life goes on...

My sister-in-law passed away recently after a seven year battle with ovarian cancer.  With a family history of O cancer she had herself tested regularly   - it still snuck up on her.  But her strength, will and desire to live took her farther than her doctor thought was possible. She was able to see her third grandchild come into the world and have several years to build memories.  She visited her favorite place on earth, Yosemite many times- ( including just months before she passed).    She joked that she was finishing her "bucket list".

Is it better to "know" that your time is almost up?  Her passing was hard on everyone that loves her. But there was no shock or surprise. Most of her loved ones were with her up to the last moment. A car accident or some other unexpected event  rips people out of our lives. The grief is intensified by the suddenness. Still no matter how or when or why, we are all going to meet our Maker. Are you ready? What's unfinished in your life? Is there someone you haven't spoken to for too long? What about your own bucket list
- do you have one?

As I've gotten older it 's only natural that more funerals are in my future. 

I think about my place in the cosmos.

Am I doing what I was sent here to do?   My perspective has changed.

No matter what I may think or feel or believe - life goes on...

unemployable

Have you ever thought "I should write a book"?  I'm sure there has been a tickle in the back of your mind, but who knows what to write about or how to start? As a member of Toastmasters, I have attended several Leadership events ( known as TLI  or other names depending on the District).  The workshops are always interesting and help us to run our clubs well. In January,  I could only come to the afternoon session and didn't take a good look at the the topics until I got there.       One stood out.  

 "How to write a book in 30 days"

The Guy that was presenting had been a roadie among other things for many hard Rock bands. Through a series of events he ended up writing about his experiences ( and had lots of material to choose from).  Never seeing himself as an author he realized he could share what he learned to help others with their "Unexplored Abilities" Most of the workshops were in class rooms but his took up the entire dining hall- and it was full up! ( I had no idea there were so many unrealized writers out there!) He took the mystery out of it. Broke it down into small steps, with a simple outline to follow. He made it seem easy...  I got excited.

The next morning I was up at 3am. I have always been a dreamer; I am very visual and when I don't let my head get clogged with junk,  see ideas and concepts almost like a movie in my mind. My recent experiences being unemployed and how I was handling it, seeing it as an opportunity, sparked something in me. I wrote in my journal ( I had just started the previous summer)   " I want... from the beginning of my sabbatical,  I have had three goals. To rest and recuperate; to clear my mind of negativity by examining my life choices and their consequences and to determine and act on my definite main purpose in life leading to a path to follow... "  the Title, ten chapter headings with 3 or 4 sub chapters came out in a flurry. I had the foundation of a personal story that I felt others could learn from. I went on to write the first chapter in under a month.

It's called "Unemployable" and it has a double meaning.

1) Being over 50, no college degree and over six months out of work, my resume is routinely kicked out of the pile of online applications.  No one wants me or the many others like me. 

2) After 35 years in two careers and 2 companies, I've had 6 jobs in five years        ( including being unemployed for 18 months).  I got the message -                             I am an Entrepreneur and will not fight it any more.

When I started Chapter two I had a set back. I was looking at some of my less than Stirling life choices, and was feeling the emotions, sense of loss and self loathing that comes from letting yourself and your loved ones down.  I'm good at ignoring things and putting them out of my mind. It's a good devise temporarily - but held me back too.  But I am stronger now.

I go to a writers club started by a wonderful young woman. She calls herself a social butterfly. She is an angel, helping so many people with her wisdom and the support group she shepherds. It has helped me alot. The feedback I've gotten has helped the quality of my writing, while the content has been well received and lets me know I'm on the right track.

So... with so many good things going on in my life, I'm ready to get back to it.            I need to adjust some of the chapters...

my story is going to places I never imagined.

we want romney

Normally, I wouldn't post anything here particularly political, but just like my last post on "Son of Prop 13", sometimes action is required.

The pervading wisdom is that Mitt Romney, while a solid candidate, has trouble connecting with people ( I don't know that it's true- but that is the perception). I sent an email to the Romney campaign telling them  I have an idea for a theme song. In the 1950's Eisenhower's campaign was energized by the  slogan              "I like Ike".

Many say it won Eisenhower the election.

 This can do the same for Romney.

         WE WANT ROMNEY

    In a 3/4 beat similar to

         THE TUNE  OF " I WANT CANDY"

       Music & Lyrics by Lawrence M.Ruotolo © copyright2012

   WE KNOW A GUY WHO'S TOUGH BUT SWEET

    HE'S SO GOOD -  HE CAN'T BE BEAT

    HE'S GOT SKILLS THE U.S. DESIRES

       SET TO RE-START THE COUNTRIES  FIRE!

                     WE WANT ROMNEY         CROWD

                  ( I  LIKE ROMNEY )           individual

WE WANT ROMNEY

      ( I LIKE ROMNEY )         

                            

    NEED HIM NOW CUZ THE COUNTIES DOWN

  NO BETTER GUY AROUND

   HE'S THE MAN - WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

     TO CURE - OUR OBAMA DISORDER 

WE NEED ROMNEY

    I LIKE ROMNEY          

WE NEED ROMNEY

    I LIKE ROMNEY          

    ROMNEY ON THE JOB, THERE'S NOTHING BETTER

   TO PUT OUR COUNTRY BACK TOGETHER

        COMING SOON - IT'S VOTING TIME

    & WITH ROMNEY & RYAN - WE'LL ALL BE FINE!

  

 WE WANT ROMNEY !!

REPEAT ENDLESSLY

 Contact me.

Son of Prop 13: update

Since I first posted this, I've come across articles that are finally asking serious questions about  the current usefulness and benefit of Prop 13. 

In a Sacramento Bee article by Dowell Myers , a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.,  he asks if "Today's emerging story undercuts every premise of the old beliefs." His essay is drawn from "California Futures: New Narratives for a Changing Society," which appears in the Summer 2012 issue of Boom – A Journal of California. 

One of the 358 comments on his article was from Parcelquest with this link:
 http://parcelquest.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/the-other-prop-8/
- adding more fuel to the mix.

As I hoped, the grassroots discussion has begun.
 

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/15/4630198/california-needs-to-examine-proposition.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/15/4630198/california-needs-to-examine-proposition.html#storylink=cpy

If you don't live in California, and even if you do, you may not be familiar with Proposition 13. It passed in 1979 and was championed by Howard Jarvis, a retired businessmen and tax crusader.
The late 70's saw the first surge in Real Estate prices. Since property taxes where assessed every year rates jumped as much as tenfold.  One of the consequence's was senior citizen homeowners losing their homes.

So there was a need to do something.

There is again - now.    Ask Christopher Thornberg  here.

On the 4th of July I gave this speech at T. Willard Hunter Speakers Corner,
a Claremont tradition.

Son of Prop 13

Question:

What if we reduced the property tax rate to ½ %

Based on CURRENT property values?

WELL FIRST…

It would stimulate the housing market, making it easier for New homeowners to afford to purchase a home. Avg monthly savings (based on $400K home) would be $200 per month.     A difference maker.

New homes and current stock sales will increase: creating jobs in real estate, escrow, mortgage, more. and NEW construction.      Real jobs we need now.

It would also return fairness & balance to the tax laws. Now, neighbors with the same house in the same complex pay vastly different amounts.

An example: In my PUD there are 4 different models, 75 homes : 25% pay aprox $ 2000 per year, 40 % pay aprox $ 3000 p/y,  15 % pay aprox $4000 p/y and 20 % pay almost $5000 per year. Even w/ falling values

Prop 13 was needed to protect Senior homeowners from being taxed out of their homes by the first wave of raising property values in the 70’s.

 homes went from an Avg value of $ 4-10k in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s to $100k and beyond by the 80’s

So prop 13 was needed to solve a real problem. 

PROTECT SENIOR HOMEOWNERS from EVICTION.

But as often happens with good ideas, the lawyers and lobbyists got their hands on it and found a loophole…. 

A Huge one,  Commercial property owners found ways to transfer title of properties

Without having new current values used to create a new property tax rate! This means that 1,000’s of commercial buildings in every major city in California

skyscrapers, commercial complexes, farms large and small are still

PAYING  ON  20, 30, even 40 YEAR OLD VALUES. THEY ARE NOT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE TO THE STATE, counties, cities and schools.

They are not paying the True cost of Operating state and local Governments for infrastructure that they use every day.           How can they when they avoid paying the current rate at the time of sale?

When Sacramento saw the diminishing revenue that would be coming because of this loophole, they changed the Law so that the got ALL the prop tax $‘s,  money that used to go directly to counties, cities and schools had to go through them first.

This is why our local Governments are broke. They only get the crumbs from Sacramento!  

And now we are starting to see cities go bankrupt!

Now I know Sacramento spends like a drunken sailor on shore leave, but there is a real problem.

The dot com bubble in the 90’s gave an infusion of capitol gains that covered up the real problem. What did Sacramento do ?                 Spend more…..

Then the R E boom in the 1^st half of  2000’s saved them  again.  Did they learn their lesson? NO!

But now its reality time:  Sacramento Stop spending and get us out of this hole YOU put us in. but HOW?

Son of Prop 13 will do what the original intended:

PROTECT SENIORS FROM RISING PROP VALUES

An example: 65 and above who lived in same home more than 10 years grandfathered at their current levels. 

No changes. more recent owners will save!

So with a ½ % property tax: what will happen?

Since more than half of properties pay less now  @ 1%  then they will at ½ %

There will be an infusion of funds into the state treasury. Tens and hundreds of billions of dollars.

In order for this to work,  IT MUST BE TIED INTO THE LAW THAT THIS NEW REVENUE  WILL ONLY GO TO PAY DOWN THE DEBT.    PERIOD,

How:   

NO NEW Appropriations’ for Three years -

          NO new programs,   No new NOTHING.

This will be OUR only leverage to stop Sacramento from spending.           

Why would they Otherwise ???

  We must pay down this ruinous debt.

The interest alone will soon destroy our ability to provide even the most basic of services.

We MUST pay it down for our children’s future!

Then we build a REAL Reserve Fund equal to 75% of the previous  3 years budgets.  

It will protect us from Economic swings to come.

Jarvis’s original intent was to protect the senior homeowner - who worked their entire life to have economic security in their own home.

Son of Prop 13 does this.

Commercial property owners have gotten away with this for too long. They know that since some

homeowners will pay more too,  they can scare us into letting them continue this unethical practices.

We’ve been bribed by our own self interest!  Even though we know neighbors, friends and even family who pay Way More than we do for comparable properties, We take pride in it, as if we did something smart, in paying less Then Our Fair Share TOO!

Some will get real relief from excessively high prop taxes.  Those who purchase in the last 10 or so years. 

For the majority of prop owners they will see an increase.   

To ease us into the new rates:

I propose a gradual over 5 years adjustment.

For residential the first year pay 60% of the new rate, then 70%, 80%, 90% then the full new rate.

For Commercial gradual over the next 3 years:

First year pay  65%, then to 80% , then the new rate.

This is fair because Commercial has benefited the most from this unfair system.

That’s right, We’ve been under an unbalanced system for the last 40 years- 

its time to fix it and the problems it has created.

 Join me in a grassroots discussion 

of a common sense idea :

WE ALL PAY THE SAME RATE 

ON THE SAME CURRENT PROPERTY VALUES.

Protect Seniors, 

not everyone else.

Thank you

the power of choice

How many times have you heard someone say " I had no choice"? Sadly, too often. One of the most important freedoms we enjoy is the freedom to "choose" for ourselves. Yet sometimes we are put in situations that seem to have limited options. In the movie "Sophie's choice" Meryl Streap's character was given the horrible choice of which child to keep with her ( and therefore save) and which child to let go. Fortunately most of us are never put in that position. In our modern world, there are so many new options- from supermarkets, movies. restaurants, books, online -the list is endless - that we are often overwhelmed into not making a decision. With so many good products and services available today, the fear now is in making the "wrong" vs "right" or "best" choice. This leads to indecision, doubt and procrastination. And the advertiser take advantage of this by creating artificial differences between themselves and their competitors. Is their really that big of a difference between Pepsi and Coke?  Of course not, they both are just carbonated water with sugar and syrup,

So ironically sometimes too many choices IS no choice.

Except - we are capable and responsible individuals. How we see the world and filter through the blitz of media and social pressures is dependent on the amount of thought and care we take in our daily lives. Our capitalistic system ( which has been a blessing in so many ways- creating a higher standard of living for more people than at any other time in history) demands competition from those who wish to be in the marketplace. In the past most captains of industry had a sense of responsibility for the greater good of their communities. But as corporations have grown bigger and multinational, that sense of responsibility to the common man has dwindled.

So OUR responsibility has grown.
It is up to each of us to hold them accountable with OUR CHOICES. 
The new global economy has created so many options for us.

Choose wisely.

clogged

With my house came a good sized concrete lined pond and 10 beautiful fish. One of the things I love about it is the waterfall. Over the years I've worked to keep it running fast and strong. I love sitting by the pond listening to the sound of the falling water. It helps me center myself. Periodically I need to clean it to keep it that way. Recently the flow had gone down to a pitiful trickle that slowly got worse.  Even after I cleaned it, the flow was still bad.  I started to check the line, running a high power hose through it, trying to flush it out but still, no improvement. I wasn't happy about it but didn't know what to do. I thought the pump was failing and I would  have the expense of replacing it, so I just lived with it for awhile. But every time I looked at that little trickle of a waterfall, it bothered me. Finally I decided to be systematic about it. I took apart the different sections of the hose, removing the last section that goes into the filter. As I was running water into it, I noticed very little was coming out the other end.     I had pinpointed the clog! 
Frustrated...  I tried banging it against a pole...
SPAT!... a huge glob of gunk came shooting out of it!

It got me to thinking... about the times we feel stuck... and unable to figure out why.  We are all  beautiful waterfalls flowing into the world. There are many reasons why our flow may slow. A drought in our lives that drys up our spirit. "Beavers" building dams that inadvertently block our dreams. Whatever the reasons, we owe it to ourselves and the world to keep our waters of greatness flowing . What seems to work best is action. Doing something, even if we don't feel like it at first, moves us in the right direction.  When you sense your waterfall is down to a trickle, don't give up. Try everything you can. Read positive books, watch motivational videos, listen to music, meditate, talk to friends, get involved, anything (even up to banging your head a few times!) to open your flow.

Be open and let your personal greatness flow.

It's a blessing you owe to others and yourself.

what is MRO?

It hasn't been a year since I started this blog, yet I feel it's time to talk again about why I felt compelled to put it out there.


Market Research & Optimization 
Kind of a stiff name, doesn't roll of the tongue.
 Says a lot though.  Let's break it down:

Market is roughly defined as groups or individuals that buy and/or sell, products and/or services; made up of those who engage in transactional relationships.

Research can be defined as the search for knowledge and information, or as any systematic investigation, with an open mind, to establish facts, solve new or existing problems, improve existing ideas, or develop new theories.

Optimization can be defined as the act of striving to make something as perfect and functional as it can be.
But if Perfection is unattainable, why strive for it?
Aren't you just setting yourself up for disappointment?  No.
Improvement is only achieved when we are in the act of striving for something. That is why I chose the word optimization. If we fear attempting to be our best, how can we hope to improve.

 As Legendary Coach John Wooden says in his Pyramid of Success:

" Perform at your best when your best is required-
                          Your Best is Required Everyday."

MRO has evolved from a place for ideas to be shared into a place where
People and Ideas can come together to creatively form Win - Win scenarios.
Nepolean Hill postulated that forming Master Mind groups of like minded people focusing on a single end is so powerful as to make anything possible.

That's why you will find links to specific sites that I believe have value:
to optimize yourself or to help you optimize your business prospects.      
Check them out.
Let me know if you have any you would like to share.

There are no limits to what we can accomplish together.

living the dream

Recently, events have come together in my life in ways that can only be attributed to being an exponent of the Perennial Philosophy. We have been conditioned to believe that we are on a quest for that which will make us happy and fulfilled. That it is "out there" somewhere, and usually means attaining tangible goals such as "financial freedom" or career fulfillment. And when we get there, then we will be "living the Dream."

We are Spirit.     And while we are united within our temples of flesh and blood, we have an opportunity to do something that only we can do. If we fight it, or worse are blind to it, our lives will be filled with pain and drama. But, if we are open to the learn the lessons that life is trying to teach us, we just may discover- ourselves.

When you do, then every day you will be living the dream. Having autonomy and doing not only what you want to do, but what your are meant to do. Being true to your purpose is what Charles Wagner meant  when he wrote:

“We must again become men who have only one principle, one word, one work, one love; in a word, men with a sense of duty. This is the source of power. And without this there is only the phantom of a man, the unstable sand, and hollow reed which bends beneath every breath. Be faithful; this is the changeless northern star which will guide you through the vicissitudes of life, through doubts and discouragements, and even mistakes.”

From Courage, 1894
By Charles Wagner


Learn who you are;  why you are here;  your purpose-
that is the rock you build your life upon.
That is what you are faithful to.         Thou art That.

Wanted: need filler

Are you a need filler? Someone who takes the time to ask good questions, listen to the answers, then clarify how you can be of benefit to them? In sales, the emphasis is always on  "find the pain", and that can be a legitimate way of helping a potential client or customer, and lead to getting their business. However, truly filling their needs is a bit more involved. You see, sometimes people ( or companies) don't even realize they have an issue because the pain hasn't hit yet. That's where you can be of real value to them. You are giving them a fresh set of eyes to see their situation. It's possible that as you go through this process, they will say " we've already got all this covered" in which case you will have helped them by verifying  their conclusions. More likely you will have touched on an area that may not be on their radar yet.

So feel good about going out into the world and engaging with people and businesses. They're looking for what you have to offer... if you are a Need Filler.

Happiness

I recently came across a TV program where the guest was speaking about his new book on " happiness." Now He wasn't an expert on the subject, rather he was part of a study that took place all over the world and interviewed thousands of people from many different counties and economic strata.  Based on this they were able to say which nation was the happiest ( it was some Scandinavian county). More importantly, since happiness is hard to gauge ( ask someone on a scale of 1 to 10, they'll probably say 10)  he gave the factors that led to it being the happiest country. They include: Trust, Tolerance and Socialization (community activities, actual face to face contact for up to six hours). Individual happiness would normally be thought to be driven by motivation or positivity. But just asking if someone is happy won't be an accurate gauge, because we can only remember 3 % of our past experiences ( usually extremes of good or bad).  Continued input on how they were experiencing their 24 hour day, day to day was used.  They determined the key factors that led to individual happiness are: Where you live and Getting enough sleep ( at least six hours).  Having enough money was also a factor, (forty to 75 thousand dollars a year being the magic number).  The obvious conclusion being that: money does buy a degree of happiness, get plenty of rest and if you aren't happy were you are now-  move.