Live to Inspire

Napoleon Fire

Could the high quality well crafted Napoleon fireplaces be named after Napoleon Bonaparte himself? It would make sense actually given the fire that was instilled in Napoleon I to end up influencing the European countries as a whole. So what was his story. There are so many stories I am sure I can’t list them all here but here  are a few.

He was born in Corsica on August 15 1768. He trained as a artillery officer for the French army on mainland France. He grew to be a powerful military leader as well as a political leader of France. Of course landing him the position of the Emperor of the French. His actions shaped the 19th century politics of Europe. There were a series of events that lead up to him becoming the Emperor. First was a rise against the government in a coup making himself the First Consul. Then the French Senate recognised him, after a few years, and made him Emperor. He then for the next decade of his new power he took on every European power which was called the Napoleonic Wars . This surely put France on the map as a super power of the day.

But as all good fires they do eventually burn out. The lowering of his flame began when he went up against the Russians. Yes, in 1812, the French invasion of Russia began. This was the beginning of the end. His army was depleted and damaged and never really recovered. But he burned on and through the year until his forces were defeated in Leipzig. Then France was invaded by Coalition forces and force Napoleon into exile. He was put on the island of Elba. He tried to escape but was once again taken down in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He only lived another six years on the island of Saint Helena. Did he die of stomach cancer or arsenic poisoning? There is still an ongoing debate as to how this fire was put out.

Sales and Sense

When you’re looking for a particular product, and speak with a salesperson who seems genuinely interested in your needs, it can be extremely refreshing.  It can be a big relief to be able to voice your concerns out loud to the person you’re doing business with.  It’s as if that long interior monologue you’ve been having with yourself during the drive over, concerning what you’re looking for, why you need it, as well as all the possible variables that you want to keep in mind while you’re looking, is suddenly out in the open, and someone is asking you the same questions you’ve been answering for yourself.  You can actually get the exact perfect thing you were looking for, because the salesperson took the time to find out what you actually wanted.

In this business model, part of its effectiveness comes from the fact that you did know what you were looking for, but had certain questions about the specifics, and really needed the salesperson there to help you narrow down your options to find the perfect fit.  This is the model Steve Barbarich in his enterprises, and it’s called consultative selling .  It means that the salesperson is focused entirely on the customer’s needs, and then finds the best way to meet those needs, for the mutual benefit of both parties.  Satisfied customers come back, and also tell their friends when they’ve had a good experience.

This model is proving to be very effective today, because it saves a lot of time further down the road, as well as saving bitterness, from a customer who was talked into buying something they didn’t want, and certainly didn’t need.  Just a few years ago, the usual model for selling was focused on the product.  It was the salesperson’s job to talk up the product, and often this lead to extreme claims, exaggeration, or other kinds of manipulations that generally lead a bad taste in people’s mouths.  The consultative approach takes the focus back to the customer, and good salespeople have known intuitively for generations that this is where the focus should have been all along.

Burn Wisely the Fireplace Inserts Wood

Have you heard about the Burn Wise program of the EPA?  This program for the Environmenal Protection Agency is designed to help you find out how to burn wood in a safe, efficient way that helps reduce the amount of pollution we put into our atmosphere.  For centuries, of course, people burned fires without a concern about what it might be doing to the air around them, but as cities grew more populated and chimneys more abundant, and buildings became increasingly sooty and the air fouled with smoke, the need for some form of control became apparent.  Before the Internet, in the early 80s, I remember cities limiting the number of homes that could have a fire in a fire place.  Today, we also have suggestions via the Burn Wise program to keep our fireplaces but also to help the environment.

There’s a number of suggestions available: To season your fire wood, which means cutting it, covering it, and storing it for at least six months, so that it’ll burn hotter and dryer.  To start the fire with newspaper or kindling, but not other fuels, such as gasoline or propane.  Make sure to keep the chimney and the vents of any wood burning appliance clean.   To follow the state and local codes regarding fire places and to make sure you’re following the instructions of any of the appliances.  Note that on EPA-Certified fireplace inserts wood burns much more efficiently than the older models.  Make sure you upgrade!

In addition to helpful suggestions like these, you’ll also find posters and videos and information on agencies and partnerships, designed both for the consumer and for state and local agencies.   The state can examine ways in which to make air quality better using education and changeout programs.  Sections on partnerships talks to manufacturers about developing cleaner burning appliances.  All in all, if you have a fire place or inserts, it’s a site well worth exploring.

Varieties of the Antique Stove

Oak Stoves, Todd Stove, Franklins, Cottage, Column, and Base Burners — I never realized the great variety of stoves in the world, but of course, inventors and manufacturers have been tinkering and refining them since Benjamin Franklin made dramatic improvements to the basic fireplace, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.  Still, when you begin to investigate the antique stove , you’ll discover a whole world of stove aficionados opens up.  Here’s just a small number of the stove types I’ve found:

The Base Burner, Base Burner Globe Type, Circulator, Double Cased Air-tight Surface Heater, Cook Stove, Parlor Cook, Cottage Parlor, Cylinder Stove, Cannon “Pot Belly,” Oak Stove, Step Stove, Ten Plate, Column Stove, Fireplace Heater, Todd Stove, Franklin, Oval Air-Tight, Kitchen Heater, Box Stove, Wood-Coal Range, Gas Range, Laundry Stove, Combination Range, and Farmer’s Boiler.  It seems as if there’s almost as many stove types as there are grains of sand on a beach.  Here’s even more with some colorful names: Sunray Stove, Station Agent, Zenith Cookstove, Dandy Oak, Acorn Cookstove, Caboose Heater, the Peerless Stove, and the Star Gem.

Many of these stoves date from the 1800s to early 1900s, some even from the 1700s.  A number of these stoves are now highly collectible and may be worth thousands of dollars.

One of the more interesting types was the Round Oak Stove .  It first appeared around 1886, a popular model.  A tall, plain black circle of a stove, containing a removable ash door.  Later, in 1887, the ash door was designed with a hinge.  The round Oak Stove was the Model T of stoves, and many thought it to be the best in the world at providing heat.  You could also control that heat, creating as much or as little as you liked, as well as burning whatever fuel you liked, which at the time would have been not only wood, but soft and/or hard coal.

Building Balanced and Creative Teams

Any time you are staffing your business, or building a team, it is wise to make certain that the characteristics and the talents of each member serves to balance the entire team.  Does that mean hiring a bunch of people who are exactly the same way in their thinking and their opinions, well no.  First of all that would be virtually impossible, and second of all, a diverse group of people make up a more cohesive whole.  Through on the job training and in house business training , I have gained experience as to what a great group looks like, how a great team works together towards attaining their goals.  Appropriate tasks and responsibilities should be assigned as soon as possible with your new team.

I once worked for a company, where no one really knew what they needed to be doing, I mean, everyone knew what eventually had to get done, but there was no organization and no leadership.  Assign the staff projects according to their own specific talents.  If one of the employees is not a real “people person” but they are great on the computer, then fill the positions that require human communication to those who are good at it.  Everyone will learn over time, the person on the computer may one day be comfortable speaking in groups of people, but for now utilize their own special gifts.  Take into consideration as well, what each person is truly interested in, and assign them to jobs, as much as possible, that they will actually enjoy doing.  Productivity in the workplace will soar.  Hold regular meetings and corporate training sessions , just to be certain that everyone is away of their position and their importance to the group and to the future of the company.  This will increase morale, and bring the team together.

Baltimore and the Blue Crabs of the Chesapeake Bay

The history of the fishing and shipping industry in Baltimore is long.  The Chesapeake Bay is wide.  This is a city that has been built on the maritime history over the last two hundred years.  The lives of the residents are in one way or another affected by water, from working on the docks and building in the ship yards to the the many Seafood restaurants in Baltimore . The Baltimore Aquarium has the help of many of the city’s volunteers, as well as those who travel from as far away as West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, who learn about the effects large cities have on bodies of water.

Just as the city of Chicago came together to restore the Chicago River to a proper health, the volunteers gain skills and knowledge at the Aquarium that lead to hands on experiences to ensure the cleanliness and the safety of the water and the habitats along the shores.  They study about over-fishing and pollution not only of the Bay itself, but the waters that drain eventually into it.  This is the sense of community, in their participation and preservation of environment.

The blue crabs are one such species that while they are fished, the numbers are watched and research is collected to make certain that they remain part of the marine population.  The scientists working with the volunteers keep track of that population by trolling the waters and taking stock of the crabs that are already caught in the pots of the fishermen.  For years, even though crab festivals and feasts remain a tradition and love of the people of the city, the numbers have not decreased.  Regulations placed on the industry and on the recreational fishermen, as well as in the seafood restaurants and markets, have ensured that this tradition will continue, and that the blue crabs still populate the waters of the Chesapeake Bay .

Singapore Slings in Singapore

Through a tour, we learned that Singapore is a small island off the southern tip of the Malay peninsula . So, what used to be dense, swampy rain forest is now a thoroughly modern metropolis having first been colonised by the British in the 19th Century. It became home to migrant communities from China and India. So, all this makes Singapore a pretty diverse city with some fantastic food! The town plan was first implemented by Stamford Raffles. He created particular areas for the various communities: Chinatown, The Colonial District, Little India. We stayed near Little India at a five star hotel Singapore is world renown for, so we were placed in a great spot for exploring all the different communities.

We began in Chinatown and we explored the shops and the Buddhist temples, including the ornate Buddha Tooth Relic temple ; home to hundreds of Buddhas of various sizes and different states of repose. Singapore is a retail heaven and we managed all of about 30 minutes before we were talked into buying a new digital camera. Wandering the streets for a few more hours, then we felt it was time for lunch. We checked out a few of the hawker markets, which are food housing stall upon stall offering inexpensive yummy food. It’s a very confusing experience when we tried to choose which tasty dish to pick! There were so many, and they all looked so good. We did the easy thing, we joined the longest queue! It was a Thai stall and we ordered a couple of delicious dishes.
Later, we set off on a twilight walking tour (the one where we learned the history of Singapore) of the Colonial District, where we were obliged to try the Singapore Sling. After a few of those, we were quite loopy, so we left the tour early and headed back to our hotel for the night. Not bad for our first day in Singapore.

Joining Them in Brisbane

Our first destination in Australia was with Bryan’s parents, my sisters boyfriends folks, just outside Brisbane. Jeff and Jane really looked after us, they wanted us to stay with them, it would be a whole week, but we told his folks, we’d prefer to stay in one of the five star Brisbane hotels and not put them out. We ate over at their home and they served us up some nice British food, which we were craving since being in Asia for a month. They served us bangers and mash, roast beef steak…yum.

While not visiting with Bryan’s folks and stuffing ourselves silly, we explored Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Noosa. It was such a welcome change not having to sight see and instead just kick back and have fun at a theme park and water park. We also had a couple of nights out in Brisbane, including celebrating Melbourne Cup Day. The Grand National equivalent in Australia, which the whole nation literally stops to watch the race and then party all night. We thought it would be rude of us not to participate.

We also managed to catch up with some of my friends from the University, Ann and Don, who now live in Brisbane. We went to a bar the was just recently renovated for about $50 million! It was seriously pimped out with a bar that was made our of 20,000 glass balls. Recently, I’ve just discovered a low-carb beer, which actually tasted pretty good, so I can drink double what I have before and put on less weight. Perfect!

Before arriving on Magnetic Island , we picked up our Holden Astra from Airlie Beach and headed up the coast. We have the car for a couple of weeks, long enough to get us to Cairns and Cape Tribulation. Speaking of cars…currently there is a large pick-up truck parked about 20 meters from our hotel and it’s full of girls dancing in the back. Some men might find that a dream come true, but my husband appears to only be annoyed. I told him if you can’t beat them, join them. Bye for now!