Happy Thanksgivings Everyone!

I am especially thankful I have a high speed internet connection again.  Over the past few days I have been using a dial-up connection exclusively.  I can just say I can get stuff done in a matter of minutes that it was taking hours to do on a dial-up.  Dial-up didn't seem so bad when it was the only option available in my home years ago.  After using a high speed internet connection of any type going back to dial up is painstaking.

I am thankful for the experience because it made me realize how much things in our every day lives can be taken for granted.  Things sometimes progress so rapidly and so well and we get to a certain plateau in life and forget to give thanks for everything.  We forget about the obstacles we have been able to overcome often times too quickly.  It is not a matter of dwelling in the past but appreciating the past and like the old adage says "not forgetting where we come from."  Not forgetting where we come from can apply to our personal lives, our professional lives, are family life, our educational pursuits, or our financial positions.  There is so much which impacts each and every life.

Thanksgiving is always a special day which serves as an annual reminder to stop and give thanks for friends, family, and fellowship.  Moreover, a reminder to stop and give thanks to the Lord for all he has done and continues to do.  He puts angels amongst us to help us through our most troubling times.  I don't know about you but I know my God has never failed me.  I've been mainly self-employed since January 2006 and it has not been easy.  It is a challenge I wanted to take on when I was married years ago and to take it on as a single person with no financial backup was very daring to say the least.  The market has changed from the boom it was when I ventured out on my own and it has been only by God's grace, goodness, and tender mercies that I have been able to survive at all.  Especially when I got sick in June of 2008, the market started heading south overall in real estate.  It has been tough but it has been God's grace and goodness that I have been able to preserver. 

When others have strayed away because of my hard times God has stayed faithful.  A friend in need is a friend in deed.  I am thankful that I will always have a friend in Jesus.  If I am broken in spirit, down-trodden or need fixing I lean not to my own understanding but let go and let God have the helm.  Like one of favorite all time spirituals says it best "The Battle is Not Yours It's the Lords".  This year is the first year in my 48 year existence that I have filed a formal complaint against anyone.  Normally I do something the devil won't do and just let a bad situation go.  I'm praying for peace still for the party not to be aggrieved and get the reprieve he deserves because everything was done in good faith.

It is only by the Grace of God that so many of the modern amenities we enjoy today have come to fruition.  I am sure most will agree no one man has orchestrated connecting people, places, and things together to make this world what it is today.  No one man caused this nation to be in its present state of affairs in one day.  All the worlds problems will probably not be resolved in one day or one term.  We miss the mark when we put all our faith in one man.  All our faith, hope, and trust should be placed in our Almighty God to bless man to do accomplish the impossible.

If it was not for early engineers and pioneers we wouldn't have the telephone.  Without the telephone I would never have had dial-up internet service, without dial-up internet service there would never have been someone's desire to have faster internet connection speeds which brought about high speed internet service.  In all things I'm thankful for the journey.

I'm especially thankful on today that in my 48 years the way my family prepares candied yams has never changed.  A skillet, a stick of butter, a pack of brown sugar blended on top of the stove to desired consistency (not juicy and not thick) to make the syrup to pour over the already peeled and baked sweet potatoes cut in half and laying in the baking dish waiting for the juicy goodness. Then baked in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Scrumptious!  One of my all time Thanksgiving favorites.  Enjoy your day. 

Dumb Rocks Break Windows of Opportunity

I'm keep this one short.  I could probably vent for days on this topic.  I remember when I used to play the clarinet.  I had played ever since I was in elementary school. 

During my later years playing the clarinet some time in middle school or high school I was participating in a regional event.  I'll never forget when I was at rehearsal and I was playing on one of what I considered my golden reeds the Mitchell Lurie 4-1/2 Reed.  I used my allowance to purchase them from the music store.   The conductor stopped the band and looked right at me and I asked me to play my part and I did.  Then he asked the young lady sitting next to me to play her part and she did.  Then he asked me what type of reed was I playing on and I told him very proudly.  Then he asked if I had a RICO 2-1/2 reed.  And I was like yes I have a box of those in my case.  He said play with the 2-1/2 because your intonation is way too much better than hers. 

It took me a while, years, to be able to be proficient enough to play on my golden reeds.  All my practice efforts I felt like where knocked down in a brief statement. 

Lately I'm beginning to feel like that when it comes to technology related issues.  There are people setting policy and procedures everywhere on a daily basis which impacts technology.  I don't know a person or place which is not impacted this day and time by some form of technology or technological device.  I could just scream at some of the legislation, policy, or procedures put into place recently in regards to the use of data from some portals.  Furthermore, the policy and procedure in regards to the display of data you have paid to access on some sites.

I don't know a website designer or developer who sets up a site to not have it optimized to do everything they have had time to think up and implement.  Most often there is a lot of stuff they want to implement but don't have the time or resources to do it all.

Well, then there comes a big wave of help from folks setting rules and regulations as to what you can and cannot do.  I don't know whether to thank them or be upset that some of the pages it took me years to refine to a point where I am proud of I can no longer utilize. 

Technology is a big ticket item.  Look at how much some web portals have made and are making with the use of technology.  People are using it.  One portal brags over 350 million registered users. 

I remember years ago businesses, organizations, clubs, any structured group would do a feasibility study prior to implementing new policies and procedures that would impact a major percentage of its member population.  I'm just offering those who are looking to make technology decisions do a feasibility study to solicit feedback from your members as to how they feel the change will impact them. 

The changes I have seen implemented lately in some mediums as far as technology makes me want to sit on my hands.  What good is it to have the ability to create and implement dynamic, interactive content on a website if regulation, policy, and procedures over regulate what, when, where, how, and who you can and cannot utilize data.

Well I said this was going to be short and in actuality it is a lot shorter than the three drafts prior to this one. It only took less than an hour but I could vent for days on how not to hinder the efforts of others who use technology very well to pacify those who don't have a clue what a dynamic web page even is.

Our Family Veterans

I can recall the Veteran's in my family back to my Great Grandfather Walter Clayton Cowan, Sr. who lived in our home when I was a child.  I have his Social Security card which was issued back in 1938.  It was the first year Social Security Cards were issued. 

Back then I did not understand his plight.  He wore a green jacket all the time.  In his last years he was a recluse and stayed in his room a lot.  The only time he really came out was when me and my brother would knock on the wall closest enough for him to hear and take off running to try and get him to come out the upstairs bedroom.  We would knock and then run.  Most of the time he would just ignore us.  One time he was waiting for us to perform our antics and scared the living heck out of us.  He was in an adjacent room and waited on us to do our mischief then leaped out at us.  Fortunately the doors in the upstairs were Jack and Jill style where my brother took off in one direction and I took off in the other direction screaming.  It was one of the only times I ever saw him standing.  I think he died of a broken heart because his wife preceded him in death.  From all accounts I've ever heard she was a loving and warm person and they were very close.


My grandfather served in World War I.  He was with our family until his final days which were spent in a VA Hospital with throat cancer.  It was the saddest day of my life when he passed.  I never met anyone as loving and as genuine as my grandfather.  He had lots of friends and family who surrounded him most of his years.  He was a warm and genuine person as well.  He would always look out for his grandchildren.  The only time he got riled up about anything is if you messed with one of his grands.  And then he let his no-nonsense wife handle things while he stood back.

My father was a Navy Veteran.  All the military men on my maternal side are Army Veterans.  

It's the great men and women who served this country and fought to protect it and its citizens because of their love for family, home, and country.  Their efforts span for generations and leave long and lasting loving memory of their honor. 

I came across a website today and if you're looking to give back to those who served you may want to check it out it is Serve.gov.  Thank you to all who serve and all the family members, friends, and others who support their service to our great country.