10/1/00: Snow Emergency, Boy From Chicago

Hi,

This past week I watched 5 Chinese movies. Although I enjoyed all of them
for different reasons, there are two that I definitely recommend. One is
"Breaking the Silence", starring Gong Li. It's a touching story of a mom
trying to help her young deaf son. The other is "Not One Less", directed
by Zhang Yimou. It's about a 13-yr old teacher's journey to the city to
find her student who's lost. In a way, it reminds me of the story of the
"Lost Sheep".

This weekend, I'm looking forward to attending the NAAAP/APEX Conference
here in LA. For those of you going to the Fall Conference in Boston, I
hope that you will have a great time! Take lots of digital pictures.

The responses to last week's question about what childhood games you played
were "Life" and "Pooh Sticks".

The responses to last week's thought provoking question were: "the hug" and
"I would have invented DOS, NOT sell it to Bill for a low sum..."

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you could have been any
sports figure from history, who would you want to have been?"

This week's humor was forwarded from Anna Man. The puzzle is from Dave
Shim (Everyone, please send me more puzzles!). Finally, the inspirational
piece was forwarded from Christine Cloak.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
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Joe and Joan were sitting down to their usual morning cup of coffee
listening to the weather report on the radio. "There will be 3 to 5 inches
of snow today, and a snow emergency has been declared," the weather report
said. "You must park your cars on the odd numbered side of the streets."
Joe said, "Jeez, okay," and got up from his coffee.

The next day they were sitting down with their morning cups of coffee. The
weather forecast was, "There will be 2 to 4 inches of snow today, and a
snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the even
numbered side of the streets." Again Joe replied, "Jeez, okay," and got up
from his coffee.

Two days later, again they're sitting down with their cups of coffee and
the weather forecast said, "There will be 6 to 8 inches of snow today, and
a snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the..." and
the power went out and Joe didn't get the rest of the instructions.

He turned to Joan, "Jeez, what am I going to do now, Joan?" Joan replied,
"Aw, Joe, just leave the car in the darned garage today."
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Puzzle: Extra Pill

Your grandmother comes up to you holding three identical pills in her hand.
She says, "Oh my! I was taking my medicine out to take, and accidentally
spilled an extra pill in my hand. I have to take one pill A and one pill B
together, and I spilled an extra pill A out. If I take only one pill, or
if I accidentally take two A's or two B's, I'll get very sick." You look
at the pills, thinking you can distinguish the sole pill B, but it turns
out that the pills are absolutely identical - same color, smell, taste,
weight, etc. Grandma says, "These pills are very expensive. Can you find a
way for me to save these pills and use them?" What do you do?
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In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A
little boy was selling newspapers on the corner, the people were in and out
of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many
papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn't happen
to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would
you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the
alley and it's awful cold in there, of a night. Sure would be nice to have
a warm place to stay."

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You go down the
street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they come
out the door you just say John 3:16 and they will let you in."

So he did, he walked up the steps to the door, and knocked on the door and
a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 3:16."

The lady said "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a
split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace and she went off.
He sat there for a while, and thought to himself "John 3:16....I don't
understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm."

Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?"

He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days and I
guess I could stand a little bit of food."

The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of
wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he
thought to himself "John 3:16... Boy, I sure don't understand it, but it
sure makes a hungry boy full."

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm
water and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to
himself, "John 3:16... I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a
dirty boy clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole
life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old
fire hydrant as they flushed it out."

The lady came in and got him, and took him to a room and tucked him into a
big old feather bed and pulled the covers up around his neck and kissed him
goodnight and turned out the lights. As he laid in the darkness and looked
out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night he thought to
himself, "John 3:16... I don't understand it, but it sure makes a tired
boy rested."

The next morning she came back up and took him down again to that same big
table full of food. After he ate she took him back to that same big old
split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and she took a big old Bible
and sat down in front of him and she looked up at and she asked, "Do you
understand John 3:16?"

He said, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last
night when the policeman told me to use it."

She opened the Bible to John 3:16, and she began to explain to him about
Jesus. Right there in front of that big old fireplace he gave his heart
and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought, "John 3:16. I don't
understand it, but it but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe."

You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God would be
willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such
a thing. I don't understand it either, but it sure does make life worth
living.

Author Unknown
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Answer to Last Week's Puzzle: Marbles

[This was sent to me by Whalen Chin. I'm not sure that this works 100% of
the time. What if the defective marble is lighter?]

1st iteration put 6 marbles on one side and six on the other. Keep the 6 on
the heavier side.
Break the next group into 3 and 3. Keep the heavier side. For the
remainder put one on one side and one on the opposite side. If the balance
it is the one not on the scale. If they do not you will see which one is
heavier.