He's the University of Alabama's Football Coach

Just like with everything else in life, experiences are all connected (thanks to my cyber-friend Lori for pointing that out). My accidental business transcends into all I do and into my daily life. I don't seek out all things Alabama. Instead, my experiences connect me to other experiences--which make me into who I am. I started thinking about this particular concept this week.

My connections:

I know more about Alabama horticulture than I ever expected to know. Did you know that hydrangea flowers become colorful if you add iron to the soil? Did you know that the botanical gardens in Hoover Alabama is the creator of a new breed of hydrangea? Did you know one of those hydrangea bushes are going to be residing at one of my rental homes?

I never expected to know the mechanics of how a roof works, how to install a dishwasher and how door lock technology has evolved in the past 40 years. Yet I am set if there is a Trivial Pursuit category for this.

Southern culture fascinates me, not because I am a big Gone With The Wind fan, but because I had to learn how to do business over there. Recently I had a grotesquely unpleasant encounter with another home school mother. When we were at an en pass and I realized that she had no room in her life for compassion or another opinion, I was able to say, "Bless your heart. Thank you for opening my eyes." She responded with, "Of course! You are very welcome," completely clueless of the subtext.

The plural of "y'all" is "all'y'all." And, that is the way it is spelled. People who aren't from the South aren't allowed to say "all'y'all." It is like the nerdy kid trying too hard to fit in with the cool clique.

If you asked me when I graduated from college if I would ever know the ins and outs of pop music publishing, the dirty secrets car dealerships don't want you to know and who Nick Saban happens to be, I would have looked at you like you were nuts. Why would I want to know these things? All of them I learned from managing rental homes in Alabama.

I learned of lots of other business-y things too. But those are for a few other blogs.