2012 Starts with A BANG!!

The first month of 2012 is done. 10:19pm.. The market is hot, the office is hot!! My very good friend Scott Walters joined our office. Jenny Cannon from the same office..another good agent and person joined as well.
The newer agents are getting the hang of this business. They are coming on stronger each day.
This is a great bunch of HARD WORKING agents.

For me???  This month has flown by. Very fortunate to being playing my drums with some very talented musicians. I played out twice this month, once with "OLD SCHOOL" the other with "THE MILL DAM JAM BAND"  sad to say the night at the PUB was the last. The PUB has gone into foreclosure and now up for Sherrifs auction.  After playing there for over a year, you start to look forward to seeing the regulars,the musicians who came to JAM, the bartenders, the manager.  These are people through out life travels that come in and then they are gone. Some time at a later date.. you wonder what ever happened to that guitar player, bartender.. customer...?? Will you ever see them again??
Hopefully our paths will meet one more time.

This is much the way of life of BANDS. You make magic on the Stage..have a few beers., then come back and do it again.. You hope you play again and again and again..but that rarely works out.
Life gets in the way?
We all have met some great people in our travels. I just hope we all can  meet again.

Labor of Love?? What is Labor Day, 2011

Labor Day would be Happier with Less Unemployment. -
My wife and I feel blessed every day we have a job to go to, but we also know that the job could end any day. We both work in the Housing industry, her in the construction side, myself in the Real Estate selling side.
With many people out of work...Unemployment checks coming to an end.. many with no health insurance.. What does, Labor Day mean to these folks?  Is it a day to rejoice with cookouts, family gatherings??. To some I am sure it is one more day that Corporate America will not get back with them on their job search.
Hopefully by this time next year.. we will have some normalcy in the work force. 
Below is a great article by Michael Shearer
Editor of the "The Advocate" about Labor Day... 2011   

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20110904/OPINION01/109040305/Labor-Day-would-happier-less-unemploymen

Cymbals Look Like Gold

With the price of gold now over $1600,,, last night I polished my very old and very nice Zildjian cymbals. I have entered a drumset competition @ Sam Ash music here in Columbus Oh. We play tonight (7/20) and compete against 7 drummers for the store contest winner.

I consider myself a Professional so I want my equipment in top shape.. After I polished all my cymbals.. I stood back to admire my completed task... Wow,, look at the shine.. They look like "Plates of Gold"

These Cymbals have actually have made me lots of "gold" in the last 40+ years of playing music.
My set consists of these  Zildjian Cymbals
                                       22"   Med Ride
                                       18"   Med Thin Crash
                                       18"   Med Crash
                                       12"   Jazz Hi Hat

Tonight I hope they help me "Bring Home the Gold"

This Memorial Day..

It seems like every time I turn around, something of significance is happening, some good….some not so good.

The Floods of the Mississippi, Tornadoes everywhere, Rains in the Midwest, Higher gas Prices…what’s next??

When I look around at us and Licking County,,,
I feel we are really pretty fortunate..

Our market is not really that bad… we still have homes to sell… unlike some of the towns that have been

damaged with the storms etc.. We still have good qualified buyers,

We have a great bunch of agents and staff at this office, and we are selling homes..

I saw a piece on the news about Veterans coming back from Iraq. Both men came back from Lima Company. One is now

working with Pat Tiberi, helping Veterans coming back to Ohio.  The other gentleman ended up at the bars and now in prison.

Same war… same Company.. completely different endings…. We will never know why one man took one path and one took the other path.

All of our paths have brought us together here at Coldwell Banker King Thompson.  I for one am glad I made the decision I made..I hope you feel the same way..We are fortunate to have choices in America…We have choices to make everyday…whatever choice you make.. I hope it is the right choice..

This weekend. Salute the American Flag,,,, Hug your Spouse.. your kids…. your best friend… holy smokes… Hug everyone you see!! J

And please..remember our Armed Forces, present and past…

 

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5 Reasons You Should Consider Selling Now

You know.. I have thought about putting my house on the market... but I am not really ready to move.. I like a spot for my MGBGT, a place to play my drums that won't bother the neighbors. A couple of acres to walk with my wife and the dog... Other things say I should sell now.. What's your reasons TOO or NOT to sell this year... maybe this article from KCM will help..
5 Reasons You Should Consider Selling Now

Manager FUN!!!!

A good friend wrote about stress in Real Estate and included some very nice statements about me. I do have alot of fun with my job!!

Open the link and see what he says. Good stuff

Anderson Layman's Blog: In praise of good managers.................: "Jeffrey Barrett manages the Newark office of Coldwell Banker King Thompson, one of the stronger offices for one of the strong..."

CHARITY,BENEFIT, DONATION

What do these 3 words mean to you?? Right now you see these words many times a day. Seems like everyone needs 1 of the three. Haiti is in the news, Foreclosures and Bankruptcies are headlines. States running out of money, Jobs leaving Ohio.

But with all the gloom mentioned above there is always just the opposite going on at a location near you.

The 3 pictures are of people coming together to help. To have the chance to maybe change a life, change a thought, change an idea, hopefully for the better.

The left picture is of myself and a young man. The 2 of us are helping serve Christmas Dinners at a local Elks Club in Newark. The young man could have stayed home to play with all the toys and games he received from Santa that morning. Instead he made my Christmas day letting me work beside him. That day with many volunteers we served over 500 meals.

This past weekend. I was a part of 2 different programs at 2 different churches.

Church of Christ at Alexandria, ( where I am a member) had our annual "Wild Game Feast". Folks from all walks of life can bring in their, Deer, Turkey, Fish, Birds and whatever they may have hunted.

Bring their mounts in to show and the best part is the wonderful feast of Wild Game and all the side dishes and desserts that accompanies a Church meal. When I had to leave we were seating over 150 attendees for "the feast". This is a community outreach project, this being our 5th year. The donations gathered went towards our mission affiliation in Haiti.

The "CABARET"!!! I left the feast early to get to the other "BENEFIT" this weekend.

The First Presbyterian Church of Granville had a 2 night Cabaret production. I was invited to be a part of this show when their regular drummer was already booked.

The show was a mixture of Broadway Tunes, Elvis, Dinner Club acts, and maybe some vaudeville thrown in too!

We had 2 sold out shows and I, had the opportunity to play with some very talented musicians and vocalists. A total of over 160+ came to see this well planned production. The money raised from this show is going to Haiti and to a very musically talented young man for an upgraded instrument.

The feeling of accomplishment, exhilaration, uphoria! You know you have done something good for somebody. Somebody that needs and appreciates what you have given them.

Whether you choose to "Pay Forward" or choose to pay "Catch Up". It is never to late to help with a CHARITY, BENEFIT, DONATION, I know someone will appreciate it!