Posted: July-02-2012 at 8:33am | IP Logged	Tweet

Favorite quote of the late Sam Hardwick ... one of our long-time racing friends:

It is never too soon to do a kindness, because you never know how soon it will be too late.

Posted: July-04-2012 at 9:42pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Anything that hurts you can teach you,
..... and if it keeps hurting you,
it's because you haven't learned the lesson.

~Author Unknown~

Posted: July-05-2012 at 1:47pm | IP Logged	Tweet

You can't control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen.

Posted: July-07-2012 at 10:35pm | IP Logged	Tweet

God answers prayers, and usually it is through an obedient servant.

We must realize that sometimes the servant is sent to us to answer our prayers, but more often ... we are the servant who is sent.

Posted: July-09-2012 at 1:43pm | IP Logged	Tweet

"China is now expected to surpass Japan as the 2nd richest country in the world. They could become the richest, but that's only if we pay them the money we owe them, and that's not going to happen."

-Jay Leno

Posted: July-10-2012 at 8:29am | IP Logged	Tweet

On this day in 1900  the most recognized trademark ever was registered .... "His Master's Voice" ... the trademark of Victor Records which later became RCA Victor.

Posted: July-13-2012 at 4:46pm | IP Logged	Tweet

So ......The manufacture of the uniforms (and all related wearables) for our United States Summer Olympics Team was outsourced to Communist China .....

Well, isn't that just really special??????

The U.S. corporate sponsors should just be really pleased with that, huh?

Posted: July-15-2012 at 6:42pm | IP Logged	Tweet

In a campaign speech yesterday, did President Obama show America exactly what he thinks of us small business owners?

He said ... and I quote, with no edits....

"If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

SAY WHAT ?!?

I sure as heck didn't realize that somebody else worked and sacrificed to build my business. I'm sure that other small business owners never knew that either.

Thanks for your support Mr. President!

Posted: July-17-2012 at 2:16pm | IP Logged	Tweet

The National Federation of Independent Business issues a statement yesterday saying, "the president's unfortunate remarks over the weekend show an utter lack of understanding and appreciation for the people who take a huge personal risk and work endless hours to start a business and create jobs."

Posted: July-17-2012 at 2:58pm | IP Logged	Tweet

And then there is Mitt Romney, who recently said that there is no Southern Heritage.... He said, "there is only one American Heritage and that is the one that the Federal Government has built"..... He further stated that anyone from the South who thinks that the South is in any way different from the North "needs to grow up"......

Are these two the best that we have to choose from for our president? Really?????

Posted: July-18-2012 at 2:06pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Pity the poor small businessman.

Up and at ‘em in the predawn hours, seven days a week, desperately balancing family with work, he pilots his fragile dream through the storm-tossed waters of President Barack Obama’s economy. Competitors try to undercut him. The large competitors often succeed. But he perseveres, making up for the higher prices necessitated by his lower purchasing power with outstanding customer service, personal relationships with his clients, specific items which can’t be found at big-box warehouses or some combination of them all.

Between feeding and clothing his family and fostering inventory and cash flow, his debt load is staggering. But he works hard, harder than so many who have foundered on the rocky shoals of ill-advised concepts, poor performance or plain old shoddy offerings. He has help from family—who often work for free—trusted friends, advisers and a couple of valued employees, whom he treats—and thinks of—as family.

He does his level best by his customers. He does the same by his employees; often, he sacrifices his own paycheck to ensure theirs are covered. He is routinely exhausted by the twin labors of home and work. He goes without a vacation for several years, bolstered by the far-off sight of true success.

His business grows. He expands, adding more items and services. His reputation spreads across town, then across the region. He develops an e-business model, and gains a worldwide customer base. As business flourishes, he maintains a grasp of the values and relationships which he employed during his rise. The atmosphere is contagious; people clamor not only to shop with him, but to work for him.

He is a model of American success.

Then late one day in July 2012—a Friday the 13^th, of all things—he checks the news (he didn’t have a chance earlier thanks to his 4 a.m. reveille and grueling workday). And he learns from the President of the United States that all his hard work, all his long hours, all his backbreaking labor, all the sweat of his brow, all the nervous nights wondering if he’d lose everything chasing his dream, all of it… was a waste of time.

He had a business, but he didn’t build it. Obama told him somebody else made it happen.

Posted: July-18-2012 at 9:55pm | IP Logged	Tweet

I bought a product at the local Walmart this afternoon. On the tag was printed "HECHO EN CHINA" ..... (for those who may not know, that is Spanish for "Made in China".)     That was no surprise at all.      BUT, what was actually insulting was that the phrase wasn't also printed on the tag in English!.......only the Spanish HECHO EN CHINA.....

Posted: July-19-2012 at 9:14pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers,
who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt
to offer a solution everybody can understand.

~Colin Powell~

Posted: July-29-2012 at 9:30pm | IP Logged	Tweet

There are three kinds of people:
those who are immovable,
those who are movable,
and those who move.

Posted: August-01-2012 at 6:50am | IP Logged	Tweet

In this life here are the givers and there are the takers.

The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better.

Posted: August-08-2012 at 10:26am | IP Logged	Tweet

It's too late to sit around waiting for somebody to do something someday. That someday is now .... and that somebody is you.

 

 

 

Posted: August-11-2012 at 9:21pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Ever get the feeling that your stuff strutted off without you? ......

Posted: August-26-2012 at 10:10am | IP Logged	Tweet

Rest in Peace .... A True American Hero!

Posted: August-26-2012 at 11:45am | IP Logged	Tweet

Nothing that's worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that.

~ Nicholas Sparks ~

Posted: September-05-2012 at 10:47pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.

~Viktor E. Frankl, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor~

Posted: September-08-2012 at 8:09am | IP Logged	Tweet

Until I know exactly what the REAL agenda is, I don't think we need ANYONE, including President Obama, to "rebuild America from the ground up". Our forefathers created a darn good foundation which has worked for more than 200 years.... our Constitution. My suggestion would be a couple smaller projects to focus on like perhaps unemployment and our nation's debt.

What exactly do they mean when they say "fundamentally change our nation's government"?  What exactly do they mean when they say "rebuild America from the ground up"?   Those are scary proposals to me, as a student of U.S. and World History. They make appealing sounding catch phrases ... BUT what are they really saying they plan to do????? I want to know the details of the plan.

Why are people in this country demonizing success and hard work? Why are they pushing this class war between Big Business and Big Welfare? Why is our own government trying so hard to divide us into classes based on levels of success achieved?

Posted: September-08-2012 at 9:00am | IP Logged	Tweet

"Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog."
- Sydney Jeanne Seward

Posted: September-09-2012 at 9:32pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.

Posted: September-13-2012 at 10:37pm | IP Logged	Tweet

"Can a people tax themselves into prosperity? Can a man stand in a bucket and lift himself up by the handle?" 

~ Winston Churchill ~

Posted: September-25-2012 at 6:31pm | IP Logged	Tweet

A drowning person often dies while fighting their rescuer.

The above quote applies to more than just immersion in water.

Posted: September-25-2012 at 6:41pm | IP Logged	Tweet

"I intend to live forever, or die trying."

- Groucho Marx -

Posted: October-02-2012 at 7:18am | IP Logged	Tweet

If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. 

Posted: October-05-2012 at 7:26pm | IP Logged	Tweet

The Labor Department's latest report says that 873,000 folks found work in the past month .... but also reports only 114,000 new jobs were added. The 873,000 number would be the highest one month jump in 29 years. However, the U-6 Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at 14.7%. That is rather improbable if the 873,000 number was accurate. Must just be that "new math" we keep hearing about.

Posted: October-08-2012 at 10:39am | IP Logged	Tweet

Worrying does not empty TOMORROW of its troubles ...

 It empties TODAY of its strength.

~ Corrie Ten Boom ~

Posted: October-26-2012 at 11:08pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.

Posted: November-29-2012 at 6:51am | IP Logged	Tweet

“If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

~Zig Ziglar~ (Rest in Peace Zig. Thank's for all your inspiration)

Posted: December-10-2012 at 6:07pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Some Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.