2008 December | John Gallagher

Archive for December, 2008

Top 5 Christmas Gifts as a kid

December 18th, 2008 by John Gallagher 1 Comment

With two boys, ages 12 & 9, shopping this year has been quite fun…and challenging! For example, I asked them to list 5 things they wanted for Christmas. My 12 year old lists as #1 – Visa gift card, and #2 – Cash!!!! I just smile at him. He doesn’t trust his parents to get him what he ‘likes’.

Over dinner a couple nights ago, we were discussing our favorite gifts as kids. I’ll show my age, but my Top 5 went like this:

1) Mr. Quarterback – I remember when I got this game and absolutely wore out every 9-volt battery we had!! I simply loved this gift. In fact, I just put a bid on one on Ebay!! (You can find just about anything on ebay, you know…)

2) 10-speed bike - Got that when I was 10 and remember riding it in the snow on the street Christmas morning. Rode the wheels off that thing for 8 years!!

3) Atari – Wow did Santa do a nice job of hiding this one. Came downstairs and looked under the tree and nothing. I thought for sure Santa would have set it up and had it ready to go. I was crushed. Then, WAY UNDER the tree I found the box. Had to be like Ralphie getting his Red Rider b-b gun!! (Remember when you used to have to reach behind the TV and move the selector from Game to TV? The little 2-prong adapter was a pain in the neck! Back then, the Atari game new, I remember, was $189.00 with no games. Now, go to a big-box retailer and get the thing loaded with like 20 games for $19.95 and plug it right in the front of your TV!)

4) Evil Knievel motorcycle - Come on, you remember the one…you had to put it in this stand, wind the stand, and let ‘er go. The walls were never the same!!

5) Mom will swear that the Big Wheel was a favorite of mine, although I don’t really remember ‘getting it’. I just have an old photo (withheld for pride reasons since I had my Ninja pajamas on! – We also always got a new pair of pajamas every Christmas Eve! – A tradition we have continued in our house today). The story we love to tell about the Big Wheel was when I left it on the old floor register and melted the front tire flat. Made for some tough riding and funny ‘thump’ noises after that!!

All kinds of memories about toys – What were your favorite gifts you got as a kid for Christmas?

Stay on the lookout for some more ‘Top 5′ lists as I wind down 2008 and prepare for 2009. It is going to be a great year.

Posted in Leadership metaphors, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

How Low Can Gas Go?

December 10th, 2008 by John Gallagher 3 Comments

I was talking with a good friend of mine this evening and told him that I could get gas here in Roanoke, VA, for $1.29 a gallon. He couldn’t believe it and asked me to send a photo. I WAS WRONG!!! It was $1.25/gallon?

So, how low can it go? What are the prices in your area?

Now, you can watch the SUV sales go back up again!! So, what is the price that had you changing your driving behaviors???

I don’t know why it is this low, but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

Timing and opportunity

December 5th, 2008 by John Gallagher 1 Comment

This morning on my Facebook status (click on my link to the right to follow me there!), I asked “Why do I wait until the last minute to buy gifts?” Well. today that question was answered for me…at least for today.

You see it’s all about timing. I had my regular scheduled networking meeting from 7:30 -8:30 and was dressed to workout and talked my self out of it, but then back into it…After working out, I stayed and chatted with the owner a little bit about ‘bailouts’. After discussing business and bailouts, I was feeling pretty lousy, but I knew I had to buy a Birthday card for Chris and should probably have a cake and even some flowers. If you buy at the last minute, you better do it right!

Anyway, as I stood in the card aisle trying to choose one of the many over-priced birthday cards, a Mother of one of the basketball players on the team that I coach had checked out and walked by me and stopped. She proceeded to tell me that when her son went home last night after practice that he told his dad that he really needed to come to his next practice…not to watch him…, but to meet his coach! She also expressed sincere gratitude to me for taking the time to coach her son. Now those of you who know me well, know that it took everything I had not to have tears flowing down my face at that moment. Because, that is why I coach those young kids. I want to have an impact on their lives and their parents lives and BE a role model. After that 5-minute conversation I was on cloud nine.

I am a man of faith. I believe that God had me stand in that spot and had that mother check out to cross my path and brighten my day. All of the things I did that morning and the time that I took to do them, led to that encounter. I am a Blessed man and I don’t spend enough time being gracious about that. The words to Martina McBride’s song Blessed say it so well: