Good Morning and welcome to the 11th anniversary edition of INSPIRATIONAL TIDBITS.  We made it!!! Eleven years of Tidbits are in the bin, and the entire staff would like to thank you for your interest.  As always, the tradition on these anniversaries is to reprint the first Tidbits issue ever - from May 28, 1998.  Don’t blink, here it is:
 
I am going to be sending out to you all on a regular basis little “inspirational tidbits”.  At the very least, please read these.  You may choose to immediately delete, read and think about, or assume as your overall life view (longshot).  It is my hope that these will at least make you think a little bit differently about your day.
 
#1: “The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything”
 
#2 (and one of my favorites):  When you come to a fork in the road, take it”  - Yogi Berra
 
#3:  “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way; if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse”
 
If you have any good ones, please e-mail them to me and I’ll use them next time.
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Yes, from those humble beginnings evolved the major extravaganza we now enjoy weekly.  Only 4 on the above address list were here for the first one, but that’s another trivia question, isn’t it?  Another yearly tradition is to rerun some favorite items from the past year.  Here they are:
 
“Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter” - Mark Twain
 
“If you think it’s hot here…..”  - Church Sign

“Bag contains forest products” – important statement on a bag of pine bark mulch

"I think everybody gets caught up in superstitions.  But I don't put much stock in them... knock on wood" - Jim Deshaies, ex-Minnesota Twins pitcher

“Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live”  - Dennis Miller

“If it has a toothpick in it, it’s free”!!  - Homer Simpson

Since the emphasis nowadays is to “go green”, these BRAINSQUEEZERS are 100% certified recycled from the last year.  Who has the best memory?
 
1.  What was the first commercially manufactured breakfast cereal?  ( Quaker Oats; Shredded Wheat; Puffed Rice )
 
2.  “Titanic” is the top moneymaking film of all time.  Which is second?  ( Star Wars; Independence Day; Jurassic Park )
 
3.  If you run a ranarium, what are you raising? ( frogs; mushrooms; hydroponic vegetables ) 
 
4.  Which of these is NOT one of the “seven virtues”?  ( prudence; justice; perseverance ) 
 
5.  What is the highest rating given to the “best of the best” top of the line diamond?  ( AAA-Clear; D-Flawless; 10.0-Brilliant ) 
 
TIEBREAKER:  How many passenger seats are there in a standard 747 jumbo jet?  420
 
OBSCURE EXTRA BONUS QUESTION:  In the old Beavis & Butthead cartoon, what was the name of the rock group on the front of Butthead’s T-shirt?  AC/DC

We have winners!!  Seems like RICHARD and STEPHEN both got all five right, and both also guessed the tiebreaker exactly right as well.  Hmmmm….seems like quite a coincidence, but I’ll let you decide.  TB answers went from 210 to 447, and in a stunning turn of events, EVERYBODY got the obscure question right.  Well, everybody who guessed, anyway – a couple didn’t answer that one.  Today is probably the first time we’ve had a tie where BOTH winners got them all right, so in addition to the 11th anniversary, it’s an epic day.  Congrats to ST & RC – see you in year 12.
 
MJB