It's been nearly two years....

....since I posted "One More Voice in Heaven"
and today I got an e-mail informing me of a comment left by Kurt's daughter.

Back then I was working for just a year on my own as an independent contractor, "gun for hire," in PR. I had recently had my gall bladder removed. I was dealing with a pet who had a chromic illness that later killed him. Our country was dealing with just over 2,000 dead in Iraq and I think we started to forget about our, and our allied countries', fatalities in Afghanistan.

Since then there have been many personal and some professional experiences in my life; some that I've dared to write about in this space, most that I've kept inside.

I suppose I suffer from being "inside the beltway" syndrome. One dare not share too much with the universe, at least not without the non de plume of "anonymous," lest it get dredged up from the muck of forgotten history and used against you in a dreadful way.

But, it's not just politicians who shoot back to you things you wish you hadn't written, be they e-mails, letters, blog posts, newspaper articles. It's business associates, and friends, who when they think they're being exploited or hurt wish to remind you of your words, search their archives and then with italices rub your nose in your own prose.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've had to search my e-mail to remind a former employer of his remarks that "we are true to our word," in regards to him rolling over 401K plan money that I didn't even realize that I was entitled to. Six months later I still haven't seen that money in my self-employed retirement account. I'm ok with using his own words to remind him of his commitments to me. However, he still hasn't acknowledged my voice mail and the e-mail that I sent him about this matter of a few hundred dollars. I suppose he's been very, very busy .

But, when you get your words back from people whom you think you've had cordial relations with, who you think trust you and even like you enough to ask you to work on a project it's a little bit disturbing. Oh, all is forgiven on my end. I understand that business is stressful and that managers have to hold their charges feet to the fire. Still, a burning toe hurts!

Well, let me send out another message to the world---Hey! I know you're out there reading this. By now you might have gotten that I'm a gentle soul, hard working, in need of more work that actually pays me money. I'm pleasant enough that everybody wants me to volunteer my time for their special cause. But, unfortunately my bank, credit cards, mortgage and grocer won't let me volunteer instead of paying them with legal and tender currency. We all need to earn a buck or a few thousand of them a month.

Hey world? Care to send some work in the direction of this gentle muser? And, perhaps you can actually pay me within 30 days of getting my bill?

And, oh, world? With the state of the U.S. dollar these days, think that my friends overseas will want to hire me?

Well, as Kurt Henschen might share with me, this downturn, too, shall pass.

Meantime, I'll use my extra time to take care to see a dentist, enjoy the gentler days of the waning winter in my part of the world, and to finally post another blog.

RR

Blog Topics--

I was pondering why I find it safest to blog about entertainment, sports (or "sport" for my friends across the Atlantic) and books.

I work in an industry that often uses blogs in order to keep clients interested in them, their thoughts, their credentials. So many blogs, in order to be safe from copy-infringement accusations, post links back to websites, and other blogs, where they've found the stuff that they write about. This can be a dangerous thing. For instance, you want to "wow" a client with your brilliant thoughts, and you write a blog about a project, and how similar projects fared, complete with links to words about this similar projects---and those links take you back to your competitors. Well, how do you keep your clients from getting competing proposals, that can threaten your livelihood?

I suppose you've got do a "Smith Barney"--that is, "we make our money the old fashioned way. We earn it." Your competition might cut its rates to get your client, but if you know your client, understand their "institutional history" and make an effort to have face-to-face relationships with them I believe you will keep your clients. They'll see you as part of their team. And, that takes work, and most clients want to see you working for them. Well, that is, well, unless your clients keep pushing you back and then you have to face the facts---you don't have them as clients any longer.

So, how's it going by you?

I've got a friend who started a very wonderful blog called Chickaboomer.com.
Marty is very funny. She talks about all the stuff that I like to laugh at. All that tabloid trash. Check it out. This blog is a place to rest weary minds and eyes. It's desert after a day of watching Fox talking about the Anna Nicole Smith story as if it were the only story out there.


I've been working setting up radio interviews for a much more serious group. I encourage you to check out the website for the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America. This group is made up of active military men and women who are still serving, and are likely to be called to serve again. As you may imagine the Walter Reed Army Medical Center story has been keeping me very busy.

I don't understand why some folks don't want to interview the IAVA. They confuse questioning authority with treason. Nobody said that to the Nazis who claimed they could do nothing to prevent the slaughter of millions of Romas, Jews, Christian dissidants, Russians and those who dared to say, "I disagree." In fact, those who just went along with it all found themselves on the wrong end of a noose! Yet, some are implying that vets in America have to put up, suck it in, and shut up. We've got a citizen based military. You take an oath to obey orders, and uphold the Constitution. We don't live in a fascist nation. We're allowed to question orders, and provide opinions. Heck, even Supreme Court Justices write dissenting opinions. So, I don't understand why the self-proclaimed "fair and balanced network" is so intersted in avoiding IAVA and would rather provide tabloid trash to its valued audience.

And, just because another news organization broke the news that you dared not look at (the Washington Post) doesn't mean its not news. In fact even the most loyal audiences would gawk at the news, which is as disgusting as gawking at a casket that contains the rotted remains of what was once a flamboyant blond American woman.

At some point we're going to have to face the not so fancy music of how ugly we treat each other when it comes to money. Don't blame it on bureaucrats. The bureaucrat works within an organization to push things through it. Bad ones need to be exposed. And, for Pete's sake! If there aren't enough of them we all suffer the consequences of not having our hard earned tax dollars put to better use, or just the plain old use that they were budgeted for.

So, that's how it's going for me. I've got a lot of pent up thoughts since my last post. I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts