frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Through The Roof...!!!
- 05/06/11 09:21 AM
O.K....So I just found out I need to replace the roof on our home...AND...It ain't goin to be cheap...!!!Don't you like it when you consult with ‘PROFESSIONALS' and you get the feeling you are being manipulated, misguided, misinformed, misunderstood, and misinterpreted...Yes...that is exactly what happened with the roof on our home...The home was built in 1989...we bought it in 2003...Around 5 years ago we had a detached oversize garage built, at which time the roofer, who nearly exactly matched the home roof, commented on how well the home roof looked...In fact, to paraphrase him, he suggested that the house roof looked … (7 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Faith And Obedience...!!!
- 04/29/11 03:43 AM
I am a ‘PRACTICING ROMAN CATHOLIC'...!!!That's the answer I usually give when asked ‘To what religion do you belong'...!!!The question should be put more appropriately by asking, ‘What is your Faith'...!!!And the real answer to that question would be simply stated, ‘I believe in Jesus, my Lord and my God...and I worship Him and try to serve Him OBEDIENTLY through HIS CHURCH'...!!!Which brings me to the thrust of my post.......'Former Catholics make the worst Christians'...!!!I don't actually believe that (some of my best friends are former Catholics) although there IS a small element of truth to that statement...I find that there … (12 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Wholly Weak...Or...Holy Week...!!!
- 04/15/11 03:26 AM
I was debating on whether my post this Friday should be on something illustrating the total insufficiency and inadequacy of the recent ‘BUDGET CUTS' enacted by Congress, or something positive relating to ‘HOLY WEEK', which, for most Catholics, and other Christians as well, signifies some of the holiest days in the Church Year...!!!WELL...'HOLY WEEK' won the day...'WHOLLY WEAK', which is how I describe some of the cowardly politicians in Washington will have to wait for another day...FOR...Even though I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, my primary allegiance and citizenship is in HEAVEN...That is where I and most Christians hope to … (10 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...SIZE MATTERS...!!!
- 04/08/11 03:42 AM
SIZE MATTERS...!!!I've listened to both political parties discussing the new federal budget, and honestly, the rhetoric is disgusting...Debating over cutting 61 billion dollars from a multi trillion dollar deficit is like complaining that a baby urinating in the Atlantic Ocean is polluting the planet...OR...That cow flatulence is likewise polluting our planet...YET...I've heard few concerned with the massive levels of nuclear radiation caused by the recent catastrophes in Japan...SIZE MATTERS...!!!What about the federal funding of Planned Parenthood...nearly half a billion going to provide abortion on demand primarily to troubled teens...Is that ‘Family Planning'...sounds more like ‘Family Destruction'...OR...The funding of NPR...‘supposedly neutral' yet … (12 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...KP Duty...!!!
- 04/01/11 04:26 AM
KP Duty...!!!Remember Sergeant Bilko or M.A.S.H. or Hogan's Heroes...!!!These were just some of the ‘military' shows popular as I was growing up...!!!I don't recall many of the plots or subplots, but I do remember that one punishment for minor violations of military orders was the assignment of ‘KP'...Kitchen Police...There, in many episodes, you atoned for your violations or bad deeds by peeling potatoes, slicing onions, scrubbing dishes, ladling out soup, or performing some other mundane dirty task...Well my modern day ‘KP' wouldn't have any thing to do with kitchens, military orders, or the like...NO.......My ‘KP' would require ‘KIDS PRAYING'...and not because … (12 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...WHY BLOG...WHY ACTIVE RAIN...!!!
- 03/25/11 03:44 AM
WHY BLOG...WHY ACTIVE RAIN...???
Several Years ago I met a fellow Title Agent, Ed Rybczynski, at a Title Insurance seminar. He was on the Title circuit speaking against RESPA violations, and warning those in the Title Business that prison and heavy fines await those who boldly violate RESPA standards.
Ed Ryb, as he is affectionately referred to, has since left the Title Business to pursue other career opportunities, but remains for me the singlemost inspiration that got me involved in BLOGGING, and more specifically, BLOGGING ON ACTIVE RAIN, a website for Real Estate Professionals which has grown from under 50,000 … (5 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Pray For Our Japanese Brethren...!!!
- 03/18/11 03:37 AM
It is Saint Patrick's Day as I write this post, but who can forget the recent events in Japan even as the reality begins to set in...!!!Such a small space, JAPAN, in comparison to our entire Earth...Slightly smaller than the State of Montana, with a population of nearly one half that of the US...!!!Nevertheless, the World's third largest economy...!!!In just the few short days since these tragedies have occurred (I say ‘tragedies', since more than just an earthquake has struck there) I have already learned much about my ‘fellow man' and more specifically the gift to our Earth that the Japanese … (8 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...What To Give Up For Lent...???
- 03/11/11 03:00 AM
Another Lenten Season is upon us, and another ‘opportunity to change' presents itself...!!!Each year we experience the forty days of Lent as a prelude to The Celebration of Easter, which for Christians world wide commemorates the suffering, death, and rising of Jesus, Our Savior...!!!It is no accident that The Church has been celebrating in this fashion for centuries now...No, The Church, realized early on, that in order to comprehend the magnificent Grace that Jesus wrought for us, we needed to spend time in reflection, quiet, and contemplation to fully appreciate these mysteries...somewhat like Jesus spent forty days in the desert before … (16 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Was The FIDDLER On The Roof Right About 'TRADITION'...???
- 02/25/11 03:02 AM
Was The FIDDLER On The Roof Right About 'TRADITION'...???
In the 2008 Presidential elections the word ‘CHANGE' characterized the climate of the day...That was then, this is NOW...
In the play & movie, Fiddler On The Roof, we hear the main character explaining the reason for the behavior that he expected of his children...in a word that explanation was...TRADITION...
In other words, we are to behave as our parents and grandparents taught us...not by every whim of the day that floats through the air of popular opinion...
We can see that now, just 3 years removed from that election and its … (8 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Back To The Future In Title Insurance...!!!
- 02/18/11 12:29 AM
Several readers of my blog have expressed an interest in me posting serious business related content, and so to pacify some of you...here goes...Before I launch my tirade, I must say that since mid 2005 the economic climate in the real estate industry has certainly put a damper on posts depicting successful entrepreneurs and their climb to financial independence...That, however, is a topic for another day...In this post I would like to set the record straight as regards my Title Insurance business and the facts surrounding its success and ability to remain afloat throughout these trying times...First off, about 60 to … (4 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...MORE CORPORATE SIN...!!!
- 02/11/11 03:30 AM
NOW is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their Country...!!!
My last two posts have dealt with PROPERLY FORMING CONSCIENCES...More specifically, I tried to focus on the CORPORATE LIABILITY or CORPORATE WRONGDOING that exists today in our Country because of politics gone astray...!!!By ‘corporate', I do not mean relating exclusively to corporations, but rather the COLLECTIVE nature of wrongdoing or sin in SOCIETY, GOVERNMENT, CORPORATIONS, GROUPS, and the like... Because we live in a democratic republic, we are not exempt from the guilt borne upon our nation because of the injustice of its laws...We look … (6 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...The Truth About Absolute Truth...!!!
- 02/04/11 02:12 AM
Fran's Friday Forum...The Truth About Absolute Truth...!!!Is there such a thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH or is TRUTH different for each person...???A recent conversation I had with a teenage special education student could shed some light on this question...We were talking about who we were pulling for to win the Super Bowl this Sunday...Of course I like The Steelers, and she picked The Packers...When I asked her why she liked Green Bay she indicated that they were the underdogs and The Steelers had won too many Super Bowls already...So like many other typically American people I know she was rooting for THE … (20 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Too Much Talk...!!!
- 01/28/11 03:45 AM
Sometimes it's not what we say that is most meaningful, but how we act...!!!
Over the years I have tried hard to become a good listener...
Yes, I sensed early on that I was guilty of faulty communication...I would be thinking of what I was going to say next, rather than listening to what was being said...
When I learned that it was not so important what a person says, but rather the way they act, it became easier to be a good listener, because then I didn't invite the stress of having to perform by saying ‘just the right words'...
… (16 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Late Have I Loved You...!!!
- 01/21/11 12:29 PM
"Late have I loved You...!!!"
These were words uttered by Saint Augustine over 1600 hundred years ago after he discovered that there is a God...!!!
It amazes me how many of 'the smart people of the world', like Saint Augustine before he discovered God, live as if they actually have 'it' all figured out...and need not, nor believe in, the One True God...!!!
Fortunately for Saint Augustine, he had a mother, Saint Monica, who constantly prayed for his conversion...She was the 'smart one'...who could see that if he were to continue on his worldly path, he may end … (2 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...What's After Arizona...???
- 01/14/11 02:10 AM
The events of the past 6 days, following the horrendous shootings in Tucson last Saturday, have left most Americans numb and questioning...
Perhaps the question I heard most frequently asked by concerned observers was, "How can God permit these things to happen?"...
Well, God doesn't need me to defend Him...BUT...
I would like to share some thoughts with you...
Perhaps the greatest gift after 'The Gift Of Life' that God has given each human being is the 'Gift Of Free Will'...AND...
Without appearing to be a theologian, let me say that, without this gift of … (14 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...111th Congress...A Real Crap House...???
- 01/07/11 02:35 AM
Fran's Friday Forum...111th Congress...A Real Crap House...???
In bowling, before electronic scorekeeping, when any frame had the score '111', it was not unusual to see the scorekeeper build a sort of 'CRAP HOUSE' using the numbers '111' as a foundation...
And so it was with the 111th Congress, the one whose term just ended, headed by ex-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi...A real Crap House of a House of Representatives...
Completely forgetting whose House it really is...THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE, not a gathering of POWER MONGERS...
I easily draw a CRAP HOUSE around … (8 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...OOPS...I Knew I Forgot Something...!!!
- 01/03/11 03:57 AM
Fran's Friday Forum...OOPS...I Knew I Forgot Something...!!!
Last Friday, New Year's Eve, I neglected to post my usual 'FORUM' contribution...
The holidays were a very busy time in the Gaspari household, and even though I watched The Sound Of Music twice and My Big Fat Greek Wedding twice with various of my children, nevertheless it was a busy busy time.
I did manage to squeeze in, during one three hour session, enough kitchen time to attempt for the second time in less than a week to reproduce an ethnic family favorite of ours...STUFFED OLIVES...
Now wait...they're probably … (4 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...Merry Christmas To All And To All A Good Night...!!!
- 12/24/10 05:24 AM
It's Christmas Eve and we just finished up with trying to revive an old ethnic recipe. My Mom, gone three years now, would have been proud, although our attempt produced oversized and irregularly shaped specimens...BUT...
That's not what Christmas is all about anyway...
It's recognizing Our Lord coming to Earth as man to show how much God loves us...
May ALL hear His message of Peace...!!!
Merry Christmas...!!!
… (7 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...It's About Time...!!!
- 12/17/10 01:58 AM
You probably heard this week that TIME MAGAZINE named its 'man' of the year for 2010...!!!
Among the mentioned prospects were that Julian Assange guy, informant and Wikileaks founder, who is being held under house arrest in England...after leaking top secret American classified documents...For the record...he is an anti-American radical socialist disguised as a legitimate journalist...
Some other notable candidates mentioned were Lady Gaga, Glenn Beck, Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and The Tea Party...
Pretty far down the list was the one whom I would have chosen if I understood Time's criteria correctly...
I understood … (19 comments)
|
frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...In Haste...!!!
- 12/10/10 02:18 AM
With all the trappings of the Christmas season upon us, a world in chaos, and my annual weekend MEN OF MALVERN retreat quickly approaching, I thought it appropriate to present this observation made by Mark Shea, a contributor of The National Catholic Register, which puts everything in a rather concise, clear, and inspired perspective...:
"A culture of death is a culture of fear. And as long as it is impenitent, it will persist in attempting to stick more and ever more band-aids on the thousand open and running sores instead of repenting being a culture of death. That's why we are … (7 comments)
|
|
|
|
O.K....So I just found out I need to replace the roof on our home...AND...It ain't goin to be cheap...!!!Don't you like it when you consult with ‘PROFESSIONALS' and you get the feeling you are being manipulated, misguided, misinformed, misunderstood, and misinterpreted...Yes...that is exactly what happened with the roof on our home...The home was built in 1989...we bought it in 2003...Around 5 years ago we had a detached oversize garage built, at which time the roofer, who nearly exactly matched the home roof, commented on how well the home roof looked...In fact, to paraphrase him, he suggested that the house roof looked … (7 comments)
;)
;)
;)
