The associates I hired in my bicycle and lawn mower shop like myself were never perfect; however, they were excellent. Working with them as they improved taught me new ways to show forgiveness, understanding, and patience.

    One day the placement officer asked me to interview a young man who was having trouble finding a job. He told me that David was a little shy, did not talk much and was afraid to go on with interviews. He requested that I give David an interview just for practice. He plainly told David that I had no positions open at the time and the interview was just for practice.

    When David came in for the interview, he hardly said a word. I told him what we did at the bicycle shop and showed him around. I told David to keep showing up because the number one thing an employer wanted in an associate was dependability.

    David was very quiet (he was evaluated as a slow learner in school). Every ten days or so, for weeks after the interview, David walked into the bicycle shop and stood by the front door. He never said a word, just stood by the door.

    One day, shortly before Christmas, a large truck came to the shop, packed with 250 new bicycles. It had to be unloaded right away or the driver would leave.

    It was raining. Some of my workers (without physical limitations) chose not to brave the weather to get into work, so I was short-handed. It seemed everything was going wrong and on top of it, David came in the front door and just stood there. I looked at him and shouted, “Well, all right! Fill out a time card and help me unload this truck!”

    David worked for my bicycle shop for eighteen years. He came to work every day thirty minutes early. He could talk; however, he rarely chose to. He drove my truck and made deliveries. The customers would praise David, saying, “He doesn't talk, but he really shows you how to operate a lawn mower!”

    I was in my first year of college, making friends and enjoying life, but then my whole world turned upside down. I had a heart attack. It felt like someone was stabbing (刺) me in the chest with a knife over and over again.

    After three months of rest I went back to college, but then things took a turn for the worse. I was staying at my Nana's house and woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible pain in my chest. I knew I was having a heart attack again.

    I couldn't even shout for help. Luckily my grandpa was going to the toilet and heard me falling out of bed. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here.

    The two holes in my heart were causing the problems and I needed an operation immediately to repair them. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't go well and they only managed to repair one of the holes.

    When I woke up from the operation, I had a really dry mouth and couldn't wait to have something to eat and drink. The biggest shock of all came when I was told that I needed a heart transplant and was put on the register. The doctors were stunned at how quickly heart failure came on – it usually takes years, but it took my heart less than six months to get to that stage. My whole world came crashing down, but I stayed strong. It was a choice between crying every day and getting on with my life.

    As time went on, life became even harder. I hated feeling weak all the time and needing help with everything. It got to the point where I thought I would never get a new heart. I was diagnosed with depression.

    Even though I thought that Christmas 2008 would be my last, I really enjoyed it and even had a good New Year. Everyone was crying for me when the clock struck midnight and they told me to keep fighting.

    A week later, I got a call from the doctors saying they'd found a suitable donor (捐赠人). My wish came true and thankfully the operation went well. I spent four hours in surgery where they took out my old heart and put a new one in. When I woke up I burst out crying. I had a second chance at life.

    Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. We go fishing, sit in the garden, have a picnic, live in the suburbs or go to the seaside. The most popular leisure activity in Britain is going for a walk. When joggers jog, they don't run the streets. Every one of them tend to go to the park or the river.

    But despite this, our children are growing up nature­deprived(剥夺). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.

    The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(多动症). Those whose accommodation had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.

    ADHD is one of the great problems of modern childhood. One study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.

    The life of old people is measurably better when they have access to nature. The increasing concern for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.

    We need the wild world. It is essential to our well­being, our health and our happiness.

    You need some bread and milk. But half an hour later, you leave the supermarket with a trolley（推车）full of food. What games do supermarkets play to make us spend so much money?

    The tricks usually start before you walk in. Outside the supermarket entrance, anybody who walks past can smell warm, fresh bread. That makes us hungry and ready to buy lots of food, not just bread.

    Now you're inside and, of course, a small basket would be fine, but all they have are trolleys. And of course the problem with a trolley is that it looks sad and lonely with just one or two goods inside. So we may fill it with something. In fact, supermarket trolleys are actually getting bigger so that we buy more.

    Of course, many people shop in supermarkets because they think everything is cheaper than in other shops. So supermarkets offer very cheap prices on some things but then have higher prices for other goods. One new trick is to put red stickers（标签）on them. Customers usually connect red stickers with lower prices so the red stickers is easy to be seen, even when there is no reduction! Interestingly, this trick appears to work more with men than with women.

    There is a story behind the position of everything in the supermarket. The most expensive goods are usually at eye-level so you see these immediately. The exception is anything that children might like. These goods are on lower shelves so that kids see them.

    Apart from what you see and smell in a supermarket, what about what you listen to? In most supermarkets they have soft, slow music. It's so relaxing that you slow down and spend more time (and money) in the store. Experts suggest it's better to shop when it's quieter, on a Monday or a Tuesday for example. And be careful with queues at the checkouts（收银台）. These are sometimes on purpose, to make you buy something from the checkout shelves while you wait.

    So, next time you go into your local supermarket, remember these tricks and see if you can come with just the things you went for.

    What's more exciting than having a fresh hot pizza delivered to your door?  How about having it brought to you by a robot?  Thanks to Domino's Robotic Unit or DRU, that just became a reality! On March 8, the three-foot tall robot delivered its first pizza to some lucky residents in Brisbane, Australia.

    The fully autonomous DRU is the result of cooperation between Domino's Pizza Australia and Marathon Robotics. The 450-pound machine that travels at a maximum speed of 12. 4 miles an hour can traverse a distance of up to 12 miles and back, before requiring to recharge the battery. LIDAR, a laser-based sensor technology similar to the one used in self-driving cars, enables DRU to detect and avoid obstacles, while traditional sensors, much like those used in vacuum robots ensure its path is safe as it heads to its destination.

    The robot can fit up to ten pizzas and even has a separate cold area to accommodate drink orders. To access their food, customers have to enter the unique code provided for them by the company. This not only ensures that they pick up the right pizza, but also prevents the pies from getting stolen.

    Scientists expect additional DRU's to be ready for service in their various Queensland locations within the next six months. But don't expect these super cute robots to replace humans anytime soon. According to Domino's the DRU still needs extensive testing, which the company believes could take up to two years.

    And then there is also the issue of regulations. The public use of autonomous vehicles is still banned in most countries. But Don Meij, the CEO and Managing Director of Domino's Pizza Australia New Zealand Ltd, is not worried. He is“confident that one day DRU will become an integral part of the Domino's family. ”

    Many years ago, when we were a young couple with two small children, aged 2 and 4, we were practically impecunious. My in-laws lived from hand to mouth, so we didn't expect any help from them. My parents lived a great distance away, and I was too ashamed to let them know about our situation.

    My husband was trying to earn a living with an old pick-up truck, carrying groceries for local shopkeepers, but it was constantly breaking down. It took almost all the money we had to have it fixed. The truck was also the only means of transportation for us.

    We lived in the countryside, and we always used the back door because the driveway led to it. One winter evening, I stepped outside to take a bag of trash to the barrel and almost tripped over something. It was nearly dark, and I had to bend down to see what it was. I could hardly believe my eyes. There sat a large basket loaded with food.

    It was heavy, so I called my husband to carry it into the house. Once inside, we discovered two loaves of bread, some butter, several cans of vegetables, a can of orange sauce, and a large turkey. There was so much that I can't remember it all, but it was everything we needed to fix a wonderful dinner—everything except potatoes.

    A little while later I remembered that I hadn't taken the trash to the barrel. By now it was dark, so I had to turn on the yard light —and that's when I spotted a small bag of potatoes sitting on the porch.

    That dinner was the best I can remember.

    We weren't able to thank our donators, though, because we never found out who had been so generous in helping a struggling young family. Whoever it was, we are forever grateful.