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Yes I could google it – but I’d rather have you explain it to me!

Friday, July 1st, 2016

For those of you who haven’t been to my office I am located in Irving, Texas and can watch the planes land at DFW airport. In the past few weeks they have started to build a large/tall structure that appears to be a water tower.


I have asked no less than 6 people “what is a water tower?” and after their initial response of it has water in it, not one person can explain more than that.

So I ask you:

  • What is a water tower?
  • What is the real purpose?
  • Does every city/state have a water tower?

I really need some help on this one and hope you will respond.

Posted in General Comments, Life | Post Comments (6) »

Attention music & Sports lovers – please help me pick a song!!

Monday, June 27th, 2016

Over the weekend I was at a Texas Rangers/Boston Red Sox game and with each batter the music would change. I didn’t realize it until I saw it on the jumbo Tron but that is referred to as the WalkUp Experience which means, every player listens to their favorite song for maybe 5 seconds as they are entering the batter’s box. Clearly it gets the player pumped up and increases the experience all the way around. I get it and, although I don’t love or know some of today’s music (please stop laughing), I like the fact that they do that.

I was wondering if I played in the major leagues what would my WalkUp Experience be? With that said I picked a few songs that I might consider:

  1. Pat Benetar – Hit me with your best shot
  2. Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
  3. The Cars – Lets go
  4. Hall & Oats – Maneater

If you can stop laughing for a quick minute I would love to know:

  • What you think of my song choices?
  • If you were picking my song what would it be?

Thanks in advance for helping me out!

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in General Comments, Sports | Post Comments (9) »

Moving….? It looks like Texas is the place to be!

Friday, April 1st, 2016

Recently, I have been having a number of discussions with my friends and son regarding the United States population and where people are living and moving too. In addition, I believe Dallas, Texas, which is an amazing place to live, will change and be challenging in say 10 years. My reasoning is because the info structure might not be able to handle the increase in population.

I was curious where people were moving to and if my thoughts were backed up by facts and guess what – they were!

The current chart lists the Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank. Click Here to see the full list.

I was a little surprised to see how prominent the state of Texas was on the list. Did you know:

  • That three of the top nine cities by population are in Texas
  • As well as six out of the top nineteen are in Texas. While each of those cities are bigger than Seattle, Denver, Boston, and Nashville to name a few.

I converted the chart to excel, added a column and formula to see what cities had the greatest population growth since 1990 and here is what I saw:

  • Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland & New Orleans didn’t grow at all. In fact, they now have less people than they did 24 years ago.
  • Las Vegas grew the most 237%, followed by Louisville 224%, and Charlotte at 204%.
  • Four of the top ten growth cities are in Texas. They are Austin, Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Arlington.
  • Every single city in Texas grew by at least 27%.

So I ask you… when are you moving to the great state of Texas!

  • What do you think about the trends based on the chart?
  • What surprised you?

I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. Please call if you end up moving here or want some additional information!!

Posted in General Comments | Post Comments (2) »

I am sure you know where you were and now are you going to watch the mini-series?

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

June 17, 1994, was a Friday night. Without question I remember it like it was yesterday. After playing softball, I was out with some friends (R.Z. & K.A.) at a local bar with the Red Sox game in the background. All of a sudden the game was interrupted. The next thing we all knew we were watching (intently) a chase scene that involved O.J. Simpson, a Ford Bronco, and hundreds of police in California. Our bar was a little somber and most everyone couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. I am sure most of the readers recall the night. Well 20+ years later we get to relive it a little bit.

Starting February 4 and continuing for 9 more weeks on FX will be The People v. O.J. Simpson. In my opinion, this show will be very interesting and I am really looking forward to it. I am excited to DVR it every week and then watch the 42 minute show!

The cast is very impressive and includes:

  • Cuba Gooding, Jr. as O. J. Simpson
  • Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark
  • John Travolta as Robert Shapiro
  • David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian
  • Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran
  • Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey
  • Jordana Brewster as Denise Brown
  • Selma Blair as Kris Kardashian

I asked 10 people if they were planning on watching it and all but one said yes! I realize is a very small sample but I have a feeling this show will have unbelievable ratings.

  • What do you remember about June 17, 1994?
  • Are you planning on watching the show?
  • Do you think it will give you some additional insight on what happened that night?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Entertainment, General Comments | Post Comments (3) »

Time to name the rest of the days of the week.

Monday, December 7th, 2015


When I think of the days of the week we have Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Wednesday is hump day, and Sunday is a day of rest. Isn’t it time we name Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday?


  • What is wrong with those three days?
  • What did they ever do wrong?
  • Don’t they deserve a nickname as well?

I say they do! Are you ready to stand up with me and name the other three days?

Let’s do it!

  • With that said, does anyone have any ideas on what we should name Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday??

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in General Comments, Life | Post Comments (5) »

Time for a little word association.

Monday, October 5th, 2015

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Time to take a fun and quick quiz to start off the week.

The rules are simple – I will give you a word and in return you let me know the first word that pops into your head:

Click Here to Take The Quiz.

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in General Comments | Post Comments (18) »

Let me know what you think about these clever inventions.

Monday, August 17th, 2015

I received an email a few weeks ago (thanks Uncle J) that showed some pretty cool inventions: I have highlighted 7 of them:

Water fountains with spouts to fill water bottles too.

Public transit that will accept recyclable goods as fare.

Benches that you could rotate to always have a dry seat.

Packing tape with a simple, easy to open strip.

Mugs that will catch any drips before they reach your table or desk.

A backpack with a built-in hood, for those days where you’re unsuspectingly caught in the rain.

Wall outlets with extension cords built into the wall. Nothing will ever be out of reach, now!

Some pretty cool stuff right?

A few interesting things about divorce

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015

A few weeks ago I was reading an article on divorce (yes I am divorced) that caught my attention.

It had a number of interesting facts many of which I never knew or would have guessed.

A few facts you may never have known about divorce:

  1. According to a study conducted on American men and women aged 15-44, couples who start living together before marriage are more vulnerable to divorce.

  2. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, first marriages that end in divorce have an average life span of eight years.

  3. In the United States, on an average, women take 3.1 years to remarry after a divorce. Men, on the other hand, take more time to move on and get remarried after 3.3 years.

  4. In the U.S., two-thirds of the divorce cases are filed by women.

  5. Research shows that if only one of the partners smokes, a divorce is 75 to 91 percent more likely.

  6. Couples who have a lavish wedding are more vulnerable to divorce.

  7. Couples with children are less likely to get divorced; however, the chances of divorce increase in case of twins or triplets.

  8. A study found that dancers and choreographers have the highest divorce rates (43.05 percent). Bartenders, with divorce rate of 38.4 percent, are at the second spot, closely followed by massage therapists (38.2 percent). According to the same study, agricultural engineers, sales people, nuclear engineers, optometrists, clergy, and podiatrists had the lowest rate of divorce.

  9. Couples who argue over matters of finance are more likely to get divorced.

  10. According to a researcher at the Ohio State University, men are likely to gain weight after divorce.

Ok your turn.

Was This Strategic, Negotiating, or Something Else?

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

Recently, I got my bill from my lawn service. I have been using the same guy for over 4 years and times I have noticed his pricing to be a little…let’s just say…creative. As I was reviewing the bill I noticed it was for 6 visits over 3 months and all he did was rake leaves. For that service alone, the monthly breakdown was $180 for January and $160 for February & March…which seemed very high. I checked back in my records to see what I was charged for that exact service and number of visits in 2014. Turns out, I was charged $270…clearly significantly less than this year.

I am sure you can imagine the thoughts that went through my mind! The question was: How would I handle it?

Well, here’s what I did. I sent a text to my lawn guy that said: “Hi this is Merrill Dubrow (and my address) I received your bill over the weekend but I’m pretty sure my bill was confused with someone else’s since this bill was for $500 and last year you only charged me $270 for these services. Please let me know.”

  • What do you think of my text?
  • Was it strategic?
  • Was it negotiating?
  • How would you have handled the situation?
  • Has something like this happened to you?

    I look forward to reading your comments!

    Posted in Business, General Comments | Post Comments (3) »

Quote of the Day…

Friday, March 13th, 2015

Time to try something different. Time to make a hard decision! Time to look at a situation a little differently!

  • What will it be for you?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in General Comments | Post Comments (1) »

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