CAN YOU SAY......SCAM????

Businesses get these ALL THE TIME, a "OFFER", to fill in their names & Addresses to be "PUBLISHED" in the......what?? The ONLINE California internet??? The online USA directory??? The online ENTIRE WORLD BUSINESS listing directory???

DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!! STOP...DO NOT!!! If you send this in the only ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY SURE THING THAT WILL HAPPEN IS THIS.....YOU WILL GET A BILL FOR OVER $1000.00 per year - SELF RENEWING!!

And to be even more clear, these people have a room full of hot shot lawyers who's only job is to make you pay. Credit dings, Credit Card charges, nasty phone calls....this is the world of the people who prey on you by using the "Walking Fingers', a much respected logo, to part you from your money.

COURAGE

The people of Boston, are us - writ bloody. Whatever the reasoning of the person or people who commit these acts, we know the truth....they have a character filled with cowardice. A heart 10 sizes too small. A mind and spirit so twisted, so stunted, so grotesquely deformed - they are unrecognizable to the rest of us. They lack the very humanity we so often forget runs so deep in our souls. We are only reminded of our shared communal humanity when events shock us into seeing the horrific. 

I heard an interview with a runner at the Boston Marathon, who having completed her run, the ran to the devastation - toward the emergency area to try and help. When asked if she feared for herself she answered, "Well, not really. I did what I had to do". You often hear soldiers who have performed an act of extreme courage say the same thing, i.e, "I didn't think about the danger I went to help my friends". Police officers and Fire personnel - same thing...they go into the arena of bullets, into the fire, into the stairwells, with their courage showing brighter than their badges, to help others. Thoughts of self are secondary. Mother & Fathers often perform acts of enormous courage in protecting their families and children - they also respond, "the fear comes later, but I had to act or my children would have been hurt".  Patricia Maisch who tackled the shooter in Tuscon when he had to reload from a jammed gun could have run...but she didn't. She says it was instinct. Our own American horror night in Aurora Colorado, where people covered their loved ones with their own bodies. America, founded on a principle of religious freedom had a crazed anti-Muslim terrorist with more firepower than will power, attack a Sikh Temple. Newtown....teachers urged their students into any area they thought might be safer from the incredibly well armed lunatic who was staking them, and spoke to them of love and hugged these terrified babies.

All of these heroes could have looked out for them selves, some could have run, many could have simply put self above others - but they didn't. 

Courage - a human quality, that we value so highly we give medals, hold parades, write books about it, award citations. We attempt, in every small way we can recognize it, to reward it. Often we are rewarding it posthumously, but still we try. Flags are flown, salutes given, tears are shed...and we wonder....how can these people do these things? From any distance it sounds like an effort we're not sure we can give. It looks too big...it might cost too much.... and then when our turn comes....and it surely will....will we have what it takes? Gabby Giffords has it. The survivors of the Newtown horror have it. The survivors of each and every man-made tragedy are testament to it. 

Well, the answer may be different for each person, but I believe that we are made from sterner stuff. We have courage in our DNA. Bravery in our veins. Persistence as a part of our hearts so we can overcome. We must also reward courage in our elected leaders and remind them, that we - not they - are the heart & soul of this nation. We - not they - bear the burdens, pay the price, and endure the unendurable. We - not they - are what makes this nation great and we will no stand for their divisive, petty, money grasping, diminished behavior in regard to our country. Show the same courage you had when sending our treasure off to war. Show the courage you have seen from us during very difficult economic times, during terror attacks, during mass shootings....look to us - WE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY! 

IS BIGGER BETTER???? 

Debunking assumed wisdom....and we KNOW what the word assumed means.

Actually, there is a point to be made here. Big is fine....and it has it's place, and probably nothing I say or do will ever have any impact on the BIG BANKS, BOX STORES, (yes I'm talking to you Walmart, Best Buy, TARGET and all the rest), but you and I can, and DO, influence lots of local endeavors. Think local elections City Council & School Boards, recreation - like as parks & rec, local development - the Corona Planning Commission comes to mind, even the local Police Department.... and maybe most of all....local businesses. 

All these people mentioned above are our neighbors, friends in some cases, and even though it can be tough to be an itty-bitty business nowadays (as compared to the billion dollar behemoths  ...they want to be your go-to business for....let's see....

CARPET & FLOORING

AIR CONDITIONING

DRY CLEANING

DENTISTRY

and all the rest of the services we need ALL THE TIME. Try to give these hardworking people you know a shot at your business....it keeps jobs here and make our community economically viable. 

I read a post the other day with an interesting view:

So, hypothetically, let's say there are 7000 small businesses in Corona, and let's limit them to 2-20 employees. That would be somewhere between 14,000- 90,000 employees of small business.A healthy number. I am not including the large companies, Monster, Wal-Mart, Auto Retail, etc. because we know that the city will recruit companies of that size with substantial "gifts" (I know there's a better word, I simply can't think of it right now) to locate or re-locate here. Here's my question....What does the city do that is comparable for the small businesses in town who employ, insure, and contribute taxes to encourage them to remain here? And keep in mind that these small businesses often hire locally, something the community finds desirable.

EVER FEEL LIKE THIS??

Well, here are some people who DESERVE to be FAMOUS!

Hema Patel of Postal Annex in Corona 

Tom Cole, Total Auto Care

Brad Husen a local attorney 

Jason at Inland Empire Plumbing 

Mike Reaume, Corona Insurance agent

While people in Sacramento or Washington fiddle while Rome burns....unable because of their "principles"  to do what needs to be done, the people mentioned above - AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS - (who I will be mentioning in future posts) have somehow managed to continue to put one foot in front of the other. They have ceaselessly worked through the "recession", found a way through really difficult times to keep their businesses open and functioning  - while being good mothers, fathers, family members and community supporters. All this, as their net worth is juggled precariously on the edge of --- recurring "fiscal cliffs"? No bail outs, no easy money, no special favors from their friends in high places.

Gee...how can they do it?? While CHASE BANK, CITIGROUP, and all the gigantic billion and trillion dollar corporate behemoths are barely making it?

 How do I know they are "barely" eking out a living and still hurting? Well, they're not hiring.  Otherwise they would be putting people to work at a living wage with benefits that would allow a new generation to prosper. No, they are sooooo afraid of the future, so concerned with paying too many taxes to the country that fed & watered them,  they are forced to put their money offshore, ( where? - OFFSHORE, you say - Belize, Bahamas, all those lovely beach resorts), so they can hide assets from the very people (us) that allowed them to prosper. Gee...they can hardly afford the  private jets that whisk them off to meetings at which they bemoan their fate in this "impossible" to govern country. Maybe it would be a lot easier if they put COUNTRY FIRST. But what do I know? I'm just a voter....once with an attitude.

Now that I think about it ...prosper. hell.... they have thrived - maybe they actually OWN the aforementioned  roman "fiddle". And no wonder they are growing....they are self-regulating. What could possibly be wrong with "too big to sue", or "to big to jail" ? Self regulation from a group who couldn't self regulate a bake sale, let alone their appetites to grow unconscionably rich.

 Self regulation is a myth. It involves being able to push away from the table BEFORE you  make a pig of yourself. It involves self-denial, maturity, civility and the ability to put someone else first.These are qualities more attributed to us ...the working class...the justice starved class... the people who have no lobbyist raining money down on them..   JUST SAYIN'.

I only use  ONLINE...I only use PRINT ... REALLY??

When the Internet hit local businesses several years ago...We were told - this is earth shattering - EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT NOW. ALL YOUR NEEDS WILL BE MET --- ONLINE.

AT&T rushed out to change all your print ads to online. (web designers became our new best friends)

The funerals were planned for Newspaper advertising. (send paper flowers)

Directories, and most print including magazines  were buried at sea with Osama Bin Laden. (splish-splash)

Well, now its 2013, and the "fog of advertising war" has begun to lift. Visibility is better...local small business has a better - clearer -  view of the battlefield.  There was an..... unexpected result. The internet only ADDED to your need to reach out ability - it NEVER replaced it. I know everyone thought they could STOP all advertising - even the stuff that was PROVEN to work, but change is never that fast, never that complete, and it never stops.

So, small LOCAL businesses simply had to ADD another "door" to their business. Not, CLOSE their PRINT ADVERTISING DOOR door. 

HOW STUPID ARE WE? DO WE JUST FALL FOR ANYTHING?

An ex Senator from Tennessee, a noted conservative who was all for "shrinking government , is on your TV hawking (and by that I mean being paid boatloads of dollars) for you to have a "government" backed reverse mortgage. My favorite part is where he says, "If your anything like me...- 'cause Fred & have been so close. It was Fred & me co-starring on Law & Order.... tussling over policy during the Presidential debates in which he participated, sharing coffee in our Senate offices "Huh?

Or, Marie Osmond,  and some zillionaire ex-football player (Joe Theisman), or the like,  (again visualize the trucks pulling up with buckets of cash) hawking the "weight Loss program that "changed their lives". This includes those expensive wine-bottle juices and energy drinks - 'cause you can't just eat fruit or juice some veggies - NO - you must BUY THIS - and IT WILL DO FOR YOU - what you evidently can't do for yourself! This doesn't even count the fact that you pay money for tiny portions of FROZEN FOOD...delivered at no small cost to your door. Now, allowing for me being wrong, these already rich & famous people were contracted by the weight loss company, paid, aided and abetted in their weight loss program - at every step....but once again --- they're just like us. That would be the US that has agents, money managers, hair people, make-up people, and, lest I forget - life style coaches, and support staff, who do all the work we all do EVERY DAY - WITHOUT STAFF.   What's wrong with this picture?? 

Wait, how about during election time when we were buried in ads that asked us to just send $ 20 more dollars to defeat the Socialist Obama Agenda, or defeat the right wing attack machine? Yeah --- send that check for $20.00, 'cause political parties  don't have enough money from avaricious billionaires. You really thought that these were serious people ? They were only SERIOUS about separating you from your hard-earned money.Seen a fact sheet detailing how much of your $ 20 - went to "costs", or advertising....or salaries? If their lips were moving - they were lyin'.

Maybe it's the "secret to losing BELLY Fat" people who got your attention and you sent them $5, $10, $15 dollars for this incredible way to be slim with no effort. AND FOR EXTRA ADDED INCENTIVE - NO cost to you - just pay shipping. Did you check out these "shipping & handling" charges? YEAH, it MUST be true I saw in on TV.

I almost forgot, a personal favorite ....it's the refinance your mortgage clowns - from companies who have the answer to "underwater" mortgages....another government program....even though we all know the government is evil and does nothing.

 Well - GET A GRIP --- ANYBODY CAN SAY ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET.It's not a court of law...it's the internet STUPID. Or, should I say the STUPID internet. Or is is just you & me - allowing ourselves to be fooled, tricked, looking for EASY answers to complex questions. Maybe it just easier to BLAME - our government, our cities, our news media than look at how we choose to digest the information we get. There are soooo many of these, nipping at us, diverting attention, making money the old "snake oil" way, betraying fact, promoting falsehood, and we actually fall for it. Don't you get tired of it? Don't you get weary of being "conned", abused, and otherwise "MIS-INFORMED"? If we are so STUPID as to think that there's an easy way, a simple answer, a fast deal that will make us healthy, wealthy, or wise ---- then we deserve what we've got. DIVISION & DISTRUST  

ON LINE TRAVEL SERVICES - Waste of time? Exercise in futility? - "Bah Humbug! BRING BACK TRAVEL AGENTS! 

Good Grief Charlie Brown, my LOVE /HATE relationship with the internet is beginning to tip into less LOVE - more HATE. Maybe I mean aggravation or irritation, but the result is the same.

THAT"S IT FOR ME.....newer isn't always better. Internet sites are the 8th circle of hell in many cases. Just because you have a computer doesn't mean you always have to use it. People have spent their working lives becoming experts at their craft - I CAN LET THEM HELP ME - I DON'T HAVE TO TRY & BECOME A TRAVEL AGENT ON MY OWN! 
THAT"S IT FOR ME.....newer isn't always better. Internet sites are the 8th circle of hell in many cases. Just because you have a computer doesn't mean you always have to use it. People have spent their working lives becoming experts at their craft - I CAN LET THEM HELP ME - I DON'T HAVE TO TRY & BECOME A TRAVEL AGENT ON MY OWN! 

By the time I check EXPEDIA, HOTWIRE, Travelocity, CHEAPAIR, TripAdvisor, just to mention a FEW of the many, I realize there is such a thing as TOO many choices.
Where to stay - and it begins again....thousands of deals....all THE BEST. (Yeah, right) Then print it all out....check dates....recheck dates, recheck flights, check and recheck car rental - it never ends! My credit card is hot from typing in the numbers and still it's not turned out right. WORST PART - I have only myself to blame, cause when I tell a friend what a deal I got - they got a better one! EVEN WORSER PART - I have spent hours, days, of my limited life span doing this - using all the ink in the printer, losing phone numbers, and now I travel with a 3 ring binder the thickness of the BIBLE.

I liked it better when I simply called Alec Cross or MaryAnn Cross (Crossroads Travel), - their on FB and told them what I wanted, gave my budget, and let them do all the work. If I had a question - THEY did the research and gave me multiple answers. Change in plans - THEY did all the work - and it all had to meet my approval! Where to eat, what to see, how to commute on arrival - they had experienced answers. THEY DID IT ALL! I could change anything anytime and they were ready, willing & able. 

There......I feel better. By the way the picture here is from a trip they planned!!!! A wonderful time was had by ALL!!