Without

With Black Friday around the corner and all the deals putting every new toy in arms reach, my question is...what can we do without?

Answer: Everything! However now that we've had it and have become dependant on it, there's no turning back for us now.

People strive for simplicity, yet keep adding more and more to their plate...be it tangible or intangible things. WE are driven by the immediate satisfaction that "things" provide for us and we've slipped into the got to have it now, want it now, "now" mentality, and unfortunately patience is a virtue that is being lost.

In Ecclesiastes 7:8 it states; The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Yet in this world we choose not to deal without, and so let pride take precedence over patience. Makes you think...

Not DUTY Free

It has been a while since I last posted anything, primarily due to my increase responsibilities at work. This has been a good thing though...I think...as it has provided me with a new opportunity to expand my horizons more globally.

My success in recruitment is being taken overseas as we look to increase our international student population. Although the travel excites me it isn't exactly a bottomless budget so we'll need to be creative and targeted on how we approach this. I've got a great team to work with so this should be a lot of fun as we move forward and accomplish this goal!

Perhaps I should polish up my Spanish, or take on more languages too...and I'm off!

Rainy Days

In a world where everything is go, go, go...now, now, now; the rainy day provides us with a moment to RELAX. The ability to sit back and let go, catch up with your thoughts, read a book, watch hours of television or movies, etc. So despite this gloomy weather there's a little part in all of us that enjoy it too!

Funny the Way it Is...

This is the title of a new Dave Matthews song (which is a great song...check it out), but not the focus of this post.

Yesterday Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest, but unfortunately in the past decade it wasn't his music that was the topic of conversation that surrounded him. Yet, all of a sudden this morning on every television and radio station, supporters come out talking about his music instead of his odd relationship with children. So why after someone is gone does support only then come out???

It makes you wonder what will be said when you leave this world...hopefully it just echoes what's being said while I'm here

Lost without Explanation

An otherwise reliable and experienced Air France flight crew are lost en route from Brazil to Paris after encountering "an electrical storm" ... oh yea and the flight pattern is just south of the Bermuda Triangle.

Although there are quite a few reported disappearances in that area, the two most notable aircraft mystery's are the Douglas DC-3 #NC16002 and US Naval Flight 19. The commonality in all of these, including the most recent Flight AF 447, has been related to electricity. Of course this poses a lot of new questions, but also possibly some answers to an industry always in need some refining. Engineers stay tuned!!!

Memorial Day

Every year this is the weekend I usually spend every hour of my day outdoors camping and fishing As I grow older I've learned to appreciate the beauty of these freedoms I have, and you can't put a price on something like that!


To the millions of people who have allowed me these opportunities, I say thank you!

BAIL OUT: Round ???

Unbelievable...specifically though I am going to focus on the banks;

The latest articles has BOA and Citi screaming for more funds. BOA is said to "need $34 billion of capital to withstand a deep economic downturn", yet "has already received $45 billion of government help"...Tough Shit!

Yes, this has struck a cord with me and for a long time I debated not writing about my current situation but the time has come...

TIMELINE
2004-Purchased a beautiful 2BD/2BA condo on an 80/20 loan from Wells Fargo
2005-Refinanced with a 'douche bag' loan shark (husband of my wife former employee) that slipped in an Interest only loan unannounced to me. Yes I trusted a mutual friend and banker...stupid I know I'll learn!
2006-Attempted to sell the condo after an inflated market drove our price up to nearly double what we paid. Awesome until....the market dropped quicker than we could drop our price
2007-Decided to rent our property
2008-REAL ESTATE takes the ultimate plunge and equally sized condos quickly are being placed in foreclosure or bankruptcy in our complex for half of what we paid

DO THE MATH: Yes you read correctly...hypothetically lets say we paid $100 for our house, which inflated to $200 and is now priced with foreclosures and bankruptcy at $50. Your starting to see my frustration with the banks.

The banks created loans for people who couldn't afford homes, and so more people with more loans = more money for the banks. Now the government is throwing money at the banks to help them stay afloat = more money for banks...meanwhile people foreclose and go bankrupt driving current real estate prices through the floor. We are seeing the next problem with banks now too stingy to loan or refinance people, even the responsible people, to hopefully avoid more foreclosure or bankruptcy's. Well, their cry for more money is not being heard by me...let them fail! Many of us will still be in the same situation either way regarding our loan headaches...heck, we may even be better off when they go under!

U.N. and North Korea to meet at the bike racks @ 3pm!

In case you need some preface to this story, North Korea and the UN Security Council are fighting like big children. North Korea said "We're going to conduct nuclear and missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes", to which the U.N. replied "it's impossible to retract that statement."


Apologize or else?

Roller Coaster Weekend

Over the past week our family has seen great sorrow and great joy. Suffering the loss of an unexpected death (Michael) in the family makes you question your faith, and on the other hand the marriage of two people (Chuck and Heather) helps to reinforce it. I guess why its called Faith!

Twitter today...

Gone tomorrow! Or at least that's my take on the latest fad. WHY?

It doesn't generate the money to stay afloat at this point, and notably so stating that "we spend more money than we make"! In addition they offer little vision for the future other than to state "we plan to build Twitter, Inc into a successful, revenue-generating company that attracts world-class talent with an inspiring culture and attitude towards doing business" HOW?

They attempt to get brownie points riding Apples success stating that "we all work on Macintosh computers except for testing purposes".

Partnerships are going to need to be made to maintain success and buzz in the public eye, but this is also the beauty of the Internet. It's easy in but also easy out...

Simply the Best Athlete Ever

If you've read my blog before you'll recall me writing about this "untouchable" individual (Tiger Woods). He provied it once again this past week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, even despite being out of mix for a while.

It's no doubt in my mind that he truly is the best athlete ever!

Stories keep the Fire Alive

Did you ever have a conversation that after you were done left you feeling exhausted? I'd be willing to bet that many of these conversations we're either negative or just went in circles!

We all try to avoid it (I hope), but how about speaking to the eternal complainer, or the drama queen, or that know-it-all. This has been such a hot topic that books have been written about the negative affects, intrinsically and extrinsically, they have had on people or company's. One in particular is by Phil Harkins that addresses how to attain that higher level of a powerful conversation, and how to avoid the bad ones. This may not always be that easy and don't get yourself fired over it but I thought what my pastor shared in our March 15th sermon resonated pretty succinctly; "Focus on keeping the fire of Christ alive in all of us through by sharing stories of goodness, love and peace."

How's that for keeping it simple!

Illegal Immigrants gain Sympathy

If something is illegal it is wrong, so if we fix the problem you would think that is a good thing right?

Not the case for Maricopa County-AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio or his regement at "Tent City". His sting operation that captured more than 16,000 illegal immigrants over 18 months of which 20% of which were convicted felons, is now being accused that they're practices violate the civil rights of illegal aliens...huh?

Sherrif Joe is a little unorthadox, but this may just be a ploy to bring people's political agendas into the equation!

My Stock is Worth...

If you bothered trying to answer this question you probably have lost hair, weight, and are hooked on some antidepressant drugs. In addition to the added weight of decreased home values and an unstable job market, you may be belly up on the floor. Fear not though I have solutions for all...OK maybe not hair loss one as you know I struggle in this area (but you can call my cousin to get that fixed)

However did you know that antidepressants cause weight gain, decrease your sex drive, and can make you feel lazy and stupid? Gee that sounds like fun, yet this market rakes in over $15 Billion annually so obviously there's a demand for it somewhere. My alternative solution to save you money and increase your health is to instead try exercising, taking more vitamin B, and use a natural supplement like St. John's wort. It takes more work than popping a pill and isn't 100% effective, but neither is 32% success rate of drugs.

Proceed with Caution

So if you hadn't yet heard Iran just launched a satellite, that according to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad carries the message of "peace and brotherhood"

Although this may be true many are concerned with Iran's bigger plan. Whether it has been the fear of Iran's interest in nuclear missile exploration or on a more personal note leaving question as to Ahmadinejad uncertain past.

As a concerned American citizen I'd say one thing is for certain for Mr. President.......Proceed with Caution!!!

Giant Hypocrites

This weekend we took the fam on a little getaway to escape the frigid weather. Great times were had by all, but I feel the need to comment on a situation that proved people are big hypocrites...


The hypocritical moment began just as we pulled up to the resort. Clearly the line of cars spoke for itself and we knew the wait to check in would be a good 20-30 minutes. So after dropping off my wife, the kids and I went to park the car and wait. In doing so though we noticed about 15-20 other cars blocking each other in around the front of the resort, and all with their engines running. Yes it was cold, so perhaps that is the reasoning for many, but seriously I shut the car off for 20 minutes and we had no problem staying warm in our car. Many of these people are the same people that complain about gas prices, but by far the funniest one was a car that was plastered with Save the Planet and Environmental stickers on it.