Humor 9/26/98: Patients

Hey,

I would like to welcome all my new classmates at the Anderson school to
my weekly humor email. I hope you will enjoy the humor as well as the
inspirational story after the humor.

This past week has been really busy. Orientation started on Wednesday,
and it was packed with lots of activities, workshops, and fun events.
However, it's really tiring as well. I pretty much bought and assembled
all the furniture that I need, so I'm pretty much done with all the
major things on my to-do list for settling in, except my own phone line
needs be installed by the phone company on Wednesday. So if any of you
tried to call me, my line is not working yet. I have another week of
orientation, followed by classes on Oct. 5th. I'm really excited about
my classes for the fall. I would be even more excited if I got off the
waitlist for a class called "Managerial Problem Solving". If I do get
in, I'll describe it to you then.

Ok, this week's humor was forwarded by Marilyn Li, followed by an
inspirational story forwarded by Jeanie Chou. (I edited it slightly).
By the way, the time management expert mentioned in the story is Stephen
Covey, and I have actually seen a videotape of him demonstrating this
story. I think this story is especially relevant to those of us who
need to prioritize our tiime commitments. Take care and keep in touch!

-Josh.
___________________________________

5 surgeons are taking a coffee break. 1st surgeon says: "Accountants
are the best to operate on because when you open them up, everything
inside is
numbered."

2nd surgeon says: "Naw, librarians are the best . . . everything inside
them is in alphabetical order."
3rd surgeon says: "Try electricians. Everything inside THEM is color
coded."
4th intercedes: "I like mechanics . . . they always understand when you
have a few parts left over at the end."

To which the 5th surgeon, who has been quietly listening to the
conversation, says, "You're all wrong. Lawyers are the easiest.
There's no guts, no heart, no spine and their head and butt are
interchangeable."
___________________________________

BIG ROCKS OF LIFE

A while back I was reading about an expert on the subject of time
management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business
students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration I'm sure those
students will never forget. After I share it with you, you'll never
forget it either.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers,
he said "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon,
wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he
produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one
at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside,
he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then
he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket
of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing
pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big
rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them
answered.

"Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a
bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the
spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the
question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted.

Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and
began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.

Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this
illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how
full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some
more things into it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this
illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first,
you'll never get them in at all."

The title of this letter is The "Big Rocks" of Life.

What are the big rocks in your life? [Section removed] Remember to put
these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all.

Author Unknown
--
_____________________________________

Joshua Li
431 S. Burnside Ave. #12 B
Los Angeles CA 90036
(323)936-8476
Permanent Email: joshli@post.harvard.edu