A “detective” badge!

We all are detectives... at one time or another! Whether it’s looking for our cell phones or the name of someone we’ve just met.
I had organized a meeting with a Vice President of the MN Super Bowl Host Committee for our local TRIAD - citizens and law enforcement partnership.
But I didn’t catch one glitch until several hours later.

Whoops!

I had taken a picture of a few of the people at the meeting who were graciously willing to pose for our monthly “Wanted Poster”. This is the promo for our next meeting.
Of course I needed their names for the accompanying newspaper article. You guessed it.
I forgot to ask one man his last name.
I didn’t realize this until I was home and choosing which picture to use.

The “detective” work starts...

As I was enlarging the picture I noticed the stranger, who I knew as Hal, was wearing a cap that identified a local business.
I wondered if he might be known by them?
So I called the company and asked if they could guess who “Hal” might be.
Keep in mind that this is a small town and they know me and we didn’t have any security issues at hand.
They gave me a name that was a “possible” but they hadn’t seen the
picture.

The next step...

I knew approximately where he lived so I went online and found a person in that area with a similar name.
I tried to find his phone number so I could check with him but it said he didn’t have a land line. (This was apparently not correct.)

Facebook can help?

I went on Facebook and found a person with the same last name from this area and “messaged” them as to whether they knew this person.
They didn’t know him. Their relatives were further north.
I went online again.
This time I found a phone number with the possible location. Called it.
It had been disconnected.

More detective work...

I remembered he had said he had read about the meeting in the Beacon. I had some files checked and found a different phone number for the same address.
But no answer.
Time after time... day after day.
(Later found that this was another wrong number.)

ACKKKKK!

This mystery man is tangling up my brain.
I checked out the plat site on the county’s website ... but couldn’t figure it
out.
Dug out an old plat book - found his property... section number... but it
was an old book. Maybe he wasn’t still there.

Finally...

Went back on Facebook and asked my local friends if they knew of anyone living in this specific area who was named Hal?
They did!
They recognized the man in the picture!

Not so easy...

The first phone number I received was for another fellow - but that was fun because he was a friend of mine I hadn’t talked to for years!
Then when I tried another number I had to leave a message on their cell phone. But I’ll keep trying.
Unless someone knows differently, it appears I have found Hal Harrison! He will be featured on the next Cannon Falls Area TRIAD’s “Wanted Poster”!
                                                   *****
     I think I should get a “detective” badge!  

    Mystery man... Hal Harrison of Cannon Falls, second from left, with some of the folks posing for the next “Wanted Poster” for the local TRIAD group. L-R: Goodhue County Deputy Tom Wolner, Harrison, Kyle Chank, a VP of the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee and his girl friend, Jordan Howard.

 The "Ripples" Effect

 Whatever you call it... act of kindness... a day brightener… 
or finding “flecks of gold” sparkling in our lives.   
Share the good things you notice. 

When your days have been going bad…

Her sister was dying. Alzheimers had been affecting her and now death was near.  And so Carol was grieving over the situation.

Although she had been crying, she had to pick up a couple items at the local grocery store and in her defeated condition she went into the store.  She knew she looked sad… tears were ready to stream down her cheeks.  But she didn’t have the energy to change her expression.

She found it was easy to just pick up the items and she soon put them on the check-out counter.

All of a sudden the stranger ahead of her in line told the cashier, “I’m paying for hers.”

This startled her out of her mood!

She looked at the man ahead in line and realized she didn’t know him.

But she got up enough energy to start to argue with him.  But her mood broke into a smile when he kidded her that actually he had checked what she was buying first and since she didn’t have any steaks he figured he could pay for it!

But the result was that he not only paid for her items. You see, now she had a little light shining from her face.

And her road was just a little bit smoother, going home.

 Little things can be crummy… until you meet a friend. 

Thoughts from Rosie.

One of those crummy experiences - the thought of which strangles your mind and you fuss over it.  While I was “out and about” as they say around here - I met a friend who let me complain about it.

In a few minutes we went on our ways.  I felt better but it wasn’t until the next day that I met my friend again and apologized for complaining about something so trivial.

What I had realized in the meantime was that both she and I had gone through much worse things.  

And I figured that since we couldn’t keep on complaining about those - I had attached my thoughts to something much more insignificant  to captivate my emotions.  

And now I can’t even remember what it was!

But it’s a kind friend who realizes that whatever we’re upset about is probably not that important-  but they still allow you to get it out… and even forget about it!

Thank you Audrey.

(Some folks want to remain anonymous. Their stories are encouraging.)

 

Ripples of Kindness... busy check-out lanes!

When buying only one thing

 and the checkout lanes are long...

(Sent in by a local resident.)

Carol wrote:

On a recent Saturday I needed a gallon of distilled water, so I made a quick stop at the Family Fare grocery store.  I went in, got my jug of water, and went to the service counter, where there were seven or eight people lined up waiting. 

So what to do?

  I checked the other lanes and saw one where there was one customer finishing her order, and one woman waiting with a small order.  So I put my water on the conveyor belt, and the woman waiting said, "Why don't you go ahead of me?" 

I told her I'd be glad to wait, but she insisted that I go ahead of her.  So, I moved my water to right in front of her groceries, and while the customer ahead finished up, we started chatting.  

Then, when the cashier was finished, she turned to me, and I said, "This nice woman said I could go ahead of her, and this water is the only thing I am buying," and handed her my money.  

Stop!  Who’s paying?

THEN--my new friend said,  "No, put it on my  order!"  So we had this back and forth: “No”... “Yes”... “No”... “Yes”... and all the while the cashier is waiting to see who is going to end up paying for the water! 

I finally gave in, and thanked her, and as she gave me a big hug I told her I would definitely pay this forward and look for an opportunity to do the same for someone else!

It made my day!

***

(And now it’s “made” our day too!)

***

Another “Ripple” from the day of the snowfall…

(Just got this email and the writer 

wants to remain anonymous.)

The day of the big snowstorm, I was in town parked on the main street while getting a perm which took a couple of hours.  

When I came out, my SUV was covered with tons of snow and looked like a giant snow cone. I started cleaning it off. 

Jim Pagel from Chicago Ed's was outside shoveling snow and told me to get in my vehicle; that he would clean it off for me which he did.  

I think this was really super nice of him to do this.  

(We do too!)

.