First, tonight's newsletter, Breaking Down The Barriers To Communication, is available. Also, I forgot to post the last newsletter, People Will Leave Your Life. Read and enjoy.

Wednesday night I had quite a scare. Ihad come back home on Tuesday night for a seminar on Wednesday, which was great. Then I went back to my consulting assignment Wednesday evening, so I could be there early enough Thursday morning.

I was just starting to talk to my wife through instant messaging, and she had asked me how I was doing. I wrote that I was suddenly not feeling well at all, because I wasn't. She asked me what was wrong, and I said I wasn't sure, but that I had this feeling that I wanted to get into bed, and I'd talk to her in the morning. I didn't even make it to bed before the chills took over my body. I'd had this problem once before this year, so I first turned the heat on full blast in the hotel room, then got under the covers in my sweats and wrapped the blankets around me. Nothing doing; the shivers were coming from inside, and for the next three hours I shivered and tried to get warm, occasionally dozing for a moment, but basically not sleeping at all. While the chills were there, even the hot air in the room didn't feel all that hot.

When the chills finally broke three hours later, I had still not broken a sweat, but I started feeling better. My body was sore, and I had to cool down the air so I could breathe better, but otherwise the worst of it was over. I heard from a pharmacist friend of mine that I might have had food poisoning of some sort both this time and the last, as there was also a brief bit of nausea. Since I ate all my meals outside of the house, I couldn't even begin to pinpoint what I might have eaten that could have brought the problem on.

Truth be told, I'm not always so cautious when I'm on the road and eating out all the time. I've had stomach problems with food that's not even spicy, but rich. The problem is that it's hard to know when a problem might be around the corner, and you might not know what's coming. Whether it's something with you personally or with someone you know or work with, surprises, both negative or positive, can be only moments away from changing so many things.

And, as I mention the passing of Tim Russert as a negative thing, something that was shocking and surprising, it reminds us all that not only might we not get another opportunity to fix something up at a later time, but we need to try to pay attention to those small things that might keep us safe and on an even keel, whether it's business or personal. It always pays to take care of your business, no matter what.