Posted Note

A Return to Blogger...

2007-11-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

My host company doesn't appear to know how to do upgrades to a server without totally FUBARing everything... so I just republished blogger.

Now I have to figure out how to get my old posts back on blogger... at least until they fix my dang server.

So for now, enjoy Posted Note - the blogger version.

Happy Holidays!

I'm on WordPress Now

2007-03-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself on this blog then you need to click on http://www.postednote.com to get to my actual blog which is now on WordPress. I like WordPress, but what about TextPattern? Have you used it? What do you think? What are the benefits of switching to a more robust publishing platform? For me it means less spam and more control over archiving and tags, but are there other benefits out there that I don't know about?

Test Posted

2007-03-05T08:32:00.001-08:00

Where will this publish?

Because it's my duty to shake this booty... and to tell you about JK Harris

2007-03-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'd like to write something fun and uplifting for you, like I could tell you about that time when our horse that we thought was getting really fat and bloated was really pregnant and then it gave birth to a horse and we all felt really stupid. Yeah, that would be a great story to tell, but right now I need to be responsible to my audience and educate them once again on the dangers of shortcuts.

Back in 2001-2002 I had a contracting job that paid $35 an hour. I was excited about my seemingly immense wages and when you considered that sometimes I worked 70 hours a week then yes, I was making serious TAX FREE bank. The problem was that it wasn't tax free. Nope. Nothing is ever tax free and if you remember that at a young age then you will save yourself a lot of time, money, and heartache.

I didn't have a clue about contract jobs, 1099's, or paying taxes quarterly to the government so they wouldn't penalize you at the end of the year when you let them know you were self-employed. Apparently, there is this world of people that know all about this stuff, but they never share it. It's like the people that know these things assume that everyone else knows them as well, but hey, we don't and that is why blogging is good because it allows you to educate people about the unknown. Like one unknown is that I have a mole on my butt and so I always worry about people seeing it when I shower at the gym. I should be more concerned about people checking out my bum period, but nope, I'm vain and I worry about that mole. Other than that my bum is near perfection.

So back to my story...

So that year went by and I was making all this cash and not paying taxes and when tax time rolled around I owed 8 grand in back taxes. The next year I added another 4 grand to that and so I owed the IRS 12,000 dollars. This is the same price as a new Hyundai for my sixteen year old daughter. The interest rate with penalties from the IRS makes any credit card interest rate look like a blessing, a gift even. 21% interest rate plus a $140 yearly penalty, plus a monthly payment fee added up to me making payments that just barely covered the interest.

Two years of payments and no tax returns I saw an AD for J&K Harris and Associates saying that they could get your tax owed reduced by thousands! I was intrigued and then later I thought I would give it a try. I went and spoke with a counselor who was awesome and he sold me on this 1 year deal for 100 bucks a month and at the end of 12 months they wouldn't repair my taxes, but they would repair my credit. Huh? It was a bait and switch scenario that I totally fell for. The guy looked at my taxes, saw my payment plan and told me that they couldn't do anything better than what I was already doing, but..."Hey, we can repair your credit for 1,200".

So this was something else that needed fixing in my life and I wanted to get it fixed in a hurry and so I spent 700 dollars and 7 months trying to work with a counselor named Holly who never called me back and when she did she had made little-to-no progress on my account. Eventually I sent a letter in writing to take me out of the program. They did and I was out 700 dollars. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson and I spent another $300 when Texas Lending told me to use Preferred Credit Corporation to remove a few other negative items on my report.

So here it is 5 years later and now I have the IRS paid back and the items on my credit report paid off but I couldn't have done it without the help of my dad and mom. They loaned me the money to pay the bills and then I paid them back. It was a hard and long process and I still owe them for some, but I am almost completely out of bad debt from mistakes I made when I was in my early twenties. This was a hard lesson learned, but I finally learned it.

The reason I had to write this post is because I keep seeing commercials for J&K Harris or JK Harris and Associates and I want to warn people to STAY AWAY from them. Stay away from JK Harris and Texas Lending. If you are having credit problems or financial problems don't stay in the cycle by paying higher interest rates on home loans or credit cards, instead, be patient, pay bills off, and years down the road you will have saved thousands.

Updated: I just Googled JK Harris and found this:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/jk_harris.html

Wow, before I buy anything I am always going to Google for more information first. It seems that everyone who uses JK Harris has problems with them. It's too bad that people are getting suckered in by them every day.

Moving Posted Note

2007-02-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of changing the host for Posted Note. Yep. I'm trying something new - WORD PRESS. Can you believe it? I can't. I love blogger, but they've upgraded and maybe it's time I did to? I am going to see if I like it. If not, I am going to move back to blogger.

So if the site is down for a few days, or hours, you will know why. I don't seem to be getting many readers as of late anyway... I've got to spice up my blogs with some better posts and maybe a fresh new host will give me just what I need to do that.

Word.

Press.

Dancin Dan from Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket

2007-02-26T08:59:00.001-08:00

Well, many of my friends have been asking me about this performance and here it is. You don't really see me until the end, but I am the guy behind Rob and Dan pointing to Rob and saying he is indeed the number 1 ManiAAC.

Dan actually did okay, I mean he missed a few key things, but overall for his first performance he was pretty good.

This is why I'm Hot

2007-02-26T07:35:00.001-08:00

My bum is on Fire
With the mentholatum
Someone left it on the bench
And that is why I hate'em

I sat there in the nude
And got it on my ass
What is that burning?
Do I have a rash?

It started to feel cool
Then it started to sting
I started to feel the fire
Like a circus ring

What's that on my butt
What's that on my rear
When will it stop burning?
I'm tremblin' with fear.

So this is why I'm hot
This is why I'm hot
Mentholatum on my bum
Yep, that's what I got

This is why I'm hot
This is why I'm hot
Mentholatum on my bum
This is what I've got

So don't sit on the bench
While you at the club
Cause someone might have left
A mentholatum rub
Sittin on the bench,
Greasin up the chair
And it will soak right through
Your boxer under wear.

This is why I'm hot...

This is why I'm Hot

2007-02-26T07:35:00.000-08:00

My bum is on Fire
With the mentholatum
Someone left it on the bench
And that is why I hate'em

I sat there in the nude
And got it on my ass
What is that burning?
Do I have a rash?

It started to feel cool
Then it started to sting
I started to feel the fire
Like a circus ring

What's that on my butt
What's that on my rear
When will it stop burning?
I'm tremblin' with fear.

So this is why I'm hot
This is why I'm hot
Mentholatum on my bum
Yep, that's what I got

This is why I'm hot
This is why I'm hot
Mentholatum on my bum
This is what I've got

So don't sit on the bench
While you at the club
Cause someone might have left
A mentholatum run
Sittin on the bench,
Greasin up the chair
And it will soak right through
Your boxer under wear.

This is why I'm hot...

Appreciation

2007-02-23T08:52:00.001-08:00

I like to understand how things work. I like to know what goes on behind the scenes. It helps me to appreciate the end result when I know how much work went into making something. That is what gives life fullness and joy, appreciation, not only of other people, but of the work they do and their efforts in making your life more enjoyable. Once you grasp this concept, this realization that you have the ability to create your own joy by understanding others, then you can live contentedly with nothing.

Today I am appreciating:

http://www.albertocerriteno.com/index.html

http://cestudios.net/

http://www.alexdukal.com/portfolio/

2007-02-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

I like to understand how things work. I like to know what goes on behind the scenes. It helps me to appreciate the end result when I know how much work went into making something. That is what gives life fullness and joy, appreciation, not only of other people, but of the work they do and their efforts in making your life more enjoyable. Once you grasp this concept, this realization that you have the ability to create your own joy but understanding others, then you can live contentedly with nothing.

Today I am appreciating:

http://www.albertocerriteno.com/index.html

http://cestudios.net/

http://www.alexdukal.com/portfolio/

Changing of the Guard

2007-02-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me in an email and I thought it was cool and so I am posting it here. What I think is interesting is the height and waist size requirements. A 30" waist for a 6'2" man is very slim. Also, the fact that the person can't watch TV or speak for the first 6 months of the assignment is an interesting factoid. I respect the people that do this, I just don't always understand where they come up with the requirements. Whose idea was it to stay silent?

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns ------ All three missed it ---

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?

Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror. The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

Microsoft Office 2007

2007-02-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

If you don't work with computers and you aren't into technology and you don't watch the news and your house is under a rock, then you might not know that Microsoft released a new operatings system recently called Vista. It's pretty and it stole a lot of ideas from the Mac, but right now I don't think anyone really wants to use it. Like all Microsoft applications it has bugs and who wants to install an operating system that is filled with bugs that will have to be patched later?

If you work in Information Technology then you just sit by and wait for a service pack or a hot fix to come out to fix your latest cache of problems. For the most part Microsoft's apps work great, especially for the price*, but I think everyone that has used a PC knows that sometimes crap is going to happen and so you better back up your work.

All that being said I have to say that I am muy impressed with Microsoft's Office 2007. It is smart and has these big fisher price buttons that make everything easy to see and read. The calendar in Outlook has a cleaner layout and my favorite program, PowerPoint, is nothing short of amazing!

Now ~~some people~~ Biggy may make fun of me for doing most of my design in PowerPoint, but I'm just better with it than I am with Photoshop and I like it. It's much faster and more intuitive than Photoshop and now it allows even more control with extra built in features! I'm lovin' it! So since it would be easier to just show you some of the features I put a picture in here below. Now the colors on this were just thrown together, but you can see the cool things that it does and how if you are in need of a super sweet presentation the new PowerPoint will be able to wow your toughest critics and if you like to do web design where you need to create 3-D buttons and arrows, now you can do it with ease.

So my advice, don't run out and get Vista until next year. It's pretty, and it is probably going to be a great operating system but let them work out the bugs first. However, do go out and get Office 2007 immediately, it rocks! Click here to see all the cool buttons and the new layout for Office 2007.

Valentine's Day

2007-02-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

Two years ago in January Cody Miller's dad Steve passed away. He had a very short battle with cancer and the cancer won. It is ironic that so often someone has to die before you truly start to understand how great they were. Steve was one of those people that did so much behind the scenes that you never really knew just how much he did until he was no longer doing it. He worked hard for his family and for the community and he loved his family with every part of him. He was unselfish and he showed his love with his actions and his words. So what does this have to do with Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day came just a month after Steve's passing. It rudely reminded us all of the fact that Steve would not be sharing this special day with any of us and most of all with his beloved wife. What most people would do on a day like this is stay inside and wrap themselves in a dark cloak of depression and mourn what they have lost. Instead, the Miller's decided to celebrate Valentine's Day together and to be surrounded by love. I was privileged to be a part of this small gathering and we all enjoyed spending time together at Benihana surrounding ourselves with laughter and good memories of Steve.

Last year I was out of town on Valentine's Day, but this year we once again went to Benihana to celebrate Valentine's Day. Again I was honored to be with the Miller's. They always treat me like one of the family and when you are with them you can't help but feel extremely loved.

I know that one day I will be married and maybe then I will want to spend Valentine's Day with her alone, but really I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day. Take this one day and just stop and tell the people that you love how much you love them. Don't get caught up in the hype and spending money, instead, call your mom, call your dad, call your kids and tell them how much they mean to you, because one day you might wake up and they won't be there.

And Steve, I never told you what a great dad you were, but if I had to do it over again I would stop and tell you. You did a great job with your family and we still miss you very much.

You on a Diet

2007-02-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz wrote this book (interesting video on this link) that was recently featured on Oprah. It is one of the best written diet books that I have ever read. It's humorous and complete with illustrations and it is very technical/medical without being boring. My mom gave me the book after my sister Precious recommended it. Precious lost 21 pounds on this diet in 1 month, but she has a slight advantage because she had lap band surgery so that helps her to eat smaller portions.

So what is the big secret that this book has that other diet books don't have? Not much really. What it does explain though is that you should view food as a weapon against fat and not avoid it. Instead avoid the sugars and high carb foods. Eat more vegetables, more chicken and fish, it's the same old story with only a few slight variations. One of those variations is that your belly is the main area that you should focus on when you diet. It is a true picture of how healthy you are and it also points out that the larger your belly is the more stress you have. Belly fat is stress fat. Hmmm... I've got a belly and I've got a lot of stress, I wonder if I continue to de-stress my life if my belly will shrink as a result? Possibly.

So what about the actual diet in the book? I actually didn't like it. It had these ridiculously small portions like 1 piece of wheat toast for breakfast with some apple butter. Tuna and lettuce for lunch. Chicken breast for dinner. This is a slight exaggeration, but the point is, don't buy this book thinking that it will have some magical answers that will help you lose weight. It doesn't. It basically has these guidelines.

1. Cut out bad carbs -sugar, white bread, white rice, potatoes, corn, etc.
2. Watch out for trans fat and partially hydrogenated substances which are found in margarines and most items that are prepackaged in a bag like chips and crackers and cookies.
3. Eat more fruit and vegetables - especially the green ones. How long have we heard this and not listened to it?
4. Walk for 30 minutes a day no matter what. Lift weights for 30 minutes at least once a week.
5. Try to eat protein at every meal as it increases your metabolism by 14%.
6. Increasing your body temperature while working out does increase your metabolism. So get that fan off of you while you are on the treadmill. It won't hurt you to sweat.
7. Eat at least 17 grams of fiber a day.

So now after reading the South Beach Diet book, You on a Diet and Dr. Atkins diet book they all say virtually the same thing. EAT FEWER CARBS - EAT MORE VEGETABLES. Why is that so hard to do? I'm going to add this mantra to my Outlook calendar with a daily reminder because my mentor recently told me that if you have goals you should read over them every day. Olympic athletes apparently do this. Every morning they read over their goals and this makes them more successful at reaching them.

Eddo's Eleven

2007-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

If you've seen the movie Ocean's Eleven then you know that Danny Ocean wanted to rob a casino. In order to do that he needed to surround himself with 11 people that would help him get the job done. So I decided to list here my 11 people that if I needed to rob a Casino, which of my friends would I call and why.

1. Alan Meadows - a.k.a The Brain - he not only looks as innocent as a freshly scrubbed choir boy, he is also about as brilliant as Albert Einsten. Oh, and did I mention he can fly planes? This will be necessary when we need to get out of the country - fast.

2. David Cribbs - a.k.a RoboGeek -Teaching Physics by day you'd never suspect that he has a degree in Astro Physics. His class also has a robotics project and a robot could come in handy when it's time to detonate explosives.

3. Jimmy McWhinney - a.ka. Sidewinder - he is a missionary in Shang Hai, but when he isn't converting the Chinese he is usually doing something on his computer. He won't admit to it, but I'm sure he has hacked his way into the Pentagon's computer on more than one occasion.

4. Joe Bruner - a.k.a MuscleNeck- I need someone to carry all the cash and Joe is great for heavy lifting and organization. A great leader and planner he would help me strategize how to get the money from the casino to Cuba.

5. Braun Smith - a.k.a ChaChing - He's worked for Nascar for years and with those kind of connections we would have no trouble getting some souped up get-away cars. Braun also used to work for a bank and so he could help us get accounts setup in foreign countries.

6. Jonathan Dumas - a.k.a Handsy -Dumas will be our "transporter" and the driver of the main car carrying the cash. In another lifetime I am sure he was a racecar driver.

7. Chris Wilson - a.ka. The Mouth - He's a smooth talker. If we need someone to let us have access to some area that were not supposed to have access to, Chris will get us in.

8. Jessica Ferris - a.ka. Distractica -The ultimate distraction. If we're not using pyrotechnics to distract people we know that Jessica will figure out a way. Her website alone is the reason that the US's GDP is on the constant decline.

9. Katie Smith a.k.a Pirranah- Beneath that sweet exterior lies a very diabolical mind. She will play devil's advocate and help us see through any holes in our plan. Katie is also very good at organizing with a firm hand - just ask the other office girls and kids at Kanakuk Kamp.

10. Cody Miller - a.k.a Big Red - Although it would be compromising to his job as a fireman, after taking his share of the money he would no longer need to be loyal to his job. We would definitely need someone with medical expertise in case someone gets hurt or shot while everything is going down. He could also assist with driving anything that requires a CDL license and when planning a large heist, you never know when you are going to need a CDL.

11. Scott Sargeant - a.k.a C4 - As a marine he will be our demolitions expert as well as our hand-to-hand combat expert.

Also, if you are an FBI agent or member of the government please note that this isn't a real list of people who are planning a casion heist. It is all hypothetical. I repeat, hypothetical.

I had a serious case of the cramps

2007-02-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I got up and went to Denton to play Ultimate Frisbee. No big deal, I play every Saturday. However, I normally am so tired after a game of Frisbee that it takes me all day to recoop. I mean my legs are normally so sore that I can barely walk after sitting for a while and I have to just take it easy and drink lots of water in order to rehydrate myself. Last Saturday instead of taking it easy I went to Cribby's and ate 2 Bratwurst and drank 8 bottles of diet Green Tea.

Joe and Amber were in town and we sat around and talked for a little bit and then Cribby, Joe and I loaded up the bikes and headed to Grapevine for a 12 mile mountain bike ride. To say it was windy would be like saying Jesus was just a great man or a great prophet, no, it was so windy that if it weren't for the fact that I weigh 345 pounds I probably would have been hurled into Grapevine lake which was right next to the trails where we were riding.

So we are riding along and about 6 miles into the ride Cribby has a blowout. The blowout was annoying, but it sure was fun to watch Cribby fall over and over again. The guy is fearless when it comes to technical trail riding but where do you drawn the line between ballsy and stupid? Cribby was dancing on that line all day. Thankfully he did not get hurt and actually seemed to enjoy lying on his back on the rather rocky trails.

Cribby's flat made for a good time to turn around. We had packed a tube but no pump, but no matter, some nice kids stopped with a pump and loaned us theirs. Aired up and ready to go we started to head back. About 3 miles into I started cramping. The front of my quads near my knees started to tighten up. I knew I needed to stop and rest but I how was I going to get back to the car? We still had 3 more miles to go. I kept pushing it until finally I had charlie horse legs and I just buckled and crumpled and fell off the bike. I've never given birth, but I know the pain in my legs had to feel something close to birth pains. My legs were indeed tight, but once I stopped using them they felt better immediately. I sat there and then proceded to drink all of Cribby's gatorade and Joe's water. After I was hydrated to some degree I walked my bike down the trails with Cribby. Joe went ahead and rode back to the car and left for some gatorade. I tried to ride my bike again, but that only lasted for a little while. I have to say I was a little scared. This was a first for me. I've never cramped up so bad that I couldn't barely walk. What would I do if I had to be carried out of here?

I somehow made it back to the car and Joe had lots of Gatorade waiting for me. Even better this stranger gave me some electrolyte stamina pills and soon my legs were feeling almost as good as new. (Thanks Kelly for the pills)

So the moral of the story is not to go bike riding after playing ultimate frisbee without hydrating along the way.

10 Chicken Breasts: $17.01 Pound of Turkey: $8.49 Ego Boost: Priceless

2007-02-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the gym and did an outrageous upper-body workout. Then I realized I needed some immediate protein and so I went to Tom Thumb and bought a lot of turkey and chicken. When I got to the register the kid that was ringing me up said, "Do you do those Strong Man competitions?"

I normally get asked about playing football, but this was a first and I was freakin' delighted. De-Freakin-lighted I tell ya.

Lured into a false sense of security by Texas Lending

2007-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

This post is a MUST READ post for all people who have ever had credit problems. I had them a long time ago and then when I wanted to buy a house a year ago they said, "Your credit report needs to be cleaned up." This was TexasLending.com telling me this and they said we will send you to Preferred Credit Corporation and you can pay them 300 dollars instead of the usual 800 and they will guarantee that your credit score will be high enough to get you into a house in 6 months. Impressed, amazed, AND FOOLISH, I plopped down the $300 duckets and then added another 100 to that for the home loan application fee. My loan officer promised to have me in a place in no time, we just needed to get some things corrected. A few months went by and my credit score seemed to be improving, but not by much. I had to keep sending in credit reports to this agency about every 60 days. Finally they told me I was all set, but then TexasLending.com called and said, "Okay, we'll get back to you on that house..." and then they never did. A couple months later I got my credit score from equifax.com and it said my score was 700. Sweet. I knew this was much better than it had been and so I started shopping around for loans with good interest rates. Every loan officer I called was hesitant. I got pre-approved but my rates were much higher than I should have been getting if my credit score was indeed 700. I pulled a copy of my report from Experian and saw that there were just 3 erroneous things on the report and they were old and so I thought no worries there. I finally called another loan officer about a home loan because my lease is up soon and he said that I had a bunch of problems on my report and he would send it to me. His report was a full 3-in-1 report. My actual credit score was only 600 and there were things on there multiple times from the same company. Some items were for as little as $32 and $101. The new loan officer said that I should have used my money to just pay off these little small items because they were really hurting me bad. There were at least 6 items that were less than 800 dollars that I could have paid back years ago if only I had known that all I had to do was call the company and tell them I had the money to pay it. In some cases you can even settle just by calling them and saying "I only have 300 dollars and if you take that now instead of the thousand that I owe... etc." sometimes they will take it and then it will be updated on your report - "Paid in Full". The item will still show on your report, but then they can no longer report any late payments. It will improve your score drastically.

So why didn't I just pay them before? Because the dude at Texas Lending said paying them would only hurt me more and I didn't realize that there were so many tiny little things to remove. Ugh. If Texas Lending had truly wanted to help me then they could have just given me a copy of the report that they received and then I could have taken my $300 and paid it to someone that I owed it to instead of paying to someone that was just going to dispute my negative credit items and hope that they fall off.

Over and over I have heard that you can just take care of these items yourself and so I was just going to do it myself a year ago, but once again, Texas Lending said that was foolish and that the Preferred Credit people had the experience and the know-how to get my report cleared up. This was a lie.

Moral of the story...

If you have credit problems, or even if you don't, order a 3-in-1 credit report from someplace like Experian.com and then pay back the old items if you can, and if you can't, call them and see what they will settle for, but have an amount in mind that you can pay. Sometimes you can settle for a 3rd of the cost and later on down the road it will save you thousands.

"You knew that man wasn't creative when you married him..."

2007-02-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

I was listening to the radio yesterday and a DJ was talking about how women are always saying, "Just be creative, just be creative you don't have spend a lot of money." He then went on to say, "Some men can write poems, some men can do creative things, but some guys just aren't wired that way. They may be a great loving man that takes care of business, but he just isn't creative. You knew he wasn't creative when you married him, why do you expect him to be on Valentine's Day?"

This is a really good point. In relationships, even though we are told over and over that it won't happen, we still think we can change our mate. We will go into relationships thinking "Well, I like a,b,c, and d, about this person, but I could sure do without e, f, and g." the problem is that people are a package deal, you can't pick and choose what you want, you have to take the whole thing and learn to love them inspite of their imperfections.

So don't go into a relationship if you know from the beginning there are a few things about a person that are definite deal breakers. Big lists of deal breakers are weird and unnecessary, but for me a deal breaker would be dating a girl who is a Satanist. I mean, we just wouldn't connect. She could be a great girl with loads of personality, but Satanism is a deal breaker for me and I wouldn't expect her to change.

So this Valentine's Day, just love the one your with without expectations.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm not ready to make nice either...

2007-02-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

I watched the Dixie Chicks win 5 awards at the Grammy's. Talented, beautiful, women that have stood up for their right to freedom of speech, but were they right? Is it right to call the President of the United States names? Is it right to be disrespectful?

Here are some words from one of their songs that is pretty much saying, "I'm not sorry..."

I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better
shut up and sing Or my life will be over

So Natalie says something that infuriates a lot of people and then she gets upset when people send her hateful letters. It seems to me she can dish it out, but she can't take it. If people have freedom of speech and she can call the George W. a "Fu--er" then why does she get upset when people say mean things to her? (I only heard that in the new film Shut up and Sing that Natalie refers to President George W. as an "Effer" this may not be true. )

She should be ready to make nice because that is what mature individuals do. You stand up for what you believe in and if you don't believe in something, you go about eradicating it the correct way, not with hateful comments or emotional outbursts.

America has rallied around the Dixie Chicks because they stood up for something and then they didn't back down despite all the opposition. In our culture, this makes you a hero, but it does not mean that you are a good person. And I am not saying that the Dixie Chicks aren't good people, it is just that I think they've used their platform to say things in a way that shouldn't have been said and then they got all up in arms when people were upset about it, as if people should have just sat back and applauded them for speaking their mind. Speaking your mind isn't always a good thing, on the contrary, most of the time it is better just to keep your mouth shut.

And while looking for some more information on this topic, I found this great comment from bloglubbock:

Okay let�s debunk this thing once and for all. Natalie Maines did not say, �We�re are ashamed the President took us to war.� That would have been a political statement. Instead, she said, �Just so you know, we�re ashamed that the President is from Texas.�

Compare these two statements and see if you can tell the difference. 1) �Natalie, you�re wrong. You shouldn�t have personally insulted the President as some kind of anti war statement.� Or 2) �Natalie, you stupid bitch.�

There is a tremendous difference between those statements. One is appropriate for public discourse. The other is not. Natalie Maines chose a personal insult rather than a true anti war protest. Her defenders have never understood that. �And they never will.

So yeah, I'm not ready to make nice either. I'm not ready to back down. I won't stand up and applaud the Dixie Chicks because I don't believe they were right. Can I respect them for making great music? Yes. I also respect Michael Jackson and his creative work, but I don't respect the choices he makes either.

Josh Howard will be an All-Star afterall

2007-02-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

As one of my ManiAAC brothers said, "There is a God!" I already knew that, but we were wondering why in Heaven Josh Howard was not an NBA Allstar this year even though we all knew he should be. If you are into basketball at all then you know that the Mavericks have been tearing it up all season and have only been bested by the Suns as far as overall wins for the Season and that has been a back and forth race only recently.

To read the entire article click the story below.

Howard, Anthony To Replace Yao, Boozer

Now, Discover Your Strengths: Marcus Bingham

2007-02-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

From the writer "First, Break All the Rules" comes this new book "Now, Discover Your Strengths." The book is not well written from a general writing standpoint. There is so much redundancy that you will think you have had de ja vu repeatedly in each chapter, but the lack of intelligent writing does not negate the value of the information contained in this book. Also, the reason it is probably not written like most books is because it is more of a research manual that breaks down human strengths and lays them out in 34 short paragraphs. What is more, is that each book comes with a code so you can long on to www.strengthsfinder.com and take an 80+ question test that will help you discover your strengths.

Why would you want to do this? Because for around $24 you can find out what your strengths are and start developing them. We all know what we like to do, but sometimes what we like to do is not what we are good at. I like to play the piano, but I suck at it. I like to dance and that is one of my strengths because I can consistently perform at an above average level with very little training. I'm not patting myself on the back here, it is just a fact. Dancing comes naturally to me the way guitar playing comes naturally to Slash. Sure you can practice and become good at something, but if it is not your strength you will never be as good at it as someone is who is naturally gifted in that department.

What does all this mean? It means that you need to stop focusing on your weaknesses and start developing your strengths. That is what this book emphasizes over and over. For instance, I am not good at dieting, but I am good at working out. Yes, I need to watch my diet, but if I focus more and more on my working out then my diet will be less of a problem. Okay... maybe not quite, but you get my point.

So do yourself a favor and go out and buy this book and take the test. The code is on the inside of the external cover and so you have to remove it and grab that code. And if you haven't bought The Screwtape Letters then go and buy it at the same time.

Here at Posted Note we try not only to entertain, but also to educate.

Affectionately and sometimes famously yours,

Eddo

Hey Look, An Abigail Mosaic! Isn't Uncle Eddo the coolest!

2007-02-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Uncle Eddo Why Don't You Post My Pics!!

2007-02-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

"My what big feet you have Abigail!"

"The better to school you at Basketball with, Uncle E! I got skillz that pay the billz!!!"

This is my neice Abigail, she's such a cutie, she takes after her Uncle Eddo. Her parents keep her inside, but as soon as it warms up she'll toast right up in the sun and look just like me.

So there you go Baby Abigail, I've posted some pics of you and I expect you to keep sending me more.

To view all of your pics online go here.

Lost Returns TONIGHT!

2007-02-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, you heard me right, LOST RETURNS TONIGHT!!! I have a Mavericks game to go to and I forgot to set my TIVO, but thankfully I can just download it and watch it from iTunes. I am just so happy that it is back. The balance has returned back to the force. Life is good again.