the Forgetting 2 Remember Blog as well.  This up and coming blogger has very inspirational thoughts to share.   

Here are the motivational quotes courtesy of Motivateus.com:

“If you want to BE ALIVE in today’s struggling era, you must BELIEVE in yourself.”
Written in 2009 by Pravin Dhikale — India

“Greatness comes not when things always go good for you; greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. “
Author Unknown — Submitted by Ajayadas S. — Nambia

“Don’t be a hostage to yesterday, be in command of tomorrow!”
Copyright © 2009 Robert Volz

“Every dark has a hidden candle, every smile must not be yours, and every piece of day is one life. Don’t miss your life, whatever happens.”
Written in 2009 by Puja Tulsiani — India

“Don’t let fear stop you, it only means you’re facing great opportunities.”
Written in 2007 by Erich Jao — Philippines

Voicemail can be very frustrating.  Most of us have to call a phone number to access it.  Then we have to wait on the operator and make our selection.  Then we have to wait again and again before we get to the voicemail we actually want to hear.  By the time we get to the important voicemail we are in such a habit of deleting the other trash voicemails that we accidentally delete the important one with the number we needed.  Okay so maybe that just happens to me, but I bet you have been frustrated with your regular voicemail at some point too!

YouMail will transform your “regular” voicemail experience.  YouMail is free visual voicemail that allows you to listen to the voicemails you want to hear when you want to hear them.  All voicemails can be managed online as well – similar to emails in your inbox.  You can forward a voicemail, save it, delete it, and even post it your blog or Del.icio.us account!  YouMail also allows you to set up personalized voicemail greetings for each of your contacts.  Now your friends and family do not have to be greeted the same way as your business contacts.  YouMail even offers an upgrade to receive your voicemails as text.  What more could you want from a voicemail service?

An application for your phone?  YouMail has a free applicaton for your BlackBerry phone. 

Go ahead and give it a try – Sign up for YouMail and let me know what you think.

Today I wanted to share an email that I received from Cardinal Fitness.  The Lou Holtz quote particularly stood out to me.  Attitude is the key ingredient in almost everything you do in life.  You can have all of the talent in the world, a ton of motivation- but if you don’t approach your life with a positive attitude you will never reach your full potential.  With so many things going on and so many negative people out there, this can easily be forgotten.  This email serves as a reminder.  Read.  Be inspired.  Enjoy. 

Begin email from Cardinal Fitness:

To achieve big things this year, you have to continuously challenge yourself. The road to success is typically long and hard. We look forward to helping you stay in shape for your journey.

Thought for the Day
Words can create impressions, images and expectations. They can influence how we think and sometimes even determine our actions. There’s a powerful connection between the words we use and the results we get.

You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.
-Edmund Hillary

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
-John Quincy Adams

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
-Lou Holtz

It is never too late to be what you might have been.
-George Eliot

Quantom of Solace, the latest James Bond film was released on November 14th.  I had the opportunity to check out this movie on opening night to see if it lived up to the James Bond standard.

There were several things I noticed about the whole movie experience.  Maybe I just have not been to the movies in a long time, but it was amusing to see new signs with “no text messaging” in addition to the “silence your cell phone” standard announcement you get prior to the movie starting.

I also heard a group of people talking about Twitter in casual conversation.  One person said, “why should I get on Twitter?” and “does everyone really need to know what I’m doing at all times?”  Twitter is much more than that, but this post is about the Bond movie, so I will cover Twitter in a separate post.

Okay, so the movie itself is your typical James Bond action flick.  Tons of chase scenes, fancy cars, Bond girls, and of course all of the useful technology gadgets.  Sony Ericsson did a great job of promoting their new phone throughout the entire movie and in all other marketing leading up the film.  Daniel Craig plays a great James Bond character in my opinion.  He is very intense, and always seems to defy those above him, including Moneypenny.  The storyline jumps around a bit, but hey, at this point they have to be running out of plots for James Bond films.  Overall, this is a the action packed film it promises to be, though not as good as Casino Royale.  All Bond lovers should still check it out if you haven’t already.

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to go on a real ghost hunt.  I have been a fan of the TV show Ghost Hunters on SciFi for awhile now and this was a chance to put our skills to the test.

The location we checked out was the Kaske Home located in Munster, Indiana.  This historic home is said to be haunted by Wilhelmina Kaske who passed away in the front upstairs bedroom in 1949.  Her shadow is often seen in the window and her whispers are sometimes heard in the bedroom.  As always, there are some videos with my post- but this time you have to do a little bit of work for them.  Trust me, it’s worth checking out!

Turn up your speaker volume, pay close attention and click on each link to view the YouTube Video:

Using a Frank’s Box we setup an EVP session in Wilhelmina’s bedroom-
Watch and listen to her whisper “Take My Picture”

We also made our way to the gazebo outside in the back yard-
Watch and listen as we get an answer of “Yes” to our question

Customer service is very important to every business.  Many businesses claim their biggest strength is their customer service, but is it really? 

Mike’s Express Carwash is a perfect example of a business providing great customer service.  Every employee I have interacted with has made a sincere effort to provide plus one service.  Whether it is always asking me if I want the latest special, encouraging me to complete an online survery for a free wash, or just asking how my day is going- the employees all seem to get it.  A little extra effort, really goes a long way!

Mikes' Carwash

Check out my vlog above on their latest promotion at www.talktomikes.com.  You will need a valid receipt to get beyond the home page, so do yourself a favor and go get your car washed at Mike’s.  If you take a few minutes, your next one will be free!

Halloween night and time to check out the live Ghost Hunters broadcast on SciFi!  This broadcast began LIVE at 7:00 pm and ran straight through until 2:00 am.  The site of this year’s Halloween ghost hunt was Fort Delaware in Delaware City, Delaware.  The crew had to take several trips over on a large barge ship in order to transport all equipment necessary to make this live broadcast happen.

Several social interactive tools were used during this event.  There was a live broadcast during the show streaming directly on SciFi’s home page which had been redesigned just for this live show that encourages those of us watching at home to participate.  Check out the video above for a closer look at the interactive tools featured on the SciFi Web site Halloween night.

Guest stars on the special live broadcast included: Josh Gates, Steve Valentine, Amanda Tapping and ECW Superstar wrestler Mike Mizanin, aka The Miz.

There were several instances where the video and audio feeds seemed to struggle, but this is bound to happen when you are streaming video live over the Internet from a fort in the middle of nowhere.  Overall, this was a very cool live event and definitely demonstrates how far TAPS has come since some of their earlier episodes.