John Michl

A random thought from Kerrying On…

The other day I went to the pet store to buy my wife a puppy for her birthday. The salesman up-sold me to a Clydesdale. One thing’s for sure—when you give your wife a Clydesdale you don’t get that cute little jump in the air accompanied by a screech of joy. Nope. Not with a Clydesdale.

From the newsletter article Kerrying On; June 2007
Purchase Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High at Amazon.com
Get the podcast at Digg or search on iTunes

Kathy and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary last month. It makes me wonder why my best man just sent this to me?

The 5 things any man wants:

1. It’s important to have a woman, who helps at home, who cooks from time to time, cleans up and has a job.
2. It’s important to have a woman, who can make you laugh.
3. It’s important to have a woman, whom you can trust and who doesn’t lie to you.
4. It’s important to have a woman, who is who likes to be with you.
5. It’s very, very important that these four women do not know each other.

- Author unknown

Heck! Considering I have difficulty keeping my stories straight with just one woman, I can’t imagine what the author was going through!

My cousin Mike Burgmeier and his wife Becky have created a new line of organic drinks that might interest you. As reported on “Off the Beaten Path“, they have a…

…whole new line of amazing soft drinks that offer a healthy alternative to the processed beverages full of chemicals and other unwanted ingredients currently wreaking havoc in families all across this nation.

The products are available at several Southeastern Wisconsin markets including Outpost Natural Foods. Check out their web-site at Burgie’s Organics. Be sure to check them out!

With a severe kidney shortage, should we pay donors? An article in today’s Wall Street Journal examines the topic.

“At the core of the kidney-sale debate are complex issues surrounding transplantation. Given the imbalance of supply and demand, physicians and policy makers are forced to ration what’s available while considering more radical ideas for obtaining organs.”

The article goes on to say that since a US ban on organ sales went into effect in 1984, the gap between supply and demand has widened significantly.

I suppose I’m very biased on this debate. My father is in need of a kidney.  My sister and I are not eligible to donate to him. Unfortunately, this is the case for most, if not all, of our extended family.

Several blogs are already buzzing about the article and the various angles of the debate. The Freakonmics  blog has all manner of folk entering opinions on the moral, legal and economic impact of an organ marketplace. Economist Mark Perry concludes in his blog that “Market pricing for kidneys would eliminate the artificial shortage and save thousands of lives every year. ”

What can you do? At the very least, mark the back of your driver’s license and tell your family you want to be a donor. In Wisconsin, you can find information at the DOT web-site. Outside of Wisconsin, just Google “<state> organ donation program”.

What do you think about the concept of selling organs?

The BusinessWeek blog, Management IQ, recently mentioned then new book by the authors of the bestselling Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.   My company offers Crucial Conversations training and I’m scheduled to participate in December.  From what I understand the tools are appropriate for both home and the workplace.  I’m looking forward to the class.   I receive the Crucial Conversations newsletter so I’ve had my eye on the release of the new book: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

The book purports to provide “eight powerful principles for changing behaviors” of others and of ourselves.  Perhaps it is worth a read (or listen)!

My mom’s blog mentioned a heartwarming story of a salesman that donated a kidney to a stranger he first met on a door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales call. Sure provides an ray of hope. My dad is in need of a transplant. My sister and I both have the incorrect blood and tissue types. We pray that a match will be found soon. Please pray with us.

For information on kidney donations, visit the National Kidney Foundation.

Culver’s is selling Butter Burgers today for a buck! They say it has something to do with being voted #1 burger chain in America. I think they are trying to commemorate that special wedding that happened twenty years ago.

Click here to find a Culver’s near you.  A Wisconsin original.

Twenty years ago today, Kathy and I were married at St. John’s Catholic Church in Omaha. Family and friends from Milwaukee to Omaha joined the celebration. Fr. Cahill, S.J. presided while our good friend Fr. Bob Dufford, S.J. directed the music. Of special significance was the debut of Bob’s new song “Love One Another.” The verses we chose for our ceremony were eventually named the wedding verses when the song was later published and recorded. (Click here and then click on one of the listen buttons to hear a segment of the song.)

Friends and family…please share a memory of the courtship, wedding or any other memory of the past 20 years!

Happy anniversary, Kathy. I love you more than ever!

Picture above is my Honey and me enjoying a Honey Weiss at the Leinie Brewery this summer.

Here’s Kathy, John Jr. (18), Jackie (16) and John Sr. at Johnny’s high school graduation.