I got my first part-time job when I was 15 working at a car wash in the summertime. A friend of mine, Rob, worked there and got me the job. I think it paid $2.90 an hour, which I considered a fortune . There were no allowances in my family, so most o...
I was getting into my car at the mall when I noticed a man standing nearby with a map. He looked confused and I asked him if I could help. He looked up and was clearly relieved. He was from Houston, Texas, he told me, and he was visiting his daughter...
A bunch of my old college friends came into town for a few days and we went out last night bar hopping until closing time. We started around 9 p.m. and were on our third bar when we closed it down. Some of us were starving and the rest of us were pec...
Last week, I was at a business luncheon and I met a woman named Dana Okri who was heading a new start up. I have been a sales rep for Eureka Corp. for three years now and our bread and butter is data management software . I told her briefly about our...
I can't believe I made it into San Francisco, at long last! This morning, I went to the airport to catch my 10 a.m. flight. I got there early to go through security. The folks at the TSA can really slow things down sometimes. Since I had an electroni...
I bought a new DVD player last weekend. When I got home and hooked it up, I realized that it was defective. I trudged back to the store to return it. Clerk: Next, please. Jeff: Hi, I bought this DVD player last Saturday and I'd like to return it. Cle...
This is a special version of our podcast. There's no script for the podcast, because it is an unscripted interview by Dr. Lucy Tse with the host, Jeff McQuillan. Here are the questions that she asks: - Why did you decide to start ESL Podcast? - How d...
When I want to kick back and relax, I usually flip on the TV and see what's on. Primetime begins at 8:00 PM on the coasts in the United States, but there are plenty of reruns and shows in syndication between the time I get home from work at five and...
I grew up in Minnesota where the summers are hot and humid and winters are bitterly cold. Living in Los Angeles now, it's sometimes hard to describe to people how winter weather can be in chillier climates. In L.A. most of the year, the weather is su...
I flew into Atlanta the afternoon before a big meeting. I hailed a taxi at the airport and told the driver the name of the hotel. I asked him how long it would take to get there. He said it would only be 20 minutes. I sat back and relaxed. We got to...
