Hi Reader,
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Every week I read articles, watch videos, stumble across stories, and discover books, movies and ideas that never quite fit into a Monday or Wednesday Sword Tips newsletter.

Most aren't worth mentioning.

But every once in a while, I come across something that makes me laugh, challenges my thinking, or simply is something I thought you might enjoy.

Here are a few of those things from this week.

I hope one or two of them make your weekend a little more interesting.

These days, the conflict ABOUT the Workplace — work in the office, out of the office, hybrid? — continues to occupy the headlines as companies continue to struggle with this phenomenon born of the pandemic.

But, what about the conflicts WITHIN the workplace?

The humorous story below, What's So Funny, clarifies the hard lines that often lurk among these conflicts WITHIN the workplace, and introduces us to the kinds of conflicts that destroy teams.

Next week, we'll continue to explore some of these conflicts, how they're managed and the different kinds of cultures that can foster successful companies.

In the meantime, here's a reminder of what we've covered this week:

• ​When Everything Felt Like Chaos, a quick look at chaos personified, and a prelude to our culture series
• ​5 Ways to Control What Only YOU Can Control, a primer on managing WHAT you can do.

What Did You Say Again?

A large ocean liner was headed across the Atlantic from Portsmouth to New York. As it neared its destination at night, a lookout on the wing of the bridge reported,

The lookout replied,

which meant that they were on a collision course. The captain then called to the signalman,

Back came a signal,

The Captain said,

Back came another signal,

By that time the captain was furious. He spat out,

Back came the flashing light,

Many of you know of my reading habit in the Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre. Yes, I know some call it an obsession.

Maybe, but I have a lifelong interest — investment? — in books in that genre and have read more than 2,000 books in that category.

Stay tuned, because next Friday I will recommend 10 Mystery-Thriller-Suspense books that are great summer reading for those who love books in this genre.

Most of these are series books, so it's the tip of the iceberg of many more books about those characters that you can enjoy.

What Are You Looking At?

All of us at one time or another, have likely thought about getting revenge for some grievous wrong done to us — unfairly terminated from a job — jilted by a friend or lover — even blackmailed for something you never did — robbed in spirit of something dear to you.

Do you remember *The Count of Monte Cristo, a classic tale from Alexandre Dumas? It was probably asssigned reading when you were in high school or college. Skipped it maybe?

It's a powerful story of revenge if there ever was one. You can skip reading it now, students can thank me for an alternative to Cliff Notes and watch an excellent TV adaptation.

​I'd give 5 Stars to the 2024 [PBS 8-Part Series] of The Count of Monte Cristo.

While a bit embarrassing to admit, it's a fulfilling and delicious story of how one man's carefully crafted plan wrought havoc on the lives of those who falsely imprisoned him.

With the terrible and inhuman injustice done to Edmund Dantes, I found myself cheering for him as his vengeful plot unfolded

Yes, I know that's not the correct response to such injustices, but still, you get some good vibes from watching someone get their comeuppances.

Tyler Perry — What's He So Mad About?

You probably know of Tyler Perry – a fabulously talented producer, writer, and actor who is best known for his Madea character, an hilarious tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman based on Perry's mother and his aunt.

My wife and I were recently channel surfing and stumbled across The Oval, a seven-year series he produced that takes place with the First Family in the White House.

He must have been mad at the world that day because in The Oval, he has assembled the worst people you can imagine in every role — stationed them in the White House — the First Family as despicable as the rest of them — and turned everyone loose on each other!

With rare exceptions, there's nobody in The Oval that you wouldn't want to see run over by a freight train. It's a delicious and guilty pleasure — if you watch some of the first episodes of season one, you'll see exactly what I'm saying.

We've only started and probably won't get through it all because the characters are so detestable — and yet you kinda want to watch one more episode hoping that one of these hopelessly despicable characters will meet their demise.

Can I Get an Amen for Parking Meters?

Few things are more frustrating than trying to find an open parking meter – particularly in San Francisco.

My experience is that so many of them are covered up by the parklets — a new admission to the restaurant scene following the pandemic — or they are blocked by construction signs announcing to my everlasting annoyance, something like, "No Parking. Construction Zone. July 14, 2026 – November 23, 2026."

In the vast majority of cases, there's no evidence of construction activity anywhere near those signs. And they're working nights and weekends too so you can't park there 24 hours/day? Yeah, right.

Surprisingly, parking meters are not so new.

The world's first parking meter was installed on July 16, 1935 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – more than 90 years ago. Retailers loved them because it encouraged people to park, shop and leave.

By the early 1940s, there were more than 140,000 parking meters operating in the United States.

It is estimated that today, there are more than 5 million parking meters in United States.

I admit I'm not much of a soccer fan. When I was growing up in Michigan, soccer was available, but almost no one played it. We played the standard Big 4 sports — baseball, football, basketball and hockey.

It's clearly much different today and around the world.

Surprising Factoid: The World Cup began in 1930; the FIFA World championship is almost 100 years old.

In 2026, it's the first time that the FIFA World Cup has been hosted by multiple nations; the United States is sharing the hosting duties with Canada and Mexico.

Two things in particular impress me about soccer and the FIFA World Cup.

First, the skill of the players and their ability to manage the ball with their feet is masterful. Rarely do you see the ball fail to reach its intended target.

Visit Dr.Google or any AI client with a question like this — "Why do professional soccer players seem to have as much skill in their feet as most athletes have in their hands?" — and You'll find a wealth of fascinating information about how this is possible.

Second is the tremendous following soccer has across the world. It's thrilling to see the tremendous enthusiasm fans have for their teams.

Over 100,000 people greeted Norway when they returned home – after losing – yet the fans were as excited as if they had won it all.

The huge crowds watching at home – the tens of thousands of fans watching on screens in Argentina, for example – and how they reacted when Argentina won the semifinal against England – further validates the tremendous fan base.

One more small observation. Maybe you noticed, too, that in most cases, the players and coaches sing along with their national anthem.

It is rare to find a US team in any sport doing the same. Every member of Team France looked like they were singing their hearts out when their anthem, La Marseillaise, was played.

On Sunday, for the first time ever, the reigning South American champion faces the reigning European champion.

Entering the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Argentina was ranked No. 1 and Spain was No. 2.

I'll will be watching what should be a tremendous final between Spain and Argentina!

GOOOOOOOOOAL!!!