Hey Guys and Dolls!
A little while back I wrote a piece about how a real company was product driven, not just a means to make money. This is a great example of such a company. The money is there of course, after building a business. In fact a very good friend of mine in this business has a guaranteed commission of $600 a month now after 90 days and can only go up from there. Not a bazillion dollars, but it is an honestly built home business that is making money and does have huge potential. And most importantly, in my opinion, the focus is on the products not the income.
This fan page is built by another friend of mine in the business. I'm featuring her page, frankly because I am considering joining her in the near future, just as soon as things settle down here in other respects of my life. Please check it out. I believe you will find it interesting and worthwhile, for the products first and then the business opportunity. Thanks.
Take care of each other and be safe!
Duh! Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/ruthlawrencebodywraps
About Me
- Mike, CTFS Author
- Any Town, Any State, United States
- Cynical, irreverent, hostile, politically incorrect, opinionated, sometimes wrong, but usually right. Sometimes some of these, and sometimes all of them.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Oklahoma Tragedy.
Hey Guys and Dolls!
The Oklahoma tornado is very much on our minds I'm sure. All those people whose lives have been shattered makes me really appreciate what I have. My heart goes out most of all though, to the parents of the children who are now in heaven. Those of us who have experienced the loss of a child are the only ones who know what they are going through. Their pain cannot be imagined by anyone who has not had the experience. It can arguably best be described as feeling as though your heart has been savagely ripped from your body and shredded. Their pain will never go away, it will only lessen over time - a very long time. In the future when they speak of their lost ones, they will be able to smile through the tears, but the tears will still come. They will take their solace in knowing that their babies are in heaven and that they have reached their reward, way too soon in our time, but in God's time.
But right now, that truth doesn't mean a damn thing. It's only unbelievable pain. If you know any of these people and you encounter them, you think you won't know what to say. Here is what you tell them. If you knew the child and can think of something positive, then say it, such as "She/He was always such a happy girl/boy" or "I remember the picnic (or other event) when she/he looked so cute in the sack race (watermelon eating contest- whatever it was)"
If you didn't know the child say to them "I am so sorry for the loss of "child's name". If you don't know the name or can't remember then say "I am so sorry for your loss." DO NOT say anything like "he/she is in a better place." "Well, thank goodness you have other children." or ANYTHING else to try and comfort them. DO NOT tell them a story about someone you have lost or that your second cousin's daughter's boyfriend's mother lost a child. THEY DON'T CARE! There is NOTHING that you or anyone else can say that will comfort them or make them feel better! Just express sympathy, and that is ALL!
If you say something stupid like the examples above, if they even hear you, they will think you are an idiot and they will be right.
Take care of each other and be safe!
The Oklahoma tornado is very much on our minds I'm sure. All those people whose lives have been shattered makes me really appreciate what I have. My heart goes out most of all though, to the parents of the children who are now in heaven. Those of us who have experienced the loss of a child are the only ones who know what they are going through. Their pain cannot be imagined by anyone who has not had the experience. It can arguably best be described as feeling as though your heart has been savagely ripped from your body and shredded. Their pain will never go away, it will only lessen over time - a very long time. In the future when they speak of their lost ones, they will be able to smile through the tears, but the tears will still come. They will take their solace in knowing that their babies are in heaven and that they have reached their reward, way too soon in our time, but in God's time.
But right now, that truth doesn't mean a damn thing. It's only unbelievable pain. If you know any of these people and you encounter them, you think you won't know what to say. Here is what you tell them. If you knew the child and can think of something positive, then say it, such as "She/He was always such a happy girl/boy" or "I remember the picnic (or other event) when she/he looked so cute in the sack race (watermelon eating contest- whatever it was)"
If you didn't know the child say to them "I am so sorry for the loss of "child's name". If you don't know the name or can't remember then say "I am so sorry for your loss." DO NOT say anything like "he/she is in a better place." "Well, thank goodness you have other children." or ANYTHING else to try and comfort them. DO NOT tell them a story about someone you have lost or that your second cousin's daughter's boyfriend's mother lost a child. THEY DON'T CARE! There is NOTHING that you or anyone else can say that will comfort them or make them feel better! Just express sympathy, and that is ALL!
If you say something stupid like the examples above, if they even hear you, they will think you are an idiot and they will be right.
Take care of each other and be safe!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Hey Guys and Dolls!
My wife Jan, and I were talking this afternoon in one our many conversations and she told me a
story that had me rolling on the floor laughing. I have to tell you that although she is a very warm,
compassionate, and all round incredibly wonderful woman, one thing that really attracted me to
her is the fact that she is often unfiltered. A lot of the time, in her words "if I get a thought it
just comes right out of my mouth without going through my brain", and she is hilarious.
Somehow we got on the subject of people that annoy you when they take advantage of you.
Before we met, Jan lived in North Carolina in a little bitty town. Many of the residents had no
transportation even in this mostly rural area because they were too poor. Jan became friendly
with one of the poor folk who for unknown reasons was a lady called Big Ear.
For all I know it could have been her real name since she named her kids Puddin, Man, and John.
How "John" got in there none of us will ever know. (Absolutely true, no names have been
changed to protect the innocent or the guilty, lol.)
Anyway, Big Ear asked Jan one day to give her a ride to Tarboro NC, a town about 10 miles
away. Now given the cost of gas at the time, and given the fact that Jan had enough to do every
day (due to circumstances) to keep 3 people busy all day and didn't need the interruption, she told
Big Ear that she would do it for 10 dollars.
Once word got around that Jan would give rides to town for 10 dollars round trip, the phone
started ringing off the wall. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing in that 10 bucks a pop for a round
trip of 20 miles was profitable enough to make it worth her while as long as it didn't interfere with
everything else she had going on.
Now to the annoying part and being taken advantage of. One day Big Ear asked Jan to take her
to Tarboro to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. But this time was different. After the grocery store,
Big Ear wanted Jan to take her to the bank, then to Kentucky Fried Chicken, then somewhere else.
Jan told her "Look, you gave me $10 to take you to the Piggly Wiggly, not to chase around town
on an errand tour using my time and my gas. I have a lot of other things to get done today. Next
time it's one stop and one stop only, and go back home. Any more than one stop will be more
money and the stops will have to be agreed to and the money has to be paid up front."
Next month when the food stamps came again, Big Ear called Jan for a ride to the Piggly Wiggly.
After the grocery store, Big Ear asked Jan if she would stop by KFC and the liquor store. Knowing
Jan as I do, I can see the steam that must have been pouring out of her ears. Needless to say, an
argument ensued and my girl won of course, being the driver, and being right.
A couple of days after, Jan ran into Big Ear at the local quick stop store. Jan told Big Ear that
her phone number had changed and the next time she needed a ride to call the new number. Jan
further explained "Someone besides me will answer, and you just tell them where you want to go."
Big Ear thanked her and went on her way.
You guessed it. The next time the food stamps arrived, Big Ear called Jan's new number and
was totally pissed off when she heard "Tarboro Cab Company, may I help you?"
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Bicycle Angel
Hey Guys and Dolls!
Have you ever seen an angel on earth? If you have then you know what I'm talking about.
Here is my experience with an angel. In the year 2000, I took a job with a company where
I drove around all day on a route and sold frozen food from a little yellow truck. I would
go to my customer's houses every two weeks and every time I was there I was supposed
to show our new food products and see if I could talk them into trying the new products.
In all fairness, the food was really good, except for a "miss" here and there. And it all had
a full money back guarantee which was honored with integrity. The new products were
to be carried in a "freezer bag" which was issued to us. If we lost the bag, we were charged
$65.00, so it was not something I took lightly and always made sure that after showing our
new products and getting the customer order, I took the bag back to the truck and put it
back in the freezer compartment, all ready for the next customer presentation.
One day I stopped at a regular customer's house in the ghetto part of town, not being
politically correct here, it was a dangerous area and I made sure that my truck was locked
up tight. On this particular day, I was training a new driver so I had him help me find the
food order, carry it to the customer, and generally do the things that I routinely did. There were
two new products on this day as well, a box of 12 cheeseburgers selling for about 15 dollars
and a roast selling for 25 bucks. So I have the bag, 65 dollars, the cheeseburgers, 15 dollars,
the roast, 25 dollars for a grand total of 105 dollars worth of product plus the bag.
You know what's coming right? We left our last stop in the ghetto and drove about 4 miles
to a much more affluent and safer neighborhood. When we got to our first stop, I opened
the freezer compartment which housed the bag of new products and it wasn't there. I asked
the trainee if he put the bag in a different compartment, to which he replied "I thought you
had it." This is one reason why I hate to have two people or more doing a task or project
together. Someone always "assumes" that someone else is doing the job that either or both
should have been taking care of. Of course, it was my fault the bag was missing as it was
my truck, my route, and my trainee. I was mad at myself for not paying closer attention.
After a thorough search of all the freezer compartments, we determined that the bag
must have been left at the last stop in the ghetto, either at the lady's house or on the truck
bumper, where it probably fell off and someone in the 'hood got some free food and a nice
cooler bag to go with it. But being an optimist, we drove back the four miles to the 'hood
and knocked on the lady's door, hoping to retrieve the bag from her house. She answered
and told us that we hadn't left the bag there. I had been dealing with this customer for quite
some time at this point and we had a good relationship. I completely trusted and believed her.
We thanked her and drove slowly back toward our next route area. At this point, school had
let out about 10 minutes before we had knocked on her door. So I'm frantic and looking along
the street for the bag and hoping for a miracle. Wait for it.............
As we turned a corner, a huge group of children from middle school to high school age
were all walking down the middle of the road causing us to crawl slowly to avoid running
into any of the kids. All of a sudden, the crowd parted. A young man appeared from the
midst of the crowd, riding a bicycle and with the bag slung over his shoulder. With a huge
smile on his face, he rode up to my side of the truck and passed the bag to me without saying
a word. I checked the bag and the cheeseburgers and the roast were inside. As I sat there in a
state of shock, I finally was able to speak and said to the trainee,
"Grab a box of popsicles and give them to that guy for returning the bag".
We both got out of the truck as I was going to yell for the guy to hold up a minute and thank
him for returning the bag.
The trainee and I both looked past the truck and on the road. The young man had vanished
as quickly as he had appeared and there was not a trace of him to be found.
I looked at the trainee incredulously with goose bumps rising on my body and said "Do you
believe in angels?"
His response, "I do now!"
I breathed a quick and fervent "Thank you Lord" and finished out the day completely
stunned by what we had witnessed.
And that Guys and Dolls, is my angel story. Absolutely nothing will convince me that I
did not encounter an angel that day, and I had a witness.
Have you ever seen an angel on earth? If you have then you know what I'm talking about.
Here is my experience with an angel. In the year 2000, I took a job with a company where
I drove around all day on a route and sold frozen food from a little yellow truck. I would
go to my customer's houses every two weeks and every time I was there I was supposed
to show our new food products and see if I could talk them into trying the new products.
In all fairness, the food was really good, except for a "miss" here and there. And it all had
a full money back guarantee which was honored with integrity. The new products were
to be carried in a "freezer bag" which was issued to us. If we lost the bag, we were charged
$65.00, so it was not something I took lightly and always made sure that after showing our
new products and getting the customer order, I took the bag back to the truck and put it
back in the freezer compartment, all ready for the next customer presentation.
One day I stopped at a regular customer's house in the ghetto part of town, not being
politically correct here, it was a dangerous area and I made sure that my truck was locked
up tight. On this particular day, I was training a new driver so I had him help me find the
food order, carry it to the customer, and generally do the things that I routinely did. There were
two new products on this day as well, a box of 12 cheeseburgers selling for about 15 dollars
and a roast selling for 25 bucks. So I have the bag, 65 dollars, the cheeseburgers, 15 dollars,
the roast, 25 dollars for a grand total of 105 dollars worth of product plus the bag.
You know what's coming right? We left our last stop in the ghetto and drove about 4 miles
to a much more affluent and safer neighborhood. When we got to our first stop, I opened
the freezer compartment which housed the bag of new products and it wasn't there. I asked
the trainee if he put the bag in a different compartment, to which he replied "I thought you
had it." This is one reason why I hate to have two people or more doing a task or project
together. Someone always "assumes" that someone else is doing the job that either or both
should have been taking care of. Of course, it was my fault the bag was missing as it was
my truck, my route, and my trainee. I was mad at myself for not paying closer attention.
After a thorough search of all the freezer compartments, we determined that the bag
must have been left at the last stop in the ghetto, either at the lady's house or on the truck
bumper, where it probably fell off and someone in the 'hood got some free food and a nice
cooler bag to go with it. But being an optimist, we drove back the four miles to the 'hood
and knocked on the lady's door, hoping to retrieve the bag from her house. She answered
and told us that we hadn't left the bag there. I had been dealing with this customer for quite
some time at this point and we had a good relationship. I completely trusted and believed her.
We thanked her and drove slowly back toward our next route area. At this point, school had
let out about 10 minutes before we had knocked on her door. So I'm frantic and looking along
the street for the bag and hoping for a miracle. Wait for it.............
As we turned a corner, a huge group of children from middle school to high school age
were all walking down the middle of the road causing us to crawl slowly to avoid running
into any of the kids. All of a sudden, the crowd parted. A young man appeared from the
midst of the crowd, riding a bicycle and with the bag slung over his shoulder. With a huge
smile on his face, he rode up to my side of the truck and passed the bag to me without saying
a word. I checked the bag and the cheeseburgers and the roast were inside. As I sat there in a
state of shock, I finally was able to speak and said to the trainee,
"Grab a box of popsicles and give them to that guy for returning the bag".
We both got out of the truck as I was going to yell for the guy to hold up a minute and thank
him for returning the bag.
The trainee and I both looked past the truck and on the road. The young man had vanished
as quickly as he had appeared and there was not a trace of him to be found.
I looked at the trainee incredulously with goose bumps rising on my body and said "Do you
believe in angels?"
His response, "I do now!"
I breathed a quick and fervent "Thank you Lord" and finished out the day completely
stunned by what we had witnessed.
And that Guys and Dolls, is my angel story. Absolutely nothing will convince me that I
did not encounter an angel that day, and I had a witness.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Part Two; I almost got arrested
The officers then took turns telling me that it was illegal to discharge a firearm within
city limits. The female officer told me that I would definitely receive a citation. The
only question would be whether it would be a "courtesy" citation or an official citation
where I would be arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail.
Obviously I was more interested in getting a courtesy citation. The female officer
further stated that they would have to check with the police captain to determine whether
I was going to jail. I wasn't happy about this because the captain was not on site and I
believe it is a lot more difficult to make a decision by "remote control" so to speak. The male
officer continued to talk to us while the female had a radio conversation with the captain
out of our earshot. He explained that we would both have to write a statement, and explain
what had happened. He further told us that our options were better than shooting, such as
using a hoe or a shovel, or even better, call animal control.
In my mind only, I went over the options one by one and discounted their effectiveness
given the situation. Hoes, shovels, rakes, or other implements, in my opinion, do not have
the effectiveness of a spray of double aught buckshot. Calling animal control didn't occur to me
when the snake was on his way toward me and I had about four feet with which to separate
myself from the snake and make a phone call.
Was it a stupid decision, to shoot the snake? Yes and no. The stupid part comes from
shooting within the city limits. I could be short sighted on this but I have difficulty under-
standing why criminals get to do whatever they want regarding the use of guns, where, when,
and for whatever reason they want, but if I use a weapon safely, to potentially protect my
life, it's a problem. I don't want to get on a rant or debate with anyone about gun laws,
but common sense almost doesn't exist any more. Sometimes it prevails, but not often
enough.
At this point the female officer was wrapping up her conversation with the captain.
When I heard her say "Ok, good, that's fine. Will do. Thank you sir."I was slightly
encouraged. Fortunately my encouragement was supported by what happened next.
She looked at us and said "Okay, the captain has decided that you're not going to be
arrested. She then proceeded to tell us for the fourth or fifth time that we had heard it
all the reasons why I should not have done what I did. Although my wife and I are
both unfiltered, we are not stupid and so we wisely kept our mouths shut for the
duration of this event and bit the bullet, bad pun I know, and it turned out to our
advantage.
At this point I could go on and on until you are sick of hearing it, either agreeing with
me or not, whether this was the right decision. It was. End of debate. And wow, is that
Mossberg sweet!
city limits. The female officer told me that I would definitely receive a citation. The
only question would be whether it would be a "courtesy" citation or an official citation
where I would be arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail.
Obviously I was more interested in getting a courtesy citation. The female officer
further stated that they would have to check with the police captain to determine whether
I was going to jail. I wasn't happy about this because the captain was not on site and I
believe it is a lot more difficult to make a decision by "remote control" so to speak. The male
officer continued to talk to us while the female had a radio conversation with the captain
out of our earshot. He explained that we would both have to write a statement, and explain
what had happened. He further told us that our options were better than shooting, such as
using a hoe or a shovel, or even better, call animal control.
In my mind only, I went over the options one by one and discounted their effectiveness
given the situation. Hoes, shovels, rakes, or other implements, in my opinion, do not have
the effectiveness of a spray of double aught buckshot. Calling animal control didn't occur to me
when the snake was on his way toward me and I had about four feet with which to separate
myself from the snake and make a phone call.
Was it a stupid decision, to shoot the snake? Yes and no. The stupid part comes from
shooting within the city limits. I could be short sighted on this but I have difficulty under-
standing why criminals get to do whatever they want regarding the use of guns, where, when,
and for whatever reason they want, but if I use a weapon safely, to potentially protect my
life, it's a problem. I don't want to get on a rant or debate with anyone about gun laws,
but common sense almost doesn't exist any more. Sometimes it prevails, but not often
enough.
At this point the female officer was wrapping up her conversation with the captain.
When I heard her say "Ok, good, that's fine. Will do. Thank you sir."I was slightly
encouraged. Fortunately my encouragement was supported by what happened next.
She looked at us and said "Okay, the captain has decided that you're not going to be
arrested. She then proceeded to tell us for the fourth or fifth time that we had heard it
all the reasons why I should not have done what I did. Although my wife and I are
both unfiltered, we are not stupid and so we wisely kept our mouths shut for the
duration of this event and bit the bullet, bad pun I know, and it turned out to our
advantage.
At this point I could go on and on until you are sick of hearing it, either agreeing with
me or not, whether this was the right decision. It was. End of debate. And wow, is that
Mossberg sweet!
Friday, May 10, 2013
I almost got arrested today.
Yes, it's true. I almost got arrested today. It went down like this..
My wife and I contracted to clean all the piled grass, leaves and sticks from the
backyard of this lady's house in a residential neighborhood within the city limits and
backing up to a school parking lot.
This was a monstrous pile of trash and we were on the third day of the job.
When there was only about an hour's worth of work left, I was squatting down
scooping leaves into one of the paper lawn bags.
Out of nowhere this three and a half foot snake started wiggling toward me. My wife
Jan, saw it first and yelled "Copperhead, move back!" I jumped up and starting quickly backing up while watching the snake, and then I remembered we had our Mossberg pistol grip
shotgun behind the seat of the truck. Fortunately the truck was right behind me. I reached
in for the shotgun and aimed it toward the copperhead. I had never shot this weapon before
and since it was a pistol grip, I had wanted to go to the range first to get a sense of the kick and
exactly how to hold the gun and use the sights to hit what I was aiming at.
Needless to say, my weapons training began immediately. It took 3 shots to
determine how to hold and shoot before I got him with the fourth one. As we were talking
about what had just happened and were looking at our quarry, we realized that the noise of
the kids talking and playing behind the fence had grown stone cold silent.
"Oh crap!" I said. (Well, I really said something else, but this is a family post!) I realized
that I had just done a very stupid thing using the gun. My fears were confirmed when I looked
out the gate toward the front of the house and saw two police officers walking toward us.
Unless you have been living in a cave for a few years, I'm sure that you are aware of how crazy
and stupid our society and government has gotten in the past few years. We have a school lock
down if someone fart's too loud or robs a bank around here. And I'm pretty sure it works
much the same way in any metropolitan area in the U.S. now. Unexplained gun shots are
investigated quickly and taken seriously.
"I just shot a copperhead!" I yelled to the officers as they continued their approach.
"Oh" said the male officer. And they both kept walking toward me.
(I've got to stop for tonight as this day has done me in. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow)
My wife and I contracted to clean all the piled grass, leaves and sticks from the
backyard of this lady's house in a residential neighborhood within the city limits and
backing up to a school parking lot.
This was a monstrous pile of trash and we were on the third day of the job.
When there was only about an hour's worth of work left, I was squatting down
scooping leaves into one of the paper lawn bags.
Out of nowhere this three and a half foot snake started wiggling toward me. My wife
Jan, saw it first and yelled "Copperhead, move back!" I jumped up and starting quickly backing up while watching the snake, and then I remembered we had our Mossberg pistol grip
shotgun behind the seat of the truck. Fortunately the truck was right behind me. I reached
in for the shotgun and aimed it toward the copperhead. I had never shot this weapon before
and since it was a pistol grip, I had wanted to go to the range first to get a sense of the kick and
exactly how to hold the gun and use the sights to hit what I was aiming at.
Needless to say, my weapons training began immediately. It took 3 shots to
determine how to hold and shoot before I got him with the fourth one. As we were talking
about what had just happened and were looking at our quarry, we realized that the noise of
the kids talking and playing behind the fence had grown stone cold silent.
"Oh crap!" I said. (Well, I really said something else, but this is a family post!) I realized
that I had just done a very stupid thing using the gun. My fears were confirmed when I looked
out the gate toward the front of the house and saw two police officers walking toward us.
Unless you have been living in a cave for a few years, I'm sure that you are aware of how crazy
and stupid our society and government has gotten in the past few years. We have a school lock
down if someone fart's too loud or robs a bank around here. And I'm pretty sure it works
much the same way in any metropolitan area in the U.S. now. Unexplained gun shots are
investigated quickly and taken seriously.
"I just shot a copperhead!" I yelled to the officers as they continued their approach.
"Oh" said the male officer. And they both kept walking toward me.
(I've got to stop for tonight as this day has done me in. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow)
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