DAY TRIPPING TO HEBER SPRINGS, ARKANSAS AUGUST 23, 2019

MEMORIES OF TIMES BEFORE BEING SHELTERED-IN

We headed to Heber Springs and the Ruland Junction Toy Train Museum. We had seen it on 'Exploring Arkansas' with Chuck Dovish. We grew up traveling on 'real' trains'. We love trains. I especially love cabooses. My husband had a Lionel Train set. (Unfortunately, his mother cleaned out the attic and gave it away.) 

Luckily we had my phone and GPS or we would have never found the museum. It is in a neighborhood next to the Ruland home. He built the Depot structure to house his collection of toy trains and memorabilia. There is a main floor and a balcony full of trains. How many I do not know. Daniel Hipp is the Trainmaster and Docent. He described what we were going to see and some history of the collection.

Then, he went into action. On the first floor he had at least three trains going at the same time. He was at the controls. Then, we went to the balcony and he let lose about nine trains. All were in motion. It was amazing.

After the train museum, we headed to one of our favorite diners, Mack's Seafood and Steaks. They always have a pot of pinto beans and great cornbread. It goes great with chicken fingers. We had catfish this day-the beans went good with it, too.

We came home through Conway and the back way to Hot Springs to get a picture of a church that Chuck wants to paint. What a great find!

A great 'Day Trip'. 

We always say: "We ought to do this more often."

Escape from Sheltered-In

Yea! Freedom...perfect place...we escaped to the woods. 

A 'trail walk' was perfect for our get-away!

We wore our masks. We met a few people and were able to stay six feet away. They stopped and stepped away or we did. 

It's great to breathe the fresh air and get a little exercise. 

Highly recommended!

Book Report: Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really fascinated with the amount of research that Mr. Gladwell did to write this book. His insights were completely out of my 'box'. It certainly got me to thinking at a different level.

He defined an 'outlier' as something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body. Also, a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the other of the sample. "Outliers are those who have been given opportunities and who have the strength and presence of mind to seize them."

Briefly, here are some of his outliers:
1. The year you were born matters as related to the cut-off date for joining a sport team.
2. 10,000 hours is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class expert in anything, i.e. Beatles, Bill Gates, Paul Allen. Their success was also a product of the world in which they grew up.
3. Intellect and achievement are far from perfectly correlated. If a study group consisting of all geniuses is formed work on a project, the success of the project would have been the same level of success if IQ was not considered as a qualifier.
4. No one ever makes it alone. That includes rock stars, professional athletes, software billionaires, or Chris Langan, the smartest man in the world.
5. Three Lessons from Joe Flom-1. Importance of being Jewish 2. Demographic luck-time born. 3. The Garment Industry and meaningful work.
6. Harlan, Kentucky (Chapter 6) Die like a man like your brother did. It makes a difference not only where your father or grandfather grew up, but also, your great, great, great, great Grandfather.
7. Planes are safer when the least experienced pilot is flying because it means that the second pilot is not afraid to speak up.
8. National cultures are most content when they place the highest emphasis on effort and hard work. If you speak English you have about a 50% chance of remembering perfectly a group of numbers. If you speak Chinese, you have almost a 100% chance to get it right.
9.For its poorest students, America doesn't have a school problem. It has a summer vacation problem.
Maybe these bits and pieces will entice you to read 'Outliers: The Story of Success'. Also, be sure and read the Epilogue, a Jamaican Story.

View all my reviews