Announcing the birth of my 2nd son....UPDATED - 03/29/08 11:51 PM
Id just like to let everyone know that I am taking a few weeks off from work...This is so that I can spend time with my wife, my 3 yr old son Alex, and our newest addition...
Aaron Blaize Miller was born on 3/26/08 at 8:57 am and weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces.  Both baby and mama are home now resting comfortably and being waited on hand and foot by yours truly.  They are both doing well...
Pictures coming as soon as I can figure out the new digital camera...lol.
Ok, figured it out.....Aint he cute???  :-)
… (13 comments)

Ok, OK! I Give Up....Im LinkedIn! - 03/25/08 07:44 AM

I finally gave in.....I just couldnt take the pressure!!!  EVERYONE is LinkedIn now...and I have had soooooo many invitations to get involved that I finally caved to the peer pressure.  So, I'm LinkedIn also....(I used to have a link to my profile here, but then I realized that anyone could edit it...gotta figure out how to block that feature before I put the link back up...)
This is just what I need....another 'drug' forced upon me by my peers...lol.  Ive got mortgage brokers that I know sending me invites...Realtors(r) also doing the same....Heck, even my best friend from college that works for … (20 comments)

XM - Sirius Merger Approved... - 03/24/08 03:12 PM

 The Justice Department just announced that it will approve the merger between former rivals XM and Sirius to form the largest satelite radio company ever.  The merger was announced on CNN at 2pm MTN time to much fanfare and a sudden rapid boost in the company's stocks. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120638514923860085.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
More to come on this merger as the details are worked out in court. 
… (8 comments)

Most Awesome Marketing Card Service Ever! - 03/20/08 09:36 AM

I was approached by a realtor in L.A. about this program called SendOutCards about a year ago.  After much speculation and detailed info searching, I decided to join.  And man, am I glad I did!  I use this program every day to send out thank you cards to my agents around the country, birthday cards to my friends and family, and announcements to my potential customers.  The cards are of the highest quality and cost me around $.85 per card INCLUDING a first class stamp and an envelope to put them in...and best of all...I do it all from my computer!  … (18 comments)

Most Awesome Card Service EVER! - 03/20/08 08:26 AM

I was approached by a realtor in L.A. about this program called SendOutCards about a year ago.  After much speculation and detailed info searching, I decided to join.  And man, am I glad I did!  I use this program every day to send out thank you cards to my agents around the country, birthday cards to my friends and family, and announcements to my potential customers.  The cards are of the highest quality and cost me around $.85 per card INCLUDING a first class stamp and an envelope to put them in...and best of all...I do it all from my computer!  … (6 comments)

ActiveRain Graphic Words.......Are These Getting Funnier Or Is It Just Me? (PLEASE COMMENT!!!!) - 03/18/08 11:18 AM

Alright....After leaving a string of comments today on multiple blogs and nearly splitting a gut giggling at how goofy the graphic words were that AR made me put in...II just have to ask this of my fellow AR peeps...
Are the graphic words getting goofier?  Are some of these even real words??  I swear, Im going to google the entire batch of them just to make sure.  Half of them dont look like words at all....Just noises you make with your mouth.
Anyways...please comment and just tell me what the AR graphic word was you were given.  I plan on using these in … (27 comments)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! - 03/18/08 08:07 AM
I just wanted to be the first to wish everyone in my extended AR family a very HAPPY EASTER! 
Whether your Easter means this...
Or this......Or even a combination of the two concepts (like my house)...
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter filled with love and laughter, family and friends, grace and graciousness (like my house).  I hope you eat lots of holiday ham, or whatever your tradition includes (like my house)...and have many egg hunts with your children and grandchildren (like my house). 
Oh, and eat about a metric ton of chocolate...(like my house.  hehe)
HAPPY EASTER!!!
… (10 comments)

Will Someone Please Just Call A Spade A Spade??? *Updated* - 03/17/08 09:03 AM
What is it with people and avoiding the truth??  Why can't we just own up to the fact that we are in a recession?
Yes, I said it...We are in a recession.
The dollar is at its lowest in 14 years.  The stock market is dropping like a stone.  Oil is up to $112 a barrel thanks to that weak dollar.  The economy has lost jobs for 2 straight months in a row.  Consumer confidence is lower than it has been in years.  The Fed is slashing interest rates everywhere possible.  The government is giving away money to people in the hopes they … (29 comments)

Small Time Agent Goes Big Time! - 03/17/08 07:49 AM
My name is Jeremiah Thompson. I started out as a complete and utter real estate rookie seven years ago working in a small RE/MAX office in Missoula, Montana. 
I spent countless hours "in the field"... hosting open houses, only to feed cookies to the neighbors.I spent long hours on the phone, cold-calling and even getting yelled at sometimes.I put in so many hours at work, that it cost me a relationship with my girlfriend and some of my most valuable possessions...
The "Crazy Idea" That Turned My Career Around and How It Can Work for You
I decided that things had to change. … (2 comments)

Homeowners Burn Home Rather Than Face Foreclosure - 03/14/08 11:56 AM
No, Im not joking....Just saw this on CNN and had to go diving to find a link to post for you....
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/14/lawrence.burning.homes.cnn
It seems that it is an attempt to cash in on insurance so they can start again rather than lose everything.  I thought something like this was going to start happening considering the depth at which this mess is going.Desperate people do desperate things, I guess...
… (4 comments)

Leave A Message At The Tone............BEEEEEEEP *Re-Posted by Request* - 03/14/08 07:20 AM
So, I tried to revive my older version of this blog, but ran into one of those suspicious unexpected error pages that AR is getting more and more famous for...so, I figured I would just re-post it.  I added some additional content....Enjoy! 
Having been in sales of some form or another for most of my adult life, one thing I know about is the advantage (or disadvantage, if you will) of someone having voicemail.  It is no shock at all to me that so many sales people whine and moan about not getting their voicemail messages they leave returned.......They are lousy at it!
With that said, I … (2 comments)

"Opportunity" Depends On Who's Hands It's In... - 03/13/08 06:53 AM
Thats right...OPPORTUNITY as we define the word is not a universal application.  It is only an opportunity if the person that recieves the opportunity actually does something with it.  And, here is what I mean...Not everyone can take advantage of the same opportunities.  Some see opportunities as an insurmountable obsticle.  Others, a challenge that can be overcome.  Some see them as a once-in-a-lifetime shot.  Others, hard work.  Some see it as the way to get what they want.  Others, a waste of time.
Let me give you some examples that were revieled to me in an email I recieved the other day...
A … (11 comments)

Save Money At The Pump Using The 'Net!! *UPDATED* - 03/11/08 07:23 AM

I had to share this....yet another awesome site....
www.gasbuddy.com -- This site allows the user to find where the best price for a gallon of gas can be found.  You simply enter a zipcode or you can navigate through the clickable map to locate your home town.  Navigation is simple and the site has very little glitz or glam.  It's simple, and effective.  The gas station near my house is $3.51...but if I drive 7 blocks, it's $3.46.  Sounds petty, but that extra $.06 adds up quick.
Have fun...save some money.  Drive safe.
GasBuddy has been hit hard in recent weeks and you may … (9 comments)

PolyCola.com...Coolest Search Engine Ever... - 03/10/08 01:23 PM
I just had to share this...
www.polycola.com (Formerly www.gahooyoogle.com)  I tripped over this site a long while ago...back when it was still GahooYoogle.  I guess the lawyers for Google and Yahoo had them shut down, but the originator is back with a new version.  It's a search engine that posts the results of two search engines simultaneously. 
See how you rank in google and yahoo side by side....or dogpile and AltaVista....or whatever you want.
Great site and lots of fun to compare search results with...Try some of your sites and see how you rank on various engines.
… (8 comments)

Have You Ridden The Foreclosure Bus??? - 03/10/08 07:53 AM
After I had a chance to knock the sleep out of my eyes and slurp down some really dark coffee, I flipped on CNN...and Robin Meade had a story about a RE/MAX office in Las Vegas that is offering free tours of foreclosure homes via a foreclosure bus...
Agents act as tour guides and take 6 - 10 couples out on a tour of anywhere between 6 and 8 foreclosure properties available in the Las Vegas area.  One house they featured on the story was a 3 bedroom 3 bath home that sold for $309,000 in 2005 listed currently on the market … (16 comments)

ActiveRain Bloggers -- Social Networking Geniuses? Or Internet Renegades? - 03/07/08 07:38 AM
I came in this morning thinking I was going to write some big awesome blog about some really important issue...and was listening to my Pandora radio on my computer when a song came on that made me think of this topic...
Are bloggers and my fellow RainBrains social networking geniuses and far ahead of our time???  Or merely internet junkies with renegade spirits and a need to be deemed as intelligent by the masses based on our ability to create some clever prose?
Interesting question isnt it? 
And, to be honest, I say its a bit of both...but, not for the reasons you … (6 comments)

Free Radio Online! - 03/04/08 07:19 AM
Im just writing this because I love this service!!!! 
Commercial free music online played right through your PC or laptop...gotta love it.  Go to www.pandora.com and fill out a new user account.  Once you are logged in, you can tell the good folks at Pandora(r) what you would like to hear, and they custom build a 'radio' station just for you.  Whether your flavor is hard rock, country, celtic, gothic death metal, or Zamfir - Master of the Pan Flute, these guys got it.  It's awesome!  If you hear a song you dont like, you can tell them you dont like … (10 comments)

Sapphires, Sapphires Everywhere! - 03/01/08 09:56 AM
If you have not had the chance, I highly recommend you do this...
Plan a trip to Western Montana.  While you are here, take a detour through Philipsburg, MT, and then head about 10 miles up the Skalkaho Pass Highway (much more of a paved cattle trail than a highway) to Gem Mountain and do a little sapphire mining!!  Go to www.gemmtn.com to check out their site!
Gem Mountain is one of the only places in the state where you can screen gravel and find your own sapphires, garnets, and rubies.  (Rubies are simply red sapphires, by the way.  Just in case you didnt … (9 comments)