As many of you already know, I've been having issues with Active Rain and its' new management. In November, when Jonathan Washburn sold his stock in AR to Market Leader, my stock also had to be sold. I was not a happy camper about that. As a matter of fact I was heart broken, pissed off and concerned that being told I had to cash out was a prelude of things to come as far as AR goes. Honestly, I thought the end of AR, as we know it, was near. I felt that Broker Bryant and myself, caught in the fall out as it were, had been "left out to hang", and had become disposal, for loss of a better word. Nothing Nikesh (AR's CEO) said, openly the way he did , (see comments if you click over to that), made any difference to me at all. When all was done, and said, I simply sulked away from AR to lick my wounds and concentrate on making holiday magic for my family.

Recently, with the holidays behind us, I was sent all the paperwork we needed to sign to cash out with AR. (Wait. Before I continue, you need to know we're not talking an enormous amount of money here. Nor did I own huge shares of stock. Not so. It was a very small investment, as investments go.) Receiving this paperwork brought back all the frustration I had felt in November. I put up a status update on FaceBook that led to a lengthy discussion about AR, good and bad. I also engaged Nikesh openly. He and I went back and forth, and back and forth, one more time. And then it happened, Nikesh said something that finally made sense to me, so I picked up the phone and called him, which I had refused to do many times as he had requested. I had declined calling him because I was convinced I'd be talking to a "Corporate Suit". I had no desire to do that.

After spending an hour on the phone with Niki, it turns out, he's not anything like I had perceived him to be. He's actually very funny, kind, sensitive to the Real Estate profession, and empathetic about the feelings and concerns I expressed to him. I was totally surprised by my conversation with him, and indeed impressed. He honestly cares about AR, its' employees and its' membership. We talked extensively about the platform and its' future. I found him to be sincere in his desire to push AR forward, and to help it keep up with technology as it (technology) changes at the speed of light. That's no easy task but, I believe he will succeed with this goal. It's just the way he's wired. He has grown to truly love AR the way we all do. Its' future means so much to him that he and I were able to hash through my feelings, concerns and disappointments. I believe if there was anything Niki could do to make us whole on our investment, he would, and wouldn't give it a second thought. As our conversation unfolded I realized it couldn't be done. I was asking Niki for the impossible.

I wish I could disclose more to all of you but, that's a no can do. I've not signed an NDA but I've given my word, as a lady, that much of what was discussed will remain private. What I can say is that as time progresses you will see changes that will benefit the Community as a whole. It's a wonderful feeling to know that something you helped to create with your time, your love and a little bit of your money, will not just disappear or change so much that it loses its' original vision. Years from now AR will still be here doing all the things it does best. The things we've all grown to love about this Community.

So with all of that said, I'd like to finish this post with a public apology to Niki, WidowMaker (Bob Stewart) and Kerrie. I've been difficult to deal with for I felt I was being deceived and placated in all of this. That's the furthest thing from the reality of it. Niki, Bob and Kerrie have done all they can to make things right with me but, sometimes my passion for AR over rides my common sense. I ask that all of you refrain from letting your emotions over ride what's really best for AR and its' members. That's exactly what I did, and having to muddle through that, sucked. Don't do as I did, give Niki and everyone at AR HeadQuarters the benefit of the doubt. They really are not out to harm you, steal from you or make things hard for you. Again, furthest thing from the reality of it. Roar :)

P.S. For all you Newer Members who have no idea who I am, I am AR's first Mother. All these years later now makes me AR's aging Grand Mother. Hope that clarifies things for you.

TLW's Standard Blog Disclosure: If you don't like this blog, or have nothing nice to say, scroll on. Neither I, or my subscriber's, need your negative attitude. Go pollute some other RainPond and leave mine alone. 

All content, images and video are the sole property of TLW and Roar Productions. All rights reserved.

As many of you know, in <January of 2010> I was diagnosed with Melanoma. Since that time, I've learned a great deal about myself, and about skin cancer in general. I've become a bit of a skin cancer pro, which leads me to my next sentence. Not only have I become a pro, I'm trying to become pro-active in doing what I can to raise awareness about skin cancer. For reasons I don't quite understand skin cancer sits very low on the awareness list. I'm thinking that because other cancers take more lives, skin cancer is not really a priority until it happens to you. I also believe that the general populace is NOT ready to give up their sun kissed skin. In spite of everything we know about Melanoma, Basil Cell Carcinoma and skin cancer in general, people still type, or say, things like:

• I feel asleep in the sun.

• I accidentally got sun burned.

• I forgot to wear sun screen.

• I was on vacation.

• I was working on my tan.

• Silly me, it was cloudy outside.

• I'm not really sun burned. This is how I get tan.

• I had one too many beers and spaced out.

• It was a nude beach, I had no choice.

• I didn't know that sun screen washes off in the water.

Does all of that sound familiar? Thought so. I've used a few of them myself in, what seems to be, a different lifetime. Every excuse I have ever thrown out there seems so stupid now. I mean really, the idea that skin cancer couldn't happen to me was a special kind of stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Did I mention Stupid?

Before I digress let me get back on point, and I do have a point. I want you. I want your family. I want your friends. I want your help. So what exactly is it that I want? I want everyone who reads this post both here, and out in cyberspace, to assist me in sharing the real life experiences that I've been posting on a public Face Book page. That's right. I've taken my skin cancer public - photos, videos and all. Every treatment, every surgery, all of it. It's all out there on the Face Book page with my sole intent being to raise awareness with nothing more than my willingness to be candid and open about my experiences thus far. It's a brave new world we live in. Time for a brave new way of doing things. I'm not sponsoring anything nor am I selling anything.

The page on Face Book is a test run for me. If it looks as if I can actually make a difference, on a human to human level on a bigger scale, I'll be taking The Lovely Wife dot com out of her parking spot and using it in way that benefits those who need help, or wish to be keep informed about such an important topic by someone who's there, and has been there. But, before I do anything I really need to know that the energy it takes to keep abreast of such a project will not be lost on a society that has become so stuck on their tans they can't bring themselves to like a skin cancer page, listen, or even face the reality of what they're doing to their bodies. For me, time is of the essence.

Now, before you pop over to check out <Skin Cancer. Wage Your War> you need to know that it contains extremely graphic images of skin cancer. So graphic, in fact, that I put an age restriction on the page. The images are not for little eyes, the faint of heart or persons who are easily made queasy by all things graphic. So, please, don't come back here and say I didn't warn you. My response to that will be along the lines of ---> Maybe you shouldn't be speed reading a post that has the word cancer in it. I even put that in bold so you wouldn't miss it <--- Okay. I'm done. You can laugh about that nude beach thing now, I know you've been holding that in. Roar :)

TLW's Standard Blog Disclosure: If you don't like this Blog, or have nothing nice to say, scroll on. Active Rain is huge. Neither I, or my Subscriber's, need your negative attitude. Go pollute some other Rain Pond and leave mine alone.


All content, images and video are the sole property of TLW and Roar Productions. All rights reserved.