Hey you!!! long time no talk

Howdey gang.  Where have you been?  I hope pennies have been falling from the sky for all of you.  My penny stars have been aligned and I'm still getting to eat a solid diet and not just Kraft Dinner so I suppose all is well.

How do you feel about where your savings are going these days?
Do you feel your money will see growth in the near term, mid term, long term?
What do you want to hear about? ( I know, as a blogger I should be TELLING you what you want to hear about!)
Thars' gold south of the border is all I can say!!  The US looks good to me from a Value stand point.
More to come on that,,

I often find myself scratching my head as I try to take a position on something.  Take airport security for example.  Now I have not had the pleasure of a beautiful security guard palm me in a pat down, (but it might happen one day,, haha) but we have all seen stories on the news about people being compromised on their way to their next flight by means of an X-ray or wandering hand.  Much like the concept of what a market will bear, I think a certain threshold will be found where people will only tolerate so much before they back off on air travel and cash strapped airports and airlines will adjust.

So yesterday I saw a flurry of postings on Face Book about security settings and how we should all forward back and forth to our network in a dizzying matrix of collective head nodding, our dissatisfaction for Face Book's new ability, effective today, to have more access to our content on our personal profiles.

Here is my question.  (I pose the question because I don't really quite know what to think just yet).  Would you be willing to jump ship and get on board with a new platform of social media if you feel Face Book goes too far?

My guess is the folks at FB have thought this one out pretty well.  Face Book has become an integral part of daily living for many.  Arguably the connected majority.  It's an easy position for them to take.  Access info from half a billion people and use it to make more money.  Simple I suppose.  Now before we all sit up and blurt out whoa whoa whoa!!  Let's think about this for a sec.  Why should we let this bother us?  FB isn't a right.  It's a choice.  We are effectively offering our personal information in exchange for a free service.  If we paid for Face Book, then hey, I'd be the first one first one waiving my finger with my other hand on my hip saying " no you don't Mister!"

I think what it all boils down to, is weighing out the pro's and cons of  connecting with the masses. We will have to collectively decide if we want to continue communicating and staying connected in the way we have become accustomed to in exchange for the release of some personal information.  If we feel we do not want the compromise we will back off as in the analogy of airline travel.  I see this sort of imposition as an opportunity for innovative thinkers to create a new tailor made networking platform.  I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Tech and my pennies

Well here we go. The first attempt of trying to stay connected and blut my thoughts. Had a fantastic Christmas and hit the office again today. Today was a day when I was reminded that my business is not about selling insurance products. Its about being there for families with money when they need it the most. I really hope u all have a great 2011. Ill keep working at blogging. Keep your comments coming. Happy New Year. I hope u all have a great year

:-( = not good :-) = good!

My day at work started on a grouchy note.  Bit by bit I transformed into someone I am usually not.  I grumped out on some poor fellow on the phone and had some nasty thoughts for a few others.  What a dark cloud!! On my walk home for lunch, I didn't want to feel better.  I wanted to be bitter.  But you know,, I got a big smiley hello from someone that completely changed my tack.  Quick lunch, sunny day and before I knew, my walk back to the office was completely different.  the sun was in my face,  I walked on the sunny side of the street and presto!  Got lots of work done, had pleasant conversations with some folks and all was good.
Bottom line,,, It really is all about what you make it.  So go on,,, if you see a grumpy face while out and about, give it a big smile and you may transform someones day,
Over and out

SUV's, large screen TV's and forced labour 'till age 62!!!!

We are now about 24 months into and on our way out of a pretty horrific period of global financial instability.  The dust has settled, the slow motion replay's have been made over and over and we have a pretty good idea of what not to do next time.  Excess is the word which sums it up.  In many cases the world has fingered the financial industry movers and shakers for taking excessive risk.  In other cases people have fingered consumers for their excessive personal debt. It doesn't matter any more. Buying too many SUV's , large screen TV's and allowing our finance industry to bundle all that consumer debt into personal "equity" loans sold as high valued real estate investments was a bad idea. Important part is we have pretty much learned our lesson. Haven't we???  Well I think here in north America we have.  We know that for many, working well past age 65 will be a reality.  And heck, what's so bad about that?  We are living longer and the reality of out living our retirement savings is something everyone must  be aware of.  So why in the hell don't the Europeans get this???  COME ON!!! this nonsensical behaviour of protesting, striking and more or less causing havoc with global markets because you now have to work until age 62 (I'll type it so we don't forget it) SIXTY TWO!!!  is pure Balderdash!!  Suck it up Europe!! You get like 400 weeks a year of paid vacation, evade income tax like it's and entitlement and have posh government benefits.  Don't look at north America's excess as the only reason you are in tough times.  Your EXCESSIVE leisure has a lot to do with it too! Over and out,,,

what to do,,, what to do,,,,,

The best thing about a Sunday to me is knowing that the biggest worries I have will be fried or omelet.  Numbing my brain with Food Network challenges, chain drinking espresso's and plunking out new riff's on my guitar drops me smack dab in the middle of the couch potato poster.  I love it.
This was pretty much what I was up against today.  Took a couple of thick java's to get myself prepared but I was ready to face the challenge.  Then,,, the phone rings.  Who dares threaten to cleave themselves through this rhythm I've got going here.  Apparently, my son was to be at a Cadets field training exercises at 9:00 am.  So entrenched in my groove I almost contemplated, if only for a mere second, to have him miss it.  Dammit,  I couldn't do that to him so into the car we pile, bed head and untucked.  20 minutes out of town to said destination.  But,,,, when we got there, no cars were to be found.  RRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr. Biting my tongue and nearly Luke Duking the Volvo around in the parking lot, we headed back to the real destination not 2 blocks from my house.  Meh,, What else was I going to do anyway.
So, now it's 1:35 (13:35 Cadet time) and I'm ready to get my day on the go.  Look out bike!!! Here I come,,,,
Over and out,,,

Saying good bye, for good and for bad,,

Some day's happen and you wish you could just start them over again.  Today was one of them.  A trip to the vet with our family pet of 8 years resulted in a pretty teary good bye to a great friend, protector and companion.  Lots of tears, lots of hugs and back rubs for our little girl.  Then a bike stolen.  This bike was the beloved steed of my 14 year old.  He had it plastered with stickers from his fav bike shop, and pimped out with all the bling a teen age boy would cram onto a two wheeled frame.
Loosing a pet by accident and having the person who accidentally caused the loss feel terrible for it is understandable.  Loosing a bike to some little shit head who does it for the hell of it is not cool.
Anyway.  If you see Claudie, give her a hug. If you see J, ask him to describe his bike to you.  Trust me he'll give you a detailed description!
Over and out,,