Jack’s Winning Words 3/3/17
“Life is like a 10-spreed bicycle.  Most of us have gears we never use.”  (Charles Schulz)  An old song says, “You can be better than you are.”  We all have potential…unused abilities.  I’ll never forget a high school teacher who handed a test back to me, saying, “Jack, you can do better than this.”  He was right.  We all can do better!  In school, at work, at home, in relationships.  Is today that day when we begin to use a new gear?  I can do better!  I will do better!    ;-)  Jack

FROM TL IN KEEGO:  Thanks for another great injection of positive change.====JACK:  I try to keep in mind that these are supposed to be Winning Words.

FROM EDUICATOR PAUL:  Sometimes it seems that all the gears are working just great, then all of a sudden one or two gears just don't mesh well. Time for an adjustment before things get worse. ====JACK:  Most of my bike riding has been done on a 1-speed Hawthorne.  In fact, while I've ridden 10-speeds before, I can't remember doing a lot of gear shifting.  Perhaps that says something about my life.====PAUL:  You are a much better shifter than you thought!====JACK:  I tend not to be impulsive.

FROM HONEST JOHN:  Was that my Uncle Carl?     Holcomb pushed me gone better.====JACK:  You're right!  That was your Uncle Carl, my chemistry teacher.  I remember him giving this advice:  "Here he lies, calm and placid, he poured water in the acid.  Here he stands, as he oughter.  He poured acid in the water."

FROM TARMART REV:  I'll see if I can get mine out of that proverbial "Granny Gear" today!? ====JACK:  When the mother-in-law grew older, she began to drive more slowly.  Once, as she was waiting for the traffic signal to change, some teen-age boys drove up beside her and  yelled,"Get her in gear, granny."

FROM TRIHARDER:  22 speeds now.====JACK:  Have you heard of the NuVinci, a bike with an infinite number of gears?   Your busy life reminds me of the NuVinci.====TH:  I've heard of infinitely variable gearing on bicycles, kind of like on go-carts.  Not popular because you can't choose your own gear to make pedaling more difficult or less difficult, depending on terrain, wind and strength of rider.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Amen!  I once nearly went over the top of my bike trying all of my gears on my new bike.====JACK:  I never was a serious bike rider. I just wanted to get from point A to point B.  The bike was transportation.  I did have a handlebar accident once.  I was reading the newspaper while riding no-handed.  I crashed into the back of a parked car and went over the handlebars.  No injury.====JUDY:  We had one big blue bike for all 5 of us growing up.  My turn to ride it was every Saturday.  We lived near 8 mile and Harper and my grandpa and grandma lived at 6 mile and Gratiot.  The bike had one gear....if you stopped peddling the bike stopped.  It wasn't an easy ride but I did it.    It wasn't until I was a teenager that I got a Schwinn.  Riding that bike was a breeze until I tried to change gears the first time.    I never could ride no-handed. Only a few kids in the neighborhood.  You were "cool"!