Index

Many of you know that Mike Bruner, my dad past away on Monday, April 20th after a 7 month battle with cancer of the bile ducts of the liver. He had undergone both chemo & radiation therapy during this final painful battle with cancer (he had been treated for 4 primary cancers over the last few years). On March 10 we found out the cancer had spread into his liver and further treatment was no longer a viable option. On March 14, Dad was put under home hospice care, and on April 20th he passed away. Throughout his illness, he was ALWAYS in good spirits and he said that he was leaving this earth with "no regrets." He died with grace and dignity. I only hope that I am that fortunate when my time comes. I've created a page honoring my father's life. It includes his obituary, a visitor's guest book, the tribute that I read during Dad's memorial service, a Power Point presentation with a series of photos of his life, and more. Thank you for taking a moment to celebrate the life of my mentor, my hero,...my Dad: Tribute to Michael Bruner

Window Wisdom

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they’re eating breakfast, the wife looks out the window and sees her neighbor hanging the wash on a line in the backyard.

“That laundry isn’t very clean,” she said to her husband. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Every time her neighbor hung her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

After about a month, the young woman looked out the window and was surprised to see a nice, clean wash on her neighbor’s line. She said to her husband, “Look! She’s learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her?”

The husband said, “Honey, I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

The Wit Of Winston

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill will always be remembered for his quick wit and succinct comebacks. Someone once remarked to him, “Who would want to live to be 90?” Churchill’s reply: “Everyone who is 89.”

Otis’ Ups And Downs

At America’s first world’s fair (New York City, 1853), an enthusiastic engineer made history in the Crystal Palace Exhibition Hall. Elisha Otis stood on a platform to demonstrate that the safety elevator he’d designed could not fall. He shocked his audience by dramatically taking a saber and cutting the only rope by which the platform was visibly suspended. Screams of horror rang out. But Otis, as planned, fell only a few inches before the spring mechanism he’d engineered was activated to halt his descent. “All safe, ladies and gentlemen, all safe,” he reassured them.

Otis’ safety elevator would shape the world’s cities: Architects could build up, instead of out, because climbing flights of stairs ceased to be an issue. His invention would eventually carry people skyward from the Eiffel Tower to the Empire State Building.

Yet Otis Elevators had humble beginnings; the inventory listed in its account book of 1853 shows a total value of $122.71. Today Otis is the largest manufacturer of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways in the world with more than $10 billion in revenue. Otis elevators now lift the equivalent of the world’s population once every nine days.

How To Become A Better Listener

Let’s face it: Being a good listener is not as easy as it sounds. We’ve all drifted off into our own thoughts when we’re supposed to be paying attention to what someone else is saying. Maybe it’s because the subject matter is boring or the person is speaking in a monotone; maybe we’re distracted by some personal matter that worries us. Whatever it is, these tips can help improve your listening skills:

2. Stay focused on what the other person is saying – not on what you’re going to say next. Don’t plan a story you want to tell while the person is still talking.

6. Occasionally mirror back short summations of what the other person is saying to keep your mind from moving on to other subjects, and to assure the other person that you’ve understood what he or she has been saying.

Go Gray!

More than half of women over the age of 40 don’t dye their hair, according to hair products manufacturer L’Oréal. The conclusion? The color gray is sending a message of self-acceptance and confidence like never before.

Silly Similes

Dictionary.com defines “simile” as “a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as.” Here are some examples:

1. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underwear in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly like a bowling ball wouldn’t.

4. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7pm instead of 7:30.

6. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36pm traveling at 55mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19pm at a speed of 35mph.

7. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

9. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

10. The young fighter had a hungry look, like the look you get from not eating for a while.

There’s A Reason For Rules!

While keeping your kids active is a good thing, you might want to make sure they know the rules of the game when they’re playing sports, says the Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

In a two-year period, an estimated 98,000 sports injuries were caused by an action ruled illegal by referees or disciplinary committees. All told, 6.4 percent of high school sports-related injuries were due to illegal activity. The highest proportion of those injuries: girls’ basketball (14 percent), girls’ soccer (almost 12 percent), and boys’ soccer (11 percent). The bottom line: Pointing out illegal activity to young sports players and encouraging them to modify their behavior could reduce their risk of injuries.

How To Save Money – And The Planet

Conserving water isn’t just good for the planet – it’s good for your wallet, too. Here are 12 ways you can reduce your water consumption:

· Don’t let the water run when rinsing your dishes. Fill one sink with wash water and one sink with rinse water.

· Adjust your sprinklers so they’re watering your lawn and not the sidewalks, fences, or street.

· Water your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when it’s cooler to minimize evaporation.

· Run your washing machine only when it’s full. This can save up to 1,000 gallons of water per month.

· Wash fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of under running tap water.

· Shorten your shower time by just one or two minutes to save up to 150 gallons of water per month.

· Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If you see it seep into the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak in the tank. Fix it and you can save up to 1,000 gallons of water per month.

· Designate one glass per person per day for drinking water to reduce the number of glasses going into the dishwasher.

Can You Lower Your Risk For Dementia?

An active social life might be the key to avoiding dementia, a study by Kaiser Permanente Southern California has found. Researchers say that the more socially engaged you are, the lower your risk for the condition. The study followed more than 2,200 women ages 78 and older for four years. The women who had larger social networks were 26 percent less likely to suffer dementia.

While previous studies have pointed to the helpfulness of social engagement, some of the results have been mixed. For instance, some studies found that being married was helpful, while other studies found it was not. In this study, however, the researchers report that marriage didn’t make a difference in the dementia risk; it was the social network that provided the protection. Those women with at least one daily contact or more had a lower risk for dementia, and it didn’t matter whether the interaction was made face-to-face, via telephone, or through email.

“To Educate And Empower”

On Thursday, April 23, millions of workplaces, employees, parents and children will celebrate “Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day.”

The theme for this year’s event is Building Partnerships To Educate And Empower, and the goal is to “encourage girls and boys to dream without gender limitations, and to think imaginatively about their family, work and community lives,” according to the foundation Web site, www.daughtersandsonstowork.org.

The Canadian counterpart, “Take Our Kids To Work Day,” occurs later this year on November 4. Learn more at www.takeourkidstowork.ca.

When Techno Was Slow

The fast spread of technology we’re accustomed to is a relatively new phenomenon; word of innovations spread more slowly 200 years ago. Take one example from the annals of dental technology, according to www.AmericanHeritage.com.

George Washington, a longtime sufferer of bad teeth and toothaches, visited many dentists to find a solution to his chronic periodontal pain. Finally, he met a competent and creative dentist named John Greenwood, who made him a set of dentures.

In an effort to improve his practice, in 1790 Greenwood converted his mother’s spinning wheel into a high-tech denture-making device by attaching a drill to it. Greenwood’s son later wrote, “My father was the first to use the foot-drill, and he made it himself from an old spinning wheel of my grandmother’s; and, since his death, I myself used it, the same one, in my practice for 20 years, and I have it yet. I never had seen one before, and I know the hand bow-drill was always used before.”

Both Greenwoods used the drill to create dentures for patients, but didn’t see it as something that could be used on real teeth. Despite the foot-treadle drill’s obvious usefulness, no other dentists used the device until almost 75 years later.

Grow Down!

By the time most of us are adults, we’ve unfortunately learned to suppress our natural joy and creative spirit. Getting back to that innate capacity is the key to tapping your innovative output, says creativity and breakthrough ideas expert Joey Reiman (www.thinkbrighthouse.com).

Think about it. If you ask children to dance or draw a picture, they’ll most likely do it. But ask the same of an adult and you’ll no doubt get a look and maybe a choice comment.

If you want to improve your creativity, you have to reconnect to that part of yourself you’ve shut down merely because you’ve become a grownup. In other words, “Grow down,” Reiman advises.

Spring Cleaning Can Reduce Fire Hazards

The Alameda County (California) Fire Department says that thorough spring cleaning can reduce fire hazards around the house. “Clear out attics, closets, and basements that are stuffed with items that may feed a fire. Old mattresses, boxes, linens, and papers are perfect places for a fire to start.”

Is Your Boss A Bully?

“Bullying” means “to treat abusively; to affect by means of force or coercion; to use browbeating language or behavior.” Workplace bullying can include unwarranted or invalid criticism; blame without factual justification; being sworn at, shouted at or otherwise humiliated; and exclusion or social isolation. Does any of that sound painfully familiar?

Here’s some disturbing – yet perhaps not surprising – news: 37 percent of American workers (that’s an estimated 54 million people) have been bullied at work, according to a recent study. And 72 percent of the bullies were in supervisory roles. Women are often the targets of bullies: 57 percent of the respondents who said they’d been bullied were women. And of those, 71 percent had been bullied by other women.

Sadly, 77 percent of those who report being bullied at work usually end their suffering by leaving their jobs – even though they’re the ones being harmed.

The Marvels Of A Mini

Having a tough day? Try taking a mini-meditation break, suggests Kathleen Hall, founder of The Stress Institute. You can do a mini-meditation nearly anywhere – while you wait in line at the store or when you’re stuck in traffic. A mini takes only about one to three minutes. Here’s how you do it: Take a breath and, if you are able (use discretion), close your eyes. Now take several deep breaths and repeat a short affirmation that is meaningful to you, such as “I am calm” or, “I’m letting go.” After a couple of minutes, you should be able to notice a shift in your energy.

Keep in mind, Hall says, that tension is sometimes simply exhaustion, and giving yourself the space to relax can re-energize you and clear your head.

Not A Dream Come True

A young woman awoke from a deep sleep. She told her husband, “I just dreamed you gave me a diamond necklace for my birthday. What do you think it means?”

That evening the man arrived home with a small package for his wife. She was so excited, she trembled as she unwrapped it – only to find a book called The Meaning of Dreams.

I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through the snow.

March - April Trivia Answer

Question: The saguaro cactus is native only to which desert?

Answer: The Sonoran Desert

Congratulations to Beth Irwin of Jersey Village! Your name was randomly selected from all of the correct quiz entries, and you will receive a $50 gift card to Chili's Grill & Bar.

May Quiz Question

Question: What is the LONGEST snake known in the modern world?

Everyone who contacts Elisa via email (elisa@brunerteam.com) or phone (832-SHOP-911) with the correct answer by May 20th will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to Academy Sports & Outdoor Store.

The Gift That Gives Back

Judy & I want to thank those of you who have participated in our Bruner Team Loyal Client Referral program! If we have already helped you in the sale or purchase of real estate, you know how well our family serves our clients. If you refer your friend or relative to one of us, we assure you that we will take the same high-quality care of them. As a way of saying “thanks,” The Bruner Team will donate $50 to your favorite charity when the transaction closes. In this way, we complete an important cycle of giving. First, we help you meet your personal real estate goals. Then you help your loved ones with their buying and selling needs. You also assist us in building our referral-based business with preferred clients, like yourself. Finally, with a charitable donation, we all give back to the community in which we live. Everyone benefits! For more information about our Client Referral Donation Program, please give us a call at 713-YES-1000. It’s a great program where, as our way of saying “thanks,” we can all feel good about our contribution to each other’s lives.

- Elisa McNinch