Grant Dean

 15 years ago we met a realtor named Grant Dean.  We worked with him on the acquisition of our current home.  He used to work at a Keller Williams franchise and decided to go it alone and started his own real estate company.  Since we've moved into our house, he's been sending us hand-written greeting cards every quarter since we purchased our home.  We've received 60 cards and or letters from him since we started working with him.  

My wife says when we sell our house, we will work with him because he wants our business and has kept in touch with us since we worked with him on this house.  

I'm not so sure about that.  While it's nice to be remembered, my question is how many people does he do this for?  That's 60 mailed cards he's sent to just us.  Why does he have so much time on his hands?  If he has time to initiate "warm" client contact over 15 years, who is selling and marketing real estate?  

Seems suspect and unusual if you ask me.

Al Gore

It's really interesting to see the rage in Al gore whenever he talks about Donald Trump and the environment. I kinda enjoy seeing what trump derangement syndrome does to otherwise normal and high functioning people. It's like their brain completely short circuits and melts down. Like at a nuclear reactor. TDS turns them into raging lunatics. Tormented by the thought of a man they adamantly disagree. They become rabid and unhinged.

As Spock would say, "Fascinating."

It's like every brain cell fires at the same time and you're left with an irrational caged animal in need of a tranquilizer or quaaludes.

Quaaludes or methaqualone is a powerful sedative hypnotic drug that was used to treat insomnia; also known to create feelings of euphoria and relaxation.

Just what the person suffering from TDS needs to subdue the hostility and rage the thought of Donald Trump manages to summon from deep within their psyche.

Someone break Bill Cosby out of jail so he can resume his role as the chief quaalude dispensary. People would be better off taking quaaludes instead of smoking pot. Society would be too.

Maybe if al gore would shut up about the environment and the evilness of man kind and preach a message of simplicity without going psychotic his movement would pick up some momentum. Instead he incessantly moans and complains about modern life; while he lives in a mansion and flies in airplanes to preach his message of save the planet.  He’s just another green hypocrite that wants to make rules for others. Maybe he and John Kerry had a love child and its name is Alexandria occasio Cortez. 

Facebook

 I rejoined the facebook after a 10 month hiatus and started a new account with a different email address.  Sure enough, now I get dancing cats in my feed.  

One of the associate pastors from my childhood church lead my moms funeral.  We connected on facebook.  And he posts some of the most profound things...  Here are some of the quotes:

Be soft.  Do not let the world make you hard.  Do not let pain make you hate.  Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.  Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place." - Kurt Vonnegut

How beautiful is the heart of those who go through the worst storms in life and still choose to stay gentle, silent, patient, kind and humble.

More than ever, I want us to live more consciously and compassionately.  Let me repharese; more than ever, I want to live more consciously and compassionately.

Somewhere out there, someone is listening to brids stead of breaking news - and the world feels a little more hopeful there.

These thought provoking quotes make me stop and think.  My existence has been hard.   At times my heart is dented and tarnished.  I think about the article about self care and how important it is and for people in my generation, this does not compute.  We get a syntax error when someone blurts out self care or something about taking care of yourself.  People participating in self care are soft.  Kindness is soft.  Maybe my perspective is flawed - for these are the people that are changing the world - more aligned with kindness.  How beautiful is the heart of those who go through the worst storms in life and still choose to stay gentle, silent, patient, kind and humble.

What comes to mind for me is defeated.  Crushed.  Dented.  Harsh.  Judgemental.

There sure is a lot to contemplate in the quotes above.   

 

And just like that

Savannah Guthrie's kidnapping vanished from the media. All it took was bombing Iran. Poof. Gone.

In other news, the media is taking a deep dive into Talarico beating Crockett in the primary.  Here’s the thing - no one wants a ghetto talking hoodrat representing them on a national stage.  Jasmine Crockett is highly educated and the only time she manages to pull it together to sound intelligent is when she is speaking with national media.  The rest of the time she talks like a lifelong multigenerational welfare recipient.  She’s not authentic.  Shes a cartoon character simultaneously representing the best and worst of her people.  Drop out and get baked.   

Talarico. He’s 36 years old.  Just to put things in perspective - I’m 19 years older than he is. Wtf?!?

Regular people

Who ever thought putting regular people in advertising was a good idea is either crazy or I'm crazy.

The thinking is regular people seeing regular people in advertising builds a sense of community and commonality between the business and the customer. I'll do business where advertising images show people that look like me or other members of the community. Especially true with minor facial variations or lack of symmetry. One eye bigger than the other… fat people. Different racial profiles. A wonky eye. A double chin. Some of the above. All of the above.

That strategy doesn't work with people like me. I don't want to see myself or other imperfections that I deal with on a daily basis where I do business. Especially in their advertising images. I prefer the warmth of artificial perfection. Sanitized of imperfection.

It's like woke got a advertising/marketing degree…. How's that working? It doesn't work for me and I'm probably an outlier because I contradict their data. Maybe their data is flawed.

Ring Ring

Autozone can I help you

Espanol?

No

Click

Shooting on 6th

3 dead. 14 injured. Not the Austin I know.