Tip of the Week 45

"A Funny Thing Happened To Me …………."

I am completely convinced that there are endless ways to complete this sentence. And to prove my point, I just did a "Google Search" which yielded pages of examples of the ways other people have completed this sentence in the past. Examples like:

· on the way to city hall

· on the way to the studio

· on the way to the gun store

and, of course

· on the way to the forum (as in the 1966 movie musical farce - A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way To The Forum -- directed by Richard Lester. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Funny_Thing_Happened_on_the_Way_to_the_Forum

But now I am able to add my own unique ending to this sentence: "A Funny Thing Happened To Me….. This Morning While Seeing My Wife Off To Work!"

And here's what happened!

Each morning, when its time for Yvonne to leave for work, I accompany her to the garage, give her a kiss goodbye and play traffic cop, watching for walkers and passing cars, as she backs out of our driveway. (She needs my extra set of eyes to supplement her view of the road obscured by where I chose to park my enclosed motorcycle trailer.)

Anyway, as we entered our garage this morning, I was completely surprised to hear unfamiliar beeping and buzzing sounds emanating from the laptop computer in my garage office. A variable symphony of noises here-to-fore unfamiliar to me.

Waving goodbye, I hastened the wife's departure anxious to investigate what had just happened to my computer.

When I sat down at the screen, I was quickly able to determine that what I had heard was a ring tone associated with an incoming call on my Skype account.

And for anyone who is unfamiliar with Skype, you can go here to find out more:

http://www.skype.com/

Basically, Skype is free VOIP (voice over the Internet) software -- that works seamlessly with your internet connection -- you can chat away with free Skype-to-Skype calls and never worry about cost, time or distance. Share the love and get your friends to download Skype so you can talk, chat or make video calls for nothing. You can also make local, long distance and international calls to phones and cell phones at great rates too.

Anyway, I have been using Skype for over a year now to conduct podcasts for this website. (Skype has a nifty plug-in voice recorder that allows me to easily record my podcast interviews.)

I had yet to have received an incoming call from another Skype user until this morning …..So, I didn't recognize the ring tones or understand what was actually happening. But fortunately, the creators of Skype have also programmed an on-screen alert into the software that visually alerts we subscribers of incoming calls .

So, realizing I had a Skype call to answer, I hurriedly scrambled to unwrap and plug-in my special USB headset to use to answer my first-ever incoming call.

And when I did, I heard "Hello Bruce, Deepak here!"

It was Dr. Deepak Vidmar calling me from Bali Indonesia.

What struck me was the fact that I immediately recognized Deepak's calm and soothing voice although we have never until today, carried on a verbal conversation.

Why then, you might ask, was it possible for me to recognize Deepak's distinctive voice?

The answer is because I have watched Deepak and his 15 minutes of fame on the BBC Louis Theroux show that was filmed back back in 2000. I highly recommend that you take the time to watch this show. It's very entertaining and you can find it here: http://www.boomerbikeronline.com/public/145.cfm?sd=72

At the time of the show's filming, Deepak was living in Goa, India.

For those of our members who are interested, Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population. it is located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.

Panaji (Panjim) is the state's capital, Vasco da Gama (Vasco) the largest city, while the historic city of Margao still exhibits the influence of Portuguese culture. Portuguese merchants first landed in Goa in the 15th century, and annexed it soon after. The Portuguese colony existed for about 450 years (one of the longest held colonial possessions in the world), until it was taken over by India in 1961.

Renowned for its beaches, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of international and domestic tourists each year. Goa is also known for its temples and world heritage architecture including the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, which makes it one of the biggest Christian pilgrimage sites in Asia.[citation needed] Goa also has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, which is classified as a biodiversity hotspot.

The reason for Deepak's call was to thank me for all the time and effort I had invested in critiquing the first chapter of his recently completed manuscript -- "COWBOY IN THE BUDDHAFIELD" -- an autobiography he wrote about his adventures and world travels since dropping out of society in the 90's to become an American expatriate.

Our paths, Deepak's and mine, crossed because of our shared love of motorcycling and my passing interest in Astrology.

Back in 2007, when I made the decision to create Boomer Biker Online, the inclusion of a Horoscope on my website was always part of my business plan.

What I had in mind at the time was to include a Horoscope that would offer insight and advice to my viewers based on the type of motorcycle or scooter they rode.

So, with that goal in mind, I went to work searching and researching on the Internet, trying to locate someone who was writing a motorcycle horoscope.

Long story short- there ain't no such animal - but my search led me to Dr. DEEPAK Vidmar and his love for motorcycles. I immediately composed an introductory email explaining my interest in working with someone to develop a motorcycle horoscope and invited Deepak to participate.

In about a week, I received a response from Dr. Vidmar. He seemed genuinely surprised that I was able to locate him. And although Deepak wasn't interested in creating a motorcycle horoscope, he did graciously offer to allow me to reprint copies of his monthly horoscopes on my website.

Deepak also provided me with reprints and the rights to publish stories about his past motorcycle adventures that can also be found on this website.

Deepak moved from Goa to Taipei and that's where I first located him. And just this year, He moved to Bali.

Since Deepak and I began working with each other in 2007, our mutual respect and long distance Internet friendship and has continued to mature -- to the point where Dr. Vidmar recently entrusted me with his personal manuscript.

I plan to continue working closely with Dr. Deepak to assist him in finding a publisher for his work and help him to explore other potential television opportunities.

I leave you this week with this random selection of thoughts, I mean Tips for my friend Deepak and for you, my Tip of the Week subscribers:

· Assholes are like opinions -- everyone has one -- but that doesn't justify being one

· God puts assholes in our lives so we may recognize our OWN potential!

· Continue to be yourself because in the end that's what people will remember about you.

· Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. -Marilyn vos Savant

· Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance. -Samuel Johnson

· Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. -Nathaniel Hawthorne

· When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. -Helen Kelle

· Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have. -Doris Mortman

· It takes only one person to change your life - you. -Ruth Casey

· Change your thoughts and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale

· Just remember--when you think all is lost, the future remains. -Bob Goddard

· Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. -Anais Nin

· By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest. --Confucius

· An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. -G. K.Chesterton

And finally:

· Friends: People who know you well, but like you anyway.

See ya next week!

Postscript: The earth really has shrunk --

Although I have spent many thousands of dollars and seemingly endless hours trying to keep pace with all this new digital technology over the years, it still blows my mind to think that I was able to carry on a relatively trouble-free real-time FREE VoIP conversation with another human being living so far away that if you were to go there and pass him, you'd already be on your way back.

When I told Deepak that it was shortly after 8 A.M. here and inquired what time it was there in Bali -- he responded -- just shortly after 8 P.M.

Bali and Deepak really are that far away from me here at home in Florida.

Furthermore, by the time I finished writing this week's tip, it was already tomorrow there in Bali.

But rest assured, I'll be more prepared the next time we talk. I hope to have the video capabilities of Skype configured properly so that Deepak and I can Video Conference.