Day 6 -- Mishawaka: -13°F; Dayton -6°F; North Pole: 3°F

Per @joemakielski's tweet today, I learned it was literally colder outside my house than at the North Pole.  Actually, the North Pole was warmer than many parts of North America today.  It was officially announced yesterday evening that we were in blizzard weather and driving on the roads was a ticket-able offence until sometime mid morning today.  The biting cold was not without its regrettable influences.  My aunt tossed a pot of boiling water into the air thinking it would turn to snow before it landed on my cousin Tony.  He will recover and is set to be released from St. Joseph's hospital early tomorrow morning.  Read the full tweet here.

I'd like to share an email from my good friend and colleague, +Hussien Saleh.  Every Monday for the past several months he has sent a "Motivational Monday" email by mid morning.  I'm sure I am just one of perhaps a hundred people BCC'd.  Today's message is found just below.

Motivational Monday 01/06/2014

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does" -- William James
This week is all about making a difference regardless of the fact that you may not think what you are doing actually does make a difference.
Everything we do makes a difference in the world no matter how small or large it may be. Get out there this week and make a difference.

Best,

Hussien

Thanks, Hussien, for never failing to add an uptick to my Mondays.

TED
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die commencement speech at Stanford is by now a classic Internet video.  But I've found it's certainly worth rewatching a couple times a year.  If you've never seen it -- it's an absolute must.

Wikipedia
This was an answer to a Beer QuizUp question I had a couple days ago.  William Painter was the inventor of the bottle cap (or "crown") and bottle opener.  Thanks, Bill!

Spanish Word
buitre -- a person who hoards everything.  I literally spent 6 hours cleaning my room today.. I realized I may be a buitre...

English Words
I'm adding this bonus section today because I particularly enjoyed saying cahoots and persimmon all day.  To be in cahoots with someone is to collude or conspire with them.  A persimmon is a sweet fruit (I think of Chinese origin) that I ate after dinner today.

Everyday Photo

January 6, 2014