Oh yeah…PUT SOME STANK ON IT!

Apple may have Something here… YA-THINK !? 

“I got one question for Ya…”

 

Well, here we are, almost done with month number 1. Only 11 more to go and we’ll be back to the holidays again. (Sigh) Lets move on, Shall we? All righty.

I have spent this month thinking about my life choices and how they shaped my life currently and I should say right here that I am so glad to have been thorough what I have been through. Not to say that I would do it again because let me tell you, if I had it to do over again, I would do it differently. I mean there were a lot of choices I made, that completely sucked royally, but then there were some that actually paid off, and still pay to this day. So, after thinking about all of that, I began to think about how I should work this Blog this year and I thought I would put it on my readers. So, what I did was this. I created a suggestion link in the side bar that you can click on and in 100 characters or less give me a suggestion about what to “expand” on here.  A kind of, “hey Christian, what do you think about …”? or “Whats your opinion on…”? Then that suggestion would be emailed to me directly and if you know me at all, I have every piece of electronics I own paired to my Email address so I NEVER miss an email. OR, you can leave a reply in the reply box below. The difference is, the new link will not get published in this Blog, and the reply box will (after approval). I want to give this a real good try to see where it goes, and if it works out, then wonderful. If not, then that’s o.k. to. I’m sure that if you live your life day-to-day, there is going to be something that you need an opinion on and it may be that you want it from someone you haven’t met yet. Kind of an “unbiased” opinion if you will. So after reading this paragraph, scroll to the bottom of this page, and on the right in the side bar you will see a widget titled, “Suggestion Box”, just click the “Click Here” link and you can send me your suggestions. Make sure you click on “Click Here” because for some reason, everything else will take you to Twitter Buttons, and I don’t think you want to go there. So have at it. I look forward to hearing from everyone.

That’s How I Do It

 

What’s it going to be this year?

 

Well here we are. Only a couple of days left on 2009 and we will have reached another decade. With the new year approaching, these are the days where people start to reflect back on the past year or years and decide that this is the year they will make HUGE changes to their life. Changes like weight loss, self-esteem upgrades, diet, alcohol, smoking, etc. you get the idea. Well, every year I always wonder why. Why is it that we wait until the year-end to make these changes? Why couldn’t we make these changes while the year was going on? We have to wait until the end of the year to get the balls to finally say “o.k., this is the year I make a change for the better”? Psshhh, Come on people. Lets get real here. New Years resolutions are empty promises in my opinion. You get to the end of the year, and decide to change, and then 2, 3, or 6 months later, you’re back to the same ol’, so why bother to even make the proclamation? Don’t get me wrong, I used to be the one who made the new years resolutions for me every year-end to. I usually made it when I was hammered from drinking so much.

Ya know how you get all sentimental when your drunk and its midnight, your depressed, so you say things that make you feel better n shit. Yeah, that was me. Well, I quit that last year. The way I saw it, if I want to change something, I had better recognize there was something to change looong before the end of the year and change it NOW. Like my drinking. I figured out earlier this year 2009 that I had a problem and fixed it. In fact, this new year coming, will be my FIRST new year induction that I have witnessed sober. Yup, no drinking this new years eve OR new years day. I’m tellin ya, it’s about time! With everything that has happened with me this year (2009), eliminating alcohol from my new years induction is a MAJOR milestone for me. I think its gonna be cool. Ya know, this next year will bring a lot of changes for the world. With the President we have now, and Technology and the Internet developing, and Homeland Security getting a major upgrade, even the way the public looks at celebrities and athletes these days, you can bet money, there will be changes for the better in 2010. What about the predictions? If I had to make a few predictions for 2010, I would say that this is the year we catch Bin Laden (finally), and bring our troops home from Iraq. With Technology, I think this is the year will be the year the Internet will go from being a luxury in the home to becoming a standard utility like electricity or natural gas or water, and come to think of it, I have already heard that new homes will have internet and current technology built into the home during construction. Lots of things are coming this next year, You’ve probably heard about airports finally integrating full body X-ray type scanners at airports for security. See? The movie Total Recall wasn’t that far off was it? Look, if you are one of those that proclaims a new years resolution, why not add a “sub-condition” to your resolution and say “no-quit’sees” or “no-do’overs”. This year, if you make the resolution, follow through with it to the end. Doing that could even cause you to increase your self-esteem without even trying, you’d realize that you actually followed through with a resolution this time, How’bout that? Give yer-self a high-five!

Make 2010 the year that you decided to make changes to your life without the use of a new years resolution. If you have kids, decide this year to ask tougher questions of your kids. The kind of questions where they actually have to think about their answers because they realize it affects their life. That’s what I am going to do with mine. Make sure this year that you have your life and your routine arranged in such a way that your bills will get paid on time and you will STILL have some money left to play with. This new year, raise the bar and expect more from yourself and stick to it. Make decisions for you and not the loser you’re with, in-fact, dump the loser and find someone who is better. I am reminded of a quote by Larry Winget in which he said “Be the kind of person others admire, can count on, trust, and enjoy spending time with”. There’s more to that quote but this first part fits perfectly here. That’s what we all need to strive for this 2010. That’s all I have for you this year-end. See ya next year. That’s How I Do It.

Its the most wonderful time of the year

  Here is my Christmas Post for everyone. How do you celebrate Christmas? Is there a tree? Lights on the house maybe? Decorations all over the house on tables and mantels and hanging on the door knobs? Sounds festive don’t you think? Yeah that’s festive all right. But what about Jesus? Is there something that you have laid out in or on your home that represents the reason why we have December 25^th set aside? I hope so. December 25^th is Jesus’ birthday and I would think that there would be something representing that fact displayed in your home. If there is not, why not? Atheist? Its hard to be atheist in a country where the founding fathers were Christians. I mean atheists have to spend money to right? Do atheists get “special” money, the kind that does not have the words “In God We Trust” printed on it? Nope. They spend the same money I spend. I don’t bother with Atheists. To me Atheists are just misinformed people. Darwinist’s to for that matter. I mean, even Darwin found out the “truth” when he died, didn’t he? Speaking about religions here on this Blog is risky. Its risky because I am an American Christian, and Christians, especially the American ones, can be quite narrow minded at times when it comes to the religion they follow. If you don’t know your stuff, you can easily be caught not knowing something or misinterpreting something and start a proverbial religious incident, so I try not to speak to much about Christianity. Don’t get me wrong, I know some Bible, and I know Jesus, and his Father (which is our father to). I have even on one occasion, had a prayer answered 10 minutes after I prayed it, and no it wasn’t to have my team win in overtime! I actually prayed for help with finances because of my job loss and within 10 minutes my prayer was answered with so much help financially, not only did my cup runeth over, so did my wallet. So I am not shy when I say Jesus lives! This year I want all of us to remember why we have December25th set aside. Its because Jesus was born and we need to celebrate that.

Real quick, let me tell you, Christmas is a time to celebrate Jesus being born. Its a time to bring family together and celebrate. To me, at Christmas, people should always be smiling. When Jesus was born, both Mary and Joseph and all the kings smiled and God smiled on us as well. There was not a sad face in the place. See, when you smile, your mouth is positioned in an upward manner, to keep all the love and positivity in your heart. If you have a sad face, your mouth is positioned in a downward manner and that allows all the love and positivity to run out of your heart consequently causing despair and depression and sadness. Do yourself a favor and this Christmas do as much smiling as you can. This afternoon, someone decided that his/her life was to much. This person thought that given all the issues this person has, there just wasn’t any solution to the problem. This person decided that because there was no solution, he/she would just go ahead and stop. So, this person drove to the Foresthill Bridge, parked the car, got out and walked over to the edge, climbed over, took a long look at the view, looked down, probably cried, and stepped off the bridge and plunged 730 feet down to his/her death. I can’t help but wonder that if this person had just decided to try an idea one more time instead of stopping, if that would have been the one try that fixed the problem or problems he/she was having. Suicide is a permanent fix to a temporary problem people and its never the answer. This person didn’t even get to see what he/she got for Christmas. I bet it would have brought a smile.

Merry Christmas from “That’s How I Do It”

“Smile when you serve me that”…

 

Well, readers, its been sometime since I wrote something hasn’t it? Well my reason is, I kinda lost some inspiration for a bit but low and behold something happens that its worthy of a rant or two, or maybe even a rave on this blog site. Where shall I begin. Seems that this past weekend was my wife’s birthday and like we always do, we hand the “baton of choice” to the lucky birthday boy/girl and they get to choose where they want to go for dinner. Well, my wife chose this nice little Italian restaurant located on the outskirts of Sacramento called Mc Kinley park. It’s a good restaurant, the food is wonderful and the atmosphere is really picturesque of the old school Italian family homes from way back in the day. Well, as we are having the first course of our meal (which was the soup and salad), our waitress starts making mistakes with the service and we ended the meal with an experience of poor service and some laughter that will be remembered for a long time. That evening at dinner got me to thinking. See, I am making my self available to as much as what the internet has to offer as possible and after this experience at dinner, I really wanted to say something that really impacted the restaurant in such a way that they (the restaurant management) would be as flabbergasted as I was over the service.

Here’s what I thought; How do you get your point across to a restaurant that they provided poor service to their patrons without becoming a target and possibly having your next meal be a spittoon with a side of crabby service? Well, Social Media addicts (like myself) use restaurant review websites like Yelp.com, and Zaggot, and urbanspoon.com, or restaurant.com. The way I see it, writing a review about how you were treated at any particular restaurant does a lot in the way of improving service. Take a look at it for a minute. You go to the restaurant and unfortunately you go through an episode of poor service. Then, when you get home you sit down at your computer and you write a review on Yelp.com about how the meal was, how the server was, what the prices were like, etc. Then, other people who have never been to that restaurant, go to Yelp.com and look up restaurants in their area where they would like to eat, and see the review you wrote. Do they go? Well, that is all up to them. But wait, there is one more thing that can happen; The other thing that could happen is the restaurant owner wants to see how their restaurant is fairing out there in the public eye so he/she sits down and does a search on the internet for their restaurant and see’s the reviews and the star ratings and comments on the service etc. What happens then? See, this is where you make a difference the way I see it. The owner then returns to his/her restaurant and has a meeting with the staff about service and maybe does some better training in the areas of difficulty and improves service resulting in better reviews which results in more and more people coming to the restaurant.

 See? Not bad. Now we’re making a difference! That’s what we are doing more and more these days because of Social Media and the internet. The review sites like yelp and urbanspoon are getting some major hit statistics these days since Social Media has exploded on the world because people are writing more reviews about restaurants they visit. The result is restaurants are privy to this information and are training their staff to deliver better service. Granted not all the restaurants are on the road to recovery, otherwise the restaurant we visited would have been better at their service that evening. Truth be told however, this particular restaurant is usually on the ball and does a really fine job with dinner, so I’m sure what happened what a fluke. I still wrote my review though.

What’s starting to happen in case you haven’t noticed is the age of the internet is starting to become a major part of everyone’s lives. Whether you like it or not, the internet, computers, smartphones, all of it, is becoming as natural as sliced bread or the television and the electric light bulb. We as a growing people are destined to adjust to the coming ways of improvement with the things we use and the things we do. Hanging on the idea of “i don’t like computers”or “i like my small little cell phone that does nothing but answer a call” is in my opinion like hanging on to a dinosaur on a leash. The dinosaur will not conform to your way of doing things, you have to conform to it, or it will eat you. Period. The same thing goes for restaurant service. Restaurants had better get on board and do what it takes to deliver better service or they will close.

One Final Note: During the past few weeks, I have been able to upgrade my cell phone to the Iphone 3G. (My wife surprised me with it this week) Deciding to switch to the Iphone was difficult because of what it was about. There are those who still believe that the Iphone is a toy first and a phone second because of all of its “apps” and access to the internet and such, but after switching, I can honestly say that the phone is a communication device and the Iphone is a tool used for communicating and the phone part of the Iphone is one part of the whole package. We use the internet to communicate just about everything we say, see and do, and we use electronic communication tools such as the Iphone, the blackberry, the droid, and the htc to broadcast all of it. The communication device did not become second, it just got bigger. Iphone or not, even having a phone with a touch screen is going to be the way we do it pretty soon. Look around. EVERY cell phone mfg has a touch screen cell phone. Iphone did it first, because that’s how they do it, AT&T became the exclusive provider the Iphone next to the Apple store itself because that’s how they do it, and I switched to the Iphone because That’s How I Do It.

P.S.

If you want to read my review on the restaurant I visited, click here.

“This Just In…”

Think back, do you remember being asked by anyone if you saw or read a particular news article? Maybe you heard about a particular topic on your favorite news program? I have. My wife asks me everyday if I heard about so-in-so on the news. I always tell her “Yes honey, I heard about that, or I read about that today on Twitter”. That got me to thinking. It seems that there is something happening that we as a growing and ever-changing people will not be able to stop, and that is how information is delivered. Right now, you have at your finger tips multiple ways to get the information you need, whether it be by television news programs, radio programs, email, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, where ever, right now, news and information is SO available, some people actually have a hard time deciding how they want to get it. There are even those that want to have established news providers like Reuters, CNN, ABC, etc removed from Google. I say, Go ahead!

The internet has improved so much and technology is changing so fast, that I believe in the not to distant future, the television news programs and Reuters, and other news providers on Google will be obsolete. With YouTube, TwitVid and Fancast, and Hulu getting better everyday, it’s not going to be long before the evening news is a thing of the past. Think about it. If the news program’s stopped, and you wanted to know what was going on in the world, you could search it out on YouTube or go to a networks website like CBS.Com or CNN.com something. Or try this; go to Twitter and maybe search the trend on the topic you want to know about. See, here’s what I’m saying. It’s not going to be long before everyone who has a cell phone or a video camera is going to be the mainstream of information for the World Wide Web. There are people all over the planet right now that have cell phones, and smart phones with the ability to shoot video and send that video to the internet. There are video camera’s that will even record video and stream it to the internet via a WiFi connection. See, I believe the journalist is becoming extinct. News happens on the fly everyday. And there is always someone there who see’s it and who will put it on the internet. Pretty soon the “Breaking news story” will be tweeted first or even “woofer-ed” because you may not be able to tell the story in 140 characters, you nay need 1400 characters.(Here, check it out http://woofertime.com )

Yes, the future of information is about to explode and we will be party to all kinds of new ways that information is passed along. What about this? Right now, flat screen TV’s are all the rage. Now you must have LED technology for flat screens. The flat panel TV debuted in 2005 (according to http://www.high-techproductions.com/historyoftelevision.htm ) and here it is 2009 and now its all about LED technology for flat panels and all the networks broadcast in HD digital format. See, I do not see the TV dying out, I just see the TV used in a different way pretty soon. I see the TV used as an interactive device that displays information with a touch of a GUI icon on the screen itself. The television that’s coming will have a hard drive and be connected to the internet, and if you want to watch something on TV, go to a program website and search, touch and watch your program on demand and with no commercials. Why would we need commercials? We would already pay for the TV service like we pay for internet. We do it with satellite radio like XM, why not TV? Here’s another one. Right now there is an electronic unit called an E-Reader. What it does is, you can now download “E-books” off the internet right to your E-Reader via a WiFi connection and have the book of your choice to read anytime you want.

Not a bad idea huh? Well how about this; what if there was a video player that did the same thing? Purchase and download ANY video, feature movie or sports program to this player, and watch it when ever you want with Blue-Ray quality or better. You could even “lend” the video to your friends, just like you can with the E-reader, or, if you just wanted to rent the video, you could via the units WiFi connection in a matter of seconds. It would download to your player, with a special code that voids the movie after you watch it or if you do not watch it in a certain amount of time. The Blue Ray WiFi video player. Its coming! (if it’s not here already). Information is so available in so many different ways, the evening news networks will have to change the way they do things in order to stay in business. This type of thinking is why I am so interested in Social Media right now. I want to have the internet and how we get information, to be a base of how life is lived right now. Pretty soon, the hard cover book, the magazine and the newspaper at the stands are all going to be antique’s. With the advancements going on as small or large as they are right now with Apples Iphone, even the Ipod will be obsolete.

One last possible change that I see coming has to do with money. Right now we use the paper note that has a printed number on it that represents the amount of that note and is protected by the federal government. Back in the day, we used gold to pay for things. Well gold in my opinion is still a necessary item for currency, but the paper note or “dollar bill” is not. I’m seeing more and more companies integrating electronic payment technology into their business as a way for customers to pay for things. The paper money we use today is slowly dying out. I’m thinking that before to long, paper money will be a thing of the past and electronic currency will be how we pay for food, leisure, real estate, etc. what do you think? Just touch, click…paid.

“That’s How I Do It”

“Can you hear me now or do you need an App for that?”

If you have been on Facebook, or watching the news, or television in general, you probably have seen the ad campaign from Verizon regarding AT&T’s coverage map put up against Verizon’s coverage map and the fact that Verizon claims to have a larger coverage area within the United States. Watching the commercial on television, you can see right away that Verizon is making AT&T look like they have an extremely small coverage area all over the US. Well, one result that has spawned from this ad campaign is that AT&T has filed a law suit against Verizon claiming that the campaign makes false claims against them by illustrating that the AT&T coverage map they show in their ad campaign is inaccurate. Naturally,Verizon responded to this statement with a “truth hurts” style statement, so its going to be interesting to see exactly what happens after it’s all over. Being an AT&T customer myself, I tend to disagree with Verizon’s claim in the campaign.

                                            Here is what Verizon is showing us:When you look at what Verizon claims to be the coverage map for AT&T, you have to ask yourself, “why would anyone use AT&T if the coverage map shows such a minimal coverage area nationwide”? Well, I DID ask myself this question and decided to use the internet to get my answer to see if Verizon is accurate and on the right path or if they are on a path of destruction. What I did was, I went to each of the “larger” cell phone companies websites and checked out their coverage maps. What I saw was surprising. First let me say that there are a lot of major cell phone providers out there these days. You don’t realize it until you actually look at it, but its clear that the public should have no problems what so ever deciding which provider to use. Anyway, keep in mind that all I did was compare each providers coverage map to one another to see who actually has the better coverage area. As I said earlier, I am already an AT&T customer so OBVIOUSLY, I looked at Verizon vs. AT&T first then looked at everyone else. The maps below are the coverage maps for most of the “major” service providers. Take a look and see for yourself.

 

 

AT&T coverage area according to ATT.com

 

Verizon coverage area according to Verizon.Com

As you can see, for the most part, Verizon and AT&T, have about the same coverage areas nationwide. Admittedly, Verizon does show a slightly larger coverage area in Alaska than AT&T but looking nationwide, it’s not enough for me to switch over to Verizon. In fact, I have been a Verizon customer in the past and while area coverage was not an issue, Phone quality and connection integrity were. By the time I switched to AT&T, I felt Verizon’s phones were cheaply made, and I was constantly dropping calls in mid conversation, so to me having a 95% coverage blanket across the United States is one thing, it does you no good if you cannot maintain connection integrity during a call. So far with AT&T, I can honestly say that the only time I drop a call is when I go through a very long tunnel or I am surrounded by mountains or I am under water, and that does not happen all the time. AT&T phone quality to me is better and since the Iphone became a major addition to the AT&T family of phones, this only shows where we are going with regard to technology. Lets not forget what RIM did after Apple released the Iphone. Remember the Blackberry Storm?

Blackberry Storm vs. Apple IPhone

 

Now another issue that I found with Verizon or any other provider for that matter is the fact that NO ONE seems to be going after Sprint and their campaign. Sprint now offers Free anytime minutes cell to cell. ANY cell phone from ANY provider. That means if I have a sprint phone, and you have an AT&T phone I can call you and the minutes are free. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE and all I pay is the monthly service cost. That right there is one hell of a service plan. This is where ALL cell phone service providers should be right now in my opinion.

 

Sprint coverage area according to Sprint.com

 

MetroPCS coverage area according to MetroPCS.com

 

T-Mobile coverage area according to TMobile.com

 

Boost Mobile coverage area according to Boostmobile.com

In fact if you look at it another way, MetroPCS actually came up with that idea first. MetroPCS claims you pay one price and you can talk to any phone anytime. MetroPCS’s problem is their coverage area is small and the connection quality is poor. I used MetroPCS and 8 out of 10 calls were dropped due to connection quality in my opinion. One thing that bothered me between Verizon and AT&T was the news that AT&T was not going to be selling the Blackberry Storm because they already had the Iphone so the Storm became a Verizon phone. Disappointing because at the time I was (and partially still am) a Blackberry addict and having the Blackberry Storm was the next upgrade on my list. Now I’m kinda headed towards the Iphone because of its Social Media applications and other features. I just feel that we’re headed for a major change in how we as people live, and what we use daily to communicate.

Social Media to me is like the Television, and last time I checked, almost EVERY home in America has a television. So anyhow, in my opinion, Verizon is making claims that ultimately will bite them in the ass because once the “official word” is spoken about area coverage, Verizon will not be king of the mountain like they think they are, everyone will be just about the same if not EXACTLY the same. Hasn’t anyone ever heard about “shared technology and hardware”? Or are Cisco and IBM the only ones?

Sorry Verizon, but I’m going to stay with AT&T because “That’s How I Do It”.

 

 

“As long as you do it my way, we will have no problems”

Looking through my posts on this Blog, what I write about most often are things that happen within most families. I haven’t written anything about life outside of the home. This post will touch on something that happens to people involving their home. This post is about the Contractor. Over the course of me living on my own, I like a lot of people, ran into money problems. The bills kept coming but the money wasn’t. Faced with this problem, I decided to become a handyman. It was a really good idea. I posted a flyer at grocery stores and like bees to honey, the jobs started pouring in. I was making a lot of money. But, after a while the work started to fizzle out. This happened right at the time where I got a new job so everything basically worked out. One thing I learned being a hired “contractor” is that you are hired to do a job and the customer wants perfection. Understandable since they are the one paying your salary.

A lot of times perfection was harder to find than the supplies needed for a job, so I did the best I could and took my lumps where it was necessary. One thing the customer did not like was incomplete work. As hard or boring as the job was, I was still obligated to finish the work in the time allotted or I was not paid. As it turns out, this is how I believe it should be about everything, especially regarding “home remodels”. If you hire someone to come in and make changes to your home, make sure they “work for you” and not for themselves. I’ve been hired by too many people that have already been screwed over by a prior contractor that flaked-out on them or just didn’t have what it took to do the job. I was then hired and paid to come in and make everything all better. You, as the customer, have to set the tone right away. The contractor works for you. They do not work for themselves. How do you do that? Well for starters, think like this: you are paid when the work is complete. Yeah, I know, contractors like to ask for deposits up front. They do that for one of two reasons, you know. One, they need money for material, or two, they need it to line their pockets. Either way, it’s a given that you will have to pay a deposit. HOWEVER, the rule of thumb is, never more than 50% up front.

If you have to give the contractor more than 50% upfront, that’s a sign the contractor will not get the work done on time, if at all. If you initially give them 50% up front and they come back to you later and ask for more, that’s a sign of them not handling their business right, and they ran out of money because of poor planning on their part. So remember, never more than 50%. Then when the job is completed to your satisfaction, you sign off on the work and pay the balance. I recommend the balance to be paid by check, not cash or money order. That way, if after the contractor leaves, you find a flaw or something wrong in the work, you can put a hold on the check, call them back and have them come out to fix the problem. If you give them cash after it’s over, you’re done. The contractor is gone and you’re left with the problems you find later. It’s sad that we have to be like this, but we do. Both you and the contractor enter into a negotiation with your fists up ready to go. In that circumstance, neither of you will be taken advantage of so, the whole deal is struck with an “I’m not getting screwed” attitude. Hopefully, one day it will not be like that, but for now, it is. The thing is we won’t be here to see it anyway.

Let’s say you signed a deal and you have the contractor locked in, now what? Well, you’re the boss, remember? You’ve got to stay on your people. Make sure they are working a complete day. I’ve heard of people hiring contractors, and the contractors only work only 5 hours a day on their home. That’s absurd! They want a full days pay? Work a full day! To me a full day in the secular world is 8 hours, but for a contractor, it’s 10 to 12 hours a day! You’ve got to stay on your workers if you want the job done your way. One other thing, contractors should be like elves. That means, when they are done for the day, they make it look like they were not even there. They clean up! Remove everything that shows they have been in your home. A contractor that leaves his crap in your house at the end of the day is not professional and you need to shut them down. Remember, you’re the boss, they are the worker. They should never leave their tools out! What YOU say goes. SO, let’s say you have the contractor hired, he has begun work for you, and now things don’t look like they are going very well. Now what? Well, you have the contract. There is nothing wrong with making sure the contractor knows you have it with you at all times. Remind the contractor of his “signed obligation”. If the contractor stated he would be done in a certain time, hold him to it. Is he done on time? No? Then slap him in the face with the contract. If he baulks at it, CANCEL the contractor and report him, PERIOD! See, if a dog shits in the house on the carpet, you rub his nose in it, spank him, and put him outside. Same thing goes with the lousy contractor. If he leaves his shit everywhere in your home and is not working as fast as he said he would based on the signed contract, rub his nose in the contract, his poor workmanship, spank him with a forfeit of the remaining balance and put his ass outside. Don’t forget to report him to the Licensing Bureau.

 The contractor will learn soon enough that they can’t run a business like that because it threatens their wallet. We do this with everything else, right? I mean, for example, what happens if you order food at a restaurant and it comes to your table wrong? Do you send it back? Why not do the same thing with a contractor? If you order your house to be painted, and the painter does less than satisfactory work, why continue? You’re eating a shit sandwich if you do, and the contractor you hired made that sandwich for you. But, it also goes the other way of course. If you hire a contractor to do something to your home, make sure you are clear on what you want and your request is within reason. The last thing a contractor needs, are last minute changes to a project. I know that was one thing I hated with a passion. I start the work and get half way through, and the customer changed their mind. Suddenly, they want it a different way and I have already bought the material for the original idea. DAMMIT! Make sure you know what it is you want done, and specify it.

Be realistic about the time needed to do the work. If the job takes a week to complete, then it takes a week. Don’t tell the guy you want a weeks’ work in 3 days. You won’t be satisfied with the result if you do. Set up the contract with a “realistic mindset”, give ample time to complete the work, and hold to what you agree on. Getting all the little details out of the way, staying on top of your workers, and making sure they do the job the right way will keep both you and the contractor out of the courtroom and a small claim action. Don’t be afraid to be critical in your inspections, being critical about the result is what keeps the employee on their toes and they make sure the work is done to your specifications. If I hire someone to do a job for me, I am in the way all the time and the contractor hates it. I do this because I will not be screwed out of my money and I want the work done a certain way. I am this way because, “That’s How I Do It!”

“Never Bring a Pea-Shooter to a Gun Fight”

Those are genuine words of wisdom. And those words work in all of the situations in your life when you look at it. When you have something going on in your life, and you need to make a difference in that situation, why would you use something or DO something that only touches the top layer of the problem? Wouldn’t you want a much more significant outcome to your situation? If you answer yes to that question, you’re not alone. Having that attitude about situations and their outcomes is normal. It’s not the least bit selfish. So if you are looking for BIG payoff on your solutions, don’t make small decisions.
Let me give you an example; My son Sean has Bipolar/ADHD. His mother and I figured out he was Bipolar more than two years ago. We found this out after about a years worth of enduring his episodes and wondering why the medicine he was taking was not working. After doing some internet research, we took a home test, and then when we took him for his monthly interview with the Dr. and both Sue and I presented what we found.  He looked at what we had, listened to what we found out and told us, (I’ll never forget what he said) “Oh yes, I diagnosed him with Bipolar disorder a couple months ago”. My mouth hit the floor. He didn’t even tell us. He told us he was changing Sean’s medication but didn’t state it was because he had a new diagnosis. Come to find out, the prior Dr. had diagnosed Sean with ADHD and prescribed meds for that. Turns out, the meds for the ADHD exacerbated the Bipolar symptoms. That’s why our life had so much turmoil for the last year. The new Dr. tells us that the prior Dr. should have looked at Bipolar symptoms because it’s important to identify and treat that because alot of the ADHD meds make the Bipolar issues worse. Since that time, Sean’s medication is watched and checked monthly, and altered when necessary. The medicine has definitely helped him and our household. The medication Sean has been on for the manic side of his Bipolar was Trileptal. Sounds important doesn’t it. “Tri-Lep-Tal”. The Dr. prescribed this medication, then increased it, and increased it more (don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t immediate, there were several months in between each increase). Sean has been on the next to largest dose available. A full adult dose.
Let’s remember the child is currently 14 years old! So for 1 year, Sean has been taking an adult dose of this “Trileptal”. The result? It took the edge off but our house and my relationship with Sue and her children were being torn apart. There has been SO MUCH fallout from Bipolar in this house, it would make the strongest man cringe. But wait, there’s more to this example. Recently, we took Sean for his monthly interview at his Dr. We all sat down while Sean did what he has normally done for two years. Not sit still, interrupt and talk over people when they are talking, not do as he is told, give us lip, etc. Well, one thing Sean did that day was he stepped on a weight scale and weighed himself. Turned out Sean weighs way too much for a child of 14. NOT GOOD. The child is 14 years old and about 5ft 6in tall. I’m 44 and 6ft tall. Sean realized he didn’t weigh that much different from me (about 80 pounds). Sean was dumb-founded. Sean himself couldn’t believe it. Now he was concerned. He told me, “Dad, I’m to big”. I replied, “yes Sean you are. Let’s talk to the Dr. about it and see what he says” so we did. Turns out, Sean was eating too much due to a side effect in Trileptal that caused the people taking it to crave carbs. Since Sean is not very active, he would eat and gain weight. So, the Dr. did something for Sean that has had a large impact on our lives at home. The Dr. changed Sean’s medicine from Trileptol, to a pill named Geodon. Doesn’t sound very magical does it? “Geo-doan”. The Dr. prescribed a normal dose for Sean to take twice per day. However, since Sean has been on Trilepta for so long, he needed to be “eased” into the new med so his body wouldn’t “freak out” due to a sudden change. Now, stay with me here, this is where it gets important.
You’re probably asking yourself, “what does the Trileptal actually do?” Well, here’s your answer. The major purpose of Trileptal is to treat people who suffer from Seizures. The minor purpose that Trileptal is used for is Bipolar disorder. Understand? The pill Sean has been taking for going on 2 years was not treating the MAJOR issue he has which is BIPOLAR Disorder, so consequently, Sean was NOT given the right tool for his situation. He was given a “Pea-shooter” for his gun fight. The Geodon however, IS specifically designed to treat Bipolar disorder. 100%. Geodon is a mood stabilizer. There are no “bonus disorders” for this drug. It’s not a “2-fer” pill. Geodon treats Bipolar. Period. Ladies and gentlemen, Sean has been on Geodon for 6 days, and the change in his ability, his attitudes, his outlook on things, his manners, is…(sigh) blissful. But here’s where I am at with all this… WHY? Why does a degreed professional like Sean’s Dr. prescribe a “pea-shooter” pill to treat Sean’s “Gunfight” of a disorder? Are you getting a picture of what I’m talking about? Let me break it down for you. See, for the last 2 going on 3 years, Sue and I and Sean have had to endure the acts of Sean’s episodes, his anger, his depression, his frustrations, his disrespect, his disobedience, everything amplified by Bipolar disorder. Yes, kids will be kids, and some of what we were getting from Sean was just him being a kid. I looked at it like this; A terd sandwich is a terd sandwich, it’s the size of the sandwich that we were served that I didn’t like. Sean being a kid, I can handle. Its Sean being a kid with Godzilla running his brain and stomping on our lives, I can’t take.

Now, its like night and day around here. Sean is so much better. For six days, Sean has taken the correct pill for his disorder and he is being treated properly. The house is quiet, has been for six days so far. After almost three years of pain and anguish and fighting between us and the household being torn apart, we finally have the right tool for the job and are making the necessary adjustments to the situation. It’s a long example I know, but it is a situation that required an adjustment that brought a large solution. That’s what I am trying to get across to you here. When you go through a situation that you want corrected, make the correction needed that solves the problem 100% not halfway or less.
If you want to break boulders, don’t use a Playskool style hammer, use a SLEDGE HAMMER. You can’t break rocks by rubbing them gently, you have to SMACK them as hard as you can with a large hammer!
Here’s some more help. If you have someone living in your house that doesn’t pay you rent for living there, and takes advantage of you and your life, kick his/her ass out! No excuses, no compromises. No “OK, here’s what were gonna do” type of compromising, BOOT THE LOSER/LOSER-ETTE OUT! All of his/her property out on the sidewalk, BAM! shut the door behind him/her, BAM! Bolt the lock, don’t answer the door when they knock. BAM BAM BAM!!! That’s “bringing a gun to a gunfight”. Plus, you have made a decision for you! Don’t you feel better now? Problem solved.

 One more example of what I’m talking about; My Daughter had/has a male friend (we’re still not clear on that). At the time, it was confirmed that he was the boyfriend, so as the supportive parental figures that Sue and I are, we got both the daughter and her “mate” cell phones and we paid the monthly bill. All we asked is that they watch the minutes, and not abuse the opportunity. Soon after, the boyfriends phone started to increase the amount of internet time used, plus there was a surprise charge of 9.99 on our bill plus a new recurring charge of 3.00 per month that Sue couldn’t account for. After some questioning with our phone service, and some other research, it was determined that the boyfriend had bought a service for his phone that he did not seek permission for from Sue or myself AND he did not let us know that the service incurred a monthly “maintenance” charge of 3.00 per month! Now, keep in mind its only 3.00 per month so the charge really was not the issue. The issue was there was no prior notice by the boyfriend. We had to find this out on our own. That to me is disrespectful. He was abusing the opportunity.
So after some discussion between Sue and I, we decided to just let it ride because of the importance of having a phone. Then later on, the boyfriend decided that he was not going to work anymore or look for a job, that it was the daughter’s responsibility to provide the money for the house, keep the house clean, take care of the child, that he “didn’t have the energy or interest in finding a job” for. Well, right there, Sue and I made an adjustment to a situation. His phone was shut off. From the point where we heard verbatim what he had decided about his obligation to the place where he was living and his child, it only took 3 minutes and he had no more cell phone. BAM! See? Sue and I had a situation, (boyfriend abusing his opportunity) and we solved it. BAM! Now, if he doesn’t want to work, that’s fine. We’re not supporting his leisure time. No FREE rides. Problem solved. “You want a phone? Get it yourself”. Now we save money on our phone bill which helps us stay happy and that’s what its all about, right?

Listen, there are people out there in the world that will take advantage of you in a second if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. There are circumstances out there that will bring hardship to you and to your family unit if you let it happen. IF YOU LET IT HAPPEN.
Never bring a Pea-shooter to a gun fight. Your time on this earth is bound to have some “gun fights” in it. Make the corrections needed to end the gunfight 100%. That’s what I do. Why?….Because, “That’s How I Do It”.

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”

Holy year-end Batman! Can you believe it? It’s November 1, 2009. The year is almost over! Incredible. It seems like only last week that so much happened that changed how I do things from now on, it doesn’t feel like it has been that long. There have been a lot of changes this year. Wouldn’t you agree? Take a look at your own life for a minute. Doesn’t it feel like it hasn’t been that long since you made the changes to your life that put you where you are today? For me, it does. I remember a BIG one for me. It happened NINE months ago. There I was sitting at my computer, surfing the internet, drinking my 3^rd beer. I had been home from work oh, one hour and it happened. I suddenly got real dizzy, my arms went numb down to my fingers, I broke out in a cold sweat, and I had trouble breathing. Yup, I was having some major trouble. NO Warning. It just came on me like the wind. Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the ER with two nurses, a Dr., and a lot of wires, looking into what was going on. That was a long stressful scary night. I ended up spending 3 days in the hospital in ICU on the heart floor. That’s the floor where all kinds of people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s go when they are having heart attacks and other serious problems. What happened? High Blood Pressure with serious heart rate fluctuations. Basically, I almost exploded. My blood pressure was so high, if it went any higher, I would have had a stroke. So, as soon as morning came and Sue was with me, I made a change. BAM!. And, I did it for me. No one else. I didn’t care what anyone thought about my decision, I did it for me. My decision? I quit drinking. After 25 years of drinking beer everyday, or drinking hard liquor or drinking wine, I STOPPED. I didn’t even do it by slowing down at first. NO. I went cold turkey.

 I had to make this change. If I continued, I probably would not be writing this Blog today. I would be dead. I was that bad. That was a big decision for me. But, it was an easy one to make. Why? Because it was a matter of either LIFE or DEATH. Stop drinking and LIVE, or continue drinking and DIE. Hmm, decisions, decisions. I like living. Yeah, that was easy one to make. I also quit smoking cigars. I had been a cigar smoker for going on 8 years. And BAM! I quit. Cold Turkey. Oh, and then there were my friends, that when they found out about my decision to quit drinking and smoking cigars, they were’nt comfotable with the decision I had made and they complained a bit, but I didn’t care. I told all of my friends that it was a choice I had to make for me. In my own words I said “Deal homie! I’m done”. And they did! See, this is the basis for why I say and do the things I say and do. Throughout your life, you will be faced with a lot of situations that will require you to make a choice. And the choice you make about that situation, will determine your happiness for the rest of your life. Yes, for the rest of your life, because even though you can make the wrong decision, you still have to live with that memory until you die, so it’s critical to make the right one. AND you have to do it for you. No one else. It doesn’t make sense to make a change for someone else’s benefit. That would make you a tool. No, you have to make these decisions about YOUR life for YOU.

You know, I am 44 years old. I have a wonderful woman who I love, and she has 2 children that I love as well and I CHOOSE to help raise. See that? There was a decision right there. I CHOSE for my happiness, to take on the responsibility to be the Dad in these kids life because they did not have a credible dad at the time. Sure, they have a “father”, someone who helped create them, but as far as being a person who could raise them, it was determined a while ago that he just lacked the patience needed to raise children. Oh he is doing a lot better these days and that’s great, but that’s not the point here. What I am getting at is that I CHOSE to be the “dad”. And I knew what that meant. It meant I was about to ride a roller coaster. I was about to participate in these kids upbringing. All the highs and all the lows. I still made the choice. For me. I enjoy seeing kids that are happy, and what ever I can do to ensure that they remain happy for the duration of their life, I will do. So far, I’m told I am doing a pretty good job being a dad. Yet there is another side to this.

As the “dad”, I have to sit back and watch one of the children I CHOSE to help raise, go down a path of destruction when she clearly does not have to. A path where she is controlled, ridiculed, taunted, abused mentally and financially and possibly physically as well, by a person who has no feelings of compassion or interest in her welfare. In fact, he demands that she give him her “welfare” check, so he has all of the money and she has either very little or none. And to boot, they have a child together which he does not provide for. Yes, I have to sit. I cannot intervene. Why? It’s not my life. It’s hers. I get to sit back, and watch as this idiot puts her through all of this turmoil, takes everything she owns, leaves her with nothing, does nothing to help take care of his own child. After she realizes that she has nothing, he brainwashes her into believing that she cannot make it on her own and that (in his own words) “see? you need me”.

Sure I can complain, and don’t sit there for one second and think that I have not complained. I have. LOUDLY. And with what actor Jim Carey says “Tell me, and put some STANK ON IT”! So it’s clear to this young lady how I feel about her situation. Do I expect her to change? Oh hell yes I do. Will she?…… (Sigh), in her time. She is not ready. She is still seeing a light at the end of the tunnel of her despair. She doesn’t believe it to be the TRAIN barreling down the tracks I keep telling her is coming. In fact, I tell her, “The train has arrived and is running right over you and your child” but she still hangs on to this life and the choice she has made. Why? Because that’s her choice. But see, this is what I’m talking about. There have been many changes so far this year.  Choices we have made, have had great impacts on the lives of all of our family, our friends and the people around us, and there are more changes to come. The year 2009 is almost over, and so much has happened thus far that will set the stage for the 2010. What would be really great, is if you and everyone in your life either started, or continued to make decisions that resulted in memories you can look back on and be proud of.

Looking at what has happened so far this year and what I have been through over the past few years, one thing that happened was born of a choice that not only I made, but my sister made, and that was to let all the “water” of turmoil between her and I run “under the bridge”. Both my sister and I, (without each other’s knowledge) decided to forgive each other’s attitudes and beliefs about each other and concentrate more on being a family. We both felt that it was too much work carrying on like mortal enemies, so we let it go and as a result, her and I are becoming closer all the time. Now, we talk all the time, and she is even friends with Sue, and let me tell you, it’s a good feeling being close to your family. I totally made a good choice right there!

Wait. Here’s something, grab hold of this thought for a minute. See, when you take a look at the time you have left on this earth, we’re not going to be here for very much longer. Seriously, Everyone reading this, will not see the year 2100. It’s not that far off when you actually look at it. Shocked? That’s STAGGERING! That’s why it’s important to make decisions for you. No one else. There isn’t much time left when you look at it. Look, I say this all the time, and that is “EVERYONE is entitled to a happy, prosperous life. EVERYONE”. If the decisions you make benefit you in a positive way for the rest of your life, then who cares what other people say or think? If you’re happy, then just tell everyone when they complain, “That’s How I Do It”.

Givin Props:

Article title is a quote by Denis Waitley