It is with renewed strength...

Lord I come to you on bended knees as humble as I know how. I ask you to continue to bless my family, friends, and loved ones.

I thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me always and especially in 2010. The year 2010 has been the roughest for me ever and I know without your goodness I would not have made it through. The personal losses, financial losses, and setbacks at sometimes were overwhelming. I am thanking you for the inspiration, motivation, and attitude to close out this year and to pick up and go on and make 2011 the best year ever.

I am most grateful as always for my children. I pray you continue to work on them on their life's journey. Suit them up with the armor of your grace and mercy as they go through their adult years and guide their way now, today, and always. Please forever watch over my them, hold and embrace them in your arms through the good times, the bad times, and during their trials and tribulations. I pray you will touch their hearts, their bodies, their minds, and their souls for them to live a long and prosperous life. When their hearts are heavy bring peace over them. When they are judged here on earth open their minds and hearts and let them know your judgment is final. I am so thankful for your omnipresence and knowing wherever they are you are there also. There is no prayer like a mother sends up for her children and I send up prayers for my children everyday. I pray for great things for them and that their life be full of blessings and their life progresses according to Godspeed. They be blessed with a life better than they ever can imagine. I know there is a not a prayer you don't hear or a prayer which goes unanswered.

Lord I am thankful for not letting worry overcome me and knowing to "Let Go and Let God". I have had to stay strong with raising three children and when I look back I'm constantly reminded of your grace and mercy all my life. You continually help those who help themselves. Hard work and steadfastness has always been a mainstay in my life for which I am thankful. You carried me through when I needed you the most and for that I will be eternally grateful. When I look back over my life I can truly say I've been blessed. Like the spiritual I've heard since I was a toddler, "I thank you for putting food on my table, I thank you for putting shoes on my feet, and when I stop to think about it you've blessed me every day of my life. And I just want to say, thank you Lord!" You have done so many great things big and small in my life for which I will be eternally grateful.

Lord let this year be the year the bullet lodged in my youngest daughter's back finally comes gracefully from her body without causing any nerve damage or any other causing any other issues for her. I'm so thankful you have brought her through all the years since the fatal drive by shooting attack. I pray you remove the bitterness from her heart. Let peace and forgiveness overwhelm her heart.

I am even more thankful when as recent as yesterday families have lost their daughters to senseless violence. There is not a testimony without a test. I am thankful I can testify you are the Great I Am. We don't know the day, the minute, or the hour. I know when the doctors told me after my daughter was in surgery for 12 hours she probably wouldn't make it and if so her physical state may not be good. Her fate I realized was in your hands. You showed up and showed out. She is living proof of your grace and mercy. Ever since that day I have been rejoicing in your mercy and your goodness. I'm thankful for her, my 5'2" ball of fire.

We can't always protect our children from all the atrocities in life, however, you can wrap your arms around any situation to which I'm a living witness. They had written my baby off as a ghost and the Holy Ghost stepped in. Lord I know I know its your goodness, and your mercy that will carry me through any situation. I am a believer. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?

So I pray on this last day of December in 2010 you continue to work the way you work. Bring peace over those who are disgruntled. Bring healing to those who are sick and afflicted. Bring abundance to those who are long overdue for a period of increase. Watch over those who are sick and shut-in. Inspire our public servants to serve their people with the goodness and compassion they deserve.

Encourage those who can be a mentor or provide guidance to those who have gone astray to be blessing to others. I pray you place people in and around the lives of my children and grandchildren who will be blessing to them. Watch over them and don't allow anyone to misuse or abuse them. Endow them with the wisdom to be mindful of all their situations and surroundings and to remain safe. Choose and associate with friends who they can uplift, inspire, and bless one and another.

Lord I've seen there has been a reason for every season and the seasons past have helped prepare me for what I've seen and will see in future seasons. I will continually strive towards being a better servant. I ask that you touch my mind, my heart, my body, and my soul to live my life in your light and put you first in everything I do. I long to hear the words "Well done thy good and faithful servant." Matthew 25:19-30

Watch over us one and another in Jesus name. Amen.

This Year Is Almost Over!

It's countdown time!

This year is almost over and I can certainly say I'm very happy about that. Okay why wait until a new year to start over with new things. I'm not.

I've already started redesigning my website. I plan to add a storefront. Also, talk with some local internet entrepreneurs to see what brings in the bulk of their income.

One of the high points is I will be starting the New Year almost 20 pounds lighters. Yes. I finally lost weight this year and I am very excited about that. Thanks to my daughter I already have my victory dress to show off my new size when the weather gets warmer. It is hot and I plan to make it sizzle. I know the perfect earrings, the perfect accessories, and the perfect pumps for it. Yes I'm going to plaster photos online. I can't wait to wear it. I won't be wearing it this New Year's Eve because the occasion I will be attending calls for dress down to jeans. I love that too.

Every year I normally go to the watch night service at Church. However, this year I'll be missing it. No worries. I won't be drinking because I don't drink and drive. The last time I had a glass of wine was back in August. I would be plastered if I take a sip of something. I know my limit. No alocohol.

I never have understood people who get intoxicated and then go and risk their lives and others lives as well. I guess just like I could never understand why people use an uncontrolled substance like drugs when there are so many issues with the controlled ones.

Anyways, my goal for the coming year is to get myself back on board where I can be a heavy hitter. Show the men who shun me because I am not as fabulously rich as they are that I still do have a strong presence.

Somewhere along the way I can say I lost my energy and drive but it's back. Watch out! I guess listening over and over to Lyfe Jennings song "Statistics" helped. You got to be on top of your game if you want to be with someone whose on top of their game.

In case I don't post again before the New Year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

What the State of Virginia Department of Taxation Obviously Doesn't Admit!

Apparently they have an inadequate tax reporting system. They harass businesses to report in their taxes by employee. Why? The state's system is not up to par where it can apparently report the information back out in an itemized format by individual.

Yea I sad it, I meant it, and I am here to represent it. But thanks to a flashing green light on incompetency I don't need to worry about any disputes in court unless I initiate it myself. I know and they probably know too I can't afford a long legal battle. They are endowed with the right to do what the heck they want without even having to take you to court to prove the validity of their claim. They screen all calls. Why? I could guess at a number of reasons. My strongest inclination is they want to make sure you get the same person each time so you get the same answers from that person. However, over the years the person I've been privy to speak with we don't do much talking. The only thing I'm sure we agree on is our total dislike each other. I asked her one year how can my ex claim my children when I provide 100% of their support before, during, and after the marriage and they are not even his biological children. She told me because he claimed them first. He used the SSNs from the joint returns we had filed previously. He knew I always waited until April 15th to file my taxes and he being retired filed as soon as he received his retirement statement. In retrospect probably cost the state more money because my income was a lot higher and him being in a lower income bracket it would have meant him owing taxes in a lower bracket qualifying for credits I wouldn't have qualified for.

Don't bother asking to be reassigned to someone else it doesn't happen. Even if it looks like it happens on paper in reality it doesn't. When I call an office I want to get an answer from a live person. I don't want to get a phone that just keeps taking me through voice prompts. Someone has to call you back. How frustrating. Send you my money? How about sending you a clue? No worries. Don't send it they'll take it no questions asked.

Sending them written correspondence to dispute a claim is like pouring water on a duck's back. They never get the forms, information you send them. Send a letter to the Governor back in 2004 if you want and he can tell them to resolve your dispute. Hmmmm! Throw paper airplanes you'll get more wind out of that. They have the power to take what they say you owe forget about what anybody says.

I've talked to peoaple recently whose bank accounts they have garnished because their check got loss in the mail room at the tax office. Of course I have no way to verify this claim and it is hearsay. But guess who I believe? I don't have to worry about whether or not claims of their incompetency would be admissible in court. They don't have to take anyone to court they are you, the court, and the jury. That's not by any means what I really think they are but for purposes of this post I will leave it at that.

Oh, to get back to my story, the lady mailed her check and her husband check the same day at the post office they got his and missed hers. Was I surprised when I heard this story? No.

Talking to the tax dept over the phone, well you may as well be talking to a stuffed animal, they can't hear either. It is criminal what some of these agencies get away with. I know few corporations who have bad systems as well but this takes the cake because to me all the money they receive is profit because it is just given to them by the taxpayers.

At least with companies you can write a complaint to the State Corporation Commission to get a resolution. Who do you write with concerns with them. Their apparent buddies, the Virginia Tax Payers' Rights Advocate. The guy appeared to be laughing at me through the phone. I ended up inquiring if he was an advocate for the state or the citizens? Needless to say, no help at all.

Some of these agencies and the people who work for these agencies get too big for their britches and when they start bursting holes in them they've gotten too comfortable for them to change them when they should have been thrown away for a new pair long ago. If this was offline I would be clowning their whole operation. But since this is online I am going to keep it above board.

It is a true shame they have been endowed to be almighty against the very citizens they are supposed to represent.

Does anything I've said here mean a thing. No. They're game is so dictatorial I have to say hail to the master, the Virginia Department of Taxation.

Let me go file this post before it is considered as non-filed and suffer penalty and interest for not having been received. Oh no not the issue of non-filing. Returns get eaten up by the tax monster. No record of how much your employer sent in on someone's behalf. We send out a lien with the full amount with penalty interest to exceed what the employer collected if is all W2 income. Don't worry, you'll pay, no other choice. You say you don't owe anything the state owes you $110.

Hypothetical

Employer sends in several thousand dollar over the tax year on your behalf
Your return is not received and you are now officially a non-filer
State comes after you for the same several thousands of dollars plus penalty and interest because you're a non-filer you don't even get credit for what the employer paid on your behalf but their system CANNOT EXTRACT THE INFORMATION.

The cost of you breathing air in Virginia has just gone up.

Remedy: possible future paper adjustment that you don't even have at your disposal to wipe your butt with. But read the earlier paragraphs the stuffed animal and all.

Isn't this double taxation? You paid the taxes via your employer and now you have to pay the same amount your employer contributed plus penalty and interest.

For illustration purposes only let's say someone made $20,000 during the year and the employer withheld $2,000 in state taxes and sent the money to the state. The same employee files a return and doesn't owe. Forgot about $10 refund check no big deal right. Gets a letter. Sends in copy of return originally filed and never received. Then later gets a letter of lien for $2,000. Happy? Might as well be. Next paycheck says the number of hours and gross pay calculated. Check amount says "VOID".

Mismanagement, Miscalculations and Misappropriations

Did I read the review correctly? If so,:

Someone pinch me because I still think I'm dreaming. This city is squandering millions when there are people struggling to get by and make ends meet. It is not whether or not it was done intentionally it is disheartening to know it may be happening at all. Do these city officials and contractors realize they make more in one month than some people make in a whole year? Okay they are probably at the level where they see millions in their parachute packages overall so it's no big deal. However, do they realize they serve a citizenry where some people won't see a million in a lifetime? Has HRT looked outside its window to see how many people are homeless just around their location alone in the early mornings?

Mismanagement: they apparently had no one at the city who was tasked with oversight for the light rail project. Effective leadership would have demanded better controls over the project, budget, and costs from the beginning. The review of the project even makes mention of redundancy. Okay it is not enough to screw up overpaying for stuff once but you go and do it twice, maybe three times? Really? Did they really have consultants being paid for the same services HRT staff or other consultants were tasked with providing? No open and full disclosure of the entire project to comfort citizen concerns. Once the project was looking to run over budget even stronger controls should have been enacted. It seems very suspect high ranking IT positions would come from a local city to HRT during a project of this magnitude. Are there any conflict of interests on this project? Contractors rather than employees to distill all questions about conflicts of interest?

Miscalculations: my guess would be the city was presented with pivot reports which were correct originally but as items were added to the pivot table reports they were not updated to include the new rows which were added to the detail for the reports. Did anyone check the row totals, column totals, and grand totals on each report when presented? Additionally if the grand totals for the new report opening balances were not the same as the closing balances for the previous reports would that not raise a red flag? Okay let's attribute it to maybe the city being use to receiving reports from a more reliable system and these type issues are unimaginable. However, when someone raises a concern in regards to a variance amounting to the millions, personally, I want to see a reconciliation between the bank statements and the reports. Between the news report and the review I think I saw mention of a variance in the millions. Over a million in cost overruns? Oh yea, show me the money. I'd start treating the presenters like my ex-husband at that point, show me the money I don't want to "HEAR" nothing you have to say.

Misappropriations: items were charged to categories incorrectly? Issues with the line items and the bottom line are you freaking kidding me? If you're going to screw something up please by all means err on the side of favor. It would be my guess the city also paid out more money than they agreed to based on percent complete and cost overruns ahead of schedule. But when you're talking about millions the interest on any misappropriations of that sort would probably equate to being nominal.

In my opinion having the person head of IT and Accounting and other processes critical to the light rail process as one in the same I think is a huge mistake with any organization. Just put the cookie jar in the babies lap why don't you? Even on an interim basis what could be scarier? Better yet leave the diaper off a baby who has no control over his faculties and watch the mess that's made requiring more clean up. When you have improprieties of this magnitude you want to spread the love around. I would be curious to see him provide a statement detailing or defending the operations of IT, Accounting, and all the other departments awarded by HRT? For internal control purposes someone in a position of where there is opportunity for collusion should be required to take a two week vacation off site and not have access to any of the existing systems or employees from any remote location which I don't see mentioned in the review. Internal control issue?

It appears a Comptroller/CPA would be tasked with heading up the Accounting Department especially during a time when there is so much going on and the internal controls which need to be put in place for accounting. Not knowing any better I would say it would give him the opportunity to have complete access to the general ledger, emails, backup tapes, funding receipts, disbursements, record collections, archives, everything that has the potential to white wash a thorough reconciliation. I just don't understand how an agency that has gone through so much can put so much trust in one person.

In fact with the review they received I would place all the senior management staff on a paid leave of absence and call in neutral parties until everything is reconciled. If it true, why is one person now in charge of all the processes attributing to this project going south at HRT?

The city needs to press hard for change. The review focuses too much on the bus fare collections and not enough on the millions for light rail. A schedule was provided in detail for fare collections by the day, why wasn't a similar schedule provided for the light rail project for fund receipts, collections, and disbursements?

Do they realize it appears the fare collection issue seems to have been used as a distraction to take the lime light off the real issues with the light rail project? My summation (which doesn't mean a thing) would be by the time they spend a whole lot of time on the fare collection issue which seemed to have surfaced in the 11th hour of them trying to oust Townes it provided reason and opportunity and the desired effect to outrage citizens. Well it served as a decoy and then we began to hear accounts of variances and uncertainty with the light rail figures as previously reported.

Personally, I don't trust Dumb Systems (DS), Jive Data (JD), and Haphazard Controls (HC). It is only a matter of time before the stuff hits the fans. You can remove a lot of variables and hope you've covered your tracks. However, you cannot wipe clean the human factor. Well I almost propose the old cliche the perfect crime is the one committed where no one else knows about may end up surfacing the way things look. All the pieces to this equation will work themselves out. Fortunately this is happening during a time of the year when people have a whole lot of free time anyways and with over a hundred comments they are going to get their message posted.

I really hope greed has not gotten the best of anyone. The heat is on and I don't think the citizens are going to throw ice on it to cool it down. My prediction is no more DS, JD, and HC once this mess is finally cleared up. I think I need to learn to play chess. Like with this situation I don't how to play but apparently it is a game worth learning to determine who will be the victor.

To God be the Glory!

Are Emotions Flying High Because It's Holiday Time?

It appears emotions are flying high this holiday season. I hope the stressed out ones do a crash landing. Folks it is the holidays for heavens sake. The time of year when people are wishing peace, prosperity, and health to everyone. Don't be a kill joy. From this point on for the rest of the year I am going to make a concentrated effort to not let anything else ruffle my feathers. My heart is in the holiday spirit because I have so much to be thankful for and so many to be thankful to I'm letting go of the petty.

Over the past week and a half I have been trying to stay at home. No, I have not been out anywhere wreaking havoc for anyone. No I have not dialed anyone's number. No I have not knocked on anyone's door. I've been spending a lot of alone time. My grandson has spent more time with me than anyone else and he's sick of seeing me. He's asking right now can he go to my mom's house. I'm boring. I realize some people are bent out of shape about not having as much money as they would like to shop this year. Newsflash: "It's probably not going to happen over night." This is the twelfth month of the year. Be thankful you have another year to enjoy Christmas and pray things will be better next year. Based on the state of the present economy I am sure people young and old realize people are going through some trying times so the gifts may not be as large or expensive as they have been in Christmas past. Get over it and move on.



Now even though I will not have thousands to shop with like I would like I am going to make the best of the few pennies I do have. One thing being broke will teach you is how to be the best at it. It also instills some sense of things not to do once you get back up again.

This year I am especially thankful to my first cousins who always look out for me and my grand girls, one maternal, one paternal. My mom who is with me through thick and thin. My baby girl who has been a blessing many times over. There is no way I could be ungrateful thinking of how great they've all been to me this year. For everyone who has offered available job opportunities. When the going gets rough they have been the wind beneath my wings. I love them and will cherish their kindness and support always. I know I haven't been a 100% but they've been a 110% to me. And for that I'm thankful. May God continue to bless and shine his light upon them.

I would also like to mention that there is one very special ex-friend who I had the pleasure of being with during the holidays last year and most of the first part of this year. He was so kind as to be one of the first on the front line when things started going down hill after I walked off a temp job. I'm grateful he didn't judge me but was there his words: "glad God blessed him so he could be a blessing to others." He definitely was a blessing to me.

This Christmas I realize how blessed I've been to see it through every other Christmas. Apparently sometimes it takes the bad times to make you realize and appreciate how good the good times really were.

The purpose of this post is to encourage everyone to stay in the holiday spirit. Let go and let God handle the stress. Stay on your "A" (Amen) game. There's a blessing with your name on it claim it in the name of Jesus.

For all those who have been the wind beneath my wings this year the song is for you.

Love always,

Lynne

Wind Beneath My Wings (Video Version)

I Know There Is A Big Part of Me I Need to Work On

I was raised by a very strong black woman. I wasn't taught to turn the other cheek when people get on my nerves. I was instructed to tell people to kiss my behind when they did something foul. In fact the response most of the time to when I told my grandma about any situation for advice her reply would be for me to "tell them to kiss your behind," end of discussion.

Of course I didn't pass this legacy down to my children. In fact, I tried to make them well-rounded by keeping them in structured environments and activities. I tried to encourage them to get along well with others. I think I went into overdrive. Two of my children friend network has led to most of the issues they face today. They seem to get along with people just fine. Me personally I can either take you or leave you. My upbringing encouraged to harbor no prisoners and don't get into likes and dislikes. I was always told when you dislike someone think about they probably dislike you more. I would like to think I treat all people fair.

Later in life my grandma did soften her approach and switched up and told me to tell them "I would tell you to kiss my ARSE but I think too much of it to let you kiss it."

But my all time favorite was when someone really made her mad she would tell them "I'll cut your ARSE too short to sh#&". No doubt I was raised to be a fighter.

On the other extreme my mom would send me to charm school session after session because she didn't like how rough I was. I remember going on 21st street on the second floor of a major department store retailer. I learned things like to cross my legs seven different ways. How to be very polite and say all the yes sirs and no sirs the law would allow.

It's funny how one woman who was important in my life didn't think I was tough enough and the other thought I was too rugged. Their demeanor is like night and day.

I guess in current day if I like someone I am the nicer person. If I don't like a particular person the grandma in me comes out.

Admittedly I have a lot of work to do on me. Most of the time the ruggedness stays at bay. I'm cool as a cucumber and can walk away. My politeness normally prevails.

I normally detest people with a bad character. If you're a good person you're cool with me. If you're corrupt, chauvinistic, liar, user, loser, along those lines you bring out the worse in me and I'll normally act accordingly.

However, if you are cool beans I'm cool beans as well. You can't have a better friend in your corner than me. I don't use the word friend loosely and I also don't use the word relationship loosely either.

Tonight I'm just saying "Get behind me Satan." I had a phone conversation which made me livid. I did well and carried it through. The more I think about it the warmer I get. I'm definitely not the type to argue. The last thing I'm ever going to tolerate is a long conversation with a chauvinistic man. His momma may put up with it but I didn't have him so I definitely don't have to put up with it.

The only man I'll tolerate being chauvinistic is my son or one of my grandsons. Any other man can kiss my ARSE. I don't have to listen to anything on my phone I don't want to. There is a feature called "CALL BLOCKING" that I'm trying to figure out right now to block Mr. Annoying from calling me. I don't have to keep picking up the phone hanging right up on you or just not answering your calls. Yes there is a better way.

I've done my tour of BS. I put up with a chauvinistic male for too many years and I will be darned if I am going to go through it again in any shape, form, or fashion. If you're that chauvinistic you need to seek the services of a man to help you do what you want to do. And I need you for what??? I don't owe you a dang thang. Read this: "I wanted to slap the crap out of you when you offered me $200 to perform a favor because I have pretty lips." It took everything in me to keep my composure then. It was by grace a call from my good friend came through and life was good and I was thankful.

I realize there is a big piece of me I need to work on. Any time I have discontent in my heart for anyone I know it is against my divine purpose to let disgraceful situations fester and sore within me. I'm praying Satan will get behind me and not prevail in my heart and soul over the actions of others which I cannot control.

Peace and a bye-bye.

Positive Energy Resonates the Loudest

It just fascinates me how one little idea sometimes can lead to tremendous returns. I think sometimes I just feed off the positive energy which comes along when someone is really excited about a new business venture. Yes, I'm a sucker for creativity. Just seeing the how a person lights up when they envision the success of their ideas shine on their face is just astounding.

I love working with Entrepreneurs who just keep coming up with ideas. Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Entrepreneurs can be as diverse as night is to day.

Over the years I've had the opportunity to talk with and on occasion work with some people who have some extremely brilliant ideas. It seems the biggest risk takers normally have the greatest ideas which would lead to the greatest opportunities. They are so far reaching with their creativity that if they ever come to pass it would make a huge impact.

I have a person whose calls I had been ignoring recently. He is one of those big idea thinkers. He is always crying broke and when he calls you know prior to talking with him he wants you to do some task which normally involves your time and money. He lives a very lavish lifestyle. Boats, cars, waterfront properties, silk business suits, expensive shoes, dines at the finest restaurants, golfing, weekend resort entertaining and parties. My lifestyle is just as exciting as watching paint dry compared to his.

Well he called and got my private number from my brother. I'm begging for forgiveness for the fib I told that it's my friends phone and he was tired of him calling it. Then I made the mistake of calling him back from my home phone to tell him that. Why he won't call my business contact number I don't know. Most of the time when I shun a project it is because I don't want to get sucked in by someone's negative energy. However, he has me getting caught up in his positive hype. He wanted a website set up for one purpose several months back which the idea must not have panned out because I never did hear of his television show going live.

The reason for the most recent call was he wanted a website for a new business venture according to his voice message. After the passing of a few days another site and a different venture was of more importance after I finally spoke with him. Surprised? No I wasn't. Brainstorming ideas is on auto-pilot with him.

Well anyways I finally got around to setting up a preliminary version of his website. I don't know enough about his industry to speculate as to whether or not I feel it will be a success. He pretty much knew what he wanted as far as graphics, etc. Incredibly I can't wait for him to critique it. He does have outstanding style and taste as well. My guess I will gain invaluable insight from his feedback.

I really am going to have to take the time and pull out my web design template I perfected years ago when I first began doing websites. Lately I've been using a blank piece of paper with no clearly defined boiler plate just winging it. One of the first sites I did was for a social club. Starting out new it was a huge time saver because it was very comprehensive. It got to be a little too much when a member down in Florida wanted me to add in a interactive gaming component. Her idea was fabulous but it was a little much since I was working at cost trying to just have samples available of the work I'm capable of doing. I did refer her to a site which already had something in place they could just tap into. Why reinvent the wheel I would like to have a trend setting project something new and different.

Well anyways, the latest venture is a vacation related website. It is basically geared around people signing on and opting to pay a dollar to rent a vacation property or advertise for a dollar to post their wish list for a vacation rental. The goal is to have a million ads from people around the world looking to rent from exclusive resorts around the world.

Okay chicken feed does not get you a custom designed website with all those bells and whistles. I can't pay bills off a hope, promise, and a maybe. The most appropriate contact would be a venture capitalist.

The last site I set up and the guy offered me a percentage once things take off I refused the percentage. I should have taken it but I have enough on my plate not to be worried about trying to nick pick off someone else. I really hope that if someone does make it to the big time and their dreams become a reality for a successful business they'll just drop me a big fat check in the mail. By the way, any day soon would be really nice. Especially if you opt to sell out to a venture capitalist.

Honestly, I do love working with people who are full of positive energy rather than the doom and gloom pity party folks. This economy has had me leaning enough personally more towards the doom and gloom pity party folks myself so I am glad I finally let past bygones be bygones and went on and met with Mr. Positive. He is an excellent sales person. I think he could sell a major vacation resort in the middle of a desert.

He is just one of those people you look at and there exists an aura about them which shines of success. I do wish him the most successful business endeavor ever. He slighted me in a deal previously but I realize stuff happens.

Realistically, I really needed the burst of good, clean, positive energy. Now that I have his preliminary site set up I can go back to answering his calls again.

He just annoys me with how he never has money and he makes four times what I've made every year in his worst year. Give me a break! He leads a lot of people to think he's broke but I am like no way. His favorite words has to be "do this for me" and I don't see anyone who constantly says that in need of anything. I've been around him where he has asked other people "do this for me". I'm like what do you do for your dang self?

Once the ladies find out there is nothing between us he is even as close to family as family gets they start bringing him chocolates, and catering to him in other ways. I want to tell them so bad don't let the nice car and silk suit fool ya. He devours women as his prey.

His house is off the chain. He designs it so women will drop their panties as soon as they come through the door. He has a sit down area in his downstairs shower off the master bedroom. The best part of his house so he has told me is the master bedroom sits right next to the den so he can go right from the den to the bedroom. There is a sitting area right as you walk into the bedroom with a fireplace separating the sitting area from the master bedroom and a shower in the master bedroom that he loves because it is large enough to fit at least three honeys at the same time. He is so funny because he says everything like it is a matter-of-fact. I be cracking up laughing at him. And then he chides me that I don't think he's serious because I laugh, he'll say for real and I'll laugh even louder. The reason why I laugh is because I think it is ridiculously funny that he even says some of the stuff he says to me with my being a woman. I just found it too hilarious one day when he asked me to set him up with some friends. Why would I do that to a friend? If I meet a good match for him it is on and popping. Now the ones silly enough to start falling all over him without even knowing him I just back up and watch him work them. He doesn't even care if they run in the same circles. I would call him a smooth operator but it would be a serious understatement. When it is his civic duty to offer me relationship advice sometimes I just want to melt through to the floor to disappear out of site.

He has some really brilliant ideas but I think now after having written this post it seems he may want to curtail his operations with women long enough to dedicate to one of his fantastic ideas being executed fully.

I can't wait until he critiques the site. I am just perplexed he didn't ask for any provocative female photos to be included on the site, almost disappointed because it seems outside of his character. I asked him once why I never receive an invite to his parties when I found out he was having this a party with one of his buddies who I would like to meet just to talk in general conversation with. A local well-known entrepreneur. I met him because he sent me to him to do some investment deals with. We never got anything off the ground or had a follow-up conversation and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to catch him away from his work in a relaxed mode one weekend for one of their four-suite weekend golfing parties. He just told me in a matter of fact type way I don't fit the criteria to be invited. The women have to be "hot". He laughed and offered me a free get-a-way package at at a five-star resort of my choice and told me I can take my man. he would have the suites reserved for me and have everything set up with flowers, champagne, etc. Just go and have a good time he told me.

Code Word for Me Is Wife!

Code word for me is "wife". If you have one I don't want you. Not saying it to be mean, saying it to keep it real with self. I would rather be alone than lonely. It really disgusts me to no end when a married brother thinks he has any chance of a relationship with me. Why would I want someone who does not know what the sanctity of marriage is all about? Definitely no more than a friend without benefits always is the most we can be. I love my brothers but not enough to discredit myself.

My word of advice is always to stay with your wife. The woman who you would meet that would agree to be in a relationship with a married man is not worth her weight in dirt. The time you're spending trying to court another woman is the money and time you could be spending improving your relationship with your wife. What you need to do with your spare time is to find a good respectable hobby. The only perfect crime is one no one else knows about. As long as you are involved with another person you are chancing the spread of your infidelity to the world. Does your wife deserve to be tormented because of your wrongdoing?

The ultimate disgrace is when a married man has a baby by a woman who is not his wife. I feel sorry for the wife who has entrusted her life to such an ungrateful fool. Just think about how you would feel if your wife was carrying the child of another man for nine months. You have another woman carrying around your child for nine months and then the drama with child support and all the other financial, personal, and other responsibilities kicking in. Needless to say being unfaithful to the one you committed to be faithful to ads additional undue stress and drama to a marriage. Do you look like a bigger man to your friends? No. They now are probably the very person whispering reminders of how you cannot be trusted into your wife's ear every chance they get. So again, the code word for me is wife. If you have one it equates there will be no relationship for us in my life. Why have a leg when you can have the whole man. I will never settle for less.

So if you feel the urge to cheat on your wife.  Please don't choose me.

It Hit Me Like A Thousand Midnights!

I have been working out with my work out partner with the main goal being her losing weight.  Well today I received some very devastating news.  She has hypothyroidism.  Her weight problem in all probability is not due to her lifestyle it is due to medical reasons.  By lifestyle I mean eating habits, exercise, and weight management initiatives.

Last week I had begun to feel like a failure. We have been following the same routines. On top of that she is a lot more active than me and she was not losing weight.  I was wondering what was wrong.  She didn't appear to be eating a whole lot.  She was exercising much more but the weight was increasing instead of decreasing.

Well the answer came in the mail today with the results of the blood work done during her last doctor visit, she was hypothyroidism.  What a shame.  My heart sunk and I cried.

Sometimes I wonder how life can deal such a blow to a child who doesn't even really understand all that goes with it.  My heart goes out to her.

Now we know the diagnosis, the prognosis is to keep pushing forward to a miraculous weight management regimen utilizing proven methods based on what we now know.  She will take her medicines as prescribed and grandma will probably need a new heart because this one has silently bled to death with such a disappointing setback internally is how I'm feeling right now.  I have a small pity party break.  Breathe.  Breathe.  Breathe.

I am thankful we do know what the cause of the weight is now.  We were always puzzled because she is very athletic.  She can ball when it comes to basketball.  She loves to swim, run, ride her bike, skate, play, jump rope, and have fun.  I can say she has really not let the weight be an issue for her.  In fact, she is fine with her size. 

They say their is no pain or sorrow heaven cannot heal.  I am a believer and this pain and sorrow shall pass.  The devil definitely knows how to hit you in your weakest hour.  I will be prayerful that the Lord will not place on me more than I can bare.  It's how not to worry.  This child is beautiful.  I keep thinking back to how everyone thought I had taken a picture of a porcelain doll when I was showing off her first set of professional baby photos.   I couldn't believe God had blessed me with someone so perfect in my eyes.  Whatever I did to warrant it I have always been truly grateful and appreciative. 


I don't give a crap about most all the other stuff that has happened to me in my lifetime but I care about this.  They say when life deals you lemons turn it into lemonade.  This lemonade is bittersweet right now but it is going to turn out to be acclaimed as an award winning pitcher.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!

The first thing I look for when reading a magazine are specials, offers, and sweepstakes. I went to take my mom to her neurologist appointment the other day and while I was sitting in the waiting room I read an edition of AARP magazine. I don't recall what month it was for.

While I was sitting there I came across some valuable information which apparently not even my mother knew. We frequent quite a few of the restaurants which serve breakfast all day. They serve fresh coffee any time of the day with consistent coffee refills which is very important to us. Yes we live a very exciting life with the best outing being able to go and sit down and have fresh coffee served to us at a table rather than having to fix it and pour it ourselves.  It makes it taste so much better.

I discovered one restaurant we frequent often offers a 20% discount on the ticket and $1 coffee for all the guests by browsing through the magazine. I thought about how much money we could have saved if I had known about that sooner. While I waited I wrote down several websites with information, coupon and discount offers for AARP.  I can see my mom saving a lot of money.

• http://www.aarp.org/doughnuthole
• http://www.aarp.org/work
• http://www.couponmom.com
• http://www.hotcouponworld.com
• http://www.twitter.com/petersgreenberg
• http://www.ConsumerCellular.com/aarp
• http://www.coupons.com
• http://www.aarp.org/homeupdates
• http://aarp.thehartford.com/msb
• http://www.aarp.org/savemoney
• http://www.aarp.org/benefits-discounts/discounts/dining/info-2010/dennys.html 
• http://expedia-aarp.com
• https://www.aarphealthcare.com

We now realize we should check most places we shop for discounts for AARP members for my mom as well. Some offer discounts up to 30% for AARP members.  I think it is great how companies reinvest in the people who helped make this country what it is today.

Giant vs. Giant who would win?

Right about now I am wishing I would have kept on the path less traveled and gotten my masters in Information Systems Analysis and went on to law school to become a corporate attorney. When I think about how much the attorney's battling out the disputes between the internet giants must be billing it makes my head spin even trying to think about it.

Trust it is not a matter of greed one good case would probably set me right. Can you imagine having a portfolio that included setting precedence for the Internet giants: speaking engagements, graduation ceremonies, professorships, board appointments, what wouldn't happen?

I'm wondering what will happen though if Google and FACEBOOK were to stop disallowing cross pollination. What if FACEBOOK says okay no more links to YouTube videos via our website. What would happen if Google filtered FACEBOOK from their search results.

Well let me tell you I would be very disappointed. Who am I? The small fry who depends on the services, creativity, and innovation of these technology giants to make things less cumbersome day-to-day.

What if a user went to hit the share button to share a video they like with their FACEBOOK friends and were no longer able to. I know several of my friends post YouTube videos all the time which helps me to journey down memory lane.

I hope the battle for control or lack of control does not worsen between the internet giants. "Can't we all just get along" as in the famous words of Rodney King.

Crossroads or the Song?

When "All around the world" by Lisa Stansfield came out I was in a relationship with a man who I truly adored. We went out on a date every Friday night with dinner and dancing always part of the agenda. I realized later after having gone to North Carolina with him to meet his parents it was because he came from a beautiful home, it was the most meticulously clean house I had ever seen or seen since. It was hard to imagine he had as many siblings in a smaller house so incredibly clean. He would visit me and I could leave and go shopping and come back and he would clean my house from top to bottom. I was in a two story townhouse at the time and I would be like "man". He could cook too. Men never did any cooking or cleaning when I was growing up or in my house before.

Lisa Stansfield - All around the world



He asked me to marry him and have a child for him. He would pay for me to have reconstructive surgery since I had a tuba ligation after I had my youngest child. The "child" was the show stopper. Initially I had said yes to marriage but I couldn't say yes to having a child. He wanted to get married anyways he said he would continue to love my children as his own.

The day we were supposed to go get married I went to work and I was supposed to be home all day for when he came over for us to go to the justice of the peace. He asked me did I know how much I gave up by not marrying him I was hurting so deep inside I couldn't muster up a reply. "Yes I do".

Every time I hear this song it reminds me there are some good and wholesome people in the world because I was going through a crossroads in my life. I was ready to get married for the first time ever and I couldn't go through with it because I didn't want to deny him the pleasure of having his own biological children. Yes I knew how much I gave up and it hurt like crazy.

I know what a huge difference having children can have on your life and I knew I was done with having babies. I had always vowed I wanted all my children to have the same father so I didn't want to start a second set.

He made me laugh, me made my children laugh, my family loved him. My grandmother and mother would cook and bake for us (mainly him) every Sunday. He made them smile. He was the only man my grandmother ever liked that I was in a relationship with. She would actually sit, talk, and laugh with him. He had a beautiful smile that would warm any room. Everything about him was on point. He wanted to pay for me to have reconstructive surgery to have another child. In hindsight, the Lord definitely knew best.

I often wonder where he is now and how he's doing. I adored him, my children adored him, and my friends liked him. He was handsome, funny, witty, and smart. I've always looked to see him in print because he told the most creative and best stories ever. I used to always tell him he was going to miss his calling if he didn't become a writer.

I let a good one go.

Okay #3 Is by Diana Ross

I wish the radios would play this song sometimes so I can reminisce more in the realm of hearing it on the radio.  "Touch Me In The Morning" by Diana Ross is around my 3rd favorite song.  I want the radio to play it so I can turn the music up real load.  I be listening for it all the time but it doesn't seem to get the play time.



I love a handful of her other songs as well.  I remember when I was in college I would pass time by having the sheet music for some of her tunes like Mahagony to play in the piano room.  I played it so much I memorized the notes back then phrase by phrase.  I loved the piano arrangement for Mahagony.

Well I like music that is slow and easy.  Does it show?

2nd Day of Comfort

Okay.  Normally when you have one artist you really like it is easy for your top one or two songs to be performances by them. 

Well if you read my post from yesterday you may have already guessed my favorite song for today is "Home".  I absolutely love this song.  Every time I need a pick me listening to this song serves as a great inspiration. 




Stephanie is singing the heck out of this song.  I've heard her perform it live and the performance was truly outstanding. 

My Favorite Song Week

What type of music a person likes normally speaks volumes for me.  I know personally my favorite songs are gospel tunes and songs that are very soulful.

One of my favorite artists is Stephanie Mills.  The number one song I like of hers is "Comfort of A Man" because of the musical accompaniment and how much soulfulness it projects.  I like comfort and listening to this song relaxes me.  You may be able to guess the one word title I'm going to feature tomorrow.



I wish they still made music like this.  Music that's soft enough to sit back and listen to and enjoy.  It's one of those songs that is very fitting for a special one-on-one private candle lit dinner at home with music and nice chilled glasses of wine.  Watching this video makes me appreciate how special the alone times are and how looking great when you're just chilling with your man is not something to take lightly.  The whole scenery and props in this video are simple making it easier to relate to.  A concept which is easily conceptualized and duplicated which brings it closer to home.

Broke? You Can Pay Attention

I've been just taking it easy lately for lack of anything constructive to do.  I would like to have this much free time with a large bank account, however, since my current situation doesn't dictate that I've come to learn that being broke definitely causes me to pay attention.

I find myself reading more in-depth into blogs, articles, and news reports as to what is going on.   One of the most interesting things I find which I never really found very interesting before where the Google Alerts I receive.  At one time I only had the alerts set up to alert me on "real estate" topics and news.  I've since expanded my alerts reach to include my name "Lynne Ruffin", my computer-related services business name "Web Styles", and now I'm thinking about alerting my "Natural Blackness" for updates.  I checked my inbox on my NaturalBlackness.com today and I have not personally given the email to anyone but I was overloaded with 133 emails.

Now getting back on topic, virtual alerts can give you new insight!  I set Google Alerts a while back but never really paid much attention to them.  Now I find some of them down right hilarious.  It is amazing what some other people with "Lynne Ruffin" are up to.  I feel good when I see my "Lynne Ruffin" show up when I make a change to my website and it must resonate somewhere at the top of the alerts because I receive an alert.  I see some gibberish some days because it seems some people set up pages just to capture all the days alerts.  Not too bad of an idea if you have that kind of time because I sure the website ends up getting hits from the Google Alert users like me.



The real estate alerts are very interesting.  Alerts in regards to what is happening in real estate markets all over the world.    My efforts lately have focused on trying to set myself up to capture more of an online market for my computer related services company.  When someone is looking for Lynne Ruffin I want them to find me.  As more people look to establish their website presence online I want them to come across one of my websites to purchase their domain name, hosting account, website design, database development and troubleshooting, "Yes!", I want them to find me!  I feel it is very important to keep abreast of what is going on that may impact you, your business, or the goods or services you provide.

I can imagine companies in the past paid handsomely for strategic planners, market research analysts, etc. to do some of the work setting up a simple alert will do.  I can even set up alerts to monitor what competing businesses are doing and what new initiatives they are undertaking.  Hey of course I don't want the competition offering something (especially online) I don't offer.  It's all in the planning and thanks to the alerts I can do more strategically.  I can monitor what the tops in the field are doing in my strive to make as much money monthly online as they are making.  I would say more but in all honesty just a pinch will do there are a lot of high rollers in the online world.

I can even set up an alert to help keep up with what is happening with the businesses for the websites I set up so I can offer new products to coincide with what is happening in their market.  Kitchen cabinets and see what the competitors are doing and how the market is in his side of the world.

The thing I love about it is the alert information is in my inbox for me to read at my leisure.  I can spend the morning keeping up-to-date on what is happening with "web styles".  I can spend the afternoon looking to see what's happening with my name.  I can spend evenings and nights looking at social and cultural stuff.  It seems similar to having a image coach, marketing assistant, and personal adviser all rolled into one.

The best part Google Alerts are easy to set up.  All you have to do is go to www.Google.com/Alerts and flow from there.  The alerts will start flowing in as they come up.  You can choose the frequency as to how often you want to receive them.  I receive my alerts "daily". 

How Does Your One Word Focus Impact Your Outcome?

Okay good news today on people getting jobs again.  A steady increase over the past four months is very encouraging.  With all the posts I've read on FACEBOOK today it made me reflect on my local area.  What is different between now and when the economy seemed to be really flourishing when I was a little girl. 

It finally dawned on me how much of an impact the word of focus in leading a project or issue forward impacts the outcome.  I recollect when I was a little girl around the age of twelve when girls weren't women fast, our church was undergoing a renovation.  As I recall the focus was "preservation".  Preserving a historically aged building to try and restore it to its original grandeur.  Of course the cost of materials would have been too great to restore all the ivory, brass, and railings with the original material.  However the restoration was still very well done.

Okay time went on and my focus was on middle school and high school years.  My personal focus was just getting through.  The teachers I had who I felt were bigots were unfortunately the same teachers who would become the heads of their respective departments when my children attended my alma mater.  So sad. 

Anyways, I went away to college and returned to the area permanently years later.  It appeared things changed drastically.  Drug usage in the black community was on the rise which was astounding.  Being someone who never used drugs it had to be very rampant for me to be aware of it.  Prior to college I did not know it was such an issue.  Over the years I would learn from talking with others who planned never to make this area their permanent home again it was apparently an issue to some degree before I left.

At the time it didn't cause me much issue for pause because it wasn't as widespread as it is today.  As the years progressed I noticed more and more non-profit organizations closing their doors or suffering financially waiting on grants and other forms of income to keep them afloat.  It really seemed the flavor of the whole non-profit base or foundation they had been established early on had changed.  Non-profits were becoming more business like and less socially and economically oriented for the good of the people.

Structurally the focus when I was twelve seemed to be around "preservation".  Over the years the area focus seemed to at one time to have switched to "conversation" and then it appeared it shifted into gears fast during the housing boom forward into one of "new construction". 

Overall I don't think this area has been too swift on long term business retention and creating a warm fuzzy with businesses for their continued growth and success in this area.  When I was a young girl it appeared the non-profit and government leaders poured their time, energy, heart, and soul into the betterment of the area as a whole.  As time progressed it appeared things became more commercial and mechanical.  It was just a nine to five job no substance in the way of life prospering for citizens or change for the better. 

The heart of the core existence of the area seems to have been lost somewhere along the way which I think has contributed heavily to the economic decline and blight in the areas hit hardest.  When I was a little girl I would have never imagined places like Burger Chef, Woolworths, Rices Nachmans, Hofheimers, and Smith and Welton, Peggy's closing their doors.  Some where able to stay in business longer than others and I don't know what dictated their fate.  It was sad to see them go.  I can remember how they were packed with shoppers this time of year, the beautiful store decorations, moms who didn't work all year long normally picking up a part-time job during the holiday season. 

Now there are some businesses who have withstood the hands of times like Doumar's and Dog and Burger that I use to frequent when I attended Maury High School.  The photo studio where I took my high school portraits, McIntosh (sp.) is no longer there a realty company sits in its place.  I remember picking up my monthly Dell Crossword Puzzle book right down the street for years from the Roses store.  The Burger King my high school boyfriend frequented each Friday night after the football games and was traditionally packed during lunch time when I was in high school was one of the biggest surprises for me in seeing a business shut its doors.  It was like a high school landmark for him.  The girls knew where to get close to him without me being around because I wasn't allowed to hang out after the games. 

The Church Street corridor with places like Toy Sun (smoke and rice on Friday night), Perkins Market (candy, potato chips, and pickles every Sunday after Sunday School right before Church how did the children after me survived without it I don't know?).  Simpkins (my favorite hard candy in bulk), I miss those places. 

With the poor voter turnouts in the last two local elections and the expressions of apathy expressed I'm beginning to understand why even though I would hope things would be different.  There is a mall downtown but it doesn't have the same wholesome feel as the stores who had the same employees for years who knew your name and you knew theirs.  They have a food court with a larger selection of food but it's not the same as the mainstay places were you could match up the amount of your allowance with what items you were going to look forward to getting off the menu each week. It just seemed the stuff was served with a little more compassion than commercialism.  I thinking we should head back to a strategy of "preservation" it just seemed to work better.

I'm wondering if the city includes in its five year plan, its ten year plan, its future plans anything in regards to community building with a connection to community.  Does it include factors like the impact the businesses have on helping to sustain non-profits like the Boys and Girls Club?  Do they have a weighted factor as to the overall impact a business has on their respective city?  How much does the business contribute to community activities, community sponsorships, taxes, jobs, human lives, local school initiatives, etc.

Does it look to see how many good men the efforts of different businesses help to build?  Does it look at how many good men lives they've impacted directly or indirectly?  How many good men consequently left the area because even though the resources were there to build them, unfortunately the resources were not there to sustain them?  Why did they had to leave the area to for better opportunities, diversity, and to be a success they never would have become here?

Do they see when you don't support your most valuable, assets the people, your walls of your other tangible assets will tumble down around you.  Maybe look more towards giving a hand than a handout.  Why do the parts of society where they give handouts end up being their only sustaining communities that they have to create redevelopment plans and initiatives to eliminate.  I mean really when do you realize it is time to go back to the drawing board and start over?

I would challenge them to look at the plight of a whole class of blacks who graduated in the early 80's and see what the difference was between those who left the area and those who stayed and the reason why those who left won't be coming back.  Look at the areas with the most blight and see why a generation of hard working blacks who had homes in areas which were once considered affluent for blacks sit vacant and abandoned now.  The city is quick to blame blight on slum landlords.  The truth hurts so I guess what's on the surface is the easiest answer to embrace.  Could it be because it is not documented the families worked hard to make a better life for their children who are prospering so well they decided to abandon the homes rather than actively become a slum landlord or to come back.  They don't want to come back long term and look in the faces of the friends the systems and processes have failed. They don't want to look in the faces of friends and families who have been overtaken by the wrong elements (drugs).  Even though there has been a lot of money expended on issues and projects if we were measuring ROI we would be in the red.

Why Did He Let the Dog Out on Us?

Last evening all my grand girls and me exercised to music and then went walking for about 30 minutes.  One of the things I've learned recently and can really appreciate from the health classes is working out doesn't have to be fancy.  It doesn't require being a member of a gym with all the latest amenities to get in great shape.  You can go for a long walk and do exercise activities along the route and at intervals.  Weight management is not about dieting it is a lifestyle change.  Healthy eating and regular workout routines needs to be a part of daily living.

We used YouTube to play a workout song we could do a group dance routine to.  I really like having three granddaughters to workout with.  It is one of those times I get to enjoy leading them in group activity.  Of course, we include time where each of them can lead a routine for the group to follow. 

Well we went walking and I think probably as a joke someone let their dog out the yard.  It was a small pit bull looked liked a mix between being a pup and full grown.  Well, anyways, the guy waited until we walked past his house and then let the dog out without a leash.  The dog clearly had a collar on for attaching a leash so I think the guy did it as a joke.  The dog too off running after me and my grand girls.  The two oldest ran without saying a word or looking back as they ran the dog took off running.  The youngest of the bunch stopped to witness the excitement from both ends.  I yelled at the dog and he stopped in his tracks to run back towards his house.  Then he started at us again and I yelled louder and pointed and told him to go back home and he did.

I was livid.  Why would some idiot think its funny to let a dog out on a woman and three girls?  I hope he does it again I'm go yell at him instead of yelling at the dog.

My youngest granddaughter found it funny.  I felled to find the humor in it. 

Blacks Failed Miserably!

Okay let's look at this last election as if it were a test.  To get a 100% on the test all you do is show up and vote.  Now lets say your score is based on the turnout of your race.  Thus, as a whole blacks failed miserably on this last test. 

How would you feel if you were sitting in class and you had an opportunity to get a 100% on a test and you ended up with a 4.7%?  If it was a national literary test or a test for employment blacks would be screaming it was racially biased if they ended up with an average score of 4.7%.  Lawyers and lawsuits would be flying like flying saucers.

Failing tests has never been my thing.  Personally I'm outraged and I know there are probably 95.3% of the black voting population that may not care.  Or at least their actions in this last election support symptoms of apathy.

So my question is why when blacks are faced with an opportunity to succeed on a test by just showing up blacks fail miserably?  Blacks got 95.3% of it wrong.  What happened?  As a group blacks left 95.3% of the questions unanswered.  The answers did not require any studying, like voting it was a choice whether or not you wanted to study the candidates position for this test.  On an individual basis, there were no wrong answers.  The only thing that was going to happen was the answers were going to be counted to determine a winner.  For purposes of this test blacks were counted as a whole to equal 100%. 

You could have had the test (ballot) read to you if you couldn't read it. Close your eyes and make a selection if you wanted to.

The most perplexing question is who do blacks really support?  Well I really don't think blacks had enough of a turnout to call it.  Elections are not a random sampling folks.  Elections are held for people to exercise their right to vote. 

The initial inference is that everyone who is registered to vote will come out to vote, thus that's were the 100% comes from.  If I was looking at statistics like this I would quickly surmise this was a random sampling, 4.7% out of a population of  100%. However, the election is not a random sampling, it is all-inclusive of 100% of the registered voter population.  Elections are not designed to be random samplings they are designed to include the whole population of registered voters.

If you feel so strongly your vote doesn't make a difference vote anyways to get blacks closer to the 100% turnout.  Make a difference with the margin of error being towards at least making the count. 

If the candidates appearing on the ballot are not impressive, well you have the opportunity to affect change in that regards as well.  Don't wait until the last minute. Start early helping to get candidates on the next ballot who would empower you and the other 95.3% who didn't vote to get inspired with the initiative to get out and vote.  In fact, why not start today researching what you needs to happen for a person to run for election.

Get it together and get candidates who meet your standards on the ballot.  Then maybe we can turn the percentages around and get a 95.3% turnout and a 4.7% no show rate.  Our children are watching what is happening. 

As long as anyone succumbs to indifference things won't change.  Change can only be affected from within.   I certainly hope this is not a message that 95.3% of blacks don't think change is necessary.  Lord help us.  If there are only 4.7% out of a possible100% in the the game it sends the message we are okay with more of the same.  Does the word "complacency" ring a bell?

Now when blacks complain about anything the response to 95.3% of them will be "shut up".  And we know blacks don't like to be told "shut up".  When I was a child those were fighting words.  Blacks had a voice and did not use it at an alarming rate of about 95.3%.

Learn to be a team player and play the game by the rules. I'm dismayed my grandchildren are having to listen to these reports of apathy on the news.  Is apathy becoming the new black?  I certainly hope not.

Congratulations to the Winners!

For all the areas where the election results are in I would just like to say Congratulations to the winners!

I Was Wiping Away the Tears Tonight!

Before Photo

This week seems to be full of "Grandma Do's".  On Monday night I went swimming with my oldest granddaughter.  She is participating in a very comprehensive 10 week Healthy You program.  As of late I have been the designated driver and partner attendee for her.

I've been listening to tips on eating healthy at least once a week over the past few weeks.  I've been working out, dancing, and getting more exercise in our goal to succeed at weight management.  

At tonight's class we watched a documentary which was done around 2003 entitled "Fat Like Me".  They dressed up a teenager in a fat suit for 24 hours and had her attend a different high school for a day.  The students reaction to her was that of laughter, snide remarks, and flat out rejection.

We have work to do!

The students were stunned when they saw her without the fat suit afterward when she went back to let them know who she really was.  The panel discussion they had as part of the documentary questioning the students about their reactions to the student being overweight was tear jerking. 

The part which touched me the most was when a family with seven children had one obese child who was even teased by her own father and brother about her weight.  The mother's stance was admirable when she sat the husband down and let him know "we did this" and "we need to make it right."  Okay if this was the part where we needed to raise our hands showing guilt I would have had to raise mine as well.

I recall when my granddaughter was younger any time she wanted to go to eat out, wanted ice cream, wanted candy, wanted anything well she got it.  I realized it was getting out of hand one day when we passed one hamburger joint when we were out and by the time we came across another one she wanted to stop again.  I thought to myself it is no way she can be hungry again that soon.

Here we are years later and I'm reaping what I helped to sow.  I try and encourage her to eat healthy all the time now. She thankfully loves healthier selections like salads, vegetables, and fruits over meats.

We're making a good start after swimming and hot tub!

Well the most incredible part of the session tonight was when I heard some of the accounts of the parents in the room after the documentary.  One lady told of how one of her sons was bullied by "the teacher".  Then another lady had a similar account.  I was sitting there with tears falling down my face as she recounted how her son came home from school and wanted to kill himself because of it.  How truly sad.  One of the children in middle-school wanted to end his life due to how he has been bullied about his weight.  What parent deserves for their child to be humiliated by the very person who is considered a person in authority? 

Well seeing how emotional the parent became with telling the story filled me with emotion as well.  When another parent had a similar story water fountain (tears) were streaming down my face. 

The session made me realize I need to continue to do as much as I can to help my grandchild manage her weight.  She is disciplined in regards to her eating habits in a lot of ways. I don't want her to suffer the debilitating treatment received by youth just because they are overweight.  As a family we feel it is more of her to love but unfortunately we can look to other children and society to view her the same way.  We are at completely different sides of the spectrum on this issue.

What a full day!  PTA Fall Festival attended before tonight's health session.

I will go swimming, workouts, walking, and most anything else I can do to help her with her weight management goals and directives.  She too has been called fat so, fat, ugly and been bullied because of her weight.

After tonight it made me realize she may be suffering more than I could have imagined.  When I was her age I wasn't a bully but the bullies didn't mess with me either.  I normally helped defend the defenseless from the bullies.  I hated to see other people bullied.  I just can't imagine why people are so blatantly cruel intentionally to a minor child or to anyone.

I'm going to add a whole lot more prayer to this routine because she is a sweet girl and she doesn't deserve any foul treatment because of her weight. Tonight was a wake up call as to how we can't control how cruel others may treat her due to her weight.  She was wearing a devil costume tonight but she doesn't live the part.  She is sweet as apple pie. Now I'm wondering if it would be taking things overboard to be a full-time volunteer at her school and be at her beck and call all day. 

 Admittedly, I have put on about the same number of overweight pounds she has because I was taking things out of proportionate moderation as much as she was when it was coming to enjoying mom's cooking, sweets and fast food we loved.   We're going to do this weight control journey together.

What we won't do for love!

Without a doubt I adore my grandchildren.  If I get a "Grandma do" list I try and oblige.  Well tonight was no exception.  The Grandma do for tonight was "go swimming".  Yes swimming in October! 

She is going through a 10 week health program and I'm trying to help encourage and motivate her.  However, I think at times I'm embarrassing myself with her.  Last week I was dancing to music as part of a workout session.  She has been wanting me to take her swimming all weekend long.  We finally went tonight. 

Thankfully she had a great time.  She did a whole lot of laps.  I used the life preserver and the lap board from the beginning.  Once the hot tub was freed up I got in the hot tub.  Afterward, I just waited on her to finish swimming.  I ended up calling her out the pool because it was getting really late. 

We took before and after photos.  At the end of the total 10 week session one of us should look physically healthier.  I think she's about half way through.  I don't know how many more sessions I will be attending with her but I have learned a lot and feel more strongly about eating more healthy and the importance of making exercise a part of daily activities.

I'm getting to spend more quality time with someone I love dearly.  She had the audacity to tell me last week I was embarrassing her because of my performance at dance class.  LOL!  She told me tonight I can't swim.

The big piece of it all is I'm supporting her in her efforts to maintain her weight.

When you can't see reality for the trees!

Good question.  Let's take a quick review just the Executive Branch of goverment.   This is the branch I would feel would be responsible collectively for the smooth operation of our country and all the services it provides to citizens.

Executive Branch - President Barack Obama - have done a tremendous amount of work.  In fact so much work it makes me tired just reviewing it all.

• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce 
• Department of Defense 
• Department of Education 
• Department of Energy 

So this post won't be 10 years long let's start with taking a look at one Department.  The winner is The Dpartment of Commerce.  If I had a dollar for every time I have heard the word "economy" over the last few years I could probably retire rich without ever having to work again.

Department of Commerce has the following bureaus, departments, and national services under its administration per Wikipedia.





 Bureau of Industry and Security 

• Economics and Statistics Administration  
• Bureau of Economic Analysis 
• Bureau of the Census 
• Economic Development Administration 
• International Trade Administration  
• Invest in America 
• Office of Travel and Tourism Industries 
• United States Commercial Service 
• Minority Business Development Agency 
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
• National Weather Service 
• National Oceanic Service 
• National Geodetic Survey 
• National Marine Fisheries Service 
• National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service 
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
• Patent and Trademark Office  
• Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences 
• Trademark Trial and Appeal Board 
• National Institute of Standards and Technology  
• National Technical Information Service

Okay that's enough for this department for now.  I really feel enough said.  But for those who still have your doubts check back for a more in-depth analysis before election day.

Don't discount candidates based on their party affiliation.  Ask all the candidates some candid questions and see if they know anything about government administration.  I'm just saying.  There is a wealth of information available for research online.  Learn to form your own opionions and ideas.  Hey in fact I'm the last person who would try and shove my opinion of anything down anyone's throat.  Check out the facts for yourself. 

Vote Like Your Future Depends On It!

I've seen a lot of comments of apathy lately.  Why?  I'm wondering if some people live in a different space and time.  This upcoming election is very important.  Our country is facing some serious issues and it is not a time to become complacent.  We who have the right need to get out and vote.

I'm not pushing one party over another.  I am pushing for candidates who are proponents for a transparent agenda with accountability and responsibility high on their list of priorities.

Let's not play politics let's play fair!

There are issues which need to get dealt with.  Let's not look along racial lines, let's not look along party lines, lets not look along the lines of putting our personal differences and disagreements above what is right and what is wrong.

Our children need us to make a difference!

My concern is that the educational quality of some of our school systems are at an all-time low.  We need to graduate stellar students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.   The quality of services we receive are lower and the taxes we pay continually increase.  My biggest concern is what type of country will we leave to our children, our grandchildren?   What type of place will we have to look forward to growing old in? 

Let's support strong agendas which will not lead to further decline.

Vote!  Let the voice of the people show once again it can be heard if we show up and show out.  Don't be a victim of apathy.  This is not the time to turn the other cheek.  This is not the time to be quiet.  This is not the time to leave it to others to decide. 

Let's not let money be a determining factor.  Campaign money does not directly translate into election day votes.  People getting out to vote and voting for the candidate of their choice leads to campaign votes.

This upcoming election is too important!  Stay mindful that all the upcoming and all future elections are critical to our livelihood.  If I have not learned anything else over the past 10 years it is U. S. politics does have a major impact on the lifestyle of All Americans.

I admit I was apathetic until I saw a story on television about a family being displaced due to foreclosure.  What really touched me about the story was there appeared to be two young girls who when their parents became homeless they became homeless as well.  I don't know what I was thinking before but a foreclosure story has never impacted me like that one.  All I could do was cry.  A family who purchased their home during the boom real estate times and now their dream had gone bust.

The issues which touch my heart the most are those which impact our children like foreclosures when children become homeless, fewer children graduating from high school, fewer children having a job to look forward to when they graduate from high school or college, fewer children having summer job opportunities, boys and girls clubs doors being shut, no community based activities available in economically depressed neighborhoods, children being victims of this war on drugs because they have a mother, father, or both parents who are addicts.  I imagine the elders who have gone before me must be turning over in their graves. 

Change can only be affected from within.  I'm tired of seeing the alarming number of prisons they are building to house more prisoners.  I would much rather see the money go towards enhancing the current state of our schools and institutions of higher learning to make our students globally competitive in mathematics, engineering, and the applied sciences.

We should be dedicating time and resources to making sure there are programs available in economically distressed neighborhoods to make sure children have positive outlets.  It seems the streets have been taken over by thugs and gangs and our children are unfortunately seeing the bling as they only ray of hope.  We need children off the streets once again and in productive environments.  We need our children to feel safe at school.  We need our children to have hope for tomorrow.  

Make a difference.  I encourage you to not only vote, but vote like your future and the future of the children of our nation depends on it!

Looking to Rent A Home?

The number of  rental inquiries seem to be on the rise.  The good thing is our Mulitple Listing Service (MLS) provides the capability to set up an auto-notification of rental listings to help renters with their home search.  The best part is we can customize the search. 

Some of the items we can customize a search based upon include but not limited to the following:

• Number of bedrooms
• Number of bathrooms
• Garage
• School
• List Price Range
• Date Available
• Pets or Pet Restrictions
• City
• Subdivision
• Fireplace
• Lease Type
• Lease Term
• Pool
• Section 8 Allowed
• Rent Includes (i.e. water, sewer, trash pickup, etc.)
• View (street, water, bay, etc.)
• Unit Level
• Fenced
• Flooring
• Appliances
• Year Built
• # Stories
• Approximate Square Footage

 As a real estate professional I can customize the search for a rental pretty much the same way I customize a search when someone is looking to purchase a home.  With the increase in the number of rentals I have been showing as of late I wanted to point out renters have options too. 

Go with an agent who is technologically savvy enough to refine the search for your rental to the criteria most important to you for your next home.  Whether you're looking to rent or buy I'm sure you want your home to be your comfort zone. 

I have been furnishing Lead Based Paint Pamphlet when showing rentals because it is even specified on some  rental listings to provide a Lead Based Paint Pamphlet upon showing the property.

There are some really nice rental properties available. I've noticed more real estate rental listings are now including virtual tours.

 I post a rental hot sheet on my website and try to update it a few times a week.  If you click on the address it usually takes you to a map of the location.  This is one feature I plan to include in future auto-notification of rental listings to my clients.

Let me know if you are looking to rent a home in the Hampton Roads area  and would like a customized search set up for you.  You can send an email request to Lynne@LynneRuffin.com or Lynne.Ruffin@LongAndFoster.com.

If you see a rental you are interested in you can look up the property details by using my real estate search page.  There is no registration required to use this feature.

Lynne Ruffin
REALTOR®

Direct:
757-309-2763

Email:
Lynne@LynneRuffin.com
Website:
www.LynneRuffin.com

Lynne Ruffin is a REALTOR licensed with Long and Foster Realtors of Norfolk, Virginia.

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    PB

Happy House Hunting!