Messages By: glasbeadr

He worked for a local cable company for over a year which was an accomplishment to everybody but hmself. So, when the "great money maker" came round the bend it was time to sign up. The "Bend", if you will, took over a year to materialize but when it did, overnight, without notice, he left the security and benefits (which we seriously need) of the job and headed off to the "money maker", selling roofing to folks who have "blue roofs". It's a good concept but you MUST know the employer. The employer's rules changed about as often as he changed his underwear and the commissions did as well.  Then "the change" to the new state that promised a new territory turned into tons of cash we didn't have poured into hotel costs, food, fuel, you name it. In that "phase" of the operation, the "employer" even had the company name and phone number removed from the vehicle.  

Yet, "he" hung in there.  To date, about a months wages at the cable company (maybe a bit more) was made over a 3 month period at the "new company". 

Too good to be true?  Even after a year of "successes"? Absolutely!  Check it out.  Call the IRS, call the Better Business Bureau, check public records. Check local vendors where these individuals would purchase supplies. Talk to their crews, if possible. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. 

This past wednesday we were 10 hours from eviction, I was horrified. It won't happen to me again. Whether HE has or not, I have learned my lesson.  Anybody who travels state to state offering prepare work after storms STILL should have references and LICENSES.  Check 'em out. 

If they hire employees from outside the United States, check it out, these particular crews were being exploited.  Fortunately they have gone home, as well, knowing to ask questions. 

IF you have storm damage, check out your contractors for Licenses, insurability, bonding, experience, references and get at least 3 bids.  A word from the wise. 

"Perhaps there would be less young people in debt if these basic lessons are taught when they are young" 

I raised my 2 children as a single mom. My daughter required constant care as she was terminally ill and multiply handicapped. There was never money to "over-do" on holidays.  So, I made each of the children something special for  

christmas from the time they were about 4 and 5 up until today and they are 28 (my son) and 25 (to God's glory, my precious daughter). Their dad always bought the "big stuff" each year and they would spend Christmas morning with him and come home on Christmas afternoon and have Christmas with me.  So, they would receive new clothes I made or as little children, stuffed animals, and as they got older, they received crochet blankets, or quilts or wall hangings. 

When they were about 13 or so, don't remember which child it was particularly, I was asked if they could stay home instead of going to their dad's.  They knew they were getting a computer and TV, respectively.  I was amazed.  I reminded them of the treasures that awaited them.   

My son looked at me with teary eyes and said, "but mom, Christmas is really HERE".   

From that holiday forward, we have developed the tradition of making Christmas for each other whether we have money for other stuff or not.  This year, Angela gave a picture done in crayon with her name at the bottom (at least I KNOW it's her name) and Thomas, I got a Christmas letter thanking me for all the memories and love of all the holidays past. 

Now, Thomas is passing this tradition on to his son, Michael who is 3. 

Angela? She's still with me, long after the doctors said she wouldn't be, and that's a daily blessing. 

So, I can attest to the fact that children taught early about the value of money and the value of "family values", retain them, or eventually if they wander away, come back. 

Regarding money, possessions in particular, time, power, ego, The more space, territory, leniency, accolade, latitude, whatever you are allowed, you will invariably fill.   

Ergo, if you pay off a credit card and you KNOW you have "x" amount of credit, the majority of people will without question strive to fill that credit availability or if it's time, carry a project time allotment to the max (perhaps even procrastinate to the deadline), if it's power, exude authority when it isn't necessary or appropriate, make decisions without much thought because one can. 

It takes discipline of spirit and sometimes the simple act of waiting 24 hours until the purchase, decision or action should be made and a lot of the time, there is a world of difference in what is necessary and what is compulsive behavior. 

I was 11 when my uncle gave me that advice and it took a long time for it to settle into my spirit and affect my life to it's full implication. Not that it works all the time, but every now and again, his words ring in my heart and I make the attempt to heed them. 

Occasionally, it has saved me from major mistakes.  Perhaps if more of us practiced this principle, we wouldn't be faced with so very many crises and I for one am guilty of lots and lots of them. I speak mainly to myself. 

This poor couple has more to worry about than money.  The marriage was started a bit questionably when she didn't want to tell her folks.  There are obviously issues there. 

I thank my Irish friend for her wonderful comments about my earlier posting and by the way, we are in total agreement, I just didn't address it I think! 

When my son married, his new wife didn't tell her parents they were to be married (unbeknownst to me). She flew down from MN and they went to the courthouse, all the while me thinking we were on the up and up.  well, finally she called home. WOW. We discovered many, many issues that are still being resolved after 5 years.  Sure does make a new marriage complicated, huh?  And a small child, to boot! 

I wish them luck and hope they work it out in TRUTH, one way or the other both knowing that whatever is said and done between them and their families, is honest, as well as their financial and legal issues.  Maturity and integrity come into play, I hope they have the courage to stand up to it. 

weeks ago, I was stunned and amazed at the lengths he would go to attempt to validate his affairand his attempts to make his affair appear "ok" morally and acceptable to even God. 

Unfortuately for his purposes but fortunately for the rest of the world, he was told the truth that 2 life partners is purly and simply WRONG. 

If indeed they are one of Dr. Phils families for 2006, they can only benefit and catch the truth. My hope and prayer is that they will grasp it and hold on for the rest of their lives. 

have established, grown and sold 3 businesses before my current endeavor.  I can guarantee these ladies that they haven't even begun to scratch the surface. They are called in the industry "visionaries" and have a LONG way to go to become entrepreneurs.  I can't begin to list the preliminary work that should start at least a year before the doors open.  It involves lots of money, time, (multiply those lots and lots), babysiters, commitment times more money and time than they are at present aware that they are willing to invest and they both need courses in business education.  

A good S.C.O.R.E. counselor wouldn't hurt either.  Someone to keep them in check and balance with common sense issues.  Oh, and may I suggest a SBA Busineswoman's Association to assist them with other issues they will be facing and a boat load of attorneys who will be willing to deal with all these issues they will be dealing with when they have alcohol and minor children on the same property?  They will then have the Dept. of Child Protective Services on their hands as well as the other public officials after them for offering alcohol in the presence of minors. 

Ladies, you have dug a grave here and not a legitimate business plan.  Instead of pie in the sky, back up and start over.  Instead of coffee at the dining room table and pipe dreams, try really getting into the mood by contacting vendors, licencing agencies, CCR, DunandBradstreet, City, State and Federal Taxing Agencies, and all those folks you will need to gleen information from in order to start a business.  Decide if you will be a corporation, profit or non, LLC or partnership, etc. 

Lots of decision.  Lots of reality.  Lots of risk. Position, Pricing and Product.  Keep that in mind.  Good luck.  Not meant as legal advice.  Don't take it as such.  Just a but of wisdom from one who has been there and still there each time I open a business. 

ladyconure.com 

At one time considered a "painless" terminal disease that is indescriminate in its victims age, race, sex or nationality, Batten Disease is a disease that carries with it a long course of chronic illness, blindness, regression, assorted deficits, the painful realization that things are changing and quickly and for the family, the realization that life will never be the same again.  By the time the symptoms hit, most families have already had their children, in some cases, 4 or 5 children in their primary school years and one by one 2 to 4 of them start to loose their sight, get clumsy, and it all hits the fan.  As teenagers, they are vegetative and usually by early adulthood, they start dying off, one by one. 

My Angela is a child with NCL (Batten Disease).  She has the Juvenile type which means she will probably live into her 3rd generation but to what quality of life, no one knows.  Already, she had numerous physical and mental delays and handicaps.  She lives in a group home for young adults (there are 4 in the home) close by and we have a support system that can't be beat. But still the pain of separation and grief is there. 

She graduated Robertsdale High School with her peers at their request.  She walked across the podium with her classmates and received a standing ovation and attended her prom escorted by the football coach who had lost his arm to a shark attack the summer before and went on to win the Iron Man Triathalon the following fall. 

She has known all the fun there is to be had in life by her classmates and has experienced their activities with them and they have enjoyed her as much as she enjoyed being with them. For all those memories and pleasures, I am most thankful.  Our Department of Human Resources was supportive and encouraging and stayedin touch throughout her life and whenever I had a question, I felt free to call.  Today, she has a wonderful caseworker whom I depend on a great deal since I am not in Alabama. 

In the cruelest contrast, someone I know in another state has a 2 year old who is suspected of having developmental delays, etiology unknown,  This child had a seizure this past Christmas Day and was taken to the hospital at the parents request  to be checked out.  The nightmare began. The baby girl was admitted and two days later, while still being breast fed, was forcefully removed from  the parents in the hospital, renamed and readmitted under an alias.  The parents are fighting so many petty, bogus charges that it's unbelievable.  The original charges against the parents were disproven by those very medical personnel who made the charges in the first place - that of failure to thrive, rickets, several other issues.  Upon further examination, these accusations were proven to be wrong.  So, they headed off in a new direction, and in a new direction, etc. 

Next week is the trial and this family is profiled and already predetermined by the department of human services to not get the baby back.  They have already told the foster father (stay at home dad) that it's ok to bond with the baby and plan on adopting her.  He is already calling her "his daughter" and being quite ugly to the baby's mother when their paths cross during visitation days. 

The psychological evaluations for both parents are ok,  nothing is wrong with their parenting skills, however, their "perception of reality" is not what the department approves of.  Whatever that means. 

The parents (39 and 65 years of age) have been told that things don't look good for them at this point.  Is there anybody out there who has any ideas? 

These physicians lied on record and off. There is evidence. 

The social workers and Guardian Ad Litem are working together to have this child permanently removed, there is written proof. 

The other players in this travisty are just as biased and hateful and equally determined to have this child adopted by this particular family with whom she is being fostered. 

I will watch carefully for your response.  I hope somebody has some words of encouragement. 

Please take it from one who knows that talking is always is a good thing.  Don't stop doing that until you have talked it out or down to a point, if ever, that you are satisfied within yourself that it's ok to just talk about it when you really want to.  Don't let people put a time period on it or limitations.   

We're here for you and we're listening. Always.