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Go to Garrison Keillor's Cool Friends interview

On a trip away from Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor took time to talk to us at tompeters.com. He and Erik had a great conversation about his latest book, A Christmas Blizzard, and many other topics, including a note from Julie Christie. We know you'll enjoy reading his Cool Friends interview.

View our Archives for past interviews.

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dispatches from the new world of work

Roadwarrior Tip #1:
DIY!

Houston prep

What's the last thing I do before leaving a hotel room? Make two [lengthy] trips around the room, searching ceaselessly for stuff I've left behind; since I work a lot sitting on the bed, tossing the sheets once or twice is also an important part of the ritual.

But that's not the tip.

The tip, #1 in this new series, is not aimed at lightening your burden, but adding to it. And the tip is mostly "boys only."

My next-to-last activity, after my last pre-trip pee, is to clean the toilet. This need not apply to you, but as for me, I'm disgusted that anyone would be burdened with wiping up the near guaranteed pee stains that boys-of-all-ages leave on (or near, or nearly near) the toilet. I do the same thing at home before our folks who clean the house weekly show up. (I told them that if I missed the toilet—they were not under any circumstances to clean it.) And despite the added exposure to germs, I do it in an airplane if my aim had turned out to be worse than usual.

(FYI, I've also observed that 1st class toilets are generally messier than those in coach—draw your own conclusions. And this is not only when AIG execs are on board—now that is unfair.)

(Above, TP prepping for a San Antonio speech—no PowerPoint allowed. For note cards, I made a PPT slide presentation, printed it two-slides-per-page, snipped the pages in half with my trusty Swiss Army knife, and created a stack of editable notes. You'll also see, along with coffee, my Coke Zero—I had to walk a mile to find a convenience store with CZ. And, no, Coke did not fork over $$$ for this prominent product placement. Also ... OF COURSE ... you will see Ziplocs around and about—a world without ZLs is a world not worth contemplating!)

Tom Peters posted this on 03/20/09. | Comments (16)