I can't say that I live in a one horse town because actually there are many horses around our community. However, downtown Deland is considered a historic attraction.
There are no high rise buildings, no thriving masses walking around from store to store. Our stores offer free homemade cookies, and coffee just for stopping in. Our citizens are always saying things like,"thank you for stopping by." Garage (tag) sales are our greatest weekend attractions in the daytime, and at night we have art fairs, outdoor concerts in the middle of downtown, movies, and bowling.
We also have Stetson University, and all the kids who party at the few downtown clubs.
Unlike up north were there is a bar on every corner, we have a church on every corner. Church is the place to see and be seen in a small town. If you go to church they know about it, and if you don't they know that too. There are all sorts of groups that you can join, or volunteer to be in.
For someone who comes from the big city, this place can be heaven, or hell. There are days that I would give anything to be standing next to the Sears Tower, and squinting up at the sky to see if I can get a peek at the top of the building. There are nights when I walk outside my house, and see what seem to be millions of stars as bright as hanging flashlights illuminating everything within reach.
This is the place where people who have had enough of big city life come to take root.This is a place where people sit on their front porch and talk well into the night. We are not marred by big city crime, and congestion. Everyone knows everyone else, and newcomers are welcomed with gift baskets from the invisible welcome wagon. I say invisible because they leave the basket on your front porch along with a welcome wagon coupon book in which you find such treasures as pioneer days discounts.
This is also the place were slave quarters are still prominent and considered to have historic value, thus the reminder of what the South used to be still resonates as you pass many of these poorly kept properties.
There are livestock farms, horse farms, fern farms, and the occassional Southern mansions.
This is also the place where every other driveway has at least one pick up truck. Then there are the hunters who have their hunting truck, and their every day truck.
Neighbors keep their hunting dogs in the back yard in enclosed structures, or fences.
At night you are lulled to sleep by the sounds of crickets and frogs. In the daytime you may see a bear running through the neighborhood. I have seen it myself. Being from the big city, I assumed that it was a very big dog when I first spotted it just a few blocks from my home. However, as I drove closer I realized that it was a baby bear. Knowing that if there is a baby bear there must be a mama bear nearby, I quickly got away from it.
I walk six miles a night whith a walking partner. We pass many other walkers on our nightly treks. This is something that I never did in the big city. I love these walks because not only am I feeling better, but I also get to see the country life up close. We pass homes which have been around for hundreds of years, and homes that were newly built for people like myself from the big cities.
Many of the troubles that plague the big cities are still prevelant in this little town. There are still addicts, drug dealers, and prostitues. The difference is that you know who they are, and who their familes are also. This is a good thing, and a bad thing. When your kid gets in trouble everyone knows.
There are parties every weekend. Someone is always celebrating something. There is no need for an invite. The protocol is that if you feel like going, you show up.
I don't know that I would choose to live here if I was faced with the opportunity again. I really miss the hustle and bustle of the big city. I miss the people, the traffic, and the public transportation systems that take you anywher you want to go. There are really only three modes of transportation out here, you drive, you walk, or you take your bike. Unless of course you have a horse.
SO, this is my life. This is where I have planted my roots. It may sound boring to a lot of people, but it is a simple existence. This is my lot in life, and it comes with a 1/2 acre of land, and seven dogs.

Love

The soul yearns, the mind reasons, but the heart wants what it wants. Let's talk about love. It's five in the morning. I have not slept. I tried to sleep, but sleep eludes me each time I lay down. I pace the floor until I notice that it needs to be mopped. I mop the floor at four in the morning. My thoughts are racing. My mind is going a million miles a minute. Not a pleasant feeling.
How did I get so wired? Simply because I picked up the phone, dialed some numbers, and heard a familiar "hello".
Thirty years have gone by. You would reason that thirty years, and two thousand miles apart would have put time and distance between us. But to quote a cliche, "he had me at hello."
What is wrong with me? Am I the only one who will spend a lifetime loving someone that clearly has not made me his number one priority? Let's face it, I don't even score in the top ten.
Why can't I just tell my heart what my rational mind already knows. "Hey heart, get over him, he got over you." But, my heart says, "I hear you, and I don't care what you say."
I am by no means an emotional person. I cried so many tears for so many years that I must have used them all up.
No, I refuse to be one of those namby pamby cry babies. Instead, I mop the floor at four in the morning.

Half A Century of Knowledge

Recently I have been thinking about my life. At this point, I am 50 years old.
What have I learned in half a century?
Put God first, then family, friends, money, and things.
The reasoning behind that is that family, and friends will many times bring you trouble. No doubt, there will be dissapointments, hurt feelings, and arguments.
Money can hold you hostage to a job you hate, or a person you don't love.
You can spend your life buying things, but the things will not make you happy. You will always want more things.
Therefore, you need to have God in your life, or a higher power that you can fall back on when all the other stuff in your life is going wrong. You need to have a belief system in place that can assure you that everything will work out for good.
You also need to have dreams and hopes for yourself.
When you look back on your life you will think about the chances you did not take, and how your life would have been different if you had just taken them. Take calculated risks, and learn to trust your instincts.
Grandchildren are God's gifts. They are sweet, loving, and you don't have to worry that they will blame you for their mistakes as adults.
Help will sometimes come from the most unexpected places.
Welcome people into your home, but don't make them feel like they don't have to contribute anything, or they never will.
Desperation only lasts a short time, and it leads to action. Don't compound the problem by doing something stupid.
Never make promises that you don't intend to keep.
Try not to lie your way out of a tough situation, and teach your children not to lie. This will save you a lot of heartache.
Know that the "justice" system is biased towards people with money. Stay out of trouble unless you can afford a good attorney, and a high bond.
Don't expect people to act the way you want, or not to dissapoint you. You can only change yourself.
Lend a hand in times of trouble. Don't turn your back on the needs of others. One day you may be in a similar position.
Don't buy your children everything they want, or they will grow up thinking that they are entitled to everything without working for it.
Spend more time with your family than at your job. Work is a way to get the money you need to have a good family life. If you sacrifice your family for your job, what will you have left when your job is gone?
Always look for the good in people. The bad will become obvious soon enough.
Don't judge people by their mistakes. Help them to make better choices.
Don't follow gossip, sooner or later it will be directed at you.
Be a blessing in someone's life. It will make you feel good.
Give to those who don't have as much as you do, but don't be taken for a sucker.
Know what you believe, and in whom you believe.
Don't choose your friends by how much money, power, or looks they have. People who worship these things have no real friends.
Your friends now may not be your friends later on in life. As you evolve, you will make new friends.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Don't give up on yourself. You are all you have sometimes.
You don't automatically become an adult at a certain age. Becoming an adult is a learning process that never ends.
If you keep coming up with business ideas, explore them. Don't conform to a paycheck. You will always wonder what would have been if you had taken the risk.
The secret to a lasting relationship is knowing when to shut up.
The secret to happinness is knowing that you will not always have it, so that when you do you can appreaciate it that much more.

Is it possible that our world is changing so fast, that we are headed for self destruction? Like when you have an ice cream cone, and you think that the ice cream is going to last as long as the cone, but it never does. How much knowledge can we acquire before we stop being human? We can clone ourselves, but I am sure that just because we can doesn't mean that we should .
Another thing, why the hell is it that there is a pill for everything? Who is inventing the pills that society is taking? Who is regulating it? What the hell is in that stuff? I think that the pharm companies that make this stuff know full well that it will be addictive. They say that it is not addictive when taken as prescribed. Yeah, try it if you get prescribed 200 narcotic painkillers in one month. You don't stop needing it until you lose everything you have. Our jails are full of people who cannot stop taking legal drugs. Man! They should start locking up the doctors. Who the hell needs over 200 pain killers in one month?
Regardless, I feel so sad for the younger than forty crowd. I mean, we grew up with rock and roll, and drive in movies back in the sixties. By contrast, the younger crowd has grown up thinking about how messed up the over forty crowd trashed their planet, and what year it will all end.
I saw a report on television about a country who needed assistance with food, but refused the food from the U.S. Something about the U.S. using genetic engineering to make the food that they eat. Is this why my nine year old niece got her period last month? Could it be why society is breaking down? Are we being drugged in our food?
Another thing, why it is that nobody saw the house market bubble waaaaaaaay before it burst? I don't have a fancy title, but I knew two years before it happened. I told all my friends to keep their money in a safe place.
Talk more later.

The Health Care Debate

Being newly unemployed, I also have the option of choosing between keeping my current health insurance at the full rate, going to Cobra insurance for half of my monthly unemployment income, or going with the state plan with a deductible that would take up to six months of unemployment to pay. However, there are wackos who show up at these town hall meetings crying about the government taking over health care. Are you kidding me?!
Last night I actually watched as a woman complaining about government taking over health care, made this statement while sobbing, " I want my America back." Really? Go tell that to the American Indians!
This begs the question, who is paying these people to say these things? They certainly are not representative of the majority of Americans who know that we can no longer afford to do nothing. The greatness of a people is measured by the way they treat the less fortunate. Are we not a great country?!
Try buying health insurance with a pre-existing condition. You are denied, or priced out of the system. Need a transplant? Sorry, not covered.
If government run health insurance works for so many other countries, why do they assume that it will not work here?
What are they talking about when they say that we will have to wait to see a doctor? Have you ever had to wait to be referred to a specialist by your HMO or PPO carrier?
And all this talk about killing grandmas is ludicrous. End of life counseling is practiced at every hospital in this country. It is called a living will, or a directive. Any time I have been admitted to a hospital I have been asked if I have a current living will. Should we shut down the hospitals?
The people who have the most to lose from health care reform are the insurance companies. Health insurance is big business in this country.
Any time I have received a detailed copy of a bill that the insurance company has paid, I see that they have been able to negotiate the amounts that they pay. Try doing that on your own when you get a hospital bill. No such luck!
In my humble opinion, the government couldn't possibly screw us any worse than the insurance companies. Stop hating!
And, as for all the health care insurance companies, don't worry, they will make up the lost revenue by raising our car, life, and homeowner policies. They won't go broke.
For all you politicians who bend at the slightest push back, we will remember you at the polls if we don't get a health care bill passed. Don't kid yourselves, there are more of us than the drama queens you are seeing at your town hall meetings. We want comprehensive health coverage. We represent the masses, and we are watching you!

Health Care News

It is a little after four in the afternoon, and I am sitting at home on my computer. This Rocks! Why can't I do this for a living? Will someone please pay me to sit here and blog. LOL.
Seriously, I have got to do something around the house. I have not turned on the TV all day. I wonder what's on CNN? Actually the health care debates, oh, town forums, have become highly entertaining. What is wrong with people? We need health care reform. The insurance companies have been getting away with too much for too long. Pre-existing condition? Sorry, we can't insure you? Need a transplant? Sorry, not covered.
People in this country need to look around and see that there are many people in need whose needs are not being served. The mentality that says I will worry about me, my four, and no more is barbaric.
End of life counseling? Bring it on. This is in many existing policies by the way. It is called end of life directives, or living wills. Stop hating.
I suggest that we all take a deep breath, and maybe a yoga class for relaxation before deciding to attend a town forum that will be viewed by millions of people courtesy of live feeds, and make you look like the ignorant fool that everyone who knows you knows that you are. This is shameful on a whole different level.
Look at the health care model of other countries, and realize that for an advanced society we are still in the dark ages when it comes to taking care of our sick. Honestly, I don't think that the government can screw it up any worse than the private insurance industry has for years.

Attitude Is Everything

Today, on the third day of my new job search, I had an encounter with a woman over the phone. First of all, human resource managers can be intimidating. Let's face it, they have the power to hire you, or not. And, in this job market they wield more power than ever.
That being said, I can also say that a little niceness can go a long way. I understand that with much power comes much responsibility, and that it is not easy to be responsible for hiring someone you don't know will be a good fit for your company.
This woman, whom we will call Ms. X, not only questioned my motives for wanting the position, she also went on to tell me that I would have to dress professionally, be well groomed, work very hard, and be accountable for my performance. Now, I have been out of the loop on the hiring process for a while, but I would think that those are all things that a prospective job candidate would do regardless. I can't imagine anyone showing up for an interview in casual attire, unkempt, be a slacker, and not care about how they perform. That is just common sense. I suppose the problem with common sense is that it is not very common.
Well, I had my own questions, and explained to her that in order not to waste her time or mine, I would like to ask her about the position, and compensation before she set the interview.
It seemed obvious that she had not encountered a job applicant in the past who would inquire such things of her prior to the hiring process. Honestly, is there anything wrong with not wanting to waste someone's time? Why would I go on an interview if I knew that it was not going to be mutually beneficial?
By the way, I did secure the appointment for an interview. I know what the position entails, and what the minimum compensation package will be if I am chosen for the position.
I believe that we have to be more assertive in our efforts to gain employment. Being unemployeed does not mean that you are unemployeable. Everyone has something to bring to the table.
Once you spend as much time as I have in the sales field, you gain the confidence that comes with experience. While an employer can hire a non-experienced, perky, young thing, I could probably sell circles around her. I have the training, and the experience. Of course that doesn't mean that I am not willing to learn new ways of doing things, or that I would not value constructive criticism, that would be arrogant.
If I had any advice to give to a younger person, I would tell them to take a sales position (at least for a few years). No business can stay in business without selling their product or service. Sales is a career that is always going to be in demand, and the compensation is limitless. It is truly one of the few jobs in which you control how much money you make.
Hell, in a good year I make more money than my doctor. That's not too shabby.