Favorite Ben Franklin quotes ....

Fish and visitors smell in three days.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1736
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.
Benjamin Franklin
Drive thy business or it will drive thee.
Benjamin Franklin
Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Benjamin Franklin

Gosh... I can understand why Dr. Franklin was such a ladies man.

Obama needs to learn how to take a hit

sWanaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Booo Hooo. McCain said bad things about me! He doesn't understand I am the second coming !!!! Wannnnaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Finally, McCain takes a swipe at Obama. Geezzz. Yes, Barrack, I am scared of you. I scared for my 401-K. You scare me. You TERRIFY ME!

You lack:

1) Experience - In every sense of the WORD. You walked into a Senate seat with no competition less than 6 years ago and have never held a "real job". You have no foreign policy experience, no service in the military, no financial or budgeting experience, and have made many very questionable decisions with the people you associate with socially.
2) Principles - Yes, the flag pin and the church you went to bothers me. I have stopped going to the church founded by my ancestors (the Pilgrims) because they are TOO LIBERAL for me and I don't agree with their platform. You CHOSE THAT CHURCH.
3) Bipartisanship - Yes, I may not have liked McCain - Kennedy or McCain - Feingold. But at least Senator McCain has tried to eliminate the grid lock in Congress. He has accomplished nothing and authored nothing!
4) Economic policy - McCain is no Phil Gramm but at least he has more experience than you do and he isn't a Marxist.

YOU TERRIFY THE SOCKS OFF ME.... and I vote always!

The Connection between the Amish and Web 2.0 Communities.

I recently finished reading a book by Jodi Picoult entitled, "Plain Truth". http://www.jodipicoult.com/ It was a light summer read however, I believe very well researched. It takes place on a Amish Farm in Lancaster County, PA. It was the first book I have read by this trendy novelist.

As I was reading, the word COMMUNITY jumped off the pages as the members of the Amish family continued to explain the importance of blending into a group and being part of the COMMUNITY was more important than being an individual or standing up for oneself.

I have been struggling to understand if this is an entirely different way of the "English" or non "Plain" way of the definition of how community is described in the web 2.0 world. Yes, their is a sense of wanting to belong to be sure. Web 2.0 and community is based on peer to peer communication and a sense of belonging to a group of people with similar interests or profession. Yet, there is an important part to individualism with current day COMMUNITIES. We update our profiles, post photos and comment on them, we project our thoughts in blogs as being a profound statement and encourage others disagree with us... We twitter away about the importance of being "me". These are not part of an Amish definition of community.

So what can we learn from looking at the Amish definition of Communities?

Well....

• The "Plain" leverage the strength of their community to complete tasks together as one faster than an individual. (Amish barn raisings are a keen example)
• They believe in the strength of numbers to give them a sense of belonging and comfort.
• Socialization is a keen part of the Amish community with hymn sing along, quilting circles and most centric .. the church services that rotate between the homes of the community members..

Finally, I am finding a common thread in my blog posts regarding this isn't a new idea. It is a return to the way humans have interacted for centuries. We have depended on each other's skills (Begs and brags in discussion boards), ratings and reviews (idea share), and experiences (blog entries) to learn and grow as society. Web 2.0 based applications simply "Bring the Conversation Online"....

New pictures of Fiona at 15 weeks

When is Clean ...clean enough?

Confession:

I get panicked about the appearance of my home prior to having a certain sect of people visit me. Typically, these are people that:
A) Don't have pets... especially hairy dogs
B) Don't work outside the home (currently or ever)
C) Have young children

Why?

A) I can live with the tumbleweed of dog hair that appears between my weekly fight with the Oreck but I don't have a clue how others do it... I have given in to the work / life balance that life is messy but haven't gotten over I care about other's opinions of me yet.

B) Since I work remotely from home, some have the impression that it is easy for me to get everything done. WRONG!! I may be able to slip in a 10 AM run to the dry cleaners easier but I am working from 7AM to 7 PM often and the draw of my lap top and clients will always beat out the laundry mound or vacuum beast.

C) We don't have children. Our house is set up for adults and dogs. I worry about all the PC stuff that is suppose to enable kids never to experience pain and that they are closer to those hair balls than the rest of us.

That being confessed, I LOVE having company. I love to entertain and fairs' fair... I like the motivation and valid business reason to scrub the shower and door jams.

I like knowing what delights my guests. For example, my dad would be a home baked sugar free dessert. My best friend would be flowers in her room and a pile of magazines she hasn't read yet along with a shot of tequila. My good friend and house sitter loves having her shampoo in the guest bathroom. My nephews love the lolly pops, teddy grahams and matchboxes.

So as I am waiting for guests to arrive this week, if I answer the phone like a grump... tell me to put down the sponge.... everything is going to be okay....

I think the kool-aid has finally settled into my DNA

When do you realize an adoption of a new way to communicate? How do you know when it is pervasive in your life? I had such an Epiphany last night at the dinner table. We had planned a family dinner party by connecting with each other on Facebook. Yes, I did have to have one conversation with a family member that is not "LinkedIn" with "Facebook". However, this device and communication tool has allowed me to establish a faster and easier relationship with a new member of our family than I would have ever with the phone. Because of the following:

1) Our schedules are completely different.
2) There is about 14 years difference in age. (She is younger)
3) It makes sense to be able to put one thing out into the universe and keep everyone updated.

I just now have to get her to Twitter and I will be golden! The non kool family members at the table were a bit shocked at how we organized the get together without speaking and without email. I looked at their 3.5 year old boys and said... time to figure it out or you are going to be so far behind the times when they reach whatever is the future of the MySpace generation.

It also dawned on me how people are able to stay engaged more with remote friends and family with social networking. Have a sister in California or neighbors in Georgia? It is easy not to have to find the time for a conversation if you can update them on your life through a feed on Facebook, Twitter or an old fashion blog post.

Start counting the times people mention connecting with others via the social networking tools like a blog entry, FaceBook or MySpace page or tweat. I bet even you Barney Rubbler's will be amazed and prompted to look at joining the party!

Credit Crisis

I was listening to the Mike Church radio show on Sirius on Wednesday morning. He said something very interesting about the credit crisis and pending bail out. He was right on!

These people that have the sub prime loans and can't pay their bills aren't losing THEIR homes. The loans were no down payment type loans. They have NO equity. They were basically renters okay renting to own. Why are we bailing out people on home loans that they SHOULDN'T have qualified for in the first place?

I am not even going to start on bailing out financial institutions that knowingly lent money to people that didn't qualify.

Talk Radio.... Old time Community

Only children often pick up strange habits that are more adult like than other children that have siblings to influence them. That can be seen with food choices, reading material, and sports. As an only child, one of the weird habits I picked up from my mother was an interest in talk radio. I would set my clock radio to a huge Boston AM station to listen to Larry Glick nights as I went to bed. During Basketball season, I went to sleep (or eluded it) listening to the famous Johnny Most giving the play by play for Larry Bird, Danny Ange, and Tiny Archibald and the rest of the Celtics.
Today, I am still a talk radio junkie. I do this in a more technically upgraded way from an old clock radio. I stream it on my laptop and have satellite radio in my car. It dawned on me the other day how talk radio is a community. There is a host or a site. There is a group of like-minded people which congregate to talk and listen to others on issues that are important to them. People participate by calling in with their own UGC (User or 'Listener' Generated Content). Many lurk and just listen. Others take the information and have discussions with family and friends. They become better informed as even the SME (talk show hosts and guests) learn from the masses. It is an original technology based We Are Smarter than Me concept. The next time your radio dial hits a talk radio station figure you are part of an old time grass roots community.

What is more valuable ... Time or Heath?

Monday, I was spending a planned day off doing a bunch of to do items like getting the hitch finally installed on the car, dry cleaning, going to the gym to meet with my trainer at 9 AM. You know the stuff you can't normally do during work hours...

As I was sitting in the waiting area of the place that was installing the hitch reading my book, my head started to hurt and then pound. I related it to the machine across the street pounding into the rock wall trying to create more retail worth land into ledge.

By the time I got home, I was so sore and had a throbbing headache. Okay... It was early to be sore from my work out. Then about an hour later the chills and sweats started. By tour time (y'all know what that is... it is July at Brannydoon... There is only one channel.. VS. for the Tour de France... A month of Phil & Paul & Bob),

My fever was so bad. It reminded me of the ones I had as a kid where it got so high I would hallucinate. However, it seem to be better in the morning although the headache was still there. I struggled to work on Tuesday being back at work. My heart though wasn't in it. I was still having fever effects. By the night, I was right back there.

Beyond this, the horse fly bite, I had noticed on my hip over the weekend was throbbing and made it difficult to lie on my right side. For those of you in CT/NY, you probably know what I have. For those of you in NH/MA/GA and beyond, stay tuned.... By Wednesday, Mr. B told me to make an appointment with the doctor. Honestly, I think he thought I was faking it or was deathly afraid I was going to make him sick. I was still point person to take out Miss Fiona. I could barely move. However, I was dragging myself around the yard and up and down the street to make sure the 5 days of no mistakes was continued.

Go to the doctor for a fever? Why? All I am going to be told is to take Advil/Aspirin, fluids, and bed rest. However, I got a better look at the bite on my hip. The redness around it was now about 6 inches in the middle and didn't look normal 5 days after I noticed the bite.

So I picked up the phone and called the doctors office. Thankfully, they could see me almost immediately. (This typically isn't a good sign by the way). I started to think what if this is a tick bite? Could it be Lyme? I went to this trusty computer and typed in "Lyme disease and symptoms" into the Google search box. The Mayo clinic delivered the following link that pretty much confirmed all of my symptoms. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116/DSECTION=symptoms So did the doctor within taking my temperature and looking at my hip. Antibiotics and a promise that I should start to feel better in 48-72 hours but it would still be rough in between. Wednesday night was probably the worse but I finally started to feel better last night.

It got me to question my belief that 'you can always make more money but you can't create more time.' However, without your health do either money or time make a difference? I swear my head hurt so bad on Wednesday night I thought a guillotine would be a nice device? I know people with severe migraines have had similar thoughts.... What is your take?

A Letter to My Uncle Rob from Seamus

Dear Uncle Rob -

How are things at camp? How are cousins Winston and Sidney and Auntie Jen? I hope all is well and everyone has plenty of treats! Daddy said you had inquired about my near death experience last month. So here goes...

It was late in the afternoon on June 12th. Mommy had been very busy at the computer all day. I was bored and went into her bag where some times there are these tasty treats called "breakfast bars". I found a plastic bag but all it had in it were a couple of pills that weren't too filling.

The next morning (Friday the Thirteenth) there was a lot of commotion in the house when Daddy noticed the parts of the baggy I left as what he refered to as "evidence" in front of his bureau and my upstairs nightime beddie.

My human isn't too good. Here is what I got from the conversation. Mommy was upset because the baggy contained a couple of emergency "aleve and zyrtec" in it for when she goes "away" (Uncle Rob, I apologize for my language. I know "away"is a four letter word.)

Anyway, I got to go for an early morning car ride to visit the doctor. Neither of them were very happy with me. I got blood taken among an number of horrid tests and had this nasty charcoal stuff forced down my throat. It wasn't even flavored like beef or chicken. I had to stay there all day. Daddy stopped in for a talk with the doctor and to calm Mommy down. I don't know why she was soo upset. I was the one stuck in the cage with a needle in my arm with this bag of water handing off it. I got another dose of the charcoal again. Another four letter word.. YUCK.

I didn't see them for a couple of hours. They came back and we were off in the car. We stopped at this place that I got to go in. It didn't smell great. It smelled like fear. I went in with them. We went into what looked like another doctors office. I thought I was going home!! I got so upset I threw up. How embarrassing! Mommy and Daddy talked to the doctor and then handed over my leash to him. I didn't see them again until Monday. During this time, I had forced lots of water through my arm and I was confined to a cage. Prison with torture. I didn't even feel well. My tummy was very sore. The only good thing was the can food I got to eat.

I was so excited to go home with Mommy. However, when I got there .... I had a surprise named Fiona. I will tell you about that at a later time. I will say ... it wasn't the best surprise.

I didn't feel well the next day and I had well... problems with my bowels and Mommy had to go "away" again. She did have the pet sitter come.. but I couldn't hold it a couple of times. I was so ashamed. I ruined the living room rug. Daddy was quite upset when he came home.

I had medication and control issues for two weeks and several more trips to the vet. I am not sure what is to done about this. However, I thought you wanted to know. Hope to see all of you soon.

Your Furry Nephew,

Seamus...

Introducing Lady Fiona... of Brannydoon

In my mind I'm goin' to North 45

As I was putting on the sneakers to go to the gym this morning, Seamus started his dance. He was sooo excited because he thought we were going for a walk. Since it had been about a week given our trip to Florida and the bloody heat, I changed my plans from 45 minutes on the elliptical to an hour walk with Sir Seamus.

It was a good choice. I can go and lift tonight. The fields have been plowed. The smell of morning on a farm. The good smell of freshly cut hay. The absolute quiet and deafening noise of nature. Birds that were large and small. Chickadees, Cardinals, Bluebirds, Robins, Crows, Turkeys ... joined us along our walk. The smile of a happy dog. The greeting from the farm dairy cow and the nod from the Llamas.

But most of all the smell of the fresh cut hay, transported me back to summers romping at our hunting camp on the 45th Parallel through the dairy fields. Making friends with the dairy herd. Torturing frogs in the pond and climbing through the abandon barns that we were suppose to stay out of ... but never did. I was seven years old again. Not a bad way to start the day.

I stopped and breathed in.... I recommend it ... Breathe Relax and Remember.... Have a happy summer day... each one is a gift. Unwrap it, appreciate your time, and impact someone's else day in a positive way. I did. Seamus is in the corner dreaming of the squirrels that he encountered and smiling...

A letter from the Duchess

Dear Mommy and Daddy -

Seamus and I missed you but we had fun with Aunt Leslie spoiling us. However, someone really needs to teach that beast of a dog (Ruger) that I am force not to be reckoned with!

When I am lounging on the sofa, I do not appriciate being sniffed and licked. Oh the horror! I mean really, who knows where that dog's mouth has been. I am sensing Seamus' arse is a good bet. Silly dogs iwth their snifing and licking. Yuck! I'll teach that Ruger a lesson or two. OR perhaps one lesson with five points next time.

Yours Truelly ( yes I spelled that wrong .. I am a cat after all),

The Duchess of Brannydoon.

Full Weekend - Baby pictures

I started the weekend Friday evening on a Spin bike at 5:45 PM. After the instructor,kicked my ass on the bike for an hour, I went home to make a carb heavy dinner to recover from the beating and to prepare for the next morning....
Saturday came very early. Seamus had to go out and there was a spin bike that had been bought and paid for a charity event. I got on the bike at 7:45 AM and then proceeded to have Alan .. the psycho pirate, kick my ass again for 2 hours. The spin a thon a was for a set of conjoined twins in our town. They are adorable but obviously have very special needs and expenses. For those of you that are curious... two legs, four arms, and two heads. They are joined at the chest and attend elementary school. They are really happy. Yes Nancy, we saw them in the Big Y... we weren't seeing things that day.

Anyways, we were raising money to help send them to camp this summer to help them to cope in the future.

I spent the rest of the day trying to move... I treated myself to a pedicure. We went to our favorite little restaurant in Washington Depot, JD Tucker's. They have an updated menu. I tried the Chicken Milanese... LOVELY.

Today, Seamus and I were up again early. I wonder if he will ever decide that sleeping in is a good thing. Annie was great at sleeping in mornings til at least 9 AM.

Speaking of Annie, I then got into the car and drove north of Portland Maine to check out the litter of Golden puppies that we are getting the new addition from. There are 6 little girls. They are all lovely and not a bad dog in the bunch at first view. I know are little girl will be one of the darker pups but they are not dark in terms of being really Irish setter red. More strawberry blonds.

interesting quote - Food for thought today....

After I got on the scale today, which is dangerously located next to an upstairs window.... I read this quote in Paula Deen's autobiography,

" A balanced diet is having a cookie in both hands"

How I spent Mother's Day

Five years ago, we brought home Seamus to be a combo birthday present for Annie and Mother's Day present for me. I was able to help 5 puppies into rescue yesterday. They are the cutest thing! They are Llewllyn Setter and Brittany mixes from Tennessee. The mother was a brittany and well loved. She just found love in the wrong place. Perhaps, there is a relation to Seamus? They will be available on Petfinder.org. Search Brittany babies in New England. Here is a picture from their Bed and Biscuit and spa... on Saturday night!!!

visit http://www.nebrittanyrescue.org/.

Where the heck has Mrs. Branny been?

Well I can apologize again as I did only about 3 posts and 3 months ago but that doesn't make you as a reader any happier. I will attempt to get back in the habit of sharing something fun or insightful daily or at least weekly.

Where have I been? Well the honest answer is a bit down in the dumps since Annie passed away. I think I had a dose of Post Move Depression combine with losing my best friend and little furry girl just pushed me over the edge and away from even people that care. I think ... I hope that I am back in the present looking forward and will be a happy blogger again.

What is going on in my life. Job is going well .. at least I think. I have a couple of deals looking to close and the pipeline is healthy so ... that is enough on that front.

Personally, the second spring here at Brannydoon. I love the pictures I posted below. The sun is out and that really helps my mood. I have joined the gym downtown. I have been successful in making 2-3 spin classes weekly and attending a PiYo and Pilates class twice a week. That helped when I was in Kennesaw... it seems to help here too! Lots of happy people at the gym. I finally got cleats on the spinning shoes to help. I had my best spin class on Friday as a result. I am painfully getting out of bed every day. That has to equate that deep beneath the blubber work on the muscles is being accomplished.

We had a lovely dinner here at Brannydoon on Saturday night with the Vara's. I understand the trip home was a bit foggy and troublesome with directions. I will work on reverse directions! I promise!

Seamus has settled into being an only dog. I am not sure if he is going to stay that was or not. I am doing a transport for a litter of Brit/Setter pups on Sunday. I may deliver my load ...one short!

Mr. B is happy with the gift of lovely weather we have had... Life is good and the bad makes you appreciate the good.

Have a great day everyone.

Spring Photos

With the rain the past two days... I wanted to share with you two pictures I took last week. Spring has come to Brannydoon!!

This is the crabapple tree in the front yard. We are doing our part to help with the bee problem. They have been busy at work with this tree.

My tulips have also come up and didn't become a meal over the winter for rodents or deer. I was quite happy with my purchase at the Christmas Tree Shoppe!

Never Argue with a Woman

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance,anchors, and reads her book.Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?''

"Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')

"You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her.

"I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading'', she retorts.

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'', said the officer.

"For reading a book", she replies,"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with Sexual assault," says the woman.

"But I haven't even touched you", says the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment".
"Have a nice day ma'am," and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think. As well as steal your boat while you are sleeping.


(courtesy of M. Regan)

Are the only people running and elected to office shear idiots?

I have to just comment I am amazed how power hungry people in office are today. It really makes me sick. Do they not learn from example? Do you think that they are MORE likely to get caught than others? Somehow , they forgot they are held to a higher standard because their peers voted for THEM to represent the best of the population... not the worst.

Understandably, to err is human. It is divine to forgive. Okay ... I will accept that... However, there is a line in the Installment of Officers for Rainbow... every elected official and Senior Manager, Military officer, Religious official ... the list goes on.. should have embossed on their brains: (This is not part of the secret work and is said during an open meeting)

" My sister, your Assembly, in its wisdom and judgement, has elevated you to the office of Worthy Advisor, the highest honor it can confer. With this honor, comes responsibilities and duties. These duties should be discharged with your utmost thought, prayer and ability. As your decisions should be characterized by thought and tempered with judgement, so should you life be influenced by kindness and tempered with the fine steel of charity. You should be an example to the members of the Assembly not only in your every day life but in your association with them, and remember THOUGH ELEVATED FOR THE TIME BEING, YOU TO MUST RETURN TO THE RANKS. May God speed you and aid you in your term of office ... " Ritual, Order of Rainbow for Girls rev. 1948 page. 68.

Obviously, the Gov. of New York, former President Clinton, former Gov. Rowland (CT), former Gov. MacGreevey.... and the list goes on haven't gotten the message. Let me be perfectly clear... I would not be on the podium next to these weasels. They put the lives of their wives at risk and their families future. In the most recent scandal, it seems he broke federal laws that he prosecuted others breaking. I can't comprehend the stupidity! I wonder if in Governor residences across the country there are conversations like this:

First Lady: " Bubba, I won't stand beside you. Do you hear me? Can you calculate HALF? I said HALF! That is what you might be lucky to get." "That is IF I decide not to have the State Police shoot your cheatin ass" DO YOU HEAR ME!"

Governor: "Yes, dear"

So, it brings me to ask the question... Why aren't more humble qualified individuals doing the public service we need to keep this country viable? They are too scared and too smart to put their lives under a microscope. Smart individuals say... hmmm... How would my family be impacted by that transgression in my past (doing drugs in college, hiring an illegal to clean the house, getting creative on a tax return)? The answer is they don't. I am amazed at the public analysis at even a local level were public servants are often volunteers and they still are faced with mud from a local reporter. The reporter doesn't like their political decision so they get personal. It happens all the time.

Yes, I think that Gov. Spitzer has no choice but to resign. He made STUPID choices. However, we need to have a re-examination of the our public officials and our public officials need to smarten up on their practices in their everyday life.

off the soap box.

Irony with a dash of Cayenne pepper

Well, Seamus has a disgusting habit. Our vet says it is typical for both Spaniels and dogs that have been on the lamb at some point. It is called "coprophagy". I will let you Google that for a definition.

She suggested an over the counter solution that sometimes has an affect on the grotesque action. I went out and purchased this product called "Deter". Well, Seamus thinks these pills are treats. He can't wait to have them put in his food. They aren't deterring anything! Note to family and friends.... sniff first before excepting a kiss from the dog.

Aren't you glad I started blogging again!

Sorry about the Poor Blogging Behavior

Okay. I apologize. I didn't even bother to be the lazy blogger and re-purpose other's content. So what have I been up to over the winter? I guess perhaps I can blame it on hibernation? Blame it on being busy at work? Depressed over Annie's passing? A little bit of all of the above is probably correct.

January ... I can't even remember what was important and occurred. I did a transport of the cutest Brittany. I upgraded my blackberry and started shopping for a new car.... oh that would make for an excellent series of rants ... I could call it the good the bad and the ugly of car salesmen ship.... Ever notice there is a lack of women in this profession? I think they just can stomacher the greasy sales style of 90% of the dealerships!

February ... Okay... The Giants won... it was a happy day for Mr. B. Whoopie! I went to Atlanta for a long weekend to spend time with great friends. Shopped WAAAYYY too much. I forgot how much fun it is to shop with sales people that actual help. Kristi was making fun of me refusing the sales people's help for awhile. The northern aggression had taken hold of me yet again. There is nothing like a couple of days of sunshine and sweetness to melt the winter doldrums. I recommend a dose of Southern cuisine and hospitality to everyone in New England and especially y'all nasty New Yorkers at least once a year. It goes along with a new word by introduced at work... it is a bit foreign... Breathe...

March is upon us. I just finally upgraded the car. I needed to get AWD again. I feel liberated ... I can now leave the ridge anytime I feel like it. Perhaps this is why I felt compelled to blog again.

Here is to a quick end to old man Winter. I am sure we will have another wing banger of a storm sometime around St. Paddy's day. However, I am looking forward to spring blooms, lilacs and rock gardening again. If those deer don't stop eating my arborvitaes... venison will be on the Barbee this summer.

Granite Staters - VOTE FOR MIKE HUCKABEE

Vote for the Fair Tax - Abolish the IRS and make everyone pay their fair share including illegal aliens.
Vote for the 2nd Amendment - Hunter's rights
Vote for Honor - Mike is an honorable man
Vote for Executive Experience and Coalition building - Gov. of AK understands how to improve a bad economy and keep taxes in check.
Vote for States Rights - Sick of the Federal Government - Huckabee supports states rights
Vote for Humanities - Huckabee supports art, music and drama education!

But by all means ... Just Vote. Otherwise you have no right to comment or complain for the next four years.

Over and Out.....

Christmas is over and out for another year. We just can't catch a break on the holidays... well except three... in my father's leg. Yup, the Captain is on the bench. He did a nice triple axle up at Uncle Grayson's house a week ago. However, he didn't stick the landing too well. He broke his right leg and ankle in three places below the knee. He is in a wheelchair and on "happy pills" for a while.

Master Branny and I spent the holidays in New Hampshire cooking, chipping ice, wrapping presents, wheeling him around, and getting him to doctor's appointments. We did have a couple of brief rests to visit with the family and close friends that matter the most. We received lovely things. It is up to Mom to keep him going for the next week until I can get back up there again.

I am strongly encouraging the word "FLORIDA" for the 2008-2009 winter to them.

I am looking forward to New Year's ... We are having a some family over for dinner and a sleep over.. (no one is driving out of Brannydoon on amateur night) Hopefully, this is the last occasion that requires a trip to the emergency room for a while. Whomever came up with the quote, It isn't a party unless someone gets hurt.... should be gagged!

I am realizing a White Christmas

IT IS SNOWING !!!!!!!!!

Okay... this was taken on December 2nd. But the ground is covered!!!

I am like a little kid with snow. It makes me want to go grab a saucer and head for the backyard.

Remember how hot and hard snowsuits were to get in and out of ... especially when nature called?

This is Seamus my Tennesse boy out on a walk down the dirt road from Brannydoon.

Happy Snow Storm Everyone and Safe home to those of you :)- that don't work remotely!

Twas the Fight for Freedom

I received this in an email. I thought it was so well done that I had to share it with all of you.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light

Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right ,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

"PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC,
USN30t h Naval Construction RegimentOIC,
Logistics Cell OneAl Taqqadum , Iraq.

Huckabee - I told you

Okay ... Mind you... I told you... Are you sick of me forecasting yet?

I told you back in September, (See Post from September 7th) I had decided to vote for Mike Huckabee. Many of you laughed at me. You told me he didn't have a chance. I said that I looked at his platform and I liked him better than anyone else.... I told you.

Now look at the polls ...

1) 2ND amendment rights
2) FAIR TAX SUPPORTER
3) Long term Gov. ( Kennedy was the last Senator elected and try and find a Senator prior to that who wasn't VP)
3) Understands the Clinton machine and how to defeat it
4) Immigration
5) Faith and Politics
6) Family Values
7 ,... Here is the link http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.Home

There is one or two planks I don't agree with but I am probably not going to agree with any candidate ...even myself 100% of the time on either. They are topics I just don't think have any place in government or politics.

I watched Gov. Huckabee on a MSNBC interview on Thursday night. He quoted the Constitution on States Rights perfectly.. I had the Internet open and Googled it immediately to check his facts and then went on to quote the gospel of St. James. A rather interesting mix for MSNBC viewers, no? The way the flow of the questions occurred did not lead me to think there is anyway he would have been prepped on having to reference either piece. Huckabee simply knows them.

Beyond that, this is a quote that struck me when he was asked about who he would support if he wasn't the nominee....

" Character is what we do when no one else is watching"

I thought this was probably from Lincoln. I was wrong ... It is from a study of the Torah.

It makes sense because the conversation leading up to it was about my Senator Lieberman. The candidate understands what it is to be a man of character and a leader. Look beyond the fact he was a Baptist minister.... Truman sold hats. Reagan was an actor. The constitution guarantees us Freedom OF religion not FROM religion.

Consider Mike... Read about him. There are a number of very good men running for the Republican nomination. I ask you to consider this one....

We have decorated for the Holiday....

Everyone got into the act.... with the first snow fall. This Tennessee boy is Darn Cold!!!!

The lights are done outside the fake tree is up in the living room. I can't wait to put up the real one next week. It seems so strange to not have Annie in the middle of my wrapping.

How is your holiday progressing? I have done 90% of my shopping via telephone and computer. The UPS man is my new best friend!

Happy December!!!

The Golden Goddess Athena .... Our Annie .. Our Sweet Girl

Our beloved Golden daughter, Annie, (The Golden Goddess Athena aka… Bellie, Annie Belle, Stinky, Little Girl, Baby Puppy, Annie Bananie) passed over the Rainbow Bridge on Friday, November 23, 2007 after a sudden illness that struck her on Thanksgiving morning at her residence in New Milford, Connecticut. She was a native of New Hampshire being born on May 19, 1996. Annie was the canine daughter of “Promise Me Magic” an International Grand Champion. She shared his love of tomatoes and children. Annie was home schooled by Thomas Dwyer. Throughout her life, Annie was often noted to be a particular well behaved and enjoyable dog to be around. We both were grateful how many homes she was always welcomed in regularly, no matter how muddy her paws or how much she shed of her beautiful strawberry blonde mane.

Annie was well traveled living in four states (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Georgia and Connecticut) in her 11 ½ years and visiting over 15 states. Yes, she left her “mark” in everyone! She was blessed with many canine friends. Annie would want to thank them for their sharing of their toys, human parents and water bowls. Some of them include Kaleb, Ruger, Winston, Sidney, Maverick, Tucker and Bosco.

Among Annie’s favorite activities, beyond her position as receptionist and security guard at her Mzinga (formerly Shared Insights), were chasing tennis balls, swimming in especially the ocean, having her belly rubbed, sniffing the air on her mound, cheering on a bicycle races and going anywhere in the car.

Annie is survived by her father and mother Jim and Pauline Brannigan, her canine Brittany brother, Seamus, and feline sister HRH the Duchess of Brannydoon. She is also survived by her maternal and paternal grandparents and many uncles, aunties, and cousins that all loved and miss her dearly.

She will never depart from our hearts even though hers loved so much it burst from providing a life time of joy. Services have not yet been planned. Donations in her memory can be made to the Animal Charity of your choice or Adopt a Golden Atlanta Rescue Organization. http://www.adoptagoldenatlanta.com/

Funeral Blues

W H Auden ... modified for Annie

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent Seamus from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message She Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

She was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Ho-Ho-Ho

It is a greeting said by residents of the North Pole and Santa's village. It isn't a request for a professional menage a trois. When are people going to get over themselves? We limit what is socially acceptable EVERY MOMENT!

I was listening to the radio on the drive up to the Hive this morning. One radio morning jock was chastising the other for referring to a Mexican as a Mexican. The other guy said but what do I call a person from MEXICO!

Christmas thoughts....

With business about to take off with the relaunching of my company scheduled for later this month, my thoughts and plans have turned to starting to actively plan for Christmas early this year. I have been working on things that can be done early to reduce the stress that December always brings.


Many of you are aware I am an avid internet shopper and review reader of everything! The search for an item yesterday brought me to a discussion board that had a huge number of postings for the topic. "I hate Christmas". Everyone knows the way to get people to at least lurk on a discussion forum is to make the title a bit controversional.

The original poster wasn't a non Christian religion hating person. They (I believe it was a woman) were upset that the value and thought that they had put into a gifts was regularly returned by a $4.99 discount item that reflected none of her interests.

The discussion went wild about how the poster didn't have the true meaning of Christmas and that "she" should find better friends or things to do with her money. Find Christ... etc.

It dawned on me that I don't think it was the fact that she didn't "get" good gifts. It was that the love that was put into selecting the absolute right gift and wrapping carefully wasn't returned. Simply, her circle of gift receipants didn't love her back the way she could understand and value affection.

I think this has happened to everyone. I know it happens to me in reverse. There are people that it is very tough to buy for in everyone's family. You want to get them something that will delight them. That it will be the best present of the day. It is wrapped with care and love. What happens when you can't find that item? What happens when a budget (time or money) doesn't allow for that to occur? What happens when you receive something that is the thing the giver loves but not you? I think the end result is that most people know the abilities of their circle of family and friends. Deep inside.... you are aware of the financial, time and shopping savvyness of your community. So... here are a couple of great ideas that were posted on the discussion:

1) Accept the short comings and adjust your spending to a nice present but is in line with what you have received in the past. There are lots of things you can still get for under $20.

• Gift Cards to Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts
• Books or Book Store gift cards
• A bottle of wine or Gourmet Coffee or Tea
• Gourmet Chocolate
• A Christmas decoration (although this got blasted if the gift is given ON Christmas)
• Homemade items including food (consider your audience's diet - candy for the diabetic that isn't sugar free - WRONG. Omaha steaks for the Vegan - NOT GOOD)
• Magazine Subscription
• Kitchen Gadgets

2) Different Alternatives:

• Giving to Charity
• No Gift policy - announce it early
• Yankee or Dirty Santa Swaps with limits
• Pulling names with set limits
• Do a Christmas list (remember to put items from the cheap side of the aisle on it) - be specific if you are a picky person

3) Find the Christmas spirit in other ways

• Attend Holiday concerts
• Buy toys for under privileged kids
• Spend time visiting a nursing home or hospital
• Go shopping with friends and make it a social occasion
• Drive around with friends to see the lights with carols in the car
• Host a holiday party with a theme (cookie swap, wine tasting, decoration swap or tree decorating)

I love Christmas 90% of the time. I am lucky to have very giving family members and friends. My husband and I love the shopping for the right gifts ...especially for the kids in the family. I love the smell of the tree. Mostly, I adore getting together with people I care about and sharing time with them. Here is to a wonderful Holiday season!

Weekend Fun

Friday night was a gathering of the younger section of the clan at Brannydoon... We had all of the Regan's in the NY/CT area to the house for apps and champagne (and beer). We departed for a fund raiser for the New Milford Hospital's Mammography Fund. I hope everyone had a blast and it was for an excellent cause.

I apologize for everyone having to find the house out in the sticks in the dark. We should have had everyone up this summer in the daylight. The rest of the weekend was a bit lazy with the horrid weather on Saturday. It was a great day to spend watching re runs of movies and napping. The house was already clean. Went out and grabbed an early dinner in town.

On Sunday, we did some yard work... planted bulbs vacuumed up the leaves with lawn mower and watched the Pats squeak by the Colts. I wonder what the score would have been without the gift of all those yards of penalties! We also discovered that Annie had broken a molar. It was disguising! Yesterday she had it removed. Poor thing. It was badly infected. I thought she had an issue with her teeth back in August. However, I am just the mommy not the vet. I think this was causing her pain for the past couple of months. I pick her up from the vet this morning. I hope this is the last of the vet trips for a while.

I am starting to do my Christmas shopping... Here is my request for lists!

Science .. That is like Art Right?

I was sent a link for a recent article in the SF Gate about how 5th graders are getting less than an hour of science on a weekly basis.(link at bottom of post) There are some great points about how this will impact the future of the career choices down the road without an early understanding of the subject.

"Fewer than half of Bay Area fifth-graders (47 percent) scored at grade level or above on last spring's California Standards Test in science. (Only fifth-graders are tested in science at the elementary level.)"

Why is this the case in Bay Area High Schools? Supposedly, the teachers are spending all their time on meeting the requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act".

I read this article about a week ago and thought about it as an issue. Yesterday, it dawned on me. When did the Act go into place? I knew it was passed during President G.W. (43rd) Bush's first term. My quick research found that it was enforceable July 1, 2002. Um.... My math equates 5 years or school terms ago. Where is the catch up with the fifth grade class? They shouldn't be in the fifth grade if they can't read and add!

I will add to this a comment Gov. Mike Huckabee said about the importance of having Art and Music taught in schools. It is important to open children's minds to art and music at a young age. It is also a way to keep artistically minded children in school with subjects that interest them and they can excel at because of their talents. Yes, he is a conservative Republican running for the Presidency. See, they all don't have horns.

I have a good friend that is teaching music and chorus at a high school in NY. She recently was bubbling about a student that is not well liked by other teachers because he causes trouble. However, he is a great kid in her class. Oh, did I mention the kid can sing? He was terrified to try out for the lead in their musical because he thought the panel of teachers would never give him the part. I look forward to cheering him on as he has one of the male leads.

Science, Art, Music, Reading/Grammar(English), Social Studies and Math... are very important. I will also add gym and a foreign language to the list. All should be taught and explored during elementary school.

I wonder if it is not the "No Child Left Behind Act" or more likely the issue of teachers not being allowed to control their classrooms. Teachers have been stripped of all of the tools to maintain order in the class room without fear of being fired or sued.

Parents learn this.... You aren't perfect and neither is your child. If a teacher risks their job to call your kid over the coals, chances are today they caught them red handed. Wake up... The coddling of the youth of this country is terrifying.

Stace, I don't think this was quite what you expected me to write. I would appreciate your comments....

Article link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/25/MNNKSVFOH.DTL

Sports Weekend - Wow!!! Congratulations to Red Sox Nation

I am now just reviewing the weekend in sport....

1) Red Sox win the World Series !!!!

2) Patriots continue to roll over every team .. Spy Gate ?? Go get 'um Bill!

3) Giants beat Dolphins across the Pond. (Mr. B is happy)

4) GEORGIA beats Florida in the largest cocktail party.

5) UCONN beats Southern Florida.

I need to check on my nephew's pop warner football game... How can you get any better besides Mr. B winning the Amstel Gold race.

Meeting at the Blazer

There will be a meeting at the Blazer on October 27th at 7:30pm for the cycling group. Please rsvp by hitting the comment or emailing Mrs. B.

Nike is Just Doing it with Community

Remembering back to the days, about sixteen years ago when Nike launched the “Just Do It” campaign. I was at New England College in Henniker, NH. The Model UN Group I was a member of was putting together a Model Middle East Summit. It was a lot of work. We found each other screaming “Just Do IT” to each other all the time. It became a mantra for the organization and for many of us in our professional lives as well.

I think that Customer Self Service is basically an evolution of the “Just Do It” campaign. In reality, Nike has created a community to let their running/jogging customers AND PROSPECTS to do it together and better. In a recent NY Times article, Nike’s community was highlighted as their most recent advertising genius. They are enabling their customers to interact and find better ways to “Just Do It” all with the trademark Nike Swoosh neatly but understatedly featured. The community member they feature in the article is also 53 years old not 22 years old.

For those of you that are still looking for the hard data on why communities are essential to business, let me clearly talk to your wallet….

· Nike has dropped their traditional media budget by 22%
· That equates to 149 MILLION dollars.
· Members choose to visit the site 3x a week.

How is that for data?

Here is the crucial quote I found from the section on Nike:

“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.” Trevor Edwards, Nike’s corporate vice president for global brand and category management.

I will repeat a profound question recently poised by my colleague Derek Showerman:

“When are you going stop preaching to your customers and start listening to them? A community is the vehicle to JUST DO IT for you.”

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/business/media/14ad.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I want to thank the Nike Corporation for my Mantra …

Seamus is gonna get it....

Seamus ... my darling nut bag. He has been really driving us nuts lately. The separation anxiety and shadowing has risen to a level that it is compromising both of our health. He is acting out including destroying things that could poison him. I am getting to the point I am scared to leave the house with him alone. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Today, we have a dog trainer and behaviorist coming over to "work" with him. It should be interesting. Full report tomorrow.

Weekend in Cape Cod

Courtesy of our great friend and pet sitter, Leslie, we were able to get away for the weekend to the Cape. Uncle Bob's services weren't until Tuesday and she felt confident she could deal with Annie's confinement to the first floor (ACL is totally gone and will need Surgery- OUCH).

We got off late given the trip to the vet in the morning and a lot of back and forth on whether we should leave Miss Annie. BUT Leslie assured me that we should go and have fun. She had nurse duty down for her.

Mr. B had arranged a great suite at the "By the Sea" Bed and Breakfast in Dennisport. I think I gave it 4 stars on TripAdvisor.com. (Lacking parking and a hair dryer). Staff was delightfully helpful. Rooms were well decorated and clean. The only other thing is at this time of year the windows are open. We awoke on Sunday morning about 6 AM to our neighbor doing something with Velcro. So privacy, not so much... Oh well...

Friday night, he had picked out a nice little Irish Pub. The food was traditional and good. The entertainment was delightful. Lots of old Irish pub songs including my domestic favorite, "Charlie on the M.T.A"

The next morning there was a cloud burst only over our part of the Cape. I was close to calling my mother and asking her to make it stop raining.... AGAIN! (inside family joke). That blew ...literately off and we were able to get in a 25 mile ride on trails to trail path. It goes through the interior of the Cape by cranberry bogs and a couple of large lakes. Interesting but I have to agree a bit boring. I think I am ready to stick to the roads .. hills and all. The "freddy" traffic on the rail trails is annoying.

Back to the B&B to shower and change for a drive to Chatham to go to the lighthouse, lunch, and shopping. This is when I discovered a lack of hair drying equipment. However, the shower was amazing. I wish I took a picture of it. I think I would like to do something similar with our Master Bath.

On to Chatham ... We drove by the lighthouse and determined that we were too hungry to stop and went to the Wild Goose Inn for Lunch and a beverage or two. Here is a picture I took for Aunt Sue to paint. The lunch was fabulous. http://www.wildgoosetavern.com/ The beverages set us up for a flurry of irresponsible shopping. Let's just say the shoppes in Chatham had a good weekend.

After the appropriate amount of time and shopping to let the beverages wear off... We drove back to the light house and snapped a few pictures of the beach and lighthouse.

We went back to the room for a bit of a nap and then out to dinner at a restaurant Mr. B. went to during family vacations to the Cape in his childhood. The Swan Lake Restaurant was fun. We had a terrific waitress. It is always fun when you can joke with the help... Basically, "it wasn't her first day" after I gave the in-depth description of how I prefer my martini. The last couple I have been served at various places have been 1/2 Vermouth ... I swear! ... Not this time... Perfection. As was the meal.

The next day, we got up went out for breakfast and back down memory lane or Folger Way. Here is a picture of the house Mr. B's parents rented for several summers on vacation. It looked a bit down at the heels. I think he is wondering if it might be for sale. OY!

We got back good season as we were worried about Annie. I also had to do a turn around and drive back to New Hampshire on Tuesday morning for the memorial service. It was a good and memorable weekend. Seamus liked his present as well!

In Memory of Uncle Robert....

The Faithful Sailor Boy .... The Sailor's Farewell

From North Carolina Folklore, 1920

Twas on a dark and stormy night
The snow lay on the ground,
A sailor boy stood on the deck
The ship was outward bound.
His sweetheart standing by his side,
Shed many a bitter tear.
At last he pressed her to his heart
And whispered in her ear:

Farewell, farewell, my own true love;
This parting gives me pain.
You'll be my own, my guiding star
Until I return again.
My thought shall be of you, my love,
While storms are raging high.
So fare you well! Remember me,
Your faithful sailor boy.

'Twas in a gale that ship set-sail,
The girl still standing by.
She watched the ship clear out of sight
While tears bedimmed her eyes;
She prayed to God in heaven above
To guide him on his way.
The parting words her lover spoke
Re-echoed down the bay:

'Twas sad to see that ship return
Without that sailor boy.
He had died while out at sea;
The flags were half-mast high.
The comrades, when they came on shore,
They told her he was dead;
The letter that they gave to her
The last line sadly read:

Farewell, farewell, my own true love,
We'll meet on earth no more,
But we will meet in heaven above
On that celestial shore,
Up in that land, that glorious land,
That land of peace and joy.
Where you'll no more be parted from
Our faithful sailor boy.

Cartoon Caption Contest - The Boston Globe

Cartoon Caption Contest - The Boston Globe

Damon, Damon.... nope... or.... Clemens, Clemens.. Not on the list

Skye and the rest of the weekend

Unfortunately, Skye lost her battle with renal failure on Saturday. I was holding and petting her as we helped the little bugger across the Rainbow Bridge. I know Emmy and Tess were waiting for her. She has two terrific big sisters to cuddle with and show her the ropes in heaven.

That night my cousins were terrific and invited me to go to dinner with them at the Rainforest Cafe in Burlington. If you have little boys, this is a fabulous place to go. Talk about merchandising!!! I sat next to my nephew Nathan. He was struggling with a cold. There is nothing cuter than him with a headcold. Thank God... Because I got it. From Monday night to this morning, I have spent horizontal on a sofa or bed with a clicker. Better today.


As a side note.... Today would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday. Happy Birthday Grandma! Love you!

Skye Update

I just spoke with the Vet and she is not doing well. Her chances are less than 30%.

Say a little Prayer for Skye

I am up here in New Hampshire while my parents are on a cruise taking care of their dog... my canine sister I guess. Skye has been really sick the past couple of weeks. Last night, the doctor finally found out what was wrong with her. Her kidneys are really badly infected and has caused some Renal failure. Please say a little doggie prayer for her today.

Our trip to Mecha

Thinking I made a stupid typo? Our company has recently merged with another corporation with a large office in Mechanicsburg PA. So, Monday and Tuesday (September 10-11th) we made a pilgrimage together to Mecha not Mecca. Interesting concept... Lots of symbolism.


What was the purpose of the meeting and gathering. Revelations, communication, and the evangelizing of how WE are going to revolutionize and change the way everyone communicates, markets, and conducts business through enterprise social networks.

We have a lot to do and a short time to accomplish our aggressive but important goals.

I can't wait to explore the future, have fun and make money!

For me it is Huckabee!

By George, I have it! I have been listening and reading about the candidates on the right side of the aisle looking for one that excites me and I think has the ability to lead and win. I think that just might be Mike Huckabee (Gov. AK). I had been hearing about him on talk radio from a couple of callers. I checked out his website. (I honestly thought I was going to have to wait until Thompson made up his mind. Even then, I think he will have issues getting elected.)

I liked everything but the one issue I stand apart from the Republican party on and I am never going to fully agree with them on it. Best of all, Gov. Huckabee is a fair tax supporter.

I encourage you to check out his website and positions. Hey, also.... as the Governor that took over after the Clintons.. I bet he has great dirt on the Junior Senator from NY. One thing to also consider.... There are very few cases of Senators that have been elected President without being VP first. It is typically a Governor that gets the final nod.

Finally, this is not a bash about the other candidates. I think they are all good men that want to do something good for the country. None of them simply said .... gosh that is a fresh approach! Check him out: www.mikehuckabee.com





Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic:
"My gut instinct: Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani won. John McCain did very well, too."
Debates are about moments, and this debate belonged to an impassioned exchange between Ron Paul and Huckabee about the Iraq War. Fox News smartly let the two men have their say. Refreshing: an actual substantive debate about core principles.

What do we owe to the Iraqi people? Ron Paul says nothing -- "we" as in Americans didn't make the mistake, the neocon cabal did. Mike Huckabee believes that the war was a mistake. But -- America's honor is at stake. Honor -- a word that Huckabee associated with John McCain. A word that resonates with the Republican electorate. "We have to be one nation. That means, if we make a mistake, we make it as a single country. Even if we lose elections, we should not lose our honor." Huckabee said the country owes to the Iraqi people our best effort to prevent genocide and stabilize the country. "We have to continue the surge. What we did in Iraq is we essentially broke it. It's our responsibility to try and fix it." Huckabee earned the biggest applause of the night. It may have been -- dare we say -- his break-out moment in New Hampshire, where support for the war isn't all that strong. (If this exchange had occurred in South Carolina, it definitely would have been a vote-earning exchange.) Huckabee was also asked tough questions about his immigration stance; he should wear them as a badge of honor. It means that his rise is being taken seriously by the press and by the Republican electorate.

Kudo's to Winston's Mommy - Let me Sing her Praises!

My friend decided earlier in the summer that she wanted to combine her passions of teaching, music, and developing activities to kids into her career. What does that equal... a high school music teacher. She went back to school and plowed through a mountain of course work for towards her second masters ( all post secondary school was done on her own and as a non traditional student.. I might add). She earned a 4.0 average and "scored" a part time position at the local high school as a music teacher. She will finish up the requirements this Fall and get her accreditation. Meanwhile, the students will have a teacher that wants to be there.

I give her a lot of credit for chasing and grabbing her dream. That is life lived like it is your last day.

Roosters coming back to the hen house... Hopefully it isn't being forclosed on.

I am reading and listening to all the reports on the credit crunch in the media. You only have to go back to my June 22, 2006 post. (It would have been done earlier if I had a blog back in 2004). Anyone that went through the S&L crisis in the late 1980's, could have predicted the news today. All you had to do is look at when those 3/1 arms were going to adjust.

I really fault the mortgage and real estate community for not policing itself. It comes from having an industry that is founded on commission only employees and greed. I can say that I am in sales. This needs to change, period. Real estate agents and brokers need to be employees of agencies with salaries and commission. They need benefits. The same is true of the mortgage industry. This also is not something for people to "dabble in real estate". This is a serious industry. Every house is a home. It is also a SIGNIFICANT investment vehicle for every home owner. It isn't a part time job, it is a profession.

The long term real estate professionals need to police there own shop. Down turns like this separate the wheat from the shaft. Learn from the historical information out there. Establish policies and procedures to prepare for this when it goes the other way. It will.

I think the core of the problem this time was the stupidity that mortgage professionals and underwriters applied to approving loans. Creative financing is fiction. It is simple. You can prove your borrowers make "x" based on the formulas they can afford to spend "y". Standard formulas we worked on when I was doing mortgages in the early 1990's were the following.

Your house payment should not exceed 26-28% of your Gross Income. There is a second ratio that takes into account your other debt. Think about this. Your home should cost you NO MORE that your gross check for one week. Week two is taken by Uncle Sam and Aunt State. Week Three & Four = cars, insurance, credit cards, fun, student loans, day care, 401K, utilities, home improvements, other investments, cell phones, clothes, gas, food?

Are you sure that you want to spend that full 26% at this point? Okay, whine at me.. The price of houses demand we spend more than we want to... WHY!

Simple.... people were able to get financing for higher ratios. Salaries have increased but not in the same correlation to home prices. We also have a full generation that expects to be able to purchase a house that has the same size and features as one their parents have after years of working and increasing their net worth.

I bought my first house for 91K. It was a 3 bedroom and 1 bath house built in 1906. The kitchen had metal cabinets. I lived with it. It was mine. Since selling that home, I have purchased and moved four times. The house I live in today is a lot nicer than that first house. However, I have firmly believed in the lessons I learned at Colonial Mortgage and Paul Speiss about how to qualify myself for affordability.

The other thing. Don't use a mortgage officer because they have a relationship with your realtor. They will be more loyal to the realtor than you. It is okay to pay a bit more in rate or for services to work with reputable people.

Would we be in trouble if we lost a job or something happened that we weren't able to work? Sure. It would be tough but we aren't going to lose our shelter, credit, and investment because of the mortgage type we signed on for 30 years.

Think about that ... what else do you commit to for a 30 year term besides your spouse and being a parent? Be really sure about the mortgage and home prior to jumping.

Can you Unplug?

With many of the changes that have been occurring with my company, still known as (idk.com = I don't know), I have found myself unplugging from my own personal community. I have began to sympathize with JK Rowling as a result. I keep getting asked what my world is going to look like in month, six month, or a year. Regardless of my lineage, I never was great at the crystal ball thing. At least, I can sympathize with Harry about that as well.

Ms. Rowling has had the world at her throat.... "What is going to happen? Who lives? Why are you stopping?, Please don't kill, Hermione, Harry, Ron, etc."

If she retreated to her home in Scotland and yanked the telephone cord out of the wall, I would get it. Meanwhile, it has to be business as usual in both circumstances. We have a product to ramp up, new ones to be flushed out, QA'd, and Customers to serve. She had a movie in production and the entire merchandise market around the Harry Potter series. While the scale is significantly and dramatically different, I get it.

The point is... you never can truly unplug from your community. A robust and lively community needs to be communicated with fresh content and information. Even if that information is... I don't know yet.. I am still working through to get to your answer.

Feed your grapevine with the right nutrients for success. Communication and content are king and queen of developing your own socialized network. However, the fairy godmothers are honesty and integrity. Those words are bantered around today by every person that is running for office and most businesses. The key is to walk the narrow road and your community will respect you and honour you with their attention and contribution.

thought of the day

“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don't.”Seth Godin

Comic Relief

I pulled these off a a Stumble Upon link... I think everyone could use a good laugh

A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine."His mother heard what he was saying and gasped "What are you doing?"The little boy answered "I'm doing my math homework, Mom.""And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked."Yes", he answered. Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?"The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition."The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?"After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four."

Next .........

One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part of the story where Chicken Little tried to warn the farmer. She read, ".... and so Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, 'The sky is falling, the sky is falling!' ".The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you think that farmer said?".One little girl raised her hand and said, "I think he said: "Holy Shit! A talking chicken!".The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes.

Great Quote

Have you ever read a quote... Then gone back because your mind wasn't clear and then the light of the genuis of the statement blared through like a fog horn in central London.

I am pulling this from an article on MSN.com... I haven't double checked it.. but it is brillant:

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

Example:

1) Believing in the Constitutional Right of a Woman's right to choose.
2) AND believing that it is morally wrong and against one's own religious beliefs.

Defending both positions.

This is a simply wonderfully put... I love the quote...

In Memory.....

Life just knocks people hard sometimes and you just don't know how people make it through difficult points. My dear friend lost her mother over the weekend. I have clipped a picture here from their wedding last fall. Nancy's mom was so so proud of her daughter and adored her new son in law. You can purely see this in the smile on her face that night at the reception.

Her passing was sudden and while she was away from home. None of this helps ease the pain that the family is going through. It is hard to find the right words to express your sympathy.

Unfortunately, their pain hasn't stopped here. Last night, their dog was tragically taken from them when a speeding car struck and killed poor little Milo. Losing a parent is hard and tragic. Compound that with the loss of a dog that was their child. I know many people bock at those of us that choose canines for kids but they are our children. This was a safe neighborhood where pets and children call the Street their playground.

I am beyond knowing what to say to them. Perhaps, in a perfect world... Mom has Milo to sit in her lap now and keep her safe, be a warm blanket, and be her companion. They, together, can watch over Nancy ... one with an inner voice of advice and the other to growl at anyone trying to cause them further pain. They are two angels that I would want on my side. Bless both their memories.

Book Club

I just got a response from my local library. I had emailed them back in March about book clubs. They had several that met during the day. Ouch. (How do you live in Litchfield County and not work?) Well, that isn't going to work for me. This is not to be said I couldn't ask if it was a problem for me to take an hour a month to attend a book club. I really don't think that would have been an issue with my employer given my role and hours I typically work. My boss might have been relieved that I had an outside interest from my customers. For me, it was the principal of the thing. A public library should be able to serve all of the community interests. There is that word again, community.

I am happy to announce they kept a list of us ramble rousers that wanted a book club in the evening or on a weekend. I received communication this morning that there were 4 of us with a suggestion of a book that might be of interest as a jumping off place.

Being a supposed "expert" (cough or laugh or giggle) on "community", I quickly looked up the book on Amazon. Read the reader reviews, an excerpt from the book, and sent it all off to the other potential book club members. I also suggested we exchange profiles for each other to "Get to Know" one another. One positive response so far!

Essay 2.0

I have a vivid memory of the first time I realized the short text language used in SMS or text messaging. I was taking Megan somewhere... it was probably to work. We were on US-41 in Kennesaw when I tried to read a text message that she received from a friend. It was not quite gibberish to me. I also noticed the speed that she sent a reply and received one. The teenagers had created a "new language". We had "Basic, Fortran, and COBAL". They have a new shortened script. I thought... "Was this the dawn of the end of modern English and many other languages?" (Let's be real... people text in other languages)

I was sad that about another beloved thing, the art of writing, was going to disappear with the rise of TTFA and BFF. However, I hadn't been introduced to the art of the "BLOG". This is essay writing 2.0. Remember when we used to dread the essay on, "What I did this Summer". Well, today's teenager only needs to look back on their MySpace or Facebook account for a blow by blow account along with rich media content to accompany it. Photos, Streaming video and comments from their friends. Generation Y will be better versed in the writing art than my Gen X or the Boomers. They email, blog and update wikis. Don't worry, just blog!