It's been awhile since I posted on Active Rain. Hello to all my friends.
I wanted to tip my hat to Joyce Ward, in her first publication of a children's book. Joyce is a mother, grandmother and a true Nature lover. Her gift to her grandchildren was a lasting memory that she wanted all parents and grandparents to have the same opportunity to provide to their children and grandchildren. Joyce wrote a book about a true experience she had with a little fellow called a Bob White, while visiting her mother.
The book is easy reading, filled with great illustrations and educational, that makes a great gift. The inside cover provides an area that allows the person gifting to personally sign the book to the receiver. Would make a great gift for clients children or your waiting room.
Today is 08.08.08 (2008) considered the date of good luck. It's reported that there will be over 9000 weddings in China alone today, with the belief that this is the luckiest day in history.
I'm wishing everyone a lucky day. Believe in luck or not, sometimes different things happen in one's life that has to be attributed to luck.
How about that person who has a 1 in 175,711,536 chance of winning the Lotto and they do. But then we hear about the same person who wins the Lotto twice, the odds are huge. Lucky?
Now take the agent in our office who seems to be the lucky one on floor time when a visitor walks in and is looking to relocate to your city. The buyer is looking to purchase a $500,000.00 house today. Their home is sold and cash in hand. Lucky?
The person who knows how to enjoy life, embrace it, takes in the beauty that has been bestowed upon us. Is that considered Lucky? Maybe, but we all have the opportunity to be who we are. Positive, funky, down, up, happy, sad, creative, out going, successful. I'd say we are Lucky to have these choices.
I feel I'm lucky to have found the special person in my life that I call my Wife (sometimes I call her My Bride). Lucky? Yes, and blessed.
VIII VIII MMVIII the day of Good Luck and I wish you the best! But in reality, every day can be your lucky day if you have life, love and laughter.
Do you see these types of reactions when your buyers are touring homes? Frustrated, confused, ready to pull their hair out? Ready to pull your hair out?
Buyer's and Renters are touring more property these days then ever before. If you don't think they are looking for a system to stay organized and keep track of the properties they tour think again.
Rate A Home for the first 5 days has 76.6% of our hits coming from "Walk through Check Lists". Buyer's and Renter's are searching for the tools to help them make a better choice of the place they will call "Home." Are you providing this service to your client?
If you visit Google and enter Walk through Check List in the search,you will see that we are top of the list, page one with the information we provide to the agent for the buyer. The Check List is an excellent service to provide your buyers, plus it will save you un-needed return trips to refresh the memories, thereby saving you not only time, but more importantly fuel expense.
Real Estate is a service industry, why not take it a step further and provide the services buyers are searching for? When I work with a buyer, I'll fill the check list out while they buyer tours the home, then provide the completed check list after the tour. Your Logo and Name appears on each check list as a continued marketing piece. Think your buyer won't brag up the special service you provided to their friends and family?
Give it a try, you might find out what you have been missing as the final piece of the housing puzzle.
This is a photo of Mom with all the boys in the family. I'm the only son (Paddy, that's me right behind Mom, yup, no hair) and the rest are, my Brother in Law on the right and all the grand sons.
Mom hasn't had a bit of trouble with the ticker, but we found out that the Doc's were watching her blood numbers. It was determined that she had some possible blockage. Sure enough after more test it was worse then they thought.
Today was supposed to be the surgery but due to a death in the family of the surgeon she has been postponed to Monday. Mom is surprisingly handling it quite well, she has always been a strong part of the family.
The surgery will consist of two by passes and a replacement of the main aortic valve with a pig valve (see photo). We went as a family to the consultation and learned that they will be splitting the rib cage to perform the repairs. The by pass veins will come from her leg. It's been a learning experience for each of us.
To go from bike riding and being active to needing heart surgery, would have never guessed it, but in turn the Doc said, that is most likely what has kept her healthy up until now.
Please keep Mom in your prayers, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance my AR Family!
Duane
UPDATE 08.04.08 (SEE UPDATES IN COMMENTS SECTION, FOR SURGERY ON 08.04.08 COMMENTS)
Special thanks to Grace Safrin for the encouraging e-mail you sent a while back, I read it to Mom on what to do after the surgery, she said to say Thank You.
Some changes I noticed today, or is it just me? Did I miss something or a post explaining the new change?
Either way, I love the comments part where I don't have to type that dreaded password in after each comment. If they only knew how much more time that took for a one finger typist, LOL. Thank you, if this is the newest change.
The other change I noticed is when I post a Blog, the Groups are all condensed into one category, very clean.
Nice changes Active Rain! They are changes, right?
LEAVE A REPONSE....
(After the Comment box you will see the "Notify me of New comments" and the "Submit the Comment" tab)
Notify me of new comments:
NOTICE NO PASSWORD BOX HERE....
Change I noticed when submitting a post. The Groups and Channels are now all condensed with the number of Groups we are members of, a bit confusing at first, but cleaner looking.
Visibility:
Public Associates Only Draft Members Only
Post To:
Localism.com ActiveRain Channels (11) ActiveRain Groups (102) Outside Blog
This is not my content but I have permission to repost it
After begging inviting Mark Deering with Remax Grand Valley (Ottawa County, Michigan) over the past few months, he has finally arrived and joined the Active Rain Family.
I know Mark personally and he is a creative, hard working agent, that was a bit reluctant about the site. Thanks to a recent post by Brian Block about the success stories of Active Rain, I was able to convince Mark of the Power of The Rain.
I joined The Rain on October 04, 2007 and shyly surfed the site for the first 10 days. No comments, no posts, in fact I hardly understood the concept of "Blogging." Blogging, it's not even in the spell check system. How important can it be if it hasn't made the spell check system? (hint, hint Active Rain Team). I thought what the heck, I'll look into it now that I'm here.
My first post was on October 14, 2007. Nervous, yep, after seeing the post that some of the seasoned (OK, old timers) Rainer's were posting.
But, what to write? Would I get comments? Will I make a mockery of myself? What would a Blog do for me? Why do I want to subject myself to these dreadful thoughts?
I found a description of What a Blog is by Mike Tyler, I feel he said it well.
Mike wrote: What is blogging? "Simply put, it's a daily posting of someones thoughts on a web page. Postings are like small articles from the Blog's author. The subject matter of these postings is as varied as human beings themselves. Some are trivial - some of more substance."
I wrote that first post and reluctantly pressed the submit button, boom, there was my writing out there for the world to see, yow. Then I sat back and watched for two days while the comments rolled in, wow, three total. Hey, what about these old timers seasoned Rainers who were getting 50-60 comments per post, what did I do wrong? Maybe no photo's, OK I added one, hhhmmm, no additional comments.
So, on October 16th I tried another, wow, 15 minutes later my first comment, hey this is much better. Of course that was the only one I received, dang. Now I'm losing my will to be a Blogger of the World.
Now it's October 17th, and another shot at stardom, my post goes live and a day later, no comments, I could hear in my head the little sound when Pac-Man gets gobbled up and he disappears. Failed, washed up, done, gone. So desperate I tried to kick start the post myself, naughty me. Nope that didn't work either.
Not ready to give up, I kept posting to try to figure out the secret in The Rain. I adopted the concept of acknowledging the comments (an important etiquette of Blogging) which helped keep the posts alive and build camaraderie with the Rainers.
Finally on November 12, I wrote a simple fun non-business post and yeehaa I went into double digit comments, bingo! I found the secret, off to my next post now that I know what it takes. You guessed it, the next post netted one comment, shoulders drooped again and chest dropped back to my waist. Now that I look at these past posts, I made some Newbie mistakes.
Lack of Photos
Titles that didn't grab the readers attention
Not acknowledging Comments
Not asking for help or input
Not being "Active" in The Rain
Not visiting and commenting on other members posts right away (Networking)
Not reading the many helpful posts provided by the Active Rain Staff (see the new Group Help/FAQ) and members (see the Active Rain Newbies Group)
Not submitting my posts to certain Groups that the post met the Guidelines
Today, I have found the importance of being "Active" in The Rain. The site name says it all and the Newbie who gets involved from the very beginning will find that this "Blogging" thing can be phenomenal.
On a side major note, I wanted to let you know how helpful the old timers seasoned members and the Active Rain Team is, here in The Rain. Drop a line to any member and 9 times out of 10 you will get a helpful answer to your question or at least you will be pointed in the right direction. Or you can go at it like I did and be the guy who doesn't ask for directions and head down a few wrong roads.
It's up to you to light the World on fire. Don't expect to be a super-star from the get go. We all had to crawl before we could walk, and blogging is much the same way.
Don't get discouraged, we all started out as Newbies. Even the well seasoned member is learning every day. Ask those questions you have, put it in a post to get different input. Nobody is going to look at a question as being stuppid stupid. Get rid of the pride and ask away.
You will find The Rain, to be a educating, informative and a fun part of your business. Plus, the family and friends across the nation you will acquire as you get involved will surprise you, it did me.
So, dive in and take a refreshing swim in The Rain. It will remove the feeling of the title of this post.
Have Fun and Welcome to the Active Rain Family!
Anyone involved in the Real-Estate Industry is invited to join Active Rain.
Anna Wilson is officially the 100,000th member to our Active Rain Family. Congratulation Anna!
Anna is with W.E Advertise they are dedicated to bringing affordable advertising to people and businesses at a fraction of the cost of traditional avenues. W.E. offers you fresh advertising with a more personal approach.
Please take the time to welcome Anna to the Active Rain Family, and the ThemThem Group.
I'm honored to have Anna as part of our Group and a member of the AR Family.
Today is the day that Active Rain tops the 100,000 members mark.
A big ThemThem to the Active Rain Team and all the members in helping this network be the best it can be.
I have watched the Members number grow daily and to see it go to the 6 digit number is going to be exciting and rewarding. Because the members are calculated automatically towards the end of the day we will have to watch the new members section, currently it puts membership at 99,952. So within a few hours the 100,000th member should arrive.
Please join me in Congratulating the Team! WTG, Guys and Gals and Thank you for Raining on us, for Free.
Duane
Real-Estate Professionals (Non-Members), please join us on Active Rain and see what you have been missing. You are officially invited.
The 2008 Saugatuck Venetian Festival kicks off on Friday the 25th and runs through Sunday the 27th. (Visit the official Festival web site to view more photos and information)
A weekend of fun and festivities is in store for the visitors to enjoy. The weatherman is calling for pleasant weather, lets hope he's right.
A boat isn't required as many of the activities are downtown, but if you have a boat bring it along and enjoy the beautiful Kalamazoo River that leads to Lake Michigan only minutes away.
Party in town or party in The Cove.
Fireworks, fun, food and music await you.
2008 Schedule of Events
Friday, July 25th 2008Coghlin Park
(Located at corner of Culver & Griffith)
7PM - 12:00PMKickoff Celebration
Under the tent...Live entertainment by "the Shirey Brothers" Beer, Wine, Food, Fun, and Free Admission
Saturday, July 26th 2008
10:00 AM Art Fair in Downtown Saugatuck
11:00 AM Chicken BBQ at Wilkins Hardware
12:00 PM Dinghy Poker Run Starts at Coghlin Park
3:00 - 5:00 PM Kids Fun Area in Cooks Park
Moon Walk, Face Painting, Snow Cones, Craft Tent, and more fun for the kids.
6:00 - 9:00 PM Live Music Concert
Gazebo at Wicks Park
9:00 PM Venetian Boat Parade This Year's Theme "Movies"
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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Today is 08.08.08 (2008) considered the date of good luck. It's reported that there will be over 9000 weddings in China alone today, with the belief that this is the luckiest day in history.
We went as a family to the consultation and learned that they will be splitting the rib cage to perform the repairs. The by pass veins will come from her leg. It's been a learning experience for each of us.
Some changes I noticed today, or is it just me? Did I miss something or a post explaining the new change?
Localism.com 
After 
I wrote that first post and reluctantly pressed the submit button, boom, there was my writing out there for the world to see, yow. Then I sat back and watched for two days while the comments rolled in, wow, three total. Hey, what about these 
