Monthly Archives: November 2007

Traveling Back to Long Beach

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Well, we’re back on good old fun Delta from the inevitable Atlanta.

We drive back from Savannah to Atlanta and the trip was actually OK. It’s a little boring but the foillage was pretty. One thing I noticed was that Georgians drive pretty well, using blinkers and respecting distances between cars. It was relaxing driving like that compared to our bumper to bumper driving style.

Anyway, it will be strange being back again with the constant lull of Ocean boulevard and the obnoxiously loud motorcycles…

Beautiful Savannah, Georgia

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Savannah is truly a beautiful city and is, probably my favorite city in the U.S..

In terms if architecture, Savannah is simply beautiful. And judging by the invasion of tourists, yes, many here consider it an unwelcome invasion with the advent of the Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil book, it is a hit. I believe revealing Savannah’s best hush secrets should be left untold.

Yet, Savannah attracts like no other cities. With its unbeatable Southern charm, I feel it blows the socks off of Charleston and New Orleans. It’s quieter, more secluded, more secretive, deep, heavy at times and just a treat to the eyes. And let me tell you about the nightlife? It is fun and wild.

We walked into a newly renovated home downtown from Virginia’s family. You know those beautiful homes that span four floors and are probably worth $4 Million. It was superbly redone. It actually faces the famed Mercer House, the house where the Williams character supposedly shot or not his lover, depending on how you see the story.

The house is typical Savannah downtown charm. The giant staircase reminded me of big homes in France. The plaster frescoes on the ceiling are originals and one room was converted to accommodate a beautiful bathtub in front of a fire place! Yes, my kind of luxury. Taking a bath in front of the fire place.

If I find the pictures, I will post the before and after project. I just need to dig through 5000 Savannah architecture pictures.

So is Savannah the place where I want to live? I still can’t say. I love my part of Long Beach. Yes Savannah has that old soul feel to it but Long Beach has that beachy feel. Yes Savannah has enough homes to make you drool 365 days round but our city does a pretty good job with homes. Finally the weather is probably better in Long Beach. the constant swarm of gnats and mosquitoes are enough to drive you crazy. I think it might make a terrific place to retire. That or Indonesia, we’ll see.

What’s Going On With Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac? Long Beach

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If you’ve heard the latest news in the lending world, the waves keep on splashing more and more institutions, even those two illustrious Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.

Both Seeking Alpha and Calculated Risk have written about it. Tanta on Calculated Risk has her usual insightful and the to the point dissertation of the situation. Seeking Alpha picked it up and summarized everything pretty well for the Fannie Mae part here.

Basically a lot of wiggling and dodging bullets. The future of Fannie Mae is being discussed right now.

Then there is also Freddy Mac here. This government-sponsored company managed to be short short of $6 Billion.

And there are talks that this recession is getting to the Great Depression levels. Fascinating to see how we let all this happen when some of us Joe Schmoes at our base levels have been saying for years now that the market was extremely unhealthy. And no, this is not one of those hindsight is 20/20 post.

TV, The Antithesis Of Coaching, Long Beach

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I have called my company Tap The Source for a reason. Watching TV and giving my thumb a serious work out dodging lame channels and bad commercials, I realized TV is the complete antithesis of Coaching.

I decided to actually watch a few commercials and see what they were like. Not having had a TV set at home for the last 4 years pretty much makes me completely out of touch with what is going on in the brave new world of reality shows (seriously, is that reality?), commercial adds and other cram-down-your-throats-behaviors.

The first thing that pretty much shocked me were the multitude of pseudo-medicine advertisings. So basically guys are bombarded into thinking sexual problems with erectile dysfunction are the norm, both sexes can use this other drug to cover bad skin diseases and women are still bombarded with must-look-good-fashion trends. But nowhere does it ask the all important Coaching question: “What do YOU want?” In other words, what do you want for yourself?

I use the word shocking in a measured way, they are shocking commercials when you hear the side-effects cause serious problems, debilitating conditions and even death! What gives here? You are advertising products that have caused death? Have we gone absolutely bananas? And of course, everything resolves around two things, vanity and never touches the root problems. One is the obvious tools of delivery is Sex which sells everything from masking gray hair to sexual dysfunctions.

Vanity is forced down people’s throats. If you don’t look good you won’t be happy. If women don’t have long silky hair, how can they be fulfilled and happy? And if men over the age of 50 cannot keep an erection, while saying it is a common thing, how can they be man? All of this is not only seedy but keeps on reinforcing that a) you don’t know what is good for you, we will tell you. Remember those multi-trillion dollar companies telling what you buy. B) that you need to look good in order to be fulfilled, still from those multi-billion dollar company that ultimately make you not feel good to buy their products to feel a little better. Is this the definition of insanity? No, it’s greed and profit :) But do people feel any better? For a little while, you can look better but what drives the rising search people have for fulfillment and looking for that something more in life? More and more, people are looking for that something through yoga, therapy, Coaching, etc.

Ultimately, we can put all the makeup but until we reach the root and core causes, nothing will truly make us fulfilled. Self awareness and a deep sense of who you are is true freedom. I called my company Tap The Source because I have always believed if you do not get to the source of anything, you are just doing damage control. Damage control will never fully resolve anything. Aware and understanding yourself makes you a better person in control of your life. That is freedom. Contact me if you need to talk about this.

Quick Notes On Traveling, TV and Savannah

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I love traveling but I’m no fan of flying.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know every time I travel I complain about airlines and TV. Well, faithful to my habits, I will do that but with a twist. It wasn’t all that bad this time. I was fortunate enough to fly in the 70′s when it was a great experience and you were treated in a courteous manner. Now it’s just cattle herding. Delta was one of the top lines back then, as was with Panam and TWA. Our flight on the LA Atlanta leg was actually OK, if you don’t mind having close to no leg space. We were served a little breakfast and a little lunch during the day flight. I was astounded. I can’t remember last time this happened, and we had a movie. I guess Delta is out of bankruptcy. Now can you do something about giving us a tad more room?

My favorite other subject is TV. How can you guys endure this contraption? It’s telling people what to think, telling us man that erectile dysfunction is common… oh yeah? and that we should take all kinds of drugs and not pay attention to the side affects that could most likely, if not kill you, render you a vegetable or something nice like that. Frankly said, TV is an insult to anyone. Can’t they at the very least make fun commercials if they will cut all those fun programs in the midst of it? And you pay how much for it and have all these retarded commercials? I am struggling with the value here…

Finally, being back in Savannah is always a treat. The city is beautiful and being back home (Virginia’s home), sure feels like it for me. We are lucky Virginia’s Father-in-Law is well connected in the city so we have a particular good insight. It is a magnificent city. I am always reminded when I see Sotheby or Chistie’s real estate offices how much they remind me of Robert Weil Associates. It’s the same feeling of class and customer service other companies seriously lack.

Anyway, more on TV and Coaching soon…

Merry Happy Thanksgiving! Long Beach and The World

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Seriously now, don’t get too taken in with the early hype of Christmas without fully enjoying this special all-embracing holiday, Thanksgiving. regardless of religion, philosophy, Thanksgiving is for everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and since I am in Savannah, Ya’ll!

I am thankful to have a blog to express myself.
A wonderful marriage that supports me.
Great friends to share thoughts, special moments and great times with.
Most of all, awareness to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Another NAR Bash, Long Beach

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NAR just can’t keep itself from understatements which I believe, ultimately discredits the association completely. It’s sad, it makes me mad and I pay for it. Go figure!

Trader Mark over at Seeking Alpha made another pertinent point, NAR has been consistently wrong for 9 months and continues a trend of predictions. In this case however, Yun of NAR said: “Home Prices will be flat next year, as will home sales…” Right… Huh, that news? Everyone has been saying this for some time and some of us have known this for an even longer time.

It’s really unfortunate that NAR keeps on trying to rile up a market that is sagging. Let’s just stick to informing people. We can still inform and point the positives. However, by keeping on making predictions that are “reviewed” the following month only adds to eventual distrust and finally people not taking you seriously anymore.

Let’s hope Richard Gaylord, our local hero will do something to raise the quality standard of NAR. I see too many people rolling their eyes at the mention of the association.

Apres Moi Le Deluge, Officer’s Retirement Packages, Long Beach

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Larry MacDonnald back on Seeking Alpha, had that eye catching title: “Apres moi, le deluge!”

And I love it because it really describes the general way of doing business for big corporations and big companies. After me, let it fall, who cares. With complete disregard for consumers that keep these companies alive, officers are offered compensations that skyrocket. Why should they be invested in quality work when they will get those compensations, who cares? Rightfully so, with CEOs, Chairmen, and other high totem poll officers being given golden handshakes, with a rising slew of scandals, what good does this do for the general economy?

Larry quotes the latest; Merrill Lynch’s CEO Stan O’Neal ($131 million U.S.) and Citigroup’s CEO Chuck Prince ($40 million U.S) to name a few of the latest headlines. He also asks the pertinent question, why should any of these people be prudent in the way they handle their businesses if they know they will receive millions in compensation for being asked to leave? Where is the incentive? By the way, what would be the result of a regular Joe manager being kicked out anywhere else? Say, two weeks notice?

And this is the crux of the cancer our business world faces, apres moi le deluge, made famous by Louis XV who frankly couldn’t care less what would happen after his reign.

If we want our economy to boom again, we want consumers to spend again, we need a serious paradigm change. We need a rel shift in consciousness, if not consciousness altogether. We need to change the way we do business. We need to become responsible and mature, at every level, from the person answering the phone to the owner, CEO and chairman. Until then, as long as we continue this fill-your-pockets-while-it-lasts, we will see a society of distrusting consumers, more aggressive marketing, and more scandals. Eventually, it will have to stop. Will you be part of the ones who actively stand for a change? Will you be the change you want to see outside, as Ghandi rightfully said?

That is partially why I decided to Coach. It is time to re-inject Ethics into our business world. It is time for ethical leadership. It is time for intelligent leadership. I am happy to be where I am today, and ready to finally do something for society. Contact me if you have any questions.

On The Road Again, Atlanta, Ga

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Yup, just what does Nick do anyway? He’s always talking, always going somewhere.

Well, we are traveling for our niece’s Christening for Clinton, S. Carolina. On Monday we are heading to Savannah for some well deserved R&R and Thanksgiving with the family, something that hasn’t happened in 10 years!

So I will write sporadically… Enjoying fresh caught fish, shrimp and blue crabs from the deck of the property. Hum, life’s pleasures.

To Eat Or Not To Eat An Elephant, That’s The Question, I think, Long Beach

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You’ve heard about the story, how do you eat an elephant? The best and easiest way is one bite at a time.

This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in goal achievements, managing projects into achievable tasks. Here is one way to go about, for those of you who are visually inclined, get a white board! I’ve tried to managed projects with software but you rarely get a good sense of the flow. So I developed something that works for me, I use a white board for the overall vision and software for the broken down modules.

If you can use your white board near your computer, ideally above it and work out the entire flow, it will keep the vision handy. Then break it down into obvious steps, or modules. Take these modules and put them in a software calendar of your choice.

This has an obvious benefits for those of you who get bogged down in details, having the board above your computer gives you a bird eye’s view and let’s you think in long terms. I have a tendency to get myopic when I tackle the breakdown modules of a project. I forget the overall project and I might end up spending too much time on it or not enough. Having my white board above gives me a bird’s eye view and helps me make out how relative the module is in relation.

The white board also serves as a springboard for extra ideas. I often look at it and new concepts or ideas pop up. Take something like setting your 2008 goals. You could very well draw a line divided by twelve and use those devisions to work out the main goals for each months. Once you have each month’s goals, you could further break them down into say, marketing, education, seminars, etc and put each of those in your calendar system to further work them.

Most important in finding your system is to ask yourself: “What works for me?” You can copy all you want from others but the best system is still your very own. Experiment a little and see what works best. Take from others but adapt it to yourself.