…with Gary Moss

Archive for July, 2010

Everybody wants something. I just hate it when people sell me something and just a few minutes later I find out that there is still some additional cost.

My good friend Bill Lapinski recently retired from a career with the Sheriff’s Department. He is now in the moving industry. When Adrienne and I decided to get married we decided to rent out her condo in Southfield, Michigan and move her treasures to my condo in Laguna Woods, California. I turned to Bill for his advice and input. Bill gave us some great pointers about packing and moving cross-country. He was able to guesstimate the weight of our load, which translates into dollars. Bill warned us that the bids which we would initially receive from moving companies would most likely be less than the final charges, due to the add-on of a number of hidden fees. Bill was correct. The first bid from one company was $3,100. Within minutes I received an email from the same company in which the bottom line was more than $3,500.

Being the lazy bachelor who I have been during the last 22 years, I have paid little attention to the appliances in my home. The refrigerator keeps things cold and the oven is used to heat things up. What else does one need to know? When things would break I would replace them or have them repaired. But, it seems that I had never cleaned my oven in the 10+ years that I’ve lived in my condo. And since the oven WAS NOT self-cleaning, Adrienne suggested strongly that I replace the oven and microwave. The trip to Home Depot was easy, it was just across the street. We picked out a self-cleaning combo with the microwave that is suspended above the range. They gave us free delivery and I paid $99 for installation. Today I waited around the house, at the appointed time for the delivery and installation. The delivery was prompt as promised. When it came time for the installation, the electric oven was plugged in with ease (I guess that ‘plugging-in’ is the installation for which they charged me $99.) Then the installer paused; he showed me how the old vent fan was ‘hard wired’. “This job requires an electrician,” he said. “I’ll come back at no additional charge when an electrician installs a proper receptacle.”

After a call to the building services desk I learned that needed to pay a fee for a building permit, forms needed to be filled out, and an inspector was required to look at the finished job, after a receptacle is installed. From a provided list of contractors I called two names and learned that the conversion fee could be as much as $350 (more than the cost od the microwave itself). If lucky, the electrician could do his part next week and the installation person could be rescheduled some time after that.

I was pissed, to say the least. An angry me headed back to Home Depot in a flash. The first associate I talked with was dismissive. She tried to turn the whole misunderstanding into my responsibility. That really made me upset. I picked myself up and walked away from her. I then sought out my original salesperson. My fists were clenched and I was ready for a big fight. But, to my surprise and delight, she addressed my concern, got a manager’s approval to pay for a portion of the electrician’s fee, and did it all in a timely matter. (There are still some good guys out there.)

When I buy a product or a service, I want to know the whole story before sign on the dotted line. I don’t want any surprises later on. If I had been told that there might be other costs I would have been prepared.

Likewise, when I share information with others about playing competitive style scrabble at clubs and tournaments, I tell them the whole story. I realize that sometimes I am scaring away some potential players by telling them about the study and commitment required to become a maven. People who want a comfortable game that requires little to no thinking would do better playing BINGO or CHUTES & LADDERS instead of playing SCRABBLE.

If you want the entire skinny on SCRABBLE without me holding back, get yourself enrolled into SCRABBLE 101

Some word games are better than others to use as tools for learning words and becoming a more powerful scrabble player. One of those games is BOGGLE. While you are searching for words in the Boggle grid, you’ll identify many words which are ‘legal’ to play on the Scrabble board.

BOGGLE comes in two different versions, a Four by Four square and a Five by Five (Super Boggle) configuration. To play boggle one must identify words by starting at any letter in the grid and then form words by selecting a series of other letters that appear in sequence, adjacent to one another, in the exact order that make up the word. You can select additional letters by moving in any direction, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. No single letter can be used twice in any given word.

Can you find the word ‘MEAN’ on the top row?

Can you find the word ‘JAM’, beginning at the ‘J’ and then going diagonally and upward from right to left?

Now try to find ‘MARJORAM’.

Were you successful?

There have been times when I have been stuck in a doctor’s office without a book to read. A simple pen and paper is all I need to amuse myself. I draw a 4 x 4 -or- a 5 x 5 grid and fill the squares with ramdom letters. Then I look at a clock and set a time for 5 or 10 minutes for myself. I create a list of as many words as I can in that amount of time. When playing BOGGLE, the longer the word, the more points. So, I always try to find the longest words.

How Many Words Can You Find in this 5 x 5?

aa, aas, ae, ai, aim, ais, ajar, ajee, am, ami, an, and, ane, are, area, areas, arena, ares, ars, art, arvo, as, at, att, ava, avo, coat, cor, cors, cot, cote, court, de, dean, dear, dee, deep, deer, deet, den, denar, detour, detours, due, duet, duo, dura, durn, ear, ears, earn, earnerd, ed, em, en, end, er, ere, ern, erne, etude, euro, izar, izars, jam, jams, jar, jars, java, jean, jee, jeed, jeu, jo, joe, joram, jorams, jot, jota, jura, jurat, jut, jute, ma, mae, major, majors, maar, maars, mar, mara, mare, mars, mart, mas, masa, me, mean, meander , meanders, meaner, mere, mi, mis, mo, moa, na, nae, ne, near, nears, nee, need, oar, oars, oat, oe, om, or, ora, mors, ort, oud, our, out, ova, pean, pear, pears, ped, pee, peed, pend, rai, raj, raja, rajas, ram, rams, ran, rand, ras, rat, rato, re, ream, red, rede, ree, reed, rei, reis, rem, rend, rep, roc, rout, route, routed, rude, ruder, rued, ruer, rut, sae, same, si, sim, smart, ta, tao, tar, taro, tarot, tars, tarsi, tav, ted, tee, teed, teen. to, tor, tora, toras, tot, tour, toured, tours, tout, touted, tram, trot, trout, trued, truer, turn, turned, urea, urn, ute, var, vara, varas, vars, vas, vat, za, zas

Did you find some words that I missed?

Over the years I have done so many different things related to scrabble. First and foremost, I have been a player at clubs and tournaments, But, I have never been one who could merely sit back and be a participant. I love to take charge, create, and produce. I was a relative ‘newbie’ myself when I formed a scrabble club of my own and before I knew it I was producing and directing tournaments too.

Being a teacher by profession, I utilized a number of study techniques to develop my personal regimen to move myself up in the ranks of players. Then I developed study tools to help other scrabble players do the same.

Along the way I like to think that I was an innovator and encouraged others by my personal example, to be creative in planning scrabble tournaments and cruises.

For the past several years I have settled in at Laguna Woods, California and have localized my sphere of influence in Orange County, CA. and southern California.

However, the internet has provided a gateway to touch others across the country and around the world. My web sites: scrabblesense.com ; just4thespellofit.com and wordgifts.net have been clicked by strangers both near and far, creating a networking dimension that I could never have imagined.

Last year, a couple from El Paso, Texas (home scrabble players) decided to take a ‘scrabbl-vacation’. They found me on the internet; they had never played at a club or a tournament. They booked themselves at a hotel in Orange County, then came for a week, making scrabble the focus of their vacation. I greeted them in the lobby of their hotel and provided them with a condensed version of my 5-Week Class, ‘SCRABBLE 101′. They attended local clubs and, as a finale, they played at a 1st Sunday Tournament where they each earned a rating number.

A few months ago a lady from Oceanside, CA. found an article about me in a local newspaper. She has a daughter who will be celebrating a special birthday. She thought that it would be unique to do something for her daughter in relation to scrabble. She called me with one idea and we brainstormed to find something that would be both fun and doable. Next week I will drive down to Oceanside and provide a mini-class for a group of 5 kitchen-table scrabble players. I will share some of the ’7 secrets of Scrabble Champions’. We’ll have lunch together and play a bit of scrabble after that.

Even though I live in southern California, I am open to helping you, your friends, and your community create opportunities to build your scrabble skills. During the end of August I will be on a road trip beginning in Detroit, Michigan and ending in southern California. If you are somewhere between those two pin-points, and you want a ‘scrabble-intervention’, call me and we’ll see what we can do for you: (949) 510-1673.

I take great pride in the skills that I have developed as a scrabble maven. I have put in more hours of study than many people who have studied to become doctors and nuclear physicists. That may seem trivial to some, but I have learned many valuable life lessons on my scrabble journey that are priceless. The scrabble journey is but one of many roads that can provide the teachings to which I refer. You can learn such lessons while pursuing a profession or a trade; you can learn these lessons in the garden or at the feet of a guru. You can likewise learn lessons while in hot pursuit of your dream and you can learn the lessons simply by having the right attitude, at the right time, in the right place.

To be ‘GOOD’ at most things is rather simple and relatively easy:

1. Choose Something To Do.
Pick something of your own choosing. Don’t play dumb and say, “I haven’t a clue; what I should do?” Don’t look to someone else to choose your path. (You may, if you choose, take an aptitude tests or talk with counselors to help you decide.) Don’t pick a fork in the road simply because you imagine that it will produce great wealth and riches. There is nothing wrong with wealth. . . but it cannot guarantee your happiness.

2. Become Passionate
Make a plan as to how you are going to merge your new passion into your life. Think about it often, always keeping it in mind when thinking about and planning the other pieces of your life. Keep a note pad with you at all times; keep one on the nightstand next to your bed. Jot down all the ideas that titillate you. Write your notes and ideas clearly so they will make sense to you when you reread them later.

3. Make A Plan
Start with an outline. Then expound on each point with vivid detail. New ideas will generate themselves and flow; add them to your outline and narrative. Some early ideas will wither and beg to be abandoned; let them go. Challenges will emerge: All she wanted to do was to find some inexpensive solution to rearrange the closet and make enough space to accommodate both of their clothes. First she noticed the ads in the weekend newspapers from Home Depot and Lowes that featured ‘instant closet solutions’; the items that she liked required some building alterations; the space was still too limited for everything that she already had and some hard decisions had to be made about which items to leave behind. A plan is never easy. A plan usually reveals many things that you never considered when you first began your project.

Do Not permit the potential obstacles in your path from squashing your enthusiasm. ~ Froggy The Gremlin

3. Share Your Passion With Others
At least two good things will occur when you share with others. First, you will be declaring your intention aloud. That alone moves your passion from the realm of conjecture toward reality. Sharing with others invites their support and approval, as well as their nay-saying and pessimism. The negatives are often very helpful, in that they challenge you to rethink parts or all of your projects. At times, such challenges will boost your resolve. **Never dig in your heels and tune out your critics, just for the sake of ‘being right’; always welcome positive and negative input as a tool for you to use in reevaluating your plan.

4. Always wake up in the morning with the resolve to take one more step.

There is no little pill or secret road to get you or I to greatness. Greatness appears as a result of people following their passions, doing all the big and little things day after day, becoming the best that they can be, and becoming a shining example to others.

I’ve been learning a lot about the value of organization . . . again. For me, organization is one of those life lessons that I’ve learned over and over again throughout my lifetime (as a kid putting my toys away, as a student listing my homework assignments and as a spouse cleaning out the garage.) Now, getting reorganized, planning a new life partnership, and trying to please, I see how far I have drifted over time. In my recent past, when I was finished using something I simply put it down any old place. True, I could never find it again when I needed it. The truth is . . . it just wasn’t important to me.

I don’t think that I’ll ever become an ‘A’ type person who always replaces every object to its proper place. But I will try harder . . . . until I don’t.

I began writing on this topic today because I am working beside Adrienne, attempting to make my condo more livable for the two of us. I am like many of you who are pack rats. I have loved buying and saving all kinds of cutesy little things and then developing some weird sentimentality towards those things and rarely tossing any of those things away.

Years ago when I lived in Union Lake, Michigan I filled a house full of stuff. Then I moved all that ‘stuff’ when I chose to move everything to an apartment in Farmington Hills, Michigan. But when I left Michigan for California, unable to discern between the ‘stuff’ that I really wanted and needed, I found it much easier to abandon 99% of my possessions to family, friends, and The Salvation Army. In November 1995 I headed West taking only as much as I could ‘stuff’ into my 4-Door Saturn.

That first year in California was relatively clutter free. I was a guest in my brother’s home in Hollywood Hills. The only things I added to my possessions were clothes and toiletries. Toward the end of 1996 I purchased a 32 foot, Pace Arrow, motor home. I lived and traveled, from coast to coast, in the RV for just over 3 years. My bad habits returned, having some space of my own. I filled the space with major amounts ‘stuff’. I always could rationalize why I bought the ‘stuff’ I purchased. I use to jokingly say, “I no longer forget anything at home.” I drove it to scrabble tournament in Phoenix, AZ., Las Vegas, NV., Cincinnati, OH, Farmington, MI. and Portland, OR. The majority of my RV living was done at The Newport Dunes RV Resort in Newport Beach, California. That’s when I really fell in love with California and began building my little scrabble fiefdom of local clubs and tournaments.

In 2000, while living in my RV in Newport Beach, I took on a part-time job, working for the 2000 Census. One of my assistants was moving into Leisure World at Laguna Woods. I offered to help as one of the schleppers. As serendipity would have it, I was already thinking about giving up the RV living lifestyle and planting my roots a bit deeper. I was impressed with Leisure World and the prices were something that I could afford. Like many other male shoppers, I called a realtor, looked for less than two weeks, found a condo with a view, learned that I could store my RV there for next to nothing, and made an offer. It was readily accepted and I was a land owner again.

I thought that moving would be easy. I pulled my RV up to my condo (it was on the third floor and there was an elevator). How many trips do you think I had to make from the RV, via the elevator, to my place? Five? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? How many? I made more than one hundred trip, taking my ‘STUFF’ from the RV into my home. Three years of accumulated stuff.

Would it be great is the words that we accumulate, study lists, stayed with us like ‘stuff’? Unfortunately, memory doesn’t work that way. We have to continually review knowledge in order to maintain it. The way in which we learn things plays a big roll in helping us learn efficiently.

Some folks study randomly. They open a dictionary and learn a word or two on a given page. Other players use systems in which they learn families of words and stems. These systems assist you and me to get more information during our study time.

Organization Is Key. CLICK HERE.

Today’s post is the same as last year on July 21st, 2009. “WHY”, you ask? Getting ready to get married has stolen time away from me. My dear bride-to-be, Adrienne, is visiting me for ten days. She has come from Michigan to California to see what this place by the Pacific is all about. I did take her out to a nice brunch by the ocean in Laguna Beach; we went out to see The Pageant of The Master, and then she discovered a side of me she had never known: I’m a terrible housekeeper and frankly, I have been a bit of a slob. She has been whipping this place into shape and brightening my world. I’ve been taking careful notes and with a little help and encouragement I’ll be changing my style through learning.

How many people inhabit the planet today? That’s the number of styles there are to learn things.

When the local public school teacher stands in front of the class of 30+ students and delivers a lesson, the odds are high that some of the kids didn’t get it the first time. It is the teachers’ mission to discover the way each student learns and help each in their own way.

Good teaching is not easy.

Too often, presenters, who call themselves teachers, serve up a lesson with all the necessary information on a silver platter, and expect the students to figure out how to ingest it. Presenting is only one piece of the equation.

If you speak Russian and I present my lecture in English there will be little learned. Even if I lecture in Russian there is no automatic guarantee that the lesson will be comprehended.

If a teacher is being effective there will be teaching then testing, teaching then asking, teaching then validating.

Most first time learners don’t get the full lesson in one or even a few tries. Skiing, geometry, painting with watercolors, working at a job, playing competitive scrabble all require some amount of time to learn the skills and apply them. It takes time to get up to speed.

Don’t go to a Barber College if you plan to be an auto mechanic. Don’t ask scrabble advice from a newbie if you have intentions on taking a giant leap ahead in the ranks.

With an MA in Education and more than 20 years as a sanctioned scrabble club director I have the tools and know how to help you achieve your scrabble goals. Enrollment for August 2009 into my online class, SCRABBLE 101 is now available. CLICK HERE to learn more.

For kids of all ages: 9 to 90.

I remember the annual art contest at Noble School in Detroit. The kids were requested to drop a ballot for their favorite art project on display. At times it was a close vote someone’s favorite came in 2nd Place instead of 1st Place. Then some little 3rd grader, who was happier about his pick winning, than the quality of the work of art, would prance around the room shouting, “Majority Rules, majority rules.”

I remember playing sandlot baseball in grade school, with my friends during gym class. At times there would be arguments about whether the batter was ‘safe’ or ‘out’ at first. One of the gym teachers normally served as the umpire, be it from behind the catcher. The teacher didn’t always have the best view of the play, but the teacher’s ruling was final. Even when the teacher was in the ‘minority’, the ruling was final and the game proceeded.

Sometimes, small town democracy, where everyone casts a vote, might be the best way to run things in a small town. It would be totally impractical in a larger city. Most people would never be able to make all the meetings to vote on the questions. Maybe with the invent of instant communication on our iPhones, we could agree that everyday at 12 Noon we would all vote on the ‘question of the day’. But, soon there would be 2 questions, then 3 . . . you see what I’m saying.

I’m not even sure that I always want the majority to rule. Frequently the majority has no more than a 6th Grade reading level, even though they may have finished high school. I’m certain that most people vote based upon the lies and misrepresentations in the media. Very few do any research on their own. Some pick out a name that they like or one that blends with their own ethnicity. The folks who write all those propositions have become more clever over time. Most of the time when you are voting ‘YES’, the wording is so convoluted that you are actually voting ‘NO’.

I wish we had some very smart people in leadership positions in this country. What if Warren Buffet were in charge of the economy and ran it as if it was his personal portfolio. What if Geoffrey Canada was the Secretary of Education and was given a free hand to reproduce ‘The Harlem School Project’ in avery community across the country. What if the guillotine was re-instituted as a punishment to all child molesters and murderers on their first offense, within 6 month of being convicted? (Goodbye national debt.)

And then there’s the matter of the bickering among the members in our little national scrabble community. Everyone has something to say about ratings and rules and dictionary entries; everyone thinks that their personal opinion is better than that of the next guy; too many people want change (as though change is better than the status quo). I’ve always wanted to have a second QUEEN when I’m playing chess; so what. If it ain’t broken, leave it alone already.

In my opinion there should be a scrabble Tzar (like the way that the NSA ran things for years). I wasn’t always happy with the way things were run, but the buck stopped there. It is my opinion that the jealousy and posturing that is taking place at the national level, in the scrabble community, is counter productive.
It is my experience that once ‘the majority’ rules, most of the majority go back to doing their personal lives and a very small few remain to do the drudgery and clean up. Many don’t even hang around to put the tiles back into the bag after a game.

Every scrabble player needs a good ‘Score Book’. I’ll personalize one for you. CLICK HERE

As I’ve been traveling through this life
I’ve worn many different hats
Had many different beliefs and feelings
So what do you think of that?

Was born a Jew, attended schuln
Broke away and went to church
Learned that good men are good, and the bad men are bad
Religion is only a crutch.

Babies fall, before they walk and run
I was awkward in my growing
Broke a few hearts; Shined like a star
I accept it was all my own doing.

What of tomorrow? I can’t tell fortunes.
I have hopes and fears like you.
I refuse to let fear stop me; I’ll not let hope fool me.
Tomorrows? I haven’t a clue.

That leaves today, the Here and Now
Where my feet are loosely planted.
Hear my words, Watch my behaviors.
Don’t discount my actions for granted.

Don’t hope to change me, you have no control.
If I don’t suit you pass me on by.
Find someone else to share your tuna fish sandwich.
Find someone else to play Monopoly
I don’t even care to try.

I love to play scrabble and I am a Mac
I love people; all sizes and colors
I love California, I’m not big on travel
I’m punctual and respectful of others.

Today’s where its at, be your best self
Live, love, laugh, and spell.
Let the past bygones be, the future unknowns.
Be healthy and live today well.

I feel very lucky. My life has been filled with interesting chapters. The only times that I remember being bored was when between ages 8 – 12, living at home, on the weekends or summer vacation from school, when there weren’t any family plans. I can still remember the echo of my voice asking my mother, “what is there to do?” I’d repeat the query again and again and again. After she ‘d become annoyed with me she’d utter, “Gai clop kop aff vandt.” (Go bang your head against the wall.)

Ha-Ha-Ha! Just what I wanted to hear.

Once I learned that I was responsible to create my own good times and my own happiness, life took on a whole new meaning.

It is a simple lesson and yet, it is not always an easy lesson. If you are like me and most all of the other humans on this planet, there have been times when you’ve lost site of this lesson. For me, it has always been during hard times: the loss of a loved one; a financial setback; not getting my way on something which I deemed important and feeling very, very, disappointed.

And you may know as I do that other people telling you or comforting you doesn’t cut it, no matter how sincere and well-meaning they may be.

All change comes from ourselves. When we mope and believe that there is nothing interesting left for us in this lifetime, we are right. ‘When you believe it, you see it.’

And when you believe that there is something more, even when you don’t know exactly what it is, it will show up in the ‘possibility window’ that you have cracked open.

As long as we’re here anyway, why not make an interesting time of it? My answer to interesting is SCRABBLE. What is yours?

Do you spend all of your hard earned cash on just the bare essentials and gifts for others?

When was the last time that you treated yourself?

Now may be just the right time to treat yourself to that toy that you’ve been eyeing.

As a kid, I always enjoyed those toys that sat along the checkout counters in the supermarket or at the drugstore. Those were a quick fix to keep me and other kids happy for a few minutes, diverting us from disturbing our parents and allowing the salespersons to ring up the sale. But soon after leaving the store, those toys usually were broken. That is why there are trash bins outside of most retail stores.

As I grew older, my choice of toys changed. I usually found myself thinking about the quality and durability of the toy.

But merchandisers are smart too. Even when they know that iPOD #8 will be released next week, they keep it a secret so they can dump their stock of iPOD #7 on you and me. They make iPOD #8 look sexier than my iPOD #2 so I will want to upgrade. (The truth is, my iPOD #2 works just fine and I will never miss the fact that the iPOD #8 can start my toaster with a single touch, as I climb out of bed in the morning.)

Then, there are ‘TOYS’ that last a lifetime. I’ve have had the same deluxe scrabble board since 1988. It may last me my entire lifetime and be passed down to my grandchildren. Some may not consider my scrabble tiles and clock as ‘toys’. However, I use them to play scrabble almost every day. Even my study lists and WHIZ CARDS are my toys. They help keep me sharp, teaching me and reteaching me legal words to play against my opponents.

TOYS are the things that make you happy and provide you pleasure. Check out the scrabble toys at my unique gift store; you’ll find some special items for every scrabble player: CLICK HERE.

Have Some Fun Tonight.