Terry Martin-Back's posterous

I really hope, those of “You” who read this, this is not a reflection of how “You” appear to the public… 

I tried to call “you” today… your phone prompting system would never direct me or ask me the right question; I just didn’t know which department I needed to go to… I don’t think we can do business together.

I finally got to you through “your” phone prompting system today and after I figured out what your four digit extension was.  You have such a nice voice on your message, but today is Tuesday and you reminded me that you were going to be out of the office all day… last Thursday; so I am to assume you still haven’t showed up to work? I don’t think we can do business together.

After trying to deal with “your” phone system, (it must be me, I just can’t figure out how to use the phone systems), I decided to drive to “your” office and maybe have the opportunity to speak with you face to face, as I feel your phone system must not be working correctly.  The pretty girl behind the desk, who looked up at me ,after about a minute of texting on her cell phone, was very friendly and would help me… her phone rang and she had to handle a personal emergency… thirty seconds later, the emergency was solved and she would be able to meet her friend around five on Friday as she would leave work a little early. 

She didn’t know if you were in, she tried to contact you in your office but there was no answer… she went to the computer and sent you an email to advise you, I was at the office… and no, I’ll try again later.  No, don’t bother; I don’t think we can do business together.

So I went home and called “your” office.  Your receptionist seemed very busy and quickly put me on hold but shortly returned and asked; how may I help you?  No, you were not in but you should be in shortly and if I could leave my name and number, you would return my call and if I had any questions about the company, I could just go to your web site and see how wonderful your business is.  So after I hung up the phone, I went to your web site… very impressive, lots of information and I’m waiting for you to return a call… waiting… It’s now five in the afternoon, so I tried calling you back; I can tell by your web site, you must be very busy and working late.  Wouldn’t you know it; your office was closed and if I would just leave a short message and my number, you would get right back with me… Uh, I’m sorry I called; I don’t believe we can do business together.

The next morning, I called, “you”, and you answered your phone.  You let me know you were on your way to the office and would get right back with me as soon as you got there.  After an hour, I called you back and you apologized for not returning a call, but you asked how you could help me; so I gave you my information and I could hear you typing away.  You asked me if I have been to our web site… No, I didn’t know I could fill out all the forms right there… yes I can hold… No, it’s not madam, its sir… and yes, I can come to your office and sign the forms.  What time is good?  Why, yes, I can be there in 30 minutes.  As I arrived and walked through the foyer into your office, I noticed the old fast food wrappers in your waste can and a smell of stale beer coming from the same area.  As you came through the door, I noticed the coffee stains on your shirt and you needed a hair cut; and did you forget to shave this morning?  As we walked into your conference room, I just couldn’t get over the layer of dust on the shelves and the water stains on the desk surface and the trash can over flowing.  Another thing that disturbs me is the smell of alcohol reeking from all the sweat pouring from forehead and armpits. As I looked over the paperwork and you took another swallow from your bottle of water; I asked if I could take the paperwork home to review it closer.  The look on your face was priceless, your eyes rolling up and then with your best sarcastic pleasantry, “that will be fine”.  As I walk out the door, feeling rushed, you opened the door and asked me to call you if I had any questions.  Oh, I don’t think I’ll have any questions; because I don’t believe we can do business together.

So this is how business is being done today?  Is this how your customers see you?  Did you ever wonder why your business isn’t growing?  These are just a few comments that I have received from customers so I could write of their experience.  You probably have some of your own; please share. 

During the late 50’s and early 60’s the threat was the atom bomb.  As elementary students, we watch films of what to do if we were being attacked.  The sound of the alarm and the rush under our desk with our back to the windows and keep our eyes closed to avoid the blinding light that was to come…

The Cuban Missile Crisis, the stand off with the USSR and the established Cold War lead to military missions to secure Europe from an emanate threat.  Guarding the border of Germany, Korea and watching the Communists and the Soviet Block countries watching us as we watched them, created tensions and alerts for the military on both sides of the borders as we stood face to face staring down the barrel of an emanate threat.

As a young non-commissioned officer, I attended a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical course and witnessed the horror of what a nuclear bomb would do and how it will be deployed and my job for my unit would be to figure out the yield of the bomb and determine the down wind forecast for fallout. 

The movies of the Australian soldiers who volunteered themselves to blister agents and the watched as their bodies were poisoned and their reaction to the agent. The video of a goat reacting to a nerve agent and its violent death and the lasting picture in my mind of a dog reacting to a blood agent will forever be etched in my memory.

As science progressed and the implementation of toxins, those synthetic poisons derived from natural elements made to bring on a painful death and if witnessed, would remind a populous of what a government has in store for those who do not mind their leaders.  Saddam Hussein used a toxin on the Kurds derived from bee venom.  The initial feeling for the victim was the feeling of being stung by a thousand bees and then it was the same feeling except it was in their lungs, their eyes and their mouths and as their throats closed from the swelling, they died in massive convulsions from the pain inflicted on them from their government.

The USSR is gone, Iraq is working on its government but there is an emanate threat that has nothing to do with the destructive effect of a nuclear impact on our cities or the poisoning of our citizenry by chemical or biological agents or by a synthetic toxin.  The emanate threat will come from a nuclear explosion 300 miles above us in space that will cause our citizens to attack our citizens… and it will start with the disruption of the EMP and everything electronic.

EMP, (Electro Magnetic Pulse), will disrupt everything that is operated with electricity, which will include your car, your phone, banking transactions, lights, etc, etc, etc.

After impact, terrorist will attack the electric grid power lines to stop any flow of electric once EMP has re-aligned.  Nuclear power generators will not have the opportunity to cool it self and the destruction of the power facility will come quickly without the ability of water to be pumped on overheated nuclear rods. 

Three to five days afterwards with no food supplies remaining in the local grocery stores, the citizenry will become restless and will be in the streets, doing whatever it is they have to do to support their families.  Your cash will have little value, because there will be no way to process a transaction.

Seven to ten days after EMP disruption, citizenry will be expanding outwards in search of food and water for survival and those with arms will have to defend what they have.  The government will be powerless and local martial law will be fruitless as the citizenry attacks those who are there to protect and serve.

Within thirty days, ten percent of the population will have died from lack of care because of pre-existing conditions, starvation or violence. After sixty days another ten percent of the population will be dead or dying due to disease, starvation, natural elements and violence.  Around one hundred-eighty days later, some power may be restored but with a dismal economy and martial law in effect and limited government control a majority of the population will not notice.  In such an event an estimated twenty-five percent of the population will not survive.  The areas to be hit will be areas which have the densest population, (East Coast, South-East) and the attack will come in the heat of summer.  The attack will come from a country that has limited finances or will have limited financial loss if the US is harmed, (North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan). 

So now, do you understand why we can not allow rogue countries the capacity of a nuclear bomb? Are you prepared for the emanate threat? Do you have your supplies ready or will you go on blindly thinking nothing like this will happen?  You don’t have to believe this blog,,, you have the opportunity to do your own research to find out that the disruption of the EMP is a major threat to our economy, our government and the people of the United States.  Think of how your life would be affected if everything you own, that needs electricity to operate, or your electronics was damaged or destroyed by the EMP disruption or our electrical grid damaged or destroyed; what would you do?  How will you survive?  What about your family? Be prepared, this is not written to scare you but prepare you.  Do your homework… it is an emanate threat.

I knew it wouldn’t take long before the real estate vultures would re-appear on TV and radio telling you; how you can make big returns from real estate without using your money.  They invite you to their free event and show you how you can retire to life style that you thought you could only dream about, and it’s FREE!  Oh yes, the riches are there and you never have to use your money and they all want to share all their secrets and how to make you rich in the foreclosure market, or buying REO’s or catching pre-foreclosures, oh yes boys and girls, you will become rich and you will never have to use any of your money, remember, it’s FREE.  As of matter of fact, you don’t even have to have any money to do this; they will show you everything you need to know, how you can buy real estate and sell it quickly for huge profits and it won’t cost you a penny of your own money!  They even have people who attended their event who will testify of the huge profits they made shortly after attending their course and you too can do this; you never have to use your money to purchase real estate.  They want you to believe you can buy real estate wholesale, sell it wholesale and make huge returns and all without using a realtor.  You never have to do repairs or you can do the repairs and never use your own money because there are contractors out there, who are more than willing, to invest in your idea so you can become rich beyond your wildest dreams and it’s all FREE!

  So are you excited now?  Are you willing to learn the secrets of buying real estate without using a realtor and never using a penny of your own money?  If you choose to do this right now, the first 200 people to RSVP for this event will receive a new camera, a thumb drive, and qualify for an I-pad and it’s all FREE!   FREEEEEEEEE!

  To fill you in on what you may have seen on those late night paid advertisements is called “Hawking”.  It’s the same stuff that carnies have been doing for years. PT Barnum mentioned something about one being born every… 

  I attended one of those FREE seminars recently, just to see what the hook was.  Oh yes, there was an young attractive man touting his success in real estate, after being told to move out of his fathers basement, get a job and make something of his life.  It was all a hard sell. If you chose not to “BUY” their training videos and a three day conference on how to buy real estate and never use your money, you were a know-it-all and didn’t deserve the training or the money we could have made. 

  They spoke of how you could buy real estate using Government grants that you could apply for, (that’s all “FREE MONEY”), but it might be money better spent if you hired a professional grant writer to write your grant; that typically cost around $3500 and there is no guarantee that you will be granted FREE MONEY.

To get all the CD’s and attend the three day training seminar was around $1200, and they would assist you for up to six months after the training.  There is just a few things they failed to mention; the cost of doing a title search to insure the property could be sold because of liens, or encroachments and you will never have to spend a penny of your own money to buy real estate because it’s FREE!

  Were you aware, banks are almost willing to give you REO property to sell so they don’t have to carry the bad debt on their books?

  The Company would also furnish you with current lists of investors and buyers from Canada and China, coming to the US to buy all our real estate because they have all the cash.

 How could there possibly be any risk in this program?  They would even fund your deals at 2% plus a $495 fee paid out of closing, so you never have to use your money because it’s all FREE!

  Well folks, any savvy investor will know how to screw over an inexperienced real estate investor and nothing is free.  We had the opportunity to chat with a couple who had attended another “Get Rich in Real Estate by Flipping” seminar and they found out afterwards, they were ill prepared to start flipping houses.  We sat down with them, for free, for about an hour and covered what they should do with the property they were thinking about flipping or renting.  They were embarrassed about all the hard earned money they had just spent, to attend the seminar, which promised them riches beyond their wildest dreams when there was experienced Realtors/Investors/General Contractor willing to educate them for FREE!

  A solid real estate investment plan starts out with goals and a solid business plan.  Evaluate you business plan regularly and focus on a “1 year, 3 year, 5 year and 10 year business plan”, which you evaluate regularly as you business grows. If you want to learn about Real Estate Investment, Flipping, rentals or buying real estate tax certificate,s contact us.  We have been investing in real estate, long before we became Realtors or owned a Real Estate Company and we will share the information and our experiences with you for FREE.  Hopefully, we will earn your trust and you will use our services so you can buy, sell or let us manage your real estate portfolio. And no, we don’t work for FREE.  We charge commissions for our services to market, assist you with your purchase and manage your real estate, and no, I will not remodel your flipper house out of my pocket so you can become rich beyond your wildest dreams.

If you would like to sit down with us to see if we can help you work your plan,

 contact us.

The young lieutenant walked through Squadron Headquarters doors and into the adjutant’s office ready to report for duty.  The lieutenant was ordered to report to the Squadron Commander, knocked on the door, entered the office and rendered a fine salute and announced himself reporting for duty.  The Commander looked him over told him to relax and asked the lieutenant to go for a walk.  As they strolled along an open area of the Cavalry Squadron and discussed the leadership training the lieutenant had gone through they stopped by a large boulder that had graffiti from the Cavalry Soldiers units.  The Commander advised the lieutenant that he was tired of looking at the rock and listening to all the commotion caused by troopers constantly painting over the Cavalry graffiti.  “Lieutenant”, your first mission is to remove this rock, got it.  Once you do that, come see me for your assignment. “Yes Sir”; and snapped a sharp salute, the Commander returned the salute and walked away, as the young lieutenant stared at the rock.

After a while, the Commander noticed the lieutenant measuring the rock’s girth and height and wondered what the young man was doing.  Several hours passed and the lieutenant returned with a five ton truck, block and tackle, rope and pry bars. The young lieutenant was soon rigging the rock with rope and wedging and prying to get the rope slings in place.  He used the bed of the truck to assemble a tripod with pulleys and tested the tackle and draw and tension of the ropes.  All the work the lieutenant was doing had caught the attention of the Squadron Sergeant Major and he walked over to the lieutenant, rendered a salute and asked the lieutenant; what are you doing sir?  The lieutenant advised the Sergeant Major; he was on a mission from the Squadron Commander and wanted to get the mission done before the end of the day so he would get his assignment and he didn’t have time to chat with him.  Yes Sir, snapped a salute, turned and walked back to Squadron Headquarters and joined the Squadron Commander as they watched the lieutenant hoisted the rock onto the back of the truck, secure it into position, and then drive away.  Several hours later after returning all the equipment, washing the truck and brushing the dust and dirt from his uniform, the lieutenant walked into the adjutant’s office and was again ordered to report to the Squadron Commander.  The lieutenant marched in, reported and stated, “Mission Accomplished, Sir”.  The Commander returned the salute and advised the lieutenant; he would not work out in the Cavalry and he should return to Administration and have his orders changed.  The lieutenant was crushed and asked the Squadron Commander; Why Sir, I accomplished the mission, I did what you ordered, I don’t understand?  The Commander reminded the lieutenant of the conversation about leadership they had earlier in the day and the lieutenant asked; what does that have to do with moving the rock… What was I supposed to do?

The Squadron Commander shook his head stared into the lieutenant’s eyes and said; you were suppose to walk back into Squadron, pick up the phone and call the Engineer Battalion, have them come get the rock.

Moral of this story; when you’re in charge, take charge. When you have facilities and personnel available and you have to do the work yourself, you’re not in charge.

Leadership is the ability to influence others to accomplish a task, giving them guidance and supervision.

Read the rest of this post »

Living in the South has many benefits to the rest of the country but with all the benefits we have, we have just a few annoyances’ that most can agree with.  Nothing is more annoying than while chatting with friends, having fire ants invade your presence.  A few brushes of the hand and uttering undertone colorful adjectives, they are gone. After having to contend with fire ants for years, it has come to my conclusion that fire ants are not much different from our own government. The following is a true depiction of an actual event. Many of you will actually see the comparison but for those of you that think I have lost my mind, you would probably be part of the problem and that being the expansion of government.

  A few years ago, I killed a small rattle snake in the yard.  It had a beautiful shin and I had decided to make a taxidermy project out of the event.  My idea was to strip the skin from the snake and dry it, strip the meat from the bones, dry the bones and then assemble the bones and hide for a display.  My thought was to use fire ants to remove the meat from the bones and allow me the easy part of sun drying the bones for my project.  I laid the stripped carcass on the ground around a small fire ant mound and went about finishing my yard chores.  After several hours, I went back to find that the ants had found their meal and it seemed the entire colony was on the carcass, so I went back to work on the yard.  Before the day was ended, I returned to the project and had found the ants had covered the carcass with grass clippings to hide their prize from other predators, I found that amazing.  The next afternoon, I again returned to the project to find there were no ants around the grass clippings, so I removed some of the grass clippings only to find nothing, so I removed the rest of the clippings to find nothing at all.  The colony had not only removed the meat from the bones but they removed everything.  My project would not happen and I was rather annoyed that the ants had made my project fail.

  It has been many years since that event actually happened but since I involve myself with trying to control the growth of government and fighting government control, I come to the conclusion; government is the ultimate fire ant colony!  Keeping the fore mentioned events in mind; this is how I come to that conclusion.

  I had a project that I assumed needed government assistance.  Because I could not clearly communicate to the government what it was that I needed, I merely assumed government would be able to assist me.  Like typical government, they covered up the project to remove any outside sources from influencing the project.  They put more personnel than necessary on the project and left nothing to question as to what the intent of the project was, and that was to feed government.  The end result of the project was typical of what I normally receive from my interaction with government. There was never intent to provide service; it was an action to do nothing more than to expand government.  The colony, like government, is self serving and self protecting.  The goal is to expand government, (colony), and left uncontrolled, will leave an area uninhabitable and unless you pay attention to where the colonies have control, government will, out of the blue, bite and sting you for no other reason than to point out that they are in control.   My suggestion is we control the growth of government, (colonies), never assume government is here to help us, never volunteer to feed government and make sure to communicate your intentions before entering into a relationship with government. 

  So you see, government is the ultimate fire ant colony; how has it taken so much control of our lives?  Just one piece at a time, just like fire ants on a snake.   

I can remember when it took a dozen men to frame a house using hand tools, now it takes 3-4 carpenters with a compressor, power tools, a solid plan and a few weeks to finish a project.  Several years back, I contracted with a senior lady to build an addition to her home.  She was so excited when my foundation contractor showed up, staked the corners, put up the string lines, shoveled out the footings and built the foundation forms by hand.  I previously advised my customer at contract that the addition would take about 4-6 weeks to complete and she laughed at me and said, “no way”.  The foundation crew and plumbers were digging away when I arrived to check on the progress after day 2 and the customer was smiling and again said; “no way would the project be completed in 4-6 weeks”.  After the initial foundation inspection was completed in four days, the concrete ordered, my customer was still smiling and shaking her head and saying, “no way”.  On the day the concrete was being poured, the framing material arrived on site and my customer questioned me why I ordered so much material to set out in the weather to get destroyed.  Her smile was not there any longer and she was afraid of the project material was going to be damaged, she wasn’t happy.  The next morning, three of us showed up to start the framing and my customer stared at us and expressed to us that she was not happy.  “Where are all your people” she asked?  This is it; we don’t need anymore people… Her smile was not there any longer, she reminded me that she was on site when her house was built thirty-five years earlier and it took a lot more men to build her home and she didn’t think I knew what I was doing.  Once we setup, one guy was building headers, door frames and window frames.  Another carpenter laid out the material while I marked out the floor plan.  By the end of the first day, all the walls were up, the doors and window secured and the trusses were delivered before we left.  The next day the crane arrived and we started slinging trusses,  securing them in place as my customer stood crossed armed,  staring at us with a frown on her face.  We had the crane sling all the plywood up for us and we laid out all the roof decking and nailed it in place before the end of the day and called for the next inspection.  The next day the inspector arrived on site to the onslaught of my customer.  She berated him and advised him that she did not trust the construction and she wanted the inspector to do his job.  The inspector looked at the project and tried to comfort my customer and let her know that the project looked fine.  This went on for the next four weeks and after the final inspection was completed and I brought the “Certificate of Occupancy” to my customer, she was angry. She advised me that she was not happy and she was not secure with the construction; that it took so much longer thirty-five years earlier and more people were on the project.  She also advised me; “that we were the laziest people she had ever seen”.  She asked; “What ever happened to hard work and craftsmanship”? I remind her that there was a lot of craftsmanship in our work but the technology of our industry had changed and we didn’t need as many people as we used to and the investment in our tools and experience made up for the hand craftsmanship of the past.

  So as in every other industry, technology has taken the place of manpower and the hard work.  When people can’t keep up with technology or won’t keep up, they fall behind and try to blame our government and the corporations for their problems.  If you are working with thirty year old technology, regardless of what industry, you will not succeed.  The most precious thing in our life is time and if we can not keep up with time, time will leave us and we will fail. The only person or thing we can blame for not keeping up with time is our self.  So when you hear “We can’t use your skills” or “you’re not cutting it” or “you don’t have enough qualifications”, don’t blame the messenger; blame yourself.  Those that do not keep up with the times will become among the poor.  If they did not plan for the future, we will have to provide for them, but as the numbers increase, the care will decline and they will revolt.  We are in those times right now and more people will fail, fall behind and protest the success those of us who are keeping up with the times. As a business, I don’t owe anyone a job; they earn their job and their paycheck.  Invest in the most precious asset you have, you.  When you do that, you won’t have to hear; “We don’t need you”.

Having taken the opportunity to run for office, attend many County and City Commission meetings, one thing that I can never get out of my mind is the number of people and organizations asking for tax payer money.  While campaigning, I was confronted many times by frustrated organizations asking why I would not support their organization.  The confused looks I received from them when I answered; “since when was it the government’s responsibility to support any charitable organization”.

So exactly where do we draw the line of who to support and who doesn’t get support?  Which organization deserves funding and which do not?  I will always take a stand against government support for any charity or private support groups.

 A non-profit organization should have a business plan or follow a successful business model in order to meet their goals.  I recently attended a Commission meeting where an organization asked the commissioners for money, (from the tax payers), to assist the organization to get back on their feet after their building burned to the ground and the thrift shop that financed the organization was lost.  The organization supplied food and clothing to the needy of a local community and was a daily food source for many.  The Commission turned them down and I agreed with the Commission.  The organization did not have a business plan for a catastrophic event and the reliance of prayer to rebuild an organizational facility did not reflect a strong business model.

At the same meeting, another organization pleaded for money from the commission and asked for additional support above and beyond what they had already received.  So where do we draw the line?  So how do you feel about having to pay your taxes, (by threat of force), and have it given to someone or an organization without your voice of approval?  The government already has numerous safety nets for the people, but yet the people want more.  How much is enough?  The Department of Agriculture, HUD, FEMA, state welfare and Medicaid are just a few government organizations taking your tax money and giving it to someone else, (by threat of force), and you do not have a voice of who receives it or how it is spent. 

I will share with you the dream that I had while campaigning;

Walking down a dark narrow weaving hallway, lined floor to ceiling with extended arms with open hands waving and touching me as I walked down the endless hallway. The emotion and anger I felt from the hands as I walked past the clutching hands turning into fist, pushing them away and dodging others.  Hands grasping my clothing, being pulled in one direction then another, then I awoke.

I understand the emotions of our elected officials but I only wish they had the courage to look at the requestors and ask them to go back to their community and ask the community for the needed support.  If an organization is worthwhile and presents itself as a professional organization, the community will support it. But, we all know politicians have to buy votes, so they enact bills, so our money will buy the votes, which support needy organizations, for the votes that keep them in office. 

So now you can answer the question; does politicians/government support needy organizations out of the goodness of their hearts or are they buying votes? 

So do we need to stop it or how do we stop it?

Many of the lessons I have learned in life come from growing up on the farm and working on neighbors farms around livestock.  I equate recessions in the economy as the winters of life and growing up in Northern Indiana, the winters can be harsh. In the winter, livestock no longer having the ability to graze in pastures would survive in filthy feed lots, covered in mud and filth, eating silage, hay and dried grain.  The amount of work needed to keep a feed lot full of food and water, and shoveled out, was an everyday job, just to keep the cattle happy.

 When I think of members of society on public assistance, I think of “Hungry Cows” in the winter.  The amount of effort and resources to keep those on public assistance resembles the efforts in keeping the mangers full of hay, silage lines clear and grain bins full and the endless residue piling up.  When spring finally arrived and the pastures greened up, we would open the gates and watch the cows leave the feed lot to head to the “greener pastures” while a few waited in the filth of the feed lot to eat the dried hay and silage.  When the last stems of hay were gone and the last pieces of silage licked up, the hungry cows would walk around the feed lot, bawling, to get our attention, so we would bring more food.  We would switch them and try to head them to the gate to the pasture but they would just run away from the gate and head back to the empty mangers and bawl even more.  After a couple of switching’s, they turned on us when we entered the lot and would attempt to attack us. Finally, after all efforts to get them to leave on their own, we brought out the cattle prods.  After several shocks and attempts of retaliation, they wised up and headed for “greener pastures”.

  So why tell this story?  People on public assistance do not have any incentive to get off public assistance.  It’s easier to live off what is handed to them versus heading to greener pastures.  It’s time to give the many on assistance incentives and time frames, to get off the system and better themselves.  Just like the hungry cows in the feed lot, many people need additional coaxing to head to the greener pastures, but it takes courage to stand up to the public and give them the prod. 

  So when you look at the numbers of the many of public assistance, you too can think of “Hungry Cows”.  The gate is open; all they have to do is head down the path to greener pastures.

www.martinback.com

http://www.martinback.com

(download)

Click here to download:

Video_17.wmv (8.47 MB)