Learning from Dogs

What a delight to come across people who care.

This is a personal story with a wider message. That great after-sales service matters and in these difficult times will make the difference between surviving and even growing, or failing.

I drive a 2005 5.7 litre Jeep.  It was bought (second-hand) when I arrived in the US about a year ago, en route to Mexico.

Just recently the automatic transmission failed.  There was no choice but to commit it to the local Mexican Jeep dealership for repair.  This is a sophisticated transmission system and I was seriously worried that it was going to be a nightmare.

I didn’t account for the help from AASTRO in Tucson, where the Jeep had been serviced a couple of times.

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Patrick’s landscapes are breath-taking.

Isla Mujeres, near Cancun, Mexico. Reproduced with permission. Copyright (c) 2009 Patrick Smith, all rights reserved

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes

but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

By Paul Handover

Let’s help Pilot’s N Paws achieve something wonderful.

Unless one is familiar with this fine organisation, you may be scratching your head wondering how is it that 5,000 pets can be rescued in a week.

Click to learn more

The Pilots N Paws 5000 will take place during the week of September 12th through the 20th. This event was conceived as a means to draw public attention to three issues. The first and most important message that needs to be conveyed is that we have a serious problem in this country and as a result about 4,000,000 animals or more are euthanized annually.
This would not be the case if there were more and better spay and neuter programs and laws regarding owners’ responsibility for their animals.

The second issue is that because the problem is primarily regional a lot of these innocent animals could find permanent “forever” homes if they could be transported from high kill regions to areas with homes available. To accomplish this we desperately need more pilots to help with transports.
The final issue is that while aviation has proven to be a successful way to transport animals to safety, general aviation in this country is threatened. The threats range from onerous Homeland Security directives to crippling and expensive fees imposed on general aviation. We want to see general aviation perceived by the public accurately as a driving force in our economy, and one that contributes far more than its economic impact would suggest. We want to see general aviation free of these threats.

Their website has a special section devoted to PNP 5000, so do read more.  The home page has a link where you can donate to support this excellent cause.

Let’s face it, rescuing these animals is only returning the favour.

By Paul Handover

World Aerobatic Championships, Silverstone, England

Yesterday was the last of the three days of the WAC, the World Aerobatic Championships, held, this time, in England.  Had I known earlier then this Post would have been published before the event had finished.

Anyway, guess what has been found on the web?  Airsports TV.  So all those that hanker after this sort of thing, here is your very own TV station.  Want to know more about Airsports TV?  Watch the video below:

Want more?
Now hang on to your seats!

Shuttle Discovery launches without a hitch.

At 23.59 EDT, Shuttle Discovery lifts off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Centre.

America frequently gets a bad press around the world but events like this are a reminder of the pioneering spirit of the American people. Long may that continue.

By the way, ever wondered what it is like to be inside the Shuttle during a launch?

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This virtual world has so much to share.

The photography of Patrick Smith is breathtaking.  So much so, it seemed important to promote his talents to the widest possible audience.

He has been very generous in giving Learning from Dogs written permission to reproduce his pictures.  Thus from time to time, we will do just that.

Thank you, Patrick.

Portal of the Sun - Big Sur, California

Published with the written permission of Patrick Smith Photography.

Copyright (c) 2009, all rights reserved.  Please do not use this picture without permission.

By Paul Handover

Jon Lavin.

You will see from the Hello World post at the head of Learning from Dogs that the idea of integrity being a topic for wider discussion arose a while ago.  Busy lives (and a big misunderstanding about Blogging!) put off us doing something until Paul got the Blog under way in July, this year.

I still have, thank goodness, plenty of work demands on my time and a busy family life but, at last, will be finding time to explore the importance of integrity.

As I say in About this Blog, I had noticed that businesses that were operating largely with integrity, tended to be happier places, got better results and it was possible to develop levels of awareness within teams that enabled them to work together far more effectively. Levels of self-awareness are important because they allow people to develop closer business relationships with everyone internal and external and this leads to increased levels of trust.

By Jon Lavin

Understanding the process of change – key learning points.

• Good, really good, knowledge of your products and services is essential.
• People don’t buy anything unless they are dissatisfied with their present circumstances.
• Selling change means getting the client to recognise that change brings real benefits.
• Only good, client-focused questioning will uncover real needs.
• Only excellent listening skills will allow you to hear what those needs are.
• Don’t worry about the type of questions – just question, question, question.  Oh, and listen!
• Understanding the potential customer’s business and where their needs are is fundamental.

Needs questioning is a sales concept.

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Fed’s Kohn on Lessons from Buying Government Bonds….in Britain

Preface:

Recently Dr Jarrell, now a fellow author of this Blog as well as her own, debated the meaning of inflation.  That essay, in three parts, may be found in the list of Essays on the right hand side of this Blog.  This Post is an extract from a recent Post that Dr Jarrell presented on her own site and is presented here with the hope that, following the essay on inflation, this Post is more widely accessible to you, the reader.  Paul Handover.

Do read on

A calm and rational destruction of the Dangerous Demographics YouTube video

On the 20th August, a Post was published on Learning from Dogs called Doing nothing!  It was largely an emotional response to the video on YouTube that has been watched by over ten millions and claims that Europe and North America are close to becoming dominated by Muslims.  The unspoken implication being that this would be ‘dangerous’ for those present societies.  The YouTube film was clearly made with a racist agenda in mind.

The vision of this Blog is to support the notion that integrity is not only a noble inspiration but on a day-to-day basis delivers better outcomes for you and me. Integrity is being true to one’s beliefs, or as defined in the free dictionary, “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code“.  Morals and ethics rely on understanding the truth, as best we can, of the world around us.  Thus it is enormous pleasure to find the BBC presenting a statistical rebuttal to the YouTube video.

Please watch it.

The web address is ….. see below

UPDATE NOTE: For some reason the BBC have removed that video.  However, the material that debunks the YouTube video may be seen here, and here.

And when you have seen it, if you know of anyone who has emailed you the link to the YouTube video, please email them the link to the truth spoken by the BBC.

As the English philosopher Edmund Burke said,

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’

By Paul Handover