First, as usual I’ll report on my current reading. I’m actually working and laboring my way through two books, normally for me it is one book at a time so this is different. A friend of mine, David Heimer, recommended “Sapiens”, A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It is also recommended by many other people including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama. When I went to the local Barnes and Noble store and asked for the book the lady helping me said “Oh, that book is really heavy”. I didn’t know if she meant “Heavy” as in weight or “Heavy” as in tough reading. I now know for sure that it is both. I still have a long ways to go before I’ve completed reading it.

 

I’ve also started reading “The Mueller Report”. It is 448 pages of 8 1/2” X 11” reading. Based on my progress (or better yet lack of progress) what I’ve learned so far with these two books is it will be a while before I finish them and will be buying another book. 

My reading time has been seriously hampered by a lot of business travel including  time in Clearwater, FL; New Orleans, LA; Dallas, TX; Reno, NV; Salt Lake City, UT and a total of five times in California. 

Also, my wife Betty and I enjoyed several days in Mid-TN (Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin and the general area). We lived in that part of the country for many years and loved it there. It was great visiting with friends, listening to some good music and attending church. 

Later we flew up to Ohio where we spent time with a few of my relatives, saw some friends in both Ohio and West Virginia (primarily Beverly and Marietta in Ohio and Parkersburg in West Virginia), attended the church where I went when growing up and attended my 65th high school reunion.  

The Seven Most Dangerous Cities in the World:

7. Fortaleza, Brazil

6. La Paz, Mexico

5. Tijuana, Mexico

4. Natal, Brazil

3. Acapulco, Mexico  

2. Caracas, Venezuela

1. Los Cabos, Mexico

The Five Most impressive Botanical Gardens in the United States:

5. United States Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C.  

4. Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Columbus, Ohio

3. Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois

2. Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Dallas, Texas

1. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri 

The Velcro brand of hook and loop fastener was invented by a man named George de Mestral in the 1940’s while hunting in the Jura mountains in Switzerland. He realized that the tiny hooks of the cockle-burs were stuck on his pants and in his dog’s fur and wondered how they attached themselves.  After time, research, study and much work he turned the cockle-burs experience into a product that we take for granted and use frequently. 

The five cities most at risk with rising sea levels. 

  1. Miami, Florida, U.S.A.  Located on the southeastern tip of Florida, this low-lying city will be completely inundated with flood waters if sea levels rise as some predict. With a population of over 2.7 million the entire Miami – Dade County area is only an average of six feet above sea level.  
  2. Alexandria, Egypt.  Located on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt the city is feeling the effects of climate change. If sea levels continue to rise at the current rate an estimated 3 million people would be directly affected and millions more would eventually be displaced. 
  3. Osaka, Japan. This large port city on the Japanese island of Honshu has been aware of the threat of climate change for a while. There has been massive coastal flooding in areas of the city including its airport. According to the Guardian an estimated 5 million people will be directly impacted by the rising sea levels and an additional 6 million could be displaced in the city’s surrounding region. 
  4. Hong Kong, China. The city is trying to address the problem with $500 million worth of infrastructure change and the installation of pumps and floodgates according to NPR.
  5. All of China’s coastal cities are at risk according to GBTimes. Scientists have been warning the country for many years that it is already a major flood risk due to its dense population on the low-lying coast and its abundance of rivers, canals and other waterways.  

 

In my Ron’s Quarterly Blog for the Third Quarter, 2018 I wrote the following: Here is what I consider to be an important exercise for you. What are your personal values? What could be more important than establishing, knowing and practicing your values? In my opinion you should limit them to only three or four, type and place them on your bathroom mirror where you will see them at least twice daily. In addition type and place them on the dashboard of your vehicle. I ended by stating my three personal values. With this exercise if you are not living your life with established and documented values you will soon start doing so. I am very grateful to those who commented on my recommendation and stated that they have adopted it. Thanks much!

P.S. My three personal values: Always speak the truth, Show respect to everyone and Always practice complete integrity.

If you do not have my have my previous quarterly blogs just email me at ronlsmith2@bellsouth.net and I’ll send them to you.