Friday, August 26, 2011

Isn't America the Best Place to Enter Illegally

What a great country we have, and I don't mean that facitiously.  I love my country.  Oh, I know we have a few oddballs, and some things are just not right at this time, but I thank God that he allowed me to be born here in the land of the free and home of the brave.  After all if you enter illegally, you can almost live here free, and you had to be brave to sneak into the mightiest nation on earth.  But you have more to gain than to lose if you are successful, so that is why people illegally enter our country.  Now I have an semi-adopted son who entered from Korea, legally.  Therefore, he can't hold a job as he's here on a student visa.  But that's not the case if you come in under the shadow of night.  So to prove my point, read the following email I got:

RE: 3 American Hikers Now In The NEWS
-------------------------------------------------------------------

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER 
ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.


IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER 
ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY. 


IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER 
ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT. 


IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER 
ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED. 


IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER 
ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. 


IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU 
WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.


IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY 
YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT. 


IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET !
A JOB,         A DRIVERS LICENSE, 
SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,    WELFARE, 



FOOD STAMPS,    CREDIT CARDS, 
SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,   



FREE EDUCATION, FREE HEALTH CARE, 
A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE 

THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU 
PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT 


AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE. 
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE "SITUATION"!

PLEASE KEEP THIS GOING......FORWARD TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY 

IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP AMERICA !

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Bert and Ernie are Friends.

I'm so glad that Sesame Street is not bending to online petitions and to being politically correct.  Our two and three year olds don't need to be influenced by such groups. 

In case you hadn't heard an online petition was presented to Sesame Street asking them to let Bert and Ernie get married.  Sesame's response is great:  They're puppets and puppets don't have sexuality.  They will remain friends. 

YAY!!!   It is about time someone said NO to the gay right activists who are imposing their sexual preference on us all the time.  Now will someone stand up and say it's okay for everyone in an English speaking country, enjoying its benefits, to learn its language.
And if they don't know how, my church, Paramount Baptist, gives free lessons on Wednesday mornings and evenings during the school year for FREE. 

And while we are being logical, it's ok to live within your means, to balance your budgets and to not spend money on foolish things. 

May Bert and Ernie remain friends forever!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Musings about the state of the world. STUPID PEOPLE

1.  The stock market crashes because the S&P downgrade the USA debt (which is treasuries); so people flee the stockmarket and run into "safety" - the treasuries.  This is idiotic.  The stock market is made up of companies that know how to work under a budget and make money.  Flee the stupid treasuries and invest in the the companies that know how to profit!!!   Investors are stupid!!

2.  Police in UK have a standoff with a armed man.  They shoot him.  Rumors fly that he had already put the gun down.  People mad, so what do they do?  Do they storm the police station and demand justice.  Do they go to the courthouse and demand a trial or at least an investigation?  No, they go down the strees of UK busting out windows and setting innocent businesses on fire.  UK rioters are Stupid!!

3.  A young man was a pizza delivery dude.  Bad guys put a collar bomb on his neck and make him rob a bank.  When he asks the police to help him, they think he was part of the robbers and things went bad so they watch him blow up.  Police were Stupid!!

4.  People in the pizza delivery boy's hometown let their kids trict or treat with collarbombs (fake ones) around their necks on Halloween the next year.  Parents are Stupid.

5.  The guy from Social Network stars in a new movie about to come out about a pizza delivery dude being made to wear a collar bomb around his neck and rob a bank.  IT'S A COMEDY.  How could that be funny?  Comedies are Stupid!!

6.  When the family of the pizza delivery dude that got blown up give their opinion that they cannot see how a comedy could be made out of their life, the writers say they kinda had heard of this event, but they changed the movie to make it funny, and the actors and makers of the movie said they never knew this event really happened.  Writers and makers of movies and actors are Stupid!!!

7.  When I likewise agree with this family on Huffington, a man writes me to tell me I'm stupid and should worry about something important, like the state of the world.  I respond that I do worry about that, about China coming in and taking over the USA as they hold all our debt.  He wrote back to tell me that couldn't happen as two nuclear powers would never dare do that.  In essence, he said Judy is Stupid!!!

8.  I didn't bother responding, as Dr. David Jeremiah set out in his series on the state of our economy sermons that all they have to do is come over and demand payment and if we can't pay, they can repossess everything that's owed them, which would be our government.  Maybe I'm not wording it properly, but I don't think I'm stupid, just not able to express the truth of the matter that our debt is owed to China and Russia, I think my responder is Stupid!!!

OK, as you can see I'm not in the best of moods today and am not overlooking the stupidity of this world.  I may be a big part of that, but I can see when red is red, and black is black.  I'll never confuse black with red.  Sound off finished.  Gonna go celebrate my middle child's graduation from college now and get happy.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Are you too Old for Long Hair?

I must admit I've often wondered if I was too old for my long hair.  All the men in my life have liked long hair except my dad, and since he made me keep it short when younger, as soon as I became of age, I've pretty much had long hair.  During the past 10 years, several times I've voiced the thought I might be too old for long hair and should cut it, and my son Derek always says, "Who says the length of your hair is based on your age.  Please don't get a 'helmet' cut."  An inlaw said once that she hated to see the back of a woman with really long hair just to have her turn around and have a wrinkled face.  Pathetic she thought, trying to hold on to her youth.  About 2 months ago, I cut mine above my shoulders, and immediately hated it, and have since let it get longer again. 

So while surfing the internet today, I saw an article that addressed this.  I copied it and will paste below.  And if you are wondering what that has to do with real estate, check back at the end.  Also it addresses color, which isn't much of a question for me.  I once accidentally turned my hair ORANGE, and that's the last time I gave that much thought, except for a wash-in/wash-out coloring of gray to dull the glare.   So read on....

Are You Too Old for Long Hair?

Our exclusive one-on-one talk with A Celebrity Hair Pro

August 2, 2011
Are you too old for long hair? Try Jennifer Aniston's long bobSource: Getty Images
The perfect fall cut: Jennifer Aniston's bob
There are certain guarantees in life: Death. Taxes. A 'Real Housewives' season premiere.
And there is a final guarantee, which is in the form of a question you will ask yourself at some point after you celebrate your 45th birthday.
Deep breath. Are you too old for long hair?
My Midlifer self was asking that exact question yesterday while my behind was parked in a great swivel-y chair at the swanky Aria Salon in Las Vegas. I was there to get a little color, but my questions were really about hair length.
Should I get my post shoulder length hair chopped? Should I let it grow longer? Can it grow longer? Should I even try? Should I pull a Jennifer Aniston and get that adorable bob?  Should I have a salad for lunch or a burger? Wait….. I digress.
Jeff Wescott, the man who saved my hair from the ravages of too many highlights (hello, straw hair in 2010), is the lead color director at the Aria. He's also one of the best hair advisors of celebs and non-celebs alike.
So I asked him: Am I too old for long hair?
Deep breath. Little prayer. Please say no. Please say no.
"This idea that as you get older that you should cut your hair is an old wives tale," Jeff insists.
Whew.
"I believe if you look good in short hair and feel pretty then get it chopped. If you look good in long hair at any age and feel pretty then do it.
"The very worst thing to do," he cautions, "is to believe that when you get older that you must have short hair or that you're required to even go a little shorter."
It's what this column likes to call Beauty BS.
HOW LONG IS TOO LONG?
Of course, we've all seen that woman whose hair goes way down her back like a river. Sometimes we see her at the discount mall. Sometimes we see her at the ballet. The hair has taken over her being. She's grown up Cousin It.
When she turns around, the face is post 50.
"I do believe that anything past your bra straps after 50 is excessive," Jeff advises. "But you can certainly explore anything below your collarbone.
"And please," he pleads. "Just because you're turning 50 or 60 does not mean – and I repeat – does not mean that you get your hair cut above your earrings – unless you love that sort of style, which incidentally only works on a few facial types."
"Be pretty. Feel pretty," he says.
"The saddest thing is when I get a client over 50 who just chopped off her hair and feels miserable about it. When we age, sometimes our hair doesn't grow as quickly. Now that woman has a long grow out ahead of her.
"Again, if you can carry off the long hair then do it or gradually cut to where you feel good. Don't do anything drastic," he says.
GOING GREY…NOW THAT IS THE QUESTION
Jeff does caution that women should think carefully about allowing their hair to go naturally gray. Of course, it looks stunning on certain ladies like Helen Mirren. I also have a friend whose natural gray looks like a bad wool skirt I had in the '80s.
"There are other women who go gray and tell me, 'I earned every one of those gray hairs,'" Jeff says. "I joke, 'Honey, no one wants to know that life has been that rough!"
"A little hair color can take a decade off your look. Sometimes gray can make someone who is 50 look 60. The choice is yours, but color is an instant way to erase years," he says.
He advises to stay away from constant highlights, which dry hair out and can even make it break off when you're a bit older.
"Color should be simple. Don't do 15 different streaks and colors. Choose one rich color. After 45, you don't need to do the base color and highlights every single time," Jeff says.
"That's so hard on your hair. Just do the base and then highlights a few times a year," he says.
BUT BACK TO LENGTH
My big Midlifer question is how often should I get my past my collarbone hair cut?
"You can do what I call a haircut without a haircut. You just nip the ends every eight to ten weeks. If you're getting it cut monthly it's too much. Your hair will never get a chance to grow longer because you're cutting all the growth," Jeff says.
"If you want your hair to grow, double up the time you're doing right now between cuts," he advises.
His favorite cut for fall? It's not long or short. In fact, it might be just right.
"I love Jennifer Aniston's new bob," Jeff says. "It's sexy. It moves. It says I'm a woman not a girl.
"You can't go wrong," he advises.

OK, so what does this have to do with real estate.... Well, I am in a leadership training class and we meet at different places each month.  One month we met in Lubbock at their mls office, and I noticed the wall of past Presidents.  All the women had short/short hair.  That got me to thinking, if you have to be successful in real estate, good enough to serve as a president of a mls, maybe I should cut my hair.  I want to be taken seriously.  I bought a more serious car for that same reason.  But after my cutting two months ago, I decided I'd rather like myself in the mirror better than be someone I don't feel like.  So that's how I decided this article fits with real estate; besides on HGTV I've noticed alot of their successful realtors in California and New York have long hair. 

Loved to hear your opinions.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Personality Types and Emails: What are You?

Read an interesting article about the 5 personality types and how they relate to email.  It said you could be a combination, and I am.  I'd always heard of 4 personality types:  coholeric/dominant,sanguine/influential, compromiser/steady and melancholy/compliant.  I've always been high on coholeric/dominant with some sanguine/influential.  But this article has different categories.

"Doctor Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Psychology Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst imposed the five main personality types (typically used in psychology and psychotherapy) to emails to better understand digital communications. Dr. Whitbourne notes that the days of analyzing handwriting have changed given the rise in email communications and analysts across the globe are struggling to investigate how the lexicon of email can be analyzed like handwriting.
First, let’s look at the Five Personality Types according to Dr. Whitbourne’s summary:
Openness to Experience: This is the willingness to entertain new ideas, to enjoy exploring fantasies and adventure, and to appreciate the arts.
Conscientiousness: As the term implies, people who are conscientious are punctual, neat, and attentive to detail. They can be counted on to complete what they start.
Extraversion: People high on extraversion are outgoing, sociable, and willing to self-disclose. They’re typically happy and optimistic. Conversely, people high on introversion, the opposite end of the scale, prefer to be by themselves, are uncomfortable in social situations, and don’t like to reveal much about their inner states.
Agreeableness: Easy-going and immune to the aggravations that come from everyday annoyances, people high in agreeableness are also calm and level-headed. You won’t hear much complaining from them.
Neuroticism: This is perhaps the darkest of the Big Five, because people high on Neuroticism are prone to excessive worry, anxiety, and feelings that others don’t like them. They are pessmistic, always expecting the worse. They tend to ruminate over their perceived failures and are high in self-doubt.
These five personality types are helpful to understand in business regardless of tech implications, but Dr. Whitbourne attempts to impose these five personality types on emails, noting that there is obviously overlap just as with personalities, but understanding this theory could be extremely helpful in better understanding yourself and your clients. Let’s take a look at the Professor’s five types and her recommendations accordingly.

Email type one:

The open to experience email type: Dr. Whitbourne notes that this type of emailer is whimsical, uses abbreviations, often short. The open to experience hates capitalization and my be the accidental “reply all” email rusher.

Email type two:

The conscientious email type: The doctor says this type of emailer is more thoughtful, detailed, often long, and responds rapidly to email, often keeping an empty email inbox. This type properly edits emails.

Email type three:

The extraverted email type: this type says “Hi!” rather than “Dear,” according to Dr. Whitbourne. Exclamation points are common and most emails are enthusiastic in nature, and this type is usually the first to initiate the follow up after first meeting someone and frequently shares their inner thoughts and feelings.

Email type four:

The agreeable email type: this type says yes to everything in order to accommodate and don’t read much into other emailers’ motives despite potential tone. This type is polite and fair, evenly tempered and never passive aggressive.

Email type five:

The neurotic email type: this type of emailer over analyzes everything from their own behavior and details of interactions to the “signs of possible criticism or hidden meaning” within an email, Dr. Withbourne says. This type reads an email several times before sending, not for grammar errors but to be sure they haven’t said anything that could be read into improperly by others.

Which type are you?

These five types are outlined in more depth on PsychologyToday.com, but by reading the above summaries, Which of the above types are you? Are you a combination of multiple types? Does this help you to identify personality types you work with in the field or perhaps fellow real estate professionals?"

After reading this, what type are you?  I'm extrovert for sure with a tiny little bit of conscientious.  Interested to know your type.  Comment and let me know.