Two farmers each owned 40 acres of alfalfa.

One farmer said to the other, "I'm going to mow my alfalfa today and let it dry into hay and then bale it." The other farmer said he was going to wait for two weeks to let the alfalfagrow a little bit taller. The first farmer said, "You should get it done now before it rains." The other farmer said he would let it wait. The first farmer mowed his alfalfa, let it dry into hay, baled it, picked upthe bales and stored them in the barn. The other farmer waited for two weeks and mowed his hay but it rained the next day and for the next two weeks also. His hay rotted in the field and was unusable.

I feel like such a schmuck. I totally missed Tyson's birthday. He turned ten the day before the Fourth of July, on the 3rd. Guess it was the excitement of the holiday or somethin . Then !om told me about how Tyson mo"ed around the house before we left to see the "arade. #hen I asked her why, she said that I for ot to et Tyson a "resent or wish him a ha""y birthday. I knew I had for otten somethin . I couldn't "ut my fin er on it until !om broke the news. I'$e been in a blue funk e$er since. I mean, what do you et a kid who ets FI%&#'%() for his birthday** #hat do you et a kid who ets to celebrate by ha$in all the sweets he wants, ha$in a "arade, and "atriotic music, flyo$ers, fla s, and fireworks** If you ask me, Tyson has e$erythin he could "ossibly need+ ,est of all, he has !& for his bi brother+ Then I had to ruin his day by for ettin to et him somethin as a "resent. %&-../**** I ha$e been scroun in around the stores, tryin to find somethin to whet a ten0year0old's a""etite. 1o luck. He has the latest ames, music, toys. That kid is s"oiled. If you ask me, I think his ha$in 2own syndrome is an easy ticket to success. #hate$er Tyson wants, Tyson ets. It's that sim"le. His life has not been easy, but dan , I wish !om and 2ad 3not to mention Tyson4 would sto" makin me feel uilty+ It's not my fault that I for ot his birthday+ It was those stu"id fireworks and all the holiday tra""in s that o alon with the Fourth of July that made me for et++ 1ow I'm onna ha$e to try to to" the fireworks and all the holiday celebrations, and frankly, I don't know H'# in the world I'm e$er onna com"ete with -merica's birthday++ 5GH+

Better Late Than Never by Yolanda Paul There he was again, peeping through the window with worn, yellow eyes. His coat was motheaten and quite shabby. His skin was dirty as though it had not been scrubbed and cleaned thoroughly in quite some time. His shoes had many holes allowing too much ventilation and they appeared to have no soles. The old man shuffled into the coffee shop and ordered his normal cup of coffee without sugar and many times, I would see him looking longingly at the delicious pastries which adorned the shelves. So, I would purchase two doughnuts and a pie for him to eat during the day and also give him another cup of coffee to take with him as well. The man s eyes would always light up with gratitude and as he smiled, one could see the coffee stained teeth which seemed as though it was never cleaned and as he passed by, one could get the smell of garbage implying that this man lived and slept on the sidewalks. !s he shuffled outside again, all the patrons turned to look at him, regarding him as a disgusting, bothersome fly. "y kindness e#tended to the man as I made it my duty to collect old clothing which the neighbours in my street wished to discard and I would give it to the old man when he came into the store. "y fellow co-workers questioned my actions and I would $ust consider it as a kind deed to an unfortunate human. %n several occasions, when the old man came into the shop, I would notice the owner, "r &ob, speaking to him harshly and gesticulating wildly, but I never did question his actions for I thought that "r &ob was plainly scolding the man for always coming into the shop and disturbing the customers. ! week later, "r &ob s father died and two days after the funeral, when everyone resumed work, I was, for some strange reason, quite $umpy and nervous. I was also surprised to see that my friend, the old man, had not been into the coffee shop as yet in order to get his meal. This $ust added to my une#planative an#iety. Suddenly, the doorbell tinkled dangerously, and as I looked up, my mouth fell open in utter ama'ement. The old man was not shuffling, but striding through the door with a wellgroomed black and white ensemble, unlike his shabby coat, his face was well shaven and he looked clean and well-kept, unlike his former dirty and slimy skin and the man was wearing a polished pair of black shoes. His sole less sneakers were no longer e#istent and his hair was combed properly, unlike the unkempt hairstyles he was accustomed to. The man refused to make any eye contact with me as he made his way across the room to "r &ob s office. !s he strode, the click-clacking of his heels was sickeningly annoying and somehow it $ust added to my fury. The slamming of the door made me $ump right back to reality and as I continued to serve my customers, I could hear my friends laughing at me.

They then e#plained that the old man, my (friend,) was "r &ob s brother who had $ust gained a partnership in the coffee shop as well, since their father had died. I was humiliated and it seemed that the two brothers were spending quite a long time in that office. !fter about an hour or so, my boss, "r &ob, summoned me to his office, and somehow I think I knew what was about to happen. "r &ob introduced me to his brother, who only nodded and refused to shake my e#tended hand. The audacity of the man was quite apparent and he made no attempt to suppress his feelings. "r &ob e#plained to me that it was their decision that there were enough employees to handle the running of the coffee shop and to have me, the recruit, working there, was causing a tremendous strain on the business. I glanced at the other "r &ob and I saw his sarcastic, ungrateful grin which he threw in my direction. "y mind was suddenly quite distant and as I looked out the window, I saw how grey the clouds were. Suddenly, I had to face the inevitable. (*ou re fired+) were "r &ob s last words. !s he said that, the rain started to fall and I knew that the heavens were crying for me. That day, I had learnt an important lesson, I must not be so gullible and quick to assist others for there would be the great possibility that in the end, one can be reproached and fired for doing so. I rationalised then that it was better late than never to learn such a painful lesson+

Make Hay While The Sun Shines short story

Posted on February 15, 2011 by 15madisona

There were once three girls all with different dreams. The first wanted to be an artist, the second a singer, and the third a dancer. The first was very poor, the second was not confident in herself, and the third was dumb and could not add 2+2. Once on a very long and boring plane ride there was a talent scout. The talent scout was going to be fired if he did not find at least two girls with an amazing singing, dancing, or artistic talent. The girls thought for about an hour and eventually tried to impress him, he said he would think about it for a few minutes. twelve hours later he told them to be prepared for a world tour. The first girl would create backdrops, the second would sing on the stage, and the third would be a lead dancer for the preformances. They called them self s! "ay, sun, and #hine, short for $ake "ay %hile The #un shines.

,etter than late - There have always been some pretty smart.make

that incredibly smart.teenagers around.Take, for e#ample, the /rench mathematician 0variste 1alois 23433534678 at left9, who invented the field of abstract algebra known as group theorywhile still in his teens. This branch of mathematics lies at the heart of modern quantum mechanics, among other things.1alois may have been brilliant, but he was no nerd- He died in a duel over a love affair at the tender age of 73+So, teen geniuses are nothing new. However, it does seem like there are more of them around today than ever before.Some of them are inventors8 some, like 1alois, solve difficult mathematical problems8 some are brilliant artists, performers, or entrepreneurs8 and some have encyclopedic knowledge, speak multiple languages, or can correctly spell any word.They are all smart. Very smart. Smart way beyond their years.So, how do we measure intelligence: The most popular measure for intelligence is the Stanford-,inet I; test offered through "ensa International, an organi'ation for high-I; people. !n average I; score is 4<533=8 3== or above is considered genius-level. *et, some people have intelligence and gifts that defy or go beyond a test score.!t first glance, it s pretty hard to recogni'e the smartest teenagers. &ust like fruit and other gifts of nature, we can t 2and shouldn t9 $udge that proverbial book by its cover. *ou ll recogni'e the diversity among these <> smart teenagers and find very little in common among them in terms of physical characteristics, locations, background, etc.Sometimes, genius only emerges after a slow start. /or e#ample, Isaac ?ewton did poorly in grade school, @inston Ahurchill failed Bth grade, and rocket scientist @erner von ,raun failed Cth-grade algebra. !lbert 0instein 2at right9 didn t speak until he was four and didn t read until he was seven, and ,eethoven s teacher called him hopeless as a composer./or the most part, (wunderkinder) are $ust like you and me . . . $ust much smarter.@e list our teen geniuses in alphabetical order. In a few instances, we have interpreted (teenager) a bit generously- To be able to include some young people who have only recently turned 7>8 and also to include a 3>-year-old who is a member of a truly remarkable family.To meet some of the smartest teenagers alive today, read on+