Dave Shriver Flippin Real Estate

A little Colombian side trip

2011-04-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

Bernarda had called the night before to make the accommodations and arrangements. I had checked the long range weather forecast and it called for rain all week in Medellin. We were going to a place called ECO PARQUE EL GAITERO ,in Santa Fe de Antioquia. About fifty miles from downtown Medellin. In my visits to Colombia this was going to be my first opportunity to get out of town, and see some countryside.
We took a taxi from the condo to the metro Poblado terminal, there we met the bus that would take us to the park. The bus was the large van type that was very similar to the bus we rode in at the Methodist mission in Costa Rica. Ten passengers plus the driver, who looked to be in his early twentys,pulled out and started our journey , it was sprinkling rain. We wound out of the city and at last we were driving through the mountainous countryside.Approxamately twenty miles out we came to a tunnel. I have been through many tunnels in the US but never one three and a half miles long. They could hold a 5k race in the tunnel and the runners would never see the light of day. We stopped at a small restaurant fuel stop in the town of Saint Jeronimo called the Bomba Texaco. We had some hot chocolate and some very tasty made on site rolls Called almojabana pandequesos
.Everyone loaded back up in the bus ,It was still sprinkling off and on, we resumed our journey. Roughly twenty more miles and we turned of the paved road onto a gravel narrow road that would take us around and down the mountain to our destination. Some beautiful sites but with the rain on the windows of the bus it did not make for good picture taking. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot the rain stopped and the sun came out ;beautiful. We headed for the restaurant and had a cup of coffee, then walked down to the lake and picked up a couple cane poles and some bait .We walked to a spot that looked good and tried our luck. These poles had a couple pegs that the line wound around and If you were an expert like Bernarda you could make that cane pole act very similar to a fly rod and cast with it.Bernarda said just one moment, and walked back to the pavilion coming back with a bucket for the fish we were going to catch---optimist. We fished for awhile watching others reel in fish after fish but for us it was looking like we were only to be fish feeders and not fish catchers. After awhile we picked up our gear and headed to one of the other lakes as this one had become extremely crowded. We walked back the growing lake where the smaller ones were protected and no fishing was allowed, A worker was manually removing algae that was floating on the lake as we walked by. Approaching the next lake we saw an area that looked like it would suit us fine .No other people close and a nice shade tree. We soon found out why no-one else has captured our spot as the journey traversing around to it, was very slippery and treacherous. We soon claimed our spot and began fishing .I had my bait stolen a couple of times and then I had one, It looked like what we call a brim. Soon Bernarda had a fish on her line and It was a small mouth bass. I caught another ,then Bernarda caught a really nice Talapia.We fished for a while longer but it had warmed up and I think the fish that we were fishing for all went to the bottom in the middle of the lake. We were visited by five long eared Brahma crossed cows that were curious to see what we were doing but as I talked to them and approached they scattered and wanted no part in us. We took our fish to the fishing pavilion and they gutted them and weighed them and we paid 9100 pesos for our fish.(about $4.00)
It was time for lunch so we headed to the restaurant and had some very good chicken and rice with salad and beans. With a citrus mango drink. After we ate Bernarda checked on a guided horseback tour of part of the park and we had a half hour to kill so we walked and watched people, always an entertaining thing to do.
It was time for our horse back tour so we walked on over to the stables. I was reminded of my cousin Allen who lived on my home farm (where I was raised).Allen had several Arabian horses all beautiful and some more spirited than others. The first time Allen talked me into riding ,he had a young gelding named Riaad An Arabic name not sure of the spelling. Allen Saddled him up and then told me that he would ride him across the dike and back to get him calmed down a bit then I could ride him. As soon as Allen cleared the saddle Riaad took off like he was chasing the wind. They galloped to the other side of the dike ,Allen turned him and they blistered back across the dike, and up the hill skidding to a stop as Allen jumped off and said ok Your turn. Allen and I grew up together and he knew that I was one half fool hardy and the other half crazy, So of course he knew that I would hop right on. With Riaads eyes doing a little dance going around in circles, I hoisted my leg almost halfway over the saddle when he took off at a full gallop. My legs never did get in the stirrups so I just wrapped them around his neck and held on. We soon were at the other end of the dike, Riaad whirled around and without missing hardly a beat we were once again at a full gallop across the dike, up the hill ,past Allen, as I was pulling back on the reins yelling whoa---whoa across the yard ,across the driveway and under the clothes; line. Needless to say we both did not fit .
With those thoughts in my head we walked to the stables. The wrangler brought a horse around for Bernarda and held the horse while Bernarda effortlessly sprang into the saddle. He then brought My horse around and I eyed it suspiciously. He held it I threw my leg over the saddle no problem, We eased out of the stables and started down the trail It was plain that my horse liked to be in the lead so I just gave it rein and let it pick its own way through the rocks and down the trail . I came to the conclusion that the horse knew where to go so I let it. As it turned out we had a wonderful ride ,lots of fun and many pictures. We got back to the stables and Bernarda got off her horse and jokingly said ouch
Ouch lol.
We walked from the stables to the main area and headed for the changing rooms to put on swimming suits. After a nice leisurely time in the pool it was time for us to get our things together and load up in the bus.
I did get some pictures coming back out as we climbed and rewound around the mountain but the road was so rough it was tough to get clear ones. When we got to the main road A Young guy came up to the bus, obviously knowing the driver, he asked for the driver to pick up two ladies in Saint Jeronimo and the driver said ok. We headed back and when we arrived in Saint Jeronimo. We pulled off the side of the road and called. He then received directions and we drove through the little town passing many people carrying small crosses. We drove through town stopped and asked directions once ---turned around --sat outside a house and honked the horn. We started back into town ,the phone rang and the driver turned the bus around again drove back to where we had turned around--and there were the ladies now waiting alongside the road. We picked them up the started back into town but only got to the edge when all traffic was stopped. The priest carrying a long staff, with all his parishioners and a small band were parading through the main street of town from the Church to ?. It began sprinkling rain as we crept along behind the precession , they turned and once again we were on our way. A short stop at the Bomba Texaco and the rain started falling heavily. It was dark now and the rain and darkness made visibility poor. We came around a corner and just in time the driver hit the brakes and we then moved slowly through mud and rocks from a mudslide. We traveled along where once the water was actually running across the road ,and a couple places where rocks the size of a large grapefruit were strewn across the highway. Once we arrived at the tunnel and went thru the weather improved and the rain slowed. We arrived in the outskirts of Medellin when a large bus the size of a Greyhound bus pulled into the road in front of us and forced us to stop. I had been extremely proud of our driver up to this point.
Our driver decided that he would make known to the driver of the large bus his displeasure so at the first opportunity he sped in front of the bus and then hit his brakes. Apparently the driver of the large bus not to be outdone then when we were beside started moving over until our driver had to hit his brakes to avoid hitting the bus or the inside curb. We were now on a four lane road ,Our driver sped around the bus --got in front and then at the next light waited until it turned green and just sat there. We then drove on the large bus turned off and the excitement was over. Like something out of an action movie--ha--only in Colombia. We were dropped of at metro terminal then took the metro to Poblado terminal, caught a cab to the apartment, Put the fish in the freezer, turned on the TV, and Chilled.

An Imagination is a terrible thing to waste

2010-08-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up on the farm, I had two sisters .Linda and Luan.Since Sisters did not always see the true greatness in their brothers Ideas most of the time, I was left to my own amusement quite a bit.
We had a large dairy barn, built by my Uncle Estile Baker and his brother who together owned Baker lumber company. In this barn I found adventure mystery and constant strife as I fought off Indian attacks in the hay mow, while hiding from roving bands of outlaws, As it seems they were always just on the other side of the wall, Looking for a hideout after their latest bank job.
The hay in the haymow, when strategically stacked and moved around formed tunnels that I hid in as I fought the Nazis on my hit and run missions with the Farm country underground.
Off to the west of the barn just past the open field of Brome grass lay a small wooded area, just crammed full of Rabbits squirrels, and Sioux who would chaise me as I ran down the cow paths to safety. If you went out of the woods to the double ponds, there was a culvert that ran clear under the dyke, under the gravel road to a ravine, this culvert was my escape tunnel, from the concentration camp as long as I kept quiet and made sure I was unseen. Luck have it there happened to be a mulberry tree right there along the escape route to provide sustenance for someone like myself who had been let to starve in the camp. The ravine led to other woods which if you followed the cattle trails down, and down and down you ended up at Jenkins creek, And you know there were river pirates, that came right off the Mississippi up bear creak to Jenkins creek, and that is where they hid the treasure. In addition, along the waters edge some of the rocks and gravel looked suspiciously like gold and silver, probably what was left of the Army Payroll taken by the James gang, and then given to the local people to help them through the hard times after the war?
Along the creek was a rock wall that in the winter would form huge Icesicles some 30 ft tall, My Dad would caution us to not get too close as if one broke off it would crush you. However ---If you looked real close you could see hidden passageways behind the ice that led to countless hidden rooms and hideouts for all the notorious gangsters that were coming down from Chicago.
We had one Farm actually between the river and the levee; we called the river farm, on the river farm an old cabin stood, undoubtedly one of the hideouts for Jesse and Frank James. When the corn was high in the summer, no one would ever find them. Bear creek made a horseshoe right there at the cabin, and along the banks was a cherry tree, knowing how The James family loved Cherry pie, it only made sense they would hide out here.
Fifty years pass, The Barn was sold to a company in Louisiana that dismantled it, moved it down close to the red river and re constructed it using it as an upscale antique store. The Cabin was burned down years ago, they never really found out who set it on fire, Speculation was vagrants building a campfire on the wood floor and just burning the whole place to the ground. But in the back of my mind---Someone was covering up, and did away with the evidence LOL

Tracy’s 120MPH Beauty Scar

2010-08-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

My mother and father in law enjoyed coming out to our farm with friends and camping around our man made two and a half acre lake. Karen and her Mom had made supper, Fresh green beans cooked over the campfire in a big ole pot held over the fire by a tri pod This particular summer evening as we all lazed around after supper, The girls were all playing down at the campsite and Their uncle Rickie was hitting stone with an old axe handle into the lake. The Dogs Buffy and Sissy were both watching and trying to run and fetch the rocks only to stop at the edge of the lake as they were batted in. I was up at the house carrying something or other down the hill to the campsite, When I saw the turn of events unfold as though in slow motion.
I saw Uncle Rickie throw a rock into the air,---at the same time Tracy, my three year old ran up to him from behind. I yelled out but it was too late as the axe handle swung with terrific force into my little girls face. I ran down the hill and swooped Tracy into my arms, and ran with her up to the house. She was bleeding badly, and Karen applied pressure with some clean towels, It was determined that we would make an emergency run to the Hospital. My Dad had just bought a new Buick 225, and instead of trading his old 225 in, he had given it to us. I helped Karen who was holding Tracy in her lap, into the back seat ,and I fired the Buick up and backed around ,and headed down the driveway throwing gravel all the way out to the main road. The hospital was approximately Thirty miles away and we made it in fifteen minutes. I had always been notorious as a teenager for my fast cars and fast driving, what I can say is that night, all the fast driving experience paid off. When we pulled into the hospital they were waiting as my Mother in Law had called ahead, so they met us with stretchers just like on Mash. Of coarse, I would not leave Karen or my little girl’s side, and It tore my heart apart when the doctor was stitching her face up and she kept crying out for her Daddy.
Her Mom passed away when she was eight; it was a real journey as all three girls grew up to be fine young women. Therefore, even though it has been very difficult at times, I have always tried to be there for her and her sisters during the roughest times.
Today Tracy is the Mom of Three Boys who definitely had their share of cuts, bruises and broken bones. I am still involved somewhat in each of the three girls lives, Sometimes not as much as I would have hoped, and sometimes a little too close for comfort ,As life goes on. Ironically Tracy now works for an orthopedic surgeon, scheduling surgeries for her boss. I hope that so Dads do not have to make 120+ MPH runs to the emergency room.

To Not Forgive

2009-09-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

To Not Forgive“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” (Anne Lamott) This little quote from our pastor, Wes Olds, at Grace Church in Cape Coral Florida, would make a huge impact on my life.I had been the unwilling partner in a divorce, (after nineteen years of marriage), that was all of six months old. By listening to my little voice inside, probably put there in part, by my parents, and completed by my Baptist upbringing, I knew that I needed some spiritual guidance. I also needed to surround myself with people, other than the "good time Charlies", and the party girls you see out there at the dance halls and bars on Sat nights. The old Tammy Wynette perfect woman vision of, "Stand By Your Man", and Charlie Pride's, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning and Love Her Like the Devil When You Get Back Home”, was all the roadmap I needed to show me exactly what I wanted and needed.....music is poetry you know.I had been using a dating site called Tagged, after exhausting Myspace and the local Meetup groups....searching for that potential “Angel” that would qualify for me to even want to "kiss them in the morning", much less the rest of the song.I had pretty much refined my search to the exact size, shape, and proximity, as well as the age of this “Angel”.......little did I know all this careful, scientific, "exacta mongo" planning, was a total waste of time!Out of no-where, it seems, I get a message from a girl in, of all places.....Arkansas! I had placed the quote I had heard Pastor Wes say, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die”, as the theme for my profile on Tagged. Who would have thought--(or thunk it, as they say in Arkansas lingo), that a very lonely, pretty, intelligent, and sweet girl born, in Texas and living in Van Buren Arkansas, would read it and think that I "must be", a kind, compassionate, caring, and sensitive person.....just because of that quote on my Tagged profile!Welllllll I’m not saying I am, or was, or even ever wanted to be any, or all of those things, but....it sure did make for an interesting concept!As I looked at her profile to determine if I wanted to respond to her "Blaintly Foreward" behavior (like responding back to me).....several issues immediately came to my attention and ringing the "gong bell"....*Number one---- the proximity to Southwest Florida...not in the model I had in mind.*Number two-----she was within two months of the same age as me, again, not in the model.*Number three-----her hair was short and spiky.....WHOA, definitely NOT in the model!However, as I talked to her on the phone, I knew I could listen to "that voice" forever.The more we talked, the more we found more and more parallels that we shared. One funny thing.....we both are pretty conservative and when we were talking one day, I said, "Well it sure looks like in religion and politics we are parallel", she misunderstood and said in a shocked voice, “so does that mean you are really voting for Obama then?” I had to explain to her that "parallel" means agreeing....going the same direction....maybe that is when I fell in love with her?!It seems pretty fitting that the preacher who quoted the phrase that brought us together, Pastor Wes, was the one who married us. We have been through a lot of "ups and downs" with the transition of our marraige and making a new life together....the packing and moving....then the unpacking and setting up house.....families.....grandkids.....the process of learning and adjusting to each other's ways.....but it's all been worth it. And now I have a new quote......one which I heard in Costa Rica while I was on a mission trip....a "Tico Pastor" (a Costa Rican), at a little Methodist church, quoted Martin Luther.....he said,"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. The older I get, the more I am finding these words to be so very true.

The Dentist Office

2009-05-26T17:24:00.001-07:00

When I was fourteen years old I volunteered to ride along with my Mom one evening, to go to the High school and pick up my older sister from GAA volleyball practice. At first this really doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with the dentist, but hang on the story really takes a turn.
We picked up my sister and one of her friends who lived in Ursa, Illinois. It was drizzling rain, and the windshield wipers of our 1961 Olds eighty eight, seemed to be tapping out a beat, and the radio was on WLS, A.M. in Chicago.....we were not aware of the life changing events that were just about to take place.
On our way home we watched the oncoming headlights approaching in the drizzling rain. In an instantaneous moment we saw the approaching headlights suddenly go from straight ahead, to shooting straight up in the air, almost as if the vehicle was doing a wheelie. Then suddenly a car shot out from behind the seemingly “star seeking” headlights, and came directly into our path.
There was a tremendous crash….I heard my Mom cry out in pain….I was hurled forward into the dashboard and then the windshield.....silence.....then groans…..I struggled to adjust and tried to focus on where I was and what had just happened......we had been involved in a terrible four car accident!
I checked on Mom to see if she was alright.......her leg was badly hurt.....my sisters were okay. I struggled to crawl out the window so I could flag down an oncoming car. I then ran back behind our car where I saw a pickup truck......the one who's headlights had shot up into the air just before our crash. To my horror I saw that it was embedded in the front end of a Corvair that contained three girls from our high school. I was to later find out that only one of the girls would survive. One of the girls that died was my sister Linda's best friend. The other was a cheerleader at our school......she and I always flirted with each other.....their necks were broken.
I had flagged down the first car that came upon the scene and blurted out the obvious (that there had been an accident)....it was unknown to me at the time, but I was completely covered with blood, having a broken arm, and my four upper front teeth knocked completely out, and my bottom jaw was broken, and one tooth was sticking out through a hole in my chin. I then ran back from the Corvair and pickup, to our car so I could check on my Mom again.
One of our neighbors recognized our car and called my Dad at home.....he beat the ambulance there.......I was confided in later, when I asked my Dad how fast he was driving his Buick Electra (since he got there so quick).....he said that he wasn’t really sure how fast he was driving, that he hadn’t even looked......he only knew that he was driving the car as fast as it would go.....and that was pretty fast!!
We were taken to Blessing hospital by ambulance, where it was found My Mom had a crushed kneecap. My Older sister Linda had a broken nose, and I of course, was missing my upper four front teeth, and my lower four teeth were laying flat in my mouth, because of my broken jaw. They didn't realize until the next morning, when my arm started swelling and hurting so bad, that I also had a broken arm.
That morning will always stand out in my memory for many reasons......that was the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.....I can still remember the nurses crying when his assassination was announced on the radio. Soooooo, I'll always remember where I was on the day President Kennedy was assassinated.
That was just the beginning of many, many Dentist appointments for me. One dentist I was very thankful for was Dr. Quad, in Quincy, Ill. I was told, many years later, that Dr. Quad had done an outstanding job on my teeth. He made a mold and a partial plate for my missing upper teeth. Of course this all took a long time, because we had to wait for swelling to go down. It was a long time after Christmas before I got my partial plate.
I remember flirting with girls at basketball games and not having any front teeth.....of course I also remember I didn´t have much luck with the girls either! Later, when I played football at Heidelberg college, I would wear my mouthpiece upside down, revealing a large gap where my teeth used to be......I called it my air scoop. My teammates started calling me "Happy Tooth", because as I was always smiling.....toothless or not!
The dentist did root canals on my four bottom teeth, and he inserted silver pins. He told me at that time, that later in life, these four teeth would eventually turn black......and quite a few years ago, they did.
Through the years I’ve had a varity of dentist….even a couple who were a little strange….like the dentist in New Knoxville, Ohio. He would have me all stretched out in the chair, half upside down, and put his knee on my chest, then he would holler, “steady as she goes”! Some time after my appointment with him, I found out that he later underwent some highly supervised clinical counciling……I may have been one of his patients which pushed him over the edge…..I don’t know…..hummm?
Jackie had been doing her research and found Costa Rica doctors to be very educated, and many interned at Baylor...which for Jackie spells “Texas”, which then of course spells, “the best”! Well, anyway the credentials were there, and the price was about one third of what It would cost in Florida…..Hey, Costa Rica, here we come!
So here I am in Escazu, Costa Rica….at the dentist office…. in the waiting room….waiting…….just waiting for Jackie to get her two root canals. I’ve already had five extractions and one root canal, and Im still smiling ---go figure. I’ll leave Costa Rica with my upper and lower teeth replaced permanently---FINANLLY---AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!!

Cowboy Real Estate The Bailout and the Peach Tree

2008-09-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

Back in 1998 -2004 My wife and I owned a Dairy farm in Missouri
Our milk house was a three on a side /side open gate type parlor, and I milked the cows on one side and my wife the other , That is when she wasn’t line dancing to the country music we always had playing on the radio. We had developed quite a system to save energy, electrical and our own, as any fresh cows (that is a cow who had as recently as the last three days had given birth to a baby calf)that still had colostrium(milk that contains natural antibodys,for the baby calf) would be milked last after all the others. In doing it this way we could just pull the pipe that the milk ran through in to the milk tank from the milkers, out of the tank and into a bucket that we would use then as calves milk. Then when finished we would flush the lines, and wash them as usual at the end of milking.
I always kept the new mommas in a corner stall of the big barn which was about fifteen yards from the milkhouse,but on the opposite end from the holding area.
Dairy cows like to be milked. For one it takes the pressure away from a swollen udder and makes them feel good, and as an added bonus we would give them grain in the milk house as they were being milked so that always insured they would be lined up at the door ready and anxious to come in.
This particular night we had finished milking and all that was left was Katie. She was a cow that had just given birth to a beautiful registered Jersey heifer calf two days ago. The rule is you keep the new milk separate from your regular milk for the first three days so we had Katie and her calf in the main barn and I went out to bring her around and down the fenced alley into the holding pen and then into the milk house.
This particular night It was pitch black out side, and as I opened the gate Katie instead of going straight and down the alley like she had the last five milkings ,turned left, through an opening between the gate and the alleyway and headed out into an open field.
Keeping in mind the fact that I played college football, and also the fact that I was in excellent shape from carrying buckets of grain into the milk house every morning and night for the last couple years. I took off after Katie to head her off and had two steps at a full sprint when I ran flat out into a 20”around Peach tree. On that pitch black night I saw stars. Well Katie after seeing she had gone the wrong way just turned around by herself and headed down the alley into the holding pen, and through the back door into a stall and when I stumbled into the milk house she was munching ground corn and my wife was milking her and looked at me standing there with blood running down my face, and said “What in the world happened to you?”
With this bailout I’m wondering if maybe running out into the darkness, might not be the prudent thing to do, that it could be the market will see it’s going the wrong way and turn around by itself. Even though it seems like the thing that needs to be done at the moment, I certainly wouldn’t advise running without knowing for sure what’s in front of you. It could be a Peach tree.

Cowboy Real Estate the Squeeze Chute

2008-09-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

When working cattle one of my jobs was usually running the squeeze chute. You pen the cattle first then usually(If the pens were built right, )You worked the cattle counter clock wise around in to smaller and smaller pens until you are at an alley way leading to bright sunlight for the cow ---but really they have to get through the squeeze chute first. The reason they see all this light like at the end of a tunnel is that you have the squeeze chute gate open for them to look through. Once they have their horns through you have to slam the gate shut quick or they will bust right on through. You can’t be day dreaming if you are running the chute. If a cow would bust through the chute it doesn’t get worked --as to say we wouldn’t be able to give it the preventative medicines and fly control we give them for their own good and health. So actually even though the cow doesn’t understand --Getting caught up in the chute is a good thing for the cow.
I was watching the commercial expired list right before the forth of July and saw a ten thousand sq. ft. warehouse listed for 1.1mil had expired. A lady in my office had told me that she had a buyer for exactly that so I sent the owners of record a letter.
The July fourth weekend came around and I went up to Rainbow River and floated the river with my kids and just kicked back. Bright and early on Monday morning I drove over to the warehouse to walk around it and see where in the world it sat. That is to say where it sat in relation to the world outside .Just something I do on land Was Taught that years ago .
I saw a sign on the front door saying where the prior occupants had moved and low and behold it was the same name as the owning company, so I headed on over to their new location to see what I could find out.
I walked into the showroom counter sales area and stood patiently in line and when the person behind the counter asked me if he could help me, I responded that yes I was going to be easy ,Who do I need to talk to concerning your old warehouse, I am in Commercial Real Estate. He told me the asst manager would be the one who could help me, and walked me over to an office door. The asst manager was on the phone so I stood outside the door and waited for him to hang up. I introduced myself and told him why I was there and asked him for a contact name and phone number at the main office of the decision maker. He gladly obliged and commented that It was over priced and that the owner of the building they were in presently had made an offer considerably less than the listing price. I thanked him gave him my card and asked him to pass it along to anyone he cared about that might need some real Estate help, and headed home.
When I got home I called the number and got a recording, so I left my number and said I would be calling again before the day was through. I called again later in the afternoon and got a lady who was not sure if the property had been relisted but promised to find out and call me back.
The next morning I called and left a message .Later in the morning a gentleman from that company called me and said “I know we have spoken before and I thought you were sending a listing proposal to me” I not thinking said Oh no I don’t believe we have spoken before but I would be glad to send you a listing proposal. He then told me that they were listing it with one of my competitors(MY Guess the company that apparently was day dreaming). I thanked him and then said By the way what price are you listing it at? He told me and it was 325thousand less than what it was listed at before I thanked him and hung up.Immediately redialing and getting the receptionist “What is your fax number?” I wrote up a listing agreement, at the price it was lowered to and faxed it off. I guess you could say I slammed shut the chute.-------I am showing it Monday morning at 10:00.---

Cowboy Real Estate--Step back and Take a look at your Resources

2008-09-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Back in the early nineties the Real Estate market was just rolling along at an even keel not much happening, not much fluctuation. I went along with another Broker to a listing appointment, as It was closer to my home than the listing Broker, and It was a Horse farm.
I am not an authority on Horses by any means. In fact, rather than use horses the old traditional way to gather up cattle I used the low stress approach, of a feed sack, and as long as the cattle were familiar with me, it worked pretty good. To me even though I defiantly qualify as a real cowboy, as far as I was concerned you can leave the horses over in the next county on a horse farm, as that way I won’t get kicked, bit, or run under a clothes line , but that was all in the past and a different story and I’m getting off the subject.
We pulled in the driveway and Bob, the Broker who was taking the listing started telling me the background story of the place. Seems as though a divorce was involved and the wife was selling the place to move into town.
We pulled up to the house and a nice lady came out to greet us .As introductions were made, we went into the house to look at it and find out a little more about what the motivation for the sale truly was. It seems that this place was her lifelong dream, and it was just tearing her apart to part with it. She went on to tell us about her background, in equine husbandry(that’s taking care of horses to you city people)and I was impressed of her knowledge and experience. We then walked out to the stables where she explained how a new buyer could rent the stables and charge fee’s for the feeding, grooming and exercising of over twenty horses. We walked behind the stables where she had a new exercise ring built, and she explained its operation. All and all I was so impressed, with the facilities, and the well thought out business plan she laid out for the buyer to enable them to cash flow the farm that When I had a moment to confer with Bob the listing broker in private ---I said why doesn’t she implement her own plans for herself? He said simply, she can’t picture herself in her own mind doing what she so plainly see’s someone else doing.
Sometimes it is easier for us to look at someone else’s problems. Someone else’s financial,challenges,and someone elses,family disfunctions,because when looking at someone else we aren’t emotionally blinded, to the obvious.
So I hope that I can somehow remember. when pondering an issue , when trying to make the right decision, When feeling somewhat overwhelmed.---Just take two steps back,and get under whelmed. Let go, and take a good look at the big picture. Opening my eyes to realize all the possibilities and resources I have at my disposal .
Then picture myself Implementing the corrective measures needed to keep moving ahead towards the completion of my goals.

I Wonder if the Bucs are Hiring

2008-09-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Some people make it a career ,others get to live the life for several years ,most only a few, and some never at all. I’m talking about playing the game of football.
I started playing when I was probably eight years old with my older first cousin ,Allen and anyone else we could get to play.
My cousin Allen was three years older than me and considering the fact that I really didn’t start growing until my freshman year of high school, I was very small compared to everyone else. This mandated the necessity of becoming fast quick, elusive and mean, I excelled.
There was a game we played at our grade school that by today's standards would probably be deemed politically incorrect, as it pitted the mob against one. The name of the game was politically incorrect as it was called Black man. The game started out with one person (it )and in the center .Our playground had a fence on each side so the fences were base. The object was to run from one base to the base on the other side of the play ground without being tagged(or tackled if we were playing tackle).As each person was tagged(or tackled) they too would be the hunters till at the end you had a mob all trying to get one person. That person was usually me as this type of game honed my running back moves survival instinct ,and technique.
When I started my Freshman year in high school I finally got to play the game .Even though I could outrun all the running backs I was so fast explosive and mean that the coach put me on the line as Strong side guard on offence and weak side guard on defense. I quickly developed a preference to defense ;as on defense I got to go after the quarterback. One memorable play the strong side guard pulled to block for the halfback .As soon as the ball was snapped I shot across and of course the guy I usually hit wasn’t there he was pulling to the right behind the line preparing to block for the halfback who was running on the other side of the quarterback with the intentions of pitching to the halfback who was running around the right end. The play book somehow forgot to take into consideration a little farm kid who grew up playing football with all the older kids and was fast and meaner than …well you know.
I shot through the hole left by their guard, I grabbed the quarterback’s shoulder pads with one hand and half jumped half catapulted myself over him and slammed that halfback into the ground for a loss. The whole time the coach was screaming ,(That’s what you! are suppose to do)to everybody on the sidelines. I became particularly fond of playing kickoff and return special teams as I got more than my share of tackles. I played both offense and defense on the freshman team some games with only a couple plays on the sidelines before coach would put me back in, I hated the sidelines as I wanted to be in there. We were undefeated and I played the rest of the Jr varsity schedule and was one of only four freshman the coach let dress for the last varsity game of the season. Ironically the last varsity game The coach pulled my cousin who was a senior out of the game and put me in as his replacement. I forgot to mention the fact that as a freshman I weighted 120 pounds, and was only five foot two. Allen to this day says that it was a proud moment for him .
The same team I played with as a freshman, won the state football championship as seniors, but I was not with them.
My dad because of several reasons two which were farm commodity prices, and an opportunity to ease into retirement, took a job which took me away from my beloved river bottom farm, my cousins which I had grown up with and football, which for me was the most important thing on this earth. We moved over the summer to a small town in Ohio that did not offer football. I would find a ride to St Marys on Friday nights to watch them play football, On Sunday afternoons I found a that a bunch played tackle on the football field So yes I was there playing tackle football with no pads. The good thing was that no one could catch me. We usually played until someone was bleeding I made some lifelong friends out there beating each other up on Sunday afternoons out behind the High school.
I excelled at track and cross country, having some records that have stood even until my daughters were in high school ,however my main goal through all the track and all the running in cross county was to stay in shape for football college style.
I was accepted to Heidelberg college in Tiffin Ohio, and upon arriving went straight to the athletic department to introduce myself.. And they said who? From where? Never heard of you are you sure you are in the right building? I said yes I wanted to play football, and the coach told me that all the football players were there on scholarship, so you know they would be playing the chances of me playing were not good ,But they had no Idea the desire they were looking at.
\I Picked up all my equipment and practice uniforms and put everything in my assigned locker, then showed up for practice. I can imagine what all the other players thought .
At Heidelberg The way the varsity practices for its opponent each week is by running against the offence of he team we were playing that week from the films the scouts had brought back .The assistant coaches (One of which was coach Gruden--Jon Gruden of the Bucs Dad)would have us (the slaughter squad)Run the plays of the opposing team and the Varsity would try to stop us --Well all well and good except a halfback like me If I blew through the line for a huge gain the coach would say run that play again A) they know where I’m going coach B) That’s why they called it the slaughter squad.
I ended up catching the eye of the varsity coach because of my hard hitting and ended up playing special teams and backup halfback behind a guy names Simone who was an all state halfback from Niles McKinley high school In Cleveland.
We were getting ready to play Whittenberg and so we were running their plays . The coach called a play where I got the ball and ran between the guard and the tackle well I blasted through and ended up breaking through for a touchdown. The coach blew the whistle and started yelling at the Line backers then said run it again. When I hit the hole I had run through the play before I was met by zippy a 280 lb 6’4”defensive end and all the rest of the defense. Zippy hit me so hard that I ended up straight up and down with just my feet sticking out of the top of the pile and Zippy with a bloody nose where his face guard has cut his nose. Head coach Malmusar yelled Shriver if you can run the next play I’m starting you next year, I ran the next play but by next year I was on my way to south East Asia and Viet Nam I had joined the Marine corps.
I guess for most people that would be the end of the story but for circumstance it would be for me also.
Thirty years pass and My wife and I are milking sixty head of Jersey dairy cows on two hundred twenty acres in Missouri. We (After a successful Real Estate career in Florida) had sold our properties in Florida and basically moved to the Missouri Ozarks to raise cattle and retire. Our milk house had a large grain tank outside but was missing the flex auger that was originally there So I improvised with three large garbage cans in the pit that we scooped grain a scoop at a time for them when they were actually being milked. I carried grain in to fill The garbage cans every morning and evening in two five gallon buckets in the milk house ,down five steps into the parlor pit empty the buckets then back for more until the garbage cans were all full. This was my daily workout so needless to say I was in good shape. One of my neighbors came over as I was preparing to milk one afternoon and watched me as I carried those buckets trip after trip ,carrying those heavy buckets down the steps over and over, I just looked at him as he was shaking his head and I said to him--- I’m not Amish, I’m just poor.---
We were at the local high school football homecoming game when a friend of my wife’s nephew named Garrett Paulette looked over at me and said hey are you going to play in the alumni game tomorrow? I said why I didn’t Graduate from here ,and he said that they were short on players and asked me to come play he said his uncle was playing and he was almost as old as I was so I said sure. Turns out his uncle was playing but his uncle was in his thirties and I was fifty.
I was there the next morning at the high school locker room, signed the waver, paid my twenty dollars for insurance, and was issues my equipment full pads ,helmet, been a long time lets see where do all these pads go?
I played, and I hit hard ,I lined up across from Garretts uncle and he lasted about two plays then moved to the other side of the line .I found out that most of the guys that played had graduated only a couple years ago, and they really hit hard. I was able to get rid of a lot of pent up aggression and frustration that day ,I had such a great time I actually played two more years until the last year I had a couple ribs get broken as I got clipped, and that was the end of my football career. Well maybe,---who knows ,Maybe Jon Gruden will read this and want to use me for one play. Yeah that’s it I’m only fifty nine I bet I can still run one more play.

You can call me Cap'n

2008-09-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

In the movie Lonesome Dove A scene involving Cap’n Call the trail boss and retired Texas Ranger played by Tommy Lee Jones, His Son Newt, Played by Rickey Schroeder, and a US Calvary unit, captured my imagination the first time I saw it and continued to make an impression, there after.
In the scene the army officer confronts one of the cowboys at the livery stable in town, and wants to requisition his horse. The cowboy tells the army officer the horse isn’t for sale and the officer, wanting to show his authority, infers that to refuse the army that particular horse would be treason, and proceeded to try to take the horse by force. When the cowboy is knocked down “Newt” grabs the reins and reiterates that the horse is not for sale. The Army scout at that time begins flogging Newt with his crop as the “Cap’n” is walking out of the store down the street. The Cap’n drops the sacks of corn meal he was carrying as he see’s his Son being flogged by the Army scout, jumps on his horse and at full gallope down the street and crashes into the Army scouts horse throwing the scout to the ground. What followed was one of the most intense and brutal exibititions of pure rage I had ever seen as the Cap’n first beat the scout with a branding iron then ran him head first into an Anvil. He then picked up a pair if tongs with deadly intent only to be roped by his friend Gus and after some rather fast talking and a lot of yelling to bring the Cap’n back to earth so to speak, the capt’n settled down checked Newt and everyone on his crew to make sure they were all right ,Mounted his horse and then calmly said to the startled onlookers” I hate rude behavior in a man,--------- I won’t tolerate it”.

So I was a Marine .Well shouldn’t say was you know once a Marine always a Marine anyway,when I came home from “ITR”(Infantry Training Regiment) for my leave right before going over To Viet Nam. My sister picked me up from the airport with a stranger in tow ,whom she introduced as her Fiancé. She proudly and innocently added that Rich was also in the service. If you know anything about Marines you know that they scorn all the other branches of the service and especially loath the lax, undisciplined, anybody can be one Air Force.
So I took one look at her brand new fiancé’s and said whats he in the Air Force ? She very apologetically said Yeeeeees. So we drive home and as soon as we walk in the house this new guy calls my Dad Dad. My blood boiled.
Keep in mind that I grew up on a farm where I was the only son. I had worked side by side with my Dad ever since I was six years old. I had weeded beans, in the hot August sun in the gumbo river bottoms, I had plowed and disced the fields from early morning till after dark, I had paid the price, over and over, for years, Where was this guy coming from where He thought that he had any right to call MY DAD Dad.
Years after that, I relayed the story to my daughters and apparently that story made an impression because at my oldest daughter Tracy’s wedding after my new Son In Law had kissed the bride and I offered my hand to shake he said well Dad and my daughter said -real hush hush, -Oh No you don’t want to call him that So he looked at me and said “well what do you want me to call you?” I looked him straight in the eyes and said You can call me cap’n.
The story doesn’t stop there, Fourteen years later, I am at my daughter and Son In Laws house and my middle daughter brings her new boy friend over to meet the family. In the course of the evening, while playing darts Kristy’s boyfriend calls me Cap’n.I guess when my Son in-law picked him up and threw him on top of the bicycles on the other side of the garage He found out the hard way that he hadn’t earned the right. Hmmm I guess my Son in law felt the same way I did all those years ago, and I understood. Of course that guy that happened to make that innocent mistake---well he never came around anymore go figure.

The Grow House

2008-08-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

As Vice Pres, acquisition for Flag development My first assignment was to find developable Florida real Estate to invest approximately thirty million dollars. Of course that was the fun part of my job.
One of my responsibilities with Flag development ,after we had all The land bought, was interim use. Coming from an agricultural background ,that was a pleasant job for the most part, however there were snags from time to time.
We had 560 acres in West Palm Beach, which I would travel down and pretty much just make sure no one dumped trash on it.
The two thousand acre Orlando site I had a hunt club ,and a cattle lease going on it making sure we received an ag exemption so holding cost were kept as low as possible.
The Lakeland property I had the previous owner lease back for cattle, did some sod harvesting and also some timber.
The headache as it turned out was the Brown Ranch ,Halfway between Zephyrhills and I-75,as it had the only house on all the land we bought.
I had a cattle lease worked out on the land and the previous owner, had one of his employee’s in the house, and then the guy moved out. I was informed by our insurance company that sitting empty the house liability insurance would triple so----I ran some adds.
I had a call from a guy saying he was interested in renting the house and made arrangements to meet him. When he pulled in I could see he brought the whole family. It was he ,his wife and three small children, they were driving an older Cadillac Eldorado,the car was clean inside and out that can tell you sometimes how they take care of there house. They liked the house and we came to an agreement on rent and they were to move in the next day. Problem solved or so I thought. A few weeks went by and we received the Electric bill and it seems they had never had it switched over to their names ,so My wife drove over to the house to give them the bill and to tell them to get it switched over pronto. When she pulled in she could see that no-one was home .She went to the back door and saw that someone had covered the glass with black plastic on the inside. She had a key, so she unlocked the door to investigate and was met with a strong Odor. Stepping in the house she saw no furniture and the upstairs was completely blocked off with black plastic around the stair well. She pulled the plastic aside and was almost blinded with bright light coming from the upstairs and as she made her way to the top of the stairs she was greeted by the sight of pot after pot of pot with drip hoses going into each one, and huge stadium lights acting as the artificial sun on this indoor growing field. She made her way quickly downstairs, now fearful they might come back and find her there. She went back out side to her car and called the Sheriff on her cell phone.
When the Sheriff got there they removed over 50 plants. No arrests were ever made as the real nice guy with the nice family I rented the house to, said he sublet it to someone else and he of course was no-where to be found.
This all happened in the late 80’s so they were pioneers, I know that it is a lot more prevalent now. So if you have rentals might want to watch for tell tale clues, high electric bills, no-one ever home, lack of furniture, because over and above the legality issue, a grow house is high heat and super high humidity and will wreck your property.

So What Would You do?

2008-08-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ever since My wife decided I would be better off and happier alone, I have been sort of on a quest to find ,whatever ? to fill a huge longing and emptiness .So I went on the internet ,found some meetup groups ,even became an assistant organizer in one ,and became socially active.
Going out to dinner with a group of equally lost souls, after a while just makes you feel that you are just spinning your wheels, and not going anywhere. And after coming to the conclusion that at least eighty percent of the females that are walking around single have some sort of emotional or psychotic challenge telling them what to do from the voices they hear--I was slowly ---well maybe rapidly becoming disillusioned. I began to realize also that to go out ,even with a group, three four nights a week began to become expensive with nothing whatsoever to show for all the effort. I was still coming home to a dark house,(no lights in the window)and spending my home time alone.
I had made some internet friends, whom I emailed and chatted on an irregular steady basis, but seems like they were always to close up to a painful relationship in their past, so that when ever I mentioned possibly meeting, the brakes came on .The “I want us to be just friends” however cute and cuddly and huggie bear warm that might make some people .It was not, Is not ,can’t see it in the foreseeable future, anything that I have the slightest interest in wasting my time participating in. I know I must be insensitive , ---try real-- that is one thing you really don’t see much anymore and If the ladies would look for realism, a lot of emotional problems would probably take care of themselves.
So I met a girl online , we have a lot in common, She isn’t exactly what I was looking for, she doesn’t fit my strict dating profile, She lives over a thousand miles away, but-------
We talk everyday via e/mail, and every night by phone.
I smile from the inside out when I see an e/mail from her or see her on my cell phone caller ID.
And she has booked a plane I pick her up at the airport in seven days.
And when I walk up to her at the airport I am going to give her the biggest movie star kiss anyone has ever seen in front of everybody there.---So what would you do?

The Boogey Man

2008-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

I was laying on my stomach on top of the levee In the darkness, watching ,waiting, Because we knew they were coming.
Phil Schultz and I had volunteered to go on a more or less recon mission . I had the only bike ,and It was my families farm. Actually it was what we called it the River farm, as It laid between the levee and the Mississippi river. All in all it consisted of around 600 acres of the best soil Iowa could send down the river. Every spring and sometimes in the late fall the river would come up and deposit some more silt or top soil on our land. Sometimes in the spring we got the crops in late sometimes not at all, but when It worked out to our advantage weather and river wise we had killer corn and soybean yields.
But we weren’t down there working the farm this night. We were a part of the junior youth group at Calvary Baptist Church in Quincy, and the rumor was the senior youth group led by a notorious prankster, who was rumored to have been a professional wrestler called the masked marvel, Was going to bring his band of cut throats( the senior youth group)Down to terrorize us and we were bound and determined to be ready. His real name was Buster Mcfeters and he was the leader of the senior youth group.
Phil and I had made our way from the cabin to the only way in or out. A dirt road lined on each side by huge fields of towering corn. It was just turning dark and the late October wind made the seven to eight foot tall corn sway and crackle. I thought we would see headlights as the river bottoms stretched totally flat for twelve miles until it reached the towering bluffs. Well we waited for about a half an hour, and no headlights coming down that single flat gravel road--they must not be coming. Time to head back to the cabin where everyone else was and maybe have a couple hot dogs or something this recon work can make a guy hungry.
I hopped on my bike and Phil got on the back and we headed back down the dirt road toward the cabin. The road went straight from the levee for about an eighth of a mile and then it turned a ninety degree angle and went on up to the cabin .We had just made the turn and were only fifty yards from the cabin when all of a sudden someone ran out from the cornfield right next to me screaming.
I jumped over the handlebars of that bike and hit the road running. I left poor ole Phil right there on that bike and he was too scared to pedal. I sprinted the fifty yards to the cabin ,yanked the screen door open just as a water balloon burst through the screen, and a cherry bomb exploded behind me. I jumped inside the cabin just as a cherry bomb exploded inside the wood stove. They had gotten on the roof and dropped it down the chimney.
The preachers son Dave Bower had his bb gun as did a couple others so they grabbed them and out the door we went running for the cover of a small woods just about fifty yards from the cabin. As we headed for the cover we were chased by countless bottle rockets, cherry bombs going off and terrifying war hoops.
There were five of us all laying still in the tall grass at the edge of the woods, waiting for the attack to be over. Finally our leader along with the group of boys that were still up by the cabin made a formal surrender, and it was over.
We sat out there for about another hour until we thought they all had left, then started around the edge of the woods. As we went past a shadow a form stood up and waved his arms., David Bower opened up with his bb gun and the others did too. The figure was making groaning noises, and they kept shooting it with bb’s just shooting and cocking shooting and cocking, finally the figure stumbled back into the woods and we all took off running back to the cabin.
Back at the cabin ,all the angels of terror were gone and we talked and laughed about the whole night.
We found out later that none of the guys that came down with the senior youth group were anywhere near the woods nor had anyone been shot at with bb guns.

The Baby Calf

2008-07-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

One Sunday I went for a walk back into my cattle pasture behind the house ,just watching the cows as they munched on grass, and just slowly making their way around . The baby calves were either playing ,(They like to play tag,) or just lying in the sun taking a snooze, always close to their momma. I had a pond about a quarter of a mile back from the house so I ended up there. I sat down on the ground just watching the water bugs dart around, pretty soon I just laid back in the soft grass and fell asleep.
I awoke to a hot rough tongue licking my face --As I jumped up startled the baby calf took off at a run, headed for its momma. I laughed and wished I hadn’t scared the baby because what it had done was so sweet. Coming up to me so inquisitive and innocent.
Makes me wish sometimes in my own relationships I could just open one eye and relish the moment.

I Should have been a Doctor

2008-07-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

Back when I was growing up we lived about a mile and a half from my first cousin Allen so I really didn’t have anyone my age to play with until my dad hired a new Hired man named Mr. Bradbury .Mr. Bradbury had four sons and one daughter, and they lived in the old house that my dad grew up in. All the kids were older than me but Earl, and he was about three years younger than me and a late life baby if you know what I mean? Since I didn’t want to hang out with my sisters all the time sometimes I would go over to Brads house and ask Earls mom Bessie if Earl could come along so I had somebody to do stuff with.
One day I went over and got Earl and we walked down the gravel road toward the bluff there was a hedge tree down in front of Schnelles that always had a bunch of hedge apples laying on the ground that You could hit with a stick like a baseball. We did that for awhile than I said “Hey I know where there is a mulberry tree and we can go eat Mulberries, Ole Earl always liked any Idea that I would come up with, so we headed up the road a little further and came to the Mulberry tree, climbed it and sat up there in the tree munching on Mulberries.That got old pretty quick so I said hey lets go cut through the woods and go down by the big pond and check the Apple tree out . Of course Earl was all in favor of getting out of the tree so we headed through the woods. We went on through the woods playing like we were shooting at each other, and crossed the hay field to the barn. Once to the barn, It was a really cool place to play even though I do believe my Dad had told me not to play in the barn ---In we went. We were jumping from the manger thru an open window when Earl hit his head on the top of the window opening. He was bleeding pretty bad (as head wounds do) so I remembered my first aid class in
4-H taught us to clean the wound. Off to the cow tank we went. I chased all the fly’s away (the sorghum lick was right next to the concrete cow tank) and so the water had kind of a sweet sour smell. We got his head all cleaned off with cow tank water and I said lets go get us some apples. As always Ray liked my ideas so we headed down past the hog house and down past the Chicken house to the little orchard down by the big pond. It seems the apples would never get red ripe before the birds would get to them, so we picked a bunch of green ones --so sour and good we ate a bunch.
It was about time for me to go home so we walked up to Rays house and I dropped him off at his yard and headed on home myself.
Later that night Bessie(Earls Mom) sent word over to my Mom asking what in the world we two boys did today, Earl is sick as a dog.
I was just fine must be a bug going round.

A Day in Commercial Real Estate

2008-07-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was watching the commercial expired list right before the forth of July and saw a ten thousand sq. ft. warehouse listed for 1.1mil had expired. A lady in my office had told me that she had a buyer for exactly that so I sent the owners of record a letter.
The July fourth weekend came around and I went up to Rainbow River and floated the river with my kids and just kicked back. Bright and early on Monday morning I drove over to the warehouse to walk around it and see where in the world it sat. That is to say where it sat in relation to the world outside .Just something I do on land Was Taught that years ago .
I saw a sign on the front door saying where the prior occupants had moved and low and behold it was the same name as the owning company, so I headed on over to their new location to see what I could find out.
I walked into the showroom counter sales area and stood patiently in line and when the person behind the counter asked me if he could help me, I responded that yes I was going to be easy ,Who do I need to talk to concerning your old warehouse, I am in Commercial Real Estate. He told me the asst manager would be the one who could help me, and walked me over to an office door. The asst manager was on the phone so I stood outside the door and waited for him to hang up. I introduced myself and told him why I was there and asked him for a contact name and phone number at the main office of the decision maker. He gladly obliged and commented that It was over priced and that the owner of the building they were in presently had made an offer considerably less than the listing price. I thanked him gave him my card and asked him to pass it along to anyone he cared about that might need some real Estate help, and headed home.
WhenI got home I called the number and got a recording, so I left my number and said I would be calling again before the day was through. I called again later in the afternoon and got a lady who was not sure if the property had been relisted but promised to find out and call me back.
The next morning I called and left a message .Later in the morning a gentleman from that company called me and said “I know we have spoken before and I thought you were sending a listing proposal to me” I not thinking said Oh no I don’t believe we have spoken before but I would be glad to send you a listing proposal. He then told me that they were listing it with one of my competitors(MY Guess the company that had it before). I thanked him and then said By the way what price are you listing it at? He told me and it was 325thousand less than what it was listed at before I thanked him and hung up.Immediately redialing and getting the receptionist “What is your fax number?” I wrote up a listing agreement, at the price it was lowered to and faxed it off.Ill tell you tomorrow if I get a signed listing back.

Short Sales: Should We Ban Them?

2008-06-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

A gentleman Realtor from my great state of Florida created quite a commotion in the Real Estate community when he encouraged the National Board of Realtors To Ban All Short Sales In the country.A lot of Realtors, frustrated with the whole procedure made all kinds of noise in support.After studying the situation I thought it best to just write a story to put everything in perspective.
Should we ban Short Sales---- Response----
I can understand your frustration. Looks like I need to write another chapter in "Cowboy Real Estate"
We were loading up some registered Bulls that were all destined for the Houston Livestock show. They were young all weighing approximately 400#.My Dr. Friend had made a deal with the officials that be, to take the young bulls to The prison farm in Okeechobee Florida, where the inmates would break them to lead. We had three bulls loaded when one bolted ,Knocked down a panel of our portable pens we had set up and headed for the pasture. I hopped on a 4wheeler and headed out to turn him back . Well, I got him turned around and cornered under some trees in the corner of the pasture, and the plan was to Move the cattle trailer to where we were, grab the portable pens and set them up so that we could coax the bull into the pens, trap him then shoo him on into the trailer.

The bull being a bull didn't listen to the plan apparently and as the trailer came bouncing across the pasture, he made a break for it completely toppling and end over ending an Older gentleman neighbor who just came over to help. As the bull went tearing past I jumped on grabbed him around the neck, twisted his head around and bull dogged him to the ground. I'm laying there with his head all twisted holding him down yelling bring me a rope.

Well I made a halter out of the Lasso, and half chased half drug him onto the trailer.

After all the excitement was over My Doctor friend (Who was born and raised in Texas) asked me what in the world possessed me to jump on that bull. My response was "It just seemed like what needed to be done at the time"

Maybe Short sales are frustrating, maybe they are, ugly, maybe they are difficult. But Maybe that's what needs to be done at the time..
http://shortsaleheadquarters.davidshriver.net

Dancing in the Milk House

2008-05-26T20:05:00.002-07:00

In a fit of total insanity I left the Real Estate business in 1998,Sold my 15 acres of paradise took all my equity, and with the help of a $60000.00 Commission check, went up to the Ozarks in Southern Mo right on the Arkansas line, and bought a Dairy Farm.

I had been raising cattle in Florida since the early eighties, and had amassed a herd of around one hundred ole Florida brush cows. And four registered Romognolas,and a couple bulls.

Romanogla’s are a breed from Italy known for their double muscle, temperature tolerance and gentleness. My thoughts were to use the purebred bulls to improve my calves to the point where I had a superior herd.

My wife Margie (an animal lover --especially the babies)was all enthused about the move and so with the help of a semi, and two gooseneck cattle trailers we made the move.

It didn’t take too long to discover that we weren’t in Florida anymore, land of year round green grass, as we started having to buy hay at $30.00 a round bale ,two a day. Cash flow constantly running one way is a problem, so since we had a really nice Dairy barn, We thought; why not put it to work and purchase some milk cows, and that will be the answer to all our problems. Out with one problem in with thirty more LOL.

We decided that we wanted Jerseys, because of their high butterfat milk and their sweet dispositions. After a farm sale auction where we bought eight head, I went to a large Jersey farm cattle auction in Arkansas and bought fifty two more. So we ended up with Sixty head of Jerseys and we were in the milking business.

I took a course at Texas A&M on Artificial Insemination of beef cattle and we were on our way. At one time my Wife had twenty three baby calves all on bottles in the calf barn, she loved that part. Our cattle loved Country music and we had the music playing in the milk house during milking every day.. While in Darby Fl. Every Month we had a dance at the fairgrounds and my wife and youngest daughter Holly became quite the line dancers. So wouldn’t you know it with the cattle swaying to Brooks and Dunn the milking machines making their own music and the vacuum pump roaring in the background, I looked up from putting the milkers on a cow and there she was Dancing in the milk house.

My Little Sister and the Tin Car

2008-05-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

When I was four years old :my Mom had my little sister. I guess she was about a year old when I ran over her with my bicycle.My parents couldn't understand why I would do such a thing, and my excuse that I just wanted to see how much of a bump she would be didn't fly. Oh well,No permanent damage that you would notice.Anyway she grew up to be a typical little sister, always the favorite, got away with everything, and was really good at laying on the poor poor me to my Mom and Dad .Then one day the Gods smiled.
I can remember it as if it were yesterday.I had been down along the creek, running like an indian, exploring, pretending I was looking for settlers in a wagon train, when I saw the corner of it over behind a rock where it had apparently floated.
It was a tin car about eight inches long and four inches wide,and just so cool a find.I proudly picked it up wiped some of the dirt off of it and headed home to show my Mom this great toy I had found all by myself.
My Mom was at the back of the house when I got up there, with of course my little sister hanging on to her dress .My Mom was suitably impressed with my find,and I was beaming when all of a sudden my little sister looked up and started screaming,gimmi that, gimmi that, My Mom told me to give her my new found toy and as I handed it over, a spider that was at least three inches across ran out of the insides of the toy car and went right up my little sisters arm, onto her neck.I can still hear the total screams of terror,the jumping, the clawing and more screaming, and I smile. Come to think of it I believe she is still afraid of spiders.

Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road

2008-05-26T20:03:00.002-07:00

It had to have been in the 1950's when my confusion really started.
You see our family was a very close family where my aunts and uncles,cousins,grandparents would all get together on a regular basis. In the summertime these get together if at my uncle Russ's involve home made ice cream, and if at our house you could count on watermelon. My Dads side of the family consisted of Grandpa and grandma ,one uncle, and three aunts. We farmed with my uncle in partnerships, one aunt lived in Massachusetts, one about one hundred miles away and the other in the neighboring town where her husband owned a lumber company. My dad always liked to take everyone down into the river bottoms to show the crops to everyone, so he bought an old retired school bus, took most of the seats out so he could haul fuel in the back, but left a few rows of seats for out crop tours . Usually on a Sunday afternoon, after Sunday Dinner and Watermelon we would climb into the old Reo School bus and go for a tour of the crops.
We went to church one Sunday morning in August, close to my birthday, had a couple watermelons in the old milk cooler, and company coming for dinner. We got home from church, and my aunt and uncle from town came out my uncle Russ, and Grandpa and Grandma and all my cousins all over for fried chicken and Watermelon. That afternoon before everyone went home my Dad brought the old school bus around we all climbed in and went down into the river bottom to look at how well the crops looked. On the way back I was sitting next to my Dad and as we were almost to our house my dad saw the cause of a faint odor we had been putting up with all day, a dead skunk laying next to the road. My Dad told me that when we got home I should come back and get rid of it.
I had watched my dad on numerous occasion get rid of things like that, so I just followed in his footsteps. Sometime in the past I had been with my Dad in the old Reo School bus on a fuel run down into the bottoms and there would be road kill of one persuasion or another ,and my Dad would take a piece of baling twine, make a loop and loop it around the dead critters foot. He would then tie the baling twine on the back bumper of the old Reo School bus and when we got down to the fields in the bottoms, after about six miles of gravel road, the critter would mysteriously be gone.
I went over to the barn and got a piece of baling twine, by that time it was getting dark, I made my way to where the stinking skunk was and looped a loop around one of its legs. The school bus was sitting in the barnyard no that won't work.
That night my Dad got a call from my uncle thanking him for the present, It seems that when I tied it to the back bumper of their car, it turned out to be a pretty tough ole skunk, cause it was still there when they pulled into their garage

Happy

2008-05-26T20:03:00.001-07:00

Happy
Current mood: happy
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

My Dictionary defines happy as good fortune, and well being. Of course my dictionary is the same one I had in college, copyrighted 1967 and although the world has changed ,has happy changed?

It seems everyone from Paris to Britney is unhappy ,what's up with that? Isn't happy good fortune, wouldn't you say they both have plenty of that? How about well being,----well ---being---either would just thrill the heck out of most teenagers or young people in general. I do know a couple of things and one of them is. You cannot depend on someone else to make you happy. The only person you can depend on and should depend on in this life to make you happy is yourself. It cannot be done in any other way than from your soul.

I know every day isn't going to be a skippity do dah day but If you wake up and think to yourself that this day is going to be a bad one, it will be. Instead if you start every morning off with a purpose of doing one thing ,new every day to bring happiness to yourself, then maybe you can break the destructive mode we can find ourselves in. Laws of attraction teach us that if we dwell on unhappiness that is what we attract and If we dwell on happiness that is what we will attract. I read the definition of happy that I think is much more in tune with today It said "happy is when your mind is filled with pleasant thoughts most of the time." So everyone controls their own happiness, Its all in how you think, That determines who you are

.A beautiful friend in N FtMyers gave me inspiration and actually a blueprint for this story I want to thank her for being who she is.

The Light in the Window

2008-05-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Light In The Window
When I was in my twenties, I owned a one hundred acre farm. I had three small girls, A wife I loved very much and life was good. I had a full time job working in a factory and farmed on the side.The house was a nice ranch style with a full basement, and a family room with a fireplace on the back of the house overlooking a two and one half acre lake. Our fields rose gently from the pond into rolling acres.

I was disking the fields one late afternoon and as the sun started setting, and darkness began creeping on me, The lights in the house came on .I instantly realized that those lights represented everything good in my life. Although It was in the fall and the darkness also brought icy cold. The warmth security and love that surrounded me, were brought to consciousness with the burning of some simple light bulbs. Because I knew that in that house with the lights on, were the family, I loved and who loved me.

I am now at A point in my life where children are all off and married. Building lives of their own. So many things have changed,. Farms sold, loved ones have died, And love that you hoped to replace love lost, leave you for no good reason.I hope to find love and happiness again,I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to see that light in the windows .Will I ever see it again?Yes I think I will, And I am Looking foreward to it.

The Scent of a Woman

2008-05-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

The Scent of a Woman By David Shriver

A few years back there was a movie by that title staring Al Pacino. I went to the movie and was sorely disappointed because I felt the script didn’t live up to the title. The writers had missed the point in a big way,of such a powerful title.
Wait --let me explain you’ve got to get where I’m coming from here.
Let me start where this is going to all connect.
You ever see the movie Ghost with Patrick Swazie and Demmi Moore?
OK then This will Make sense to you.
I met my wife The day of her High School graduation. After I had just gotten out of the Marine Corps and home from Viet nam. It was love at first sight and we were married Seven months later. We were madly in love and had Farmed ,worked together hand in hand, arm in arm, for ten years, working for our future together. Three months after we moved to Fort Myers She Was Diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and given Three months to live. My Wife passed away with Cancer when she was thirty one years old.
I was left with Three little girls and a memory.
In Ghost The feelings portrayed were so true and heart felt. To want more than anything in the world To touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, just one more time and it would be worth any price .
When I walked back into the house after the funeral, and walked into her closet, I could smell her on her clothes and I slid down the wall and wept,clinging to them.
When I met someone else the most difficult thing for me was the fact that she just didn’t smell right. She didn’t have that scent of comfort for me.Time has passed and New sights and new smells replace the old.
It has been over 23 years Ironic as it sounds but last Christmas when I gave my Youngest daughter a hug, It was like I was hit by a train. It was there, The same scent I had lost all those years ago, the unique smell of her mother. The same Scent of a women.

Rainy Wednesday

2008-05-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

I ride my Harley almost every day. With gas prices what they are, and the economy what it remains to be ,I figure I would have run out of money to drive to work a month ago If I had kept driving the “Taco wagon“. Oh the Taco wagon is this customized van of 1990 vintage that has a thirty gallon fuel tank. Driving it to work cost a minimum of One hundred dollars a week ,while the Harley sips about ten bucks.
With the summer rapidly approaching and just a few spring breakers still partying it up at Junkaroos on the beach, you know the afternoon showers are bound to make a few,warmups before the rainy season is officially here, .Wednesday afternoon was quite a warm-up.
I have the ride from Moody Road in North Fort Myers to Gladiolus and bass in South Fort Myers down pat A half hour in the morning, (And as long as I leave by four thirty in the afternoon ) A half hour in the afternoon. If I wait until five my ride home doubles in seat time especially since all those nice Cape Coral people started taking my bridge home at night to save from paying a toll.
So back to Wednesday. I stepped out side and checked the sky, Don’t get me wrong I don’t have a degree in meteorology but I was raised on a farm, That is to be interpreted as ---I have no formal training on the subject however I do have common sense .I could tell the rain was coming. I packed up my paperwork,cramed everything in my laptop bag and strapped it on my motorcycle.
From my office it is best to always go West on Gladiolus because of traffic so I go down to A&W Bulb Road And cut across to McGregor .I just got onto McGregor when the rain started, slow at first, then steadily increasing as I got to, and went under College. About the time I got to where Winkler cuts off the lightning started . For some reason in southwest Florida whenever it really starts raining hard and begins to lightning people in cars just stop. For them It may seem a temporary respite from the violent weather ,to stop then go on, But on a motorcycle to stop and put your wet feet down on the ground in a puddle of water while lightning is crashing all around you, gives no assurance. I was almost to colonial, and I remembers some tin roofed offices with overhangs that allowed parking. I pulled into a protected parking spot and sat for forty-five minutes while the rains continued. I carry my motorcycle jacket in my old U.S.M.C. backpack strapped onto the sissy bar and was glad to put it on as I was freezing. The rain subsided, and I slowly made my was the rest of the way home safely. When I walked into my house my boots were sloshing and I had to mop my tracks, as I was dripping huge amounts of water onto the floor. Just a taste of rainy season, but things could have been a lot worse. I could have driven a car and had nothing to write about.

Skydiving

2008-05-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

NOTHING WRONG WITH A LITTLE ADRENALINE RUSH By David Shriver

A group of my friends are all meeting this morning ,and heading over to Clewiston so that they can jump out of a perfectly good airplane. I can’t find any fault with that ,because I have been kind of an adrenaline junkie all my life.
I got my first Harley when I was fifteen years old, and put eighteen hundred miles on it before I turned sixteen and could get my drivers license. All those miles weren’t just aimlessly driving around either. I scouted out the best parking spots in the county --but that’s another story.
I was one of the very fortunate to have grown up in the muscle car era.
I baled hay for an alfalfa mill to make money for my cars and I had a lot of them.
Numerous 55 chevys,One two door post with a 327 out of a corvette with a crane cam, and Chrome fender well headers--I ran It on the dragstrip.I had a 61 Chevy convertible with a 348 cu. inch engine, A 66 Buick Grand Sport with a 400 big block 4speed and Positraction,a 61 Corvette, and the car I was famous for --A maroon 65 GTO That was fast --Really fast. Well with all these fast cars I had it only made since that they would take me to the Race track and of course they did.
I started out racing stock cars, then went to late models, Then one Sunday at Eldora Speedway(owned now by Tony Stewart)The fastest one half mile dirt track in the country, I was in the infield, and a Sprintcar,while doing time trials, caught a rut, got into the back wall, and started flipping end over end down the entire backstretch. You could see the drivers arms straight out over his head as the inertia pulled them to outstretched position. It was the most terrible ,most violent crash I had ever seen. I knew right then I had to drive one.
I drove Sprint cars for six years, got upside down on numerous occasions, into the wall more times than I want to think about, But other than some bruised knees after a spectacular straight into the wall flip at Eastbay one night, I never got hurt.
So one day I’m with my son-in-law and grandson Brady, out on lake Panosofkee in his Ranger bass boat with the 200 hp Mercury and we are all planed up and Son in Law says we were hitting sixty five miles per hour. Well right then Son in law yells over to me and says Hey Grandpa why don’t you just jump out?
Well really at the time it seemed like a perfectly good idea so I did.
When I came to, The boat had already turned around and were beside me. I must not have been knocked clear out because I wasn’t wearing a life jacket and I didn’t drown. So I crawl back in the boat and my son in law is just laughing his A__ off Saying he can’t believe I did that and all that stuff, and says you want to do it again? So I say no, not right now, not saying I would never do it again just needed a while to let the concussion heal a little .
So my friends that are jumping out of perfectly good airplanes with a parachute today, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I saw a guy in a movie jump out with out a parachute and freefall to catch another guy that had two. He caught up with him put the parachute on ,pulled the rip chord then floated down to the ground.
Hmmmm. Naw I better stay home.

Boating Bliss

2008-05-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Boating bliss
I know that people always say the two happiest days of A boaters life are the first day he owns a boat and the day he sells it.Well I must take exception to that nasty bit of sour grapes undoubtedly made by a land lubber extraordinaire for an example of my strong belief of boating pleasure:let me just recap my 4th of july 2007.
Plans had been made to meet some friends on buckshot Island (about 5 miles east of the old 41 bridge on the caloosahatchee river Ftmyers Fl.)Even though we are on the water ---I don't have a boat lift ,so our 18 ft seaswirl spends most of her time on a trailer under an oak tree in our side yard.
The night before I had charged the batteries, poured in some octane booster as I knew the gas was kinda old,cleaned all the leaves out and pretty much got her ready for a cruise up the river Oh yes I did put the drain plugs in--.Fourth morning ---we loaded up coolers,dry clothes food,and off to the boat ramp;and to our surprise it wasn't crowded maybe because the fourth fell on A wed this year.We backed the boat in she fired right up and we cast off;heading up river. Now because of the Manatees you have a no wake zone that seems like it go's on forever so we idled along,the motor surging a little prob that old gas .When we arrived at the buoys that allowed us full speed,We could only go a little faster than the snails pace we had been on.Bad gas --I thought to bring another fuel filter so no problem I'll just put it on .As I was diligently undertaking my rendition of a NASCAR pit stop It was brought to my attention that some ominous black clouds were approaching from the North.I succeeded in getting the fuel filter on and as I attempted to restart the boat it started to rain. We had just gone under a bridge about a quarter of a mile back so I headed back for the bridge .Just about the time the boat started to plane It sputtered and quit dead in the water .We could see the bridge but shelter was not to be ours this day.A real squall blew up (later we heard that several water spouts were sighted,Not that we could see We couldn't even see the condos on the rivers edge it was raining so hard.About that time my wife began explaining to me Something about my intelligence level and some thing about my heritage and the fact that she was never going to go out in that boat again, I didn't catch hardly any of it -------------------because--------------As I sat there with the rain just drenching me the lightning flashing,the wind howling I thought how lucky,fortunate and blessed I was to be right there right then.How many people on the forth of july sit in Appts in citys with no air conditioning,sweltering,the smell of the city,the noise.
I had my cell phone and contacted the Ft myers police Seems like they have a brand new Donzi A really nice officer brought it out and towed us back to the boat ramp no charge I do love Florida.I do have a happy ending'Took the boat home changed into some dry clothes and our friend Charley met us at the boat ramp and brought us out to the island where we had a great time.So where some people might have mistaken the storm,the bad gas, the challenges of the morning as bad I found so much good and attracted more .Laws of attraction

Herons Glen

2008-05-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Herons Glen BY DAVID SHRIVER

Today I rode the Harley to the northern tip of Lee County to a development called Herons Glen.
Indirectly Herons Glen and I have a long history.
Back in 1984 I was working Real Estate selling one acre parcels on metro parkway, and Youngquist road, and some pieces of raw land here and there. I approached Mr. Kanavos at Deltura about buying a piece of land that I had for sale. Mr Kanavas In his special way told me he wasn’t interested in that piece however if I could get another piece (that he identified) listed he would be interested in buying it.He told me how much he would pay and I told him what if I can get it for less? He said if you can get it for less there will be more business for you down the road I take care of those who take care of me.
So I went to work on a parcel owned by a lady who was just down forty one and on the other side from DelTura. I worked with her as a buyer, offering her a dollar figure much lower than my top price and worked and chewed and spit and finally got it bought twenty thousand less than what Mr. Kanavas said he would pay. I brought the contract to Mr Kanavas and told him if he would pay the ten percent commission, I would assign it over. He was happy to do that and that started a seven year affiliation with the DelTura group.That piece by the way became one of the key parcels for the Plaza.
Mr Kanovas brought me in his office and showed me a map and said he wanted me to start assembling these parcels one by one until I had all of them bought. As I put one under contract I would assign each piece over to the DelTura droup and they would pay me the commission when the parcel closed.In retrospect that right there was not so good for me because I devoted a year totally on putting these pieces of the puzzle together, and then had to wait another year for my money. Made for some skimpy times for a couple years.
I moved a brand new doublewide back on the first 20 acre piece I bought. I then began buying my neabors out one by one until I was the only one back there at the end of Vernon Dee’s Tap Rd. our official address.
We had a mailbox out on forty one and my daughters would ride a four wheeler out to forty one to catch the school bus then after school ride it the two miles back our road home. We had a stable back there and at one time had five horses. We would ride down the old abandoned Rail Road grade. Which went from our place clear down to the back of Suncoast.We got a couple hogs Porky and Petunia and had a hog pen and fed them culled produce we got from the produce stand. We usually just let them wander around and eat palmetto roots and whatever. One day my oldest was washing our car and Porky wanted to play in the water, When Tracy kicked at him to get him away ole Porky hooked her on the leg with one of his fangs, so she is now probably the only surgical coordinator in Tampa who has been gored by a wild hog. We got rid of them directly after that.
I went on to work as a land buyer for Flag Development Company a partnership with the Kanovas family
Key employees (including me) and Swiss investers. That took me to Dade City where with the commission money made I bought a little ranch which backed up to the Bellamy Bros(country Music Stars)--on the Del Vera deal---Later the name was changed to Herons Glen after I told Mr. Kanovas about how every morning as I was making my way down the two miles of sand road out to forty one --A heron would fly in front of my pickup seemingly leading me down the road. In The evening as I was coming home a Heron would lead me flying in front of me down the road to home.

An Indian and A Short Rope

2008-05-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

An Indian and a Short Rope By David Shriver
Growing up on a farm ,I didn't really get into the ball and stick games the kids in town played ;other than football and track the only sports I really cared about involved the internal combustion engine .When other kids my age were reading Inside Baseball I was devouring Hot Rod, Motor Trend, and Motors manuals, Learning what makes cars and motorcycles run. One of my friends grandpa restored old cars as a hobby ;and noticed my interest so one afternoon he pulled an old buck rake( Abuckrake was a model A Ford that they had taken the body off of ,and made it into kind of a tractor)into my parents driveway and said if it was alright with them he would just give it to me to tinker with since it had just been sitting out in a pasture for years and didn't run he thought it would give me some good experience. Well when my friends parents came over to pick them up that evening they found us out in the pasture sitting on buckets on that ole buck rake just flying back and forth across the pasture. I had got it running and we were just trying it out. Needless to say Gramps came over the next morning and the buck rake was gone. So that's how things got started, I had the reputation that I could get anything running And so enters Nicky Hovie;
Nickie hovie had a real nice sixty three chevelle convertible Yellow,Black interior 327 4 spd ,nice car .Well he drove in and said he was given an old motorcycle and the motor was froze up and wondered if I thought I might want to try to get it running for him. I said sure thing ,so the next day he brought it over and we put it in my parents garage. Some one had painted it White with household interior paint and it really looked bad but It was an Indian Motorcycle. I pulled out the spark plugs and filled the cylinders with diesel fuel and let it set. In a couple of days I put it in gear and with the sparkplugs still out I rocked it backward and the engine broke loose. Now I could use the kick starter and I checked to se if I could get spark and I could so I had new spark plugs and put them in and with fresh gas I tried and tried but could only get it to pop.
The next Saturday Nickie came over to see how I was coming and I jumped on the kick starter and It popped and Nickie got all excited ."lets pull it with my car" he said So I proceeded to get a rope, tied my end to the bumper hitch of Nickies Chevelle and handed the other end to Nickie.Well we got all straight so that I could pull him straight down the street and we were ready .----These old Indians were a lot like the old Harley 74 In that they had what people called a suicide clutch as the clutch was down at your foot and the shifter was next to the tank But on the opposite side than that of a Harley for some unknown reason.
---So I eased out on the clutch of the Chevelle,the rope became taunt, and down the street we went. As we gained speed Nickie stomped on the clutch on the ole Indian and I heard bap---bap-bap-varoom as Nickie roared past with a huge smile on his face. Un be known to me Nickie had foolishly tied the rope onto the handlebars of the motorcycle. As you can guess when Nickie came to the end of his rope things progressively got worse.

I call her Reno

2008-05-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

I call her Reno but her name is really Samantha
I know it may surprise many of you but I do read quite a bit. One of my latter readings was a Jimmy Buffet masterpiece entitled a pirate looks at forty .well seeuns as I’m looking at 58 So maybe im a little slow ---anyway I of course found some profound truths and life directional beacons within those text one such profound idea is ----Jimmy said: when he dies his only wish is that people will be able to say that he lead an interesting life.---How profound; and as I look at my own life in retrospect ;always a dangerous thing I might add ,I see Things and events that would lead me to believe that some how I must have done something right Most never have the opportunity to see what I have seen. Although I have never ridden in a Jet fighter I have been in the skies of Viet Nam In a helicopter .I have been a Marine in combat. I have been shot at ,mortars and rockets I know what it is like to have someone try personally to kill you and I know what it feels like to win. I know what it’s like to fall in love the first time and I know what it’s like to lose her to cancer. I know what it’s like to love my three girls for two as a makeup for them losing their mom. I remarried and there were some good times ;not all ups and downs maybe more downs than anyone needed or deserved but If life was fair the fox would never catch the rabbit so it go’s on, one day at a time I played college football and have watched my grandsons play pop Warner football. Brady score a hockey goal my granddaughters swimming in the pool ,laughing and just having a good time isn’t that what it’s all about? I raced The Sprint car for five years and had an all girl pit crew Margie and the girls ,and I’ve watched Kyler race go cart. I know if I had stayed working in a factory I would have missed out on .a lot of life so I never regret going out on my own and taking a chance.
So my wife is leaving to cut down on the stress in her life, Don’t laugh, So anyway there is this girl I’ve never met but we talk on the phone every day and I feel myself becoming infatuated with her, so we are going to meet, next month---Interesting ---I call her Reno but her name is really Samantha.

Class Reunion

2008-05-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Class reunion/ Power of laws of attraction
As an econ of American rural American life we go to high School class reunions. It may be a little red neckey but that’s ok with me If the shoe fits don’t put it on E/Bay. Actually I had maintained an aloof attitude all these years as this Big 40 was the first I had attended.
Maybe it was the guilt of missing the tenth as Billy succumbed toHodgenkins before the 15th,Maybe it was a haunting feeling of aloneness going through a divorce for the first and hopefully last time. Or maybe It was just Paul calling me out of the blue, Saying Hey Shrive why don’t we meet out at Stroh’s, stop in at the reunion, and If it gets boring we will split and head over to St Marys look up some old friends ,go to a bar and have some cold ones.
How could you say no to an invitation to guaranteed fun like that . I told him it was a plan I’d be there.
I ended up seeing my arrive time a day early so making my phone calls found out the town fall festival was going on that weekend Called Paul meet you Sat --Ok
I pulled into my Brother in laws around three --My Sister in law whirls out of the house --nice to see ya, the 566 is over there by the barn ---Run it over and pick up the full hay wagon in the field. Dennys bailing seeYa Bye.
I (having just finished showering shaving and making preparations for some serious having a good time attitude)went obediently over to a pretty rough looking Farmall Tractor figured out how to start it and where the gears were and headed over to the hay field to pick up Hay wagons.
I got over thereto the hay field, visited with Denny for just a little, hooked up the wagon and headed back over toward the barn. I caught A glimpse of Paul in the drive way, Beer in hand holding down the fort.
I Brought the wagon over to the barn (surprised my self and backed it first time right next to the elevator That they use to get the bails up into the barn)Talked with Paul for a brief Hello gotta go ( I had not seen him for at least thirty years) Jumped on the tractor and retrieved the last hay wagon from the field .Parked it and the tractor next to the barn And settled down on Paul’s pickup’s, tailgate; much deserving beer in hand.
The plan ---Fall festival party at the park, One of our friends Scott was playing in the band ,Pick up more beer head for the park. What a deal! I always could come up with some great plans.
The band was playing Really good early southern rock, a little Segar, really good music, I was walking around seeing old friends and playing guess who this is, really having a good time, Standing ther talking to Titus and his wife,When a pretty girl comes up to me and says I bet you don’t remember me. I said I bet I do ,As I had Dated her older sister right before I left for Viet Nam U.S.M.C.( If there was any doubt.)So I say you are Janie what’s you’re Sister doing ? She says well she is divorced and living in Tampa ,I said no way!.
I’m gonna have to get her number from you I say. But she was too Quick for me, as she dialed the number on her cell phone and then handed it to me. I said hello, she said who is this ? I said Dave Shriver, She told me later that she almost feinted. So we talked and I called her again, and again and again . She is picking me up in Tampa as soon as I can get down there ,taking a few days off work, and we are going to get reacquainted. Her Name Is Pam, Its funny I never did meet Samantha, Some things are just made, or not made to be. An awful lot of coincidences, or was it just the laws of attraction at work moving the world to put things in proper alignment for my happiness.
What A ride . David Shriver

Kissing 101

2008-05-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

KISSING 101 By David Shriver

It seems that one of the main criteria I look for other than the obvious good looks body to die for and intelligence. if I am going to pursue a relationship.A girl just has to be a good kisser.
So you ask--By what standard do all girls kisses have to meet or be judged by? And I answer --well the perfect kiss of course --So then you might ask, And how do you know what the perfect kiss is? And I would most assuredly answer, because I have kissed the perfect kiss. So there --Let me tell you how I found the perfect kiss.
I was visiting friends in my old home town ,when a girl approached me and asked me If I infact recognized her, I responded by saying why yes I did you are Pam Martins little sister Angie.I hadn’t seen Angie or Pam in 30 years.
Pam was the last girl I dated before going over to Viet Nam, and was a cheerleader at our high school and graduated the same year as my little sister. I asked Angie what Pam was doing these days and Angie told me that She was Divorced and living in Tampa. I said no way I’ll have to call her some time --at that Angie whipped out her cell phone and said I’ll do better than that Dialed the phone and handed it to me. Pam answered the phone and when I told her who it was she about flipped out --talked and talked and made me promise to stop in and see her.
On my way home I said hey why not --gave Pam a call and got directions to her house and just about six o’clock in the evening pulled into her driveway. She walked out of the house, through the little gate around her yard and up to me as I got out of the car, put her arms around me and gave me that kiss.
I said Pam you really know how to kiss, She said yeah guys always say that --I aught to be a good kisser, You taught me when I was fifteen years old.hmmm no wonder. That’s right I was only eighteen, and you were fifteen --man.
Well other than the perfect kiss ,Pam had little else going for her. She had lived her life a little too fast and it unfortunately had caught up to her, She really looked rough from too many poor choices along the way.
So the perfect kiss --well maybe I should describe it a little.
It is soft and sweet, not rough
It is warm and wet but not sloppy
It is graduating in the fact that it starts out more like a nuzzle and ends with the sparks flying and stars shooting.
Your mouth isn’t closed but it’s not open either
I know it’s confusing --here let me show you.

Choices

2008-05-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Choices
My youngest Daughter (When she was 15 years old)was complemented once by a friends father,( Who also happened to be an attorney) as he said “for her age he was amazed at the number of times she had come to an event in her life where her direction would be directly determined by the choice she made and she always made the right choice“.
I have ran into old friends who look at me and say that they can’t believe how I look . I realize that Not all the time, but some of the time ,They could have looked just as good, Just as healthy. If they would have made a different choice. They would not be in their situation were it not for the choices made. I can look at some one with compassion, and empathy ,however I have a real rough time feeling sorry for someone who has brought grief, poverty and loneliness on themselves because of choices. You can chose to live the bar scene year after year ,Party it up with drugs, however you have to know the toll it will play on your health. It is a choice. Every person has an equal opportunity every day to be pleasant. It is a choice.
I raced Sprint Cars all over the South when the girls were in High School, So we ended up spending more time together than most families have the opportunity . We had lost their Mother when the youngest was four ,So I though it the right thing to do. It was by choice. I told people that I was retiring in my thirties to spend my retirement doing fun things, and then when retirement was over I would go back to work. An Interesting concept. I do hope to retire again some day but It was a choice then ,that I wouldn’t change in a million years. Retiring to sell Real Estate and work my internet marketing business would be I suppose like having your cake and eating it too. Not such a bad thing, Makes me wonder If maybe I had a little to do with all those good choices my Daughter has made.

Sprint Cars

2008-05-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

Sprint cars

The first time I ever saw one I was 14 years old.

I grew up on a farm along the Mississippi river just north of Hannibal Mo; Of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn fame.We lived on the Illinois side farmed in the bottoms and raised cattle up on the bluff. My Dad had been fighting poor crop prices;unpredictable weather, and the possibility of a flood every year.

Having a degree in agriculture from Western Illinois U he put some feelers out for prospective opportunities;and one came along.My Dad was Hired by a research laboratory in Ohio,to become Assistant to the president--He later became pres.While well and good for the rest of my family I was looking at a total change in my life not the least was the school in Ohio didn't have football,Something as important to me as breathing,but I didn't get a vote so off to Ohio we went.Well this lab my Dad went to work for had a research farm so upon my arrival I rode my bike out to see if they needed any help bailing hay.This started my Hay Bailing years.I ended up working summers for an alfalfa mill bailing hay for them (all of this to stay in shape for hopefully college football)Herein is where the story has its beginnings.

We had a hay field right next to the Race track at New Bremen (an asphalt track)Well we were working out there on a Saturday afternoon and the promoter A Mr Cook, came on out to the field with tickets for the USAC Sprint car race on Sunday.So Sunday after church I hopped on my bike and rode it 6 miles to the race track.Now this was 1965 I saw AJ Foyt,Larry Dickson,Waldo Andretti--Marios brother, Eddie Sacks-Later was killed in the Indy 500 that year.It was wonderful sounds ,the smell,and the cars were soooo beautiful tried to go to The speedway whenever they had a USAC race then one day someone told me of another track not to much farther away .--By this time I had my Drivers licence The race tracks name was Eldora .1/2 mile dirt track.A life changing event the first time I went. I remember A car from Dayton Flipping all the way down the back stretch with the drivers arms stretched out over his head from inertia It was the most violent horrendous thing I had ever witnessed just knew the guys that drove those things had to be crazy ;It wasn't too long after that I knew I had to drive one.

I started out in Hobby stocks then late models It Wasn't until I was In my 30's that I finally got A Sprint car . We raced the Sprint Cars for 6 wonderful years mostly Florida With the Tampa Bay Area Racing Assoc.Then with American Winged Outlaws,we raced Florida Georga,North and South Carolina's,Tennessee,andAlabama All through my Girls Jr High and High School Years we Raced.Had the only all Girl pit crew I must say definitely the happiest days of my life ----SO FAR

The Principals Office

2008-05-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Back when I was in the first grade a girl named Vickie Woodworth kissed me while I was on a merry go round in the school yard . My life has never been the same ,ever since.
You see there was this other girl named Sue Ellen Arnold who really liked me . She saw Vickie kissing me and she just went crazy. She ran into the school and told the teacher Mrs. Humphries.Mrs Humphries, not really knowing how to handle a situation like this (after all she was just a first grade teacher ) These things weren’t suppose to become an issue until at least junior high, so they thought. Went straight to the principals office .
I can still remember that long walk up that long staircase,the fear the shame.The principal told me to never do it again, mentioned something about reform school, and no summer vacation, I do know I was scared and promised to never let it happen again.
Lucky for me the principal was transferred before my Third grade school year and apparently never recorded that trial proceedings as the principal we had for that year apparently knew nothing off it , or I would have been in big trouble when , This cute girl named Debbie Lock moved to our school.
Well actually her mom ended up being my teacher and looked like the wicked witch of the west on the Wizard of Oz.Mrs Lock really disliked me because I guess she thought I was too cute for my own good and her daughter really liked me, So she started using me as an example.Not a good example and not really a bad example ,just an example . I can still remember her hitting me on the head with a pencil shouting," I’m going to make an example out of you". So whatever "that" was.....I was definitely an example.
I am definitely an example today----For sure not because of ---but most likely in spite of--Mrs. Lock and The principals office.
The way I live My life ,I strive to be, for my children, a good example. An example for my daughters to look to when thy want to see the practicality in the way we look at life.
The attitude of an achiever
The never say die perseverance
The finding the silver lining in all things
The looking for the good ,in things and people
The example of love
After all I was cute and sweet enough to get kissed in the first grade.
Dern that Sue Ellen Arnold.

Late Night Ride

2008-05-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

Late Night Ride To The Cemetery-- By David Shriver
When I was fourteen years old, my cousin Allen was seventeen. Because of the fact we only lived a mile and a half from each other, and the fact that we were only sons, surrounded by sisters, we grew up with the bond of brothers. I was included in a lot of things with Allen's friends, that no other fourteen year old around had the chance to do.
We were Baptists, and went to the Calvary Baptist Church in Quincy Illinois. On Wed nights, during the summer they would have youth fellowship at one of the members homes this particular Wednesday night was youth fellowship at My uncle Russ's so I got to go.
Baptist at that time or should I say Baptist that went to our church, frowned upon a lot of things ,and picked up some kind of evil conitation,from things that other people, didn't see apparently or just didn't let bother them. Going to movies, dancing, public displays of affection(that means what Pam Hess and I were doing in the back of the church bus)So as any conscientious farm kids would do we found ways to circumvent, and get around all the restrictions and still have a good time.
I remember one of the older kids name was Dean Jinks. He had a big 1957 Plymouth Fury with loud pipes and was always fun to be around. Dean and my cousin Allen started daring some of the girls to come along down to the cemetery . They explained that at the cemetery, was a mausoleum and inside the mausoleum was a casket with a glass top in it so you could see that skeleton. We scurried around, came up with several flashlights, and I think we had fifteen kids in that Plymouth .Off to the cemetery we went, all laughing and looking foreword to scaring the girls.
We parked in the back of the cemetery and walked single file down to the mausoleum. When we got to the front of it you could see that it had an ,old.wooden door that was barely on its hinges. Everyone crowded around the door and Allen said ok I'm going to Yank it open get ready with the flashlights.
The door was opened, and Dean jumped to the front of everyone crowded around the doorway trying to look inside. Dean pointed his high beam flashlight into the pitch blackness of the mousolesm,and everyone saw someone standing inside there looking back at them. Dean let out a horrible scream, the girls all started screaming, It was pure terror, everyone was running tripping over each other trying to get away and back to the car.
A couple days before My cousin Allen had found a floor length mirror, that someone had thrown away and thought of the perfect place to put it.

Ornery and Vinegar

2008-05-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

ORNERY AND VINEGAR By David Shriver
When I was only four or five years old, I was over at my Grandma and grandpa's house and while playing outside I stubbed my toe on the sidewalk in front of their house. Of course I was crying and carrying on so my grandma came out and said she would go get something to make it better .After a while She came back outside with a pan half full of vinegar and held my foot down in it.
Now this was in the early fifties, and apparently people back then didn't know what we know now of chemical makeup of different things so apparently my grandma didn't know that she was submersing my bloodied toe in acid. And she must not have known that acid on an open wound would be unbearably painful. Unbearable pain at an early age ,or I guess any age, is an unforgettable experience. Well as I recall my Dad thought the whole thing rather humorous, or so I remembered.
When I was a little older, one day, my dad, while mowing the grass hit a clothes hanger with the mower and a piece of the hanger hit him in the leg. My mom had put wire clothes hangers ,stuck in the ground around her flower garden to keep the dogs out of her flowers. And my dad not seeing one hit it with the mower. Well my mom doctored it and it seemed like it just wouldn't get better. Then one morning my dad woke up and a blue line was going up his leg, Blood poisoning ;off to the doctor for tetanus ,and penicillin shots. My dad was going to be ok but was suppose to stay in bed for a few days. So my dad was in the bedroom my mom was in the kitchen and I said" Daddy says he wants you to put some vinegar on his leg"
My mom poured some vinegar in a little dish and got some sterile cloth and headed for the bedroom as I headed for the back door .I heard my dad yell HEY WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME KILL ME, I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK!--- as I ran for the barn.

My Cousin and the Movies

2008-05-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

My cousin and the movies By David Shriver
When I was about seven years old my cousin Allen was 10.Being much older than myself he of course was allowed to do a lot more than me; and one of the things he got to do, was go to the movies with his friends. This worked out pretty well, as the next week at some point ,I would get a complete rundown and vivid description of what went on in which ever movie he happened to go to that week. Well actually I guess he kind of acted out certain scenes for realism sake Not saying he got to go to a movie every week;, no we were just farm kids ,maybe once a month if he was lucky. I think the first movie I remember hearing about was Robin Hood .Allen was really impressed by the scene where Robin Hood fought Friar Tuck on the log with poles Kind of like pugal sticks. Well Allen had to show me so we found a couple of good sized pugal sticks in the woods and started battling. It didn't take long for me to be losing big time and when I went home with mashed fingers and a knot on the back of my head ;My mom wouldn't let me play with him for a week.
The next movie as I recall was Ben Hur ;Of course everyone knows about the chariot race well seems we had a John Deere grain drill with a wood platform on the back intended for use to stand on while filling the drill from sacks of grain. But also it was a cool place to ride for a couple of farm kids. Well Allen has a great idea ;lets get some gypsum weeds, and we can have the battle of the grain drill while my Uncle is pulling it across the field. Gypsum weeds are these weeds that grow in the Mississippi river bottom with big ole thorny balls on them the size of golf balls. Needless to say it didn't take one trip across the field to produce a bloody mess in the loser of the battle, and when I went home my mom was ticked I wasn't allowed to play with my cousin for two weeks.
Then Allen and his friends went to see Tarzan I should have stayed away. Over at Allen's house he had a barn with two hay mows; one on each side ,with an area in the middle large enough to park tractors and equipment .There were two ropes hanging from the center beam So Allen has this great Idea , we could each grab a rope, One get in one hay mow the other in the other hay mow swing over to the other side with one little addition. We would try to knock the other one off on our way across. As my older cousin out weighed me by probably 80 lbs You can only guess the outcome .But I survived that and High School football, College football, and Viet Nam I guess all the preparation for life's hard knocks paid off. Today my cousin Allen is the pastor of a church in Missoula Montana Still helping people make preparations for life however I don't think he goes to many movies anymore Thank God.

The Runner

2008-05-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Where Barbara Mandrel was country when country wasn't cool :I was a runner when running was yet to be cool.I played football my freshman year of high school but the summer between my freshman and sophomore years my family moved to a town that didn't have football.With the Idea of playing football in college I decided that bailing hay in the summers and track in the spring would be my training plan .I did ok at track,had the school record in the 440yd but my junior year they came out with cross country and compared to flat out for a quarter mile It seemed almost easy.
My junior year I ran pretty much 2nd or 3rd on our team although we didn't do to well as a team,first year and all. I had a close friend(Iwas dating his sister) Jim Preston--Built like a runner about 6ft 2inches and a long stride:We started training together---Every morning at six I,d get up put my weights on my ankles,Pair of cutoffs and run up to the school,where I would meet jim--And we would run two miles crawl in the school basement window take a shower,go home and get ready for school.Then after school back on with the weights and another two miles .The only time I ran without weights was at a meet.And I started getting better I was beating Jim and soon beating the Senior that had dominated up to that point.By my senior year I had my training down pat Jim had graduated but when cross country time came around said you ready Ill meet you in the morning. So we ran: me with my weights jim right along with me.I won the first meet of the year ,then the second third fourth,I developed a trade mark kick at the last 50yds that was pretty close to a 50 yd sprint It was very demoralizing to the guys I would blow by to go on for the win.I ended up undefeated for the entire year up until the last meet. It was with Coldwater and coach told me their best runner ran 2nd at state last year.When we walked up to the start he came over to wish me luck;I was totally unprepared as his n6ft 6 frame said good luck son to my 5ft 8inch halfback looking self.He totally physiqued me out.Would you believe I finished third---Because I fell into the trap of thinking I couldn't beat him.In reality If I had run my normal time I would have beaten him but I didn't.The only reason I excelled was the fact that
I had a goal--To play college football---
I trained 120%
I never quit
I didn't know a short guy couldn't excel at cross country.
The year was 1967 I went on to play football at Heidleburg college as a walk on and un like Rudy I played
My cross country school record time still stands today after 40 years

Lessons From the Gumbo

2008-05-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

Lessons From The Gumbo
When I read John Grishoms The Painted House I saw so much similarity between my growing up in the River bottoms of Illinois and his in Arkansas.His of course took place before I was born but the river is timeless. Grishams family grew cotten Ours grew soybeans;and thats where our story begins.

My dad said that a farmer is judged by the straightness of his planted rows and the cleanliness of his bean field.Well his rows were always straight as an arrow and you didn't see a weed in our bean fields thanks in no small part to me starting when I was about 6 years old .Every summer my Dad would get some old broom handles and bolt a sickle blade to the end; and that would be your weeding stick for the summer.My Dad would roust me out of bed and down to the bottoms we would go 'weeding four rows at a time and our fiels were a half mile long most of the time you would get to the end turn around and get back to the truck by noon then eat the lunch my mom had made us; then one more round and it would be dark. Time to go home sleep and again tomorrow.We would listen to the St Louis Cardinals on the truck radio on the way home In fact I saw my first world series of many on the radio.My Dad didn't talk about the war much but every once in awhile When it was just him and me He would start talking as we worked cutting them dern weeds.I heard about flying fighter planes in North Africa All about p51 Mustangs,british spitfires,P38 called the flying tigers My dad flew all of them. He told me of flying to see my mom one sunday afternoon from st Louis The whole town came out to see him off;and when he took off he circled around and buzzed the airport just a few feet off the ground He laughed and said you should of seen them run.He got lost in the fog in Italy kept losing altitude pulled the stick back still dropping untill he dropped out of the clouds in a valley he was upside down and didn't know it ;He just rolled it over and followed the valley. He said God was definately his copilot .

I always had a great dislike for weeding beans,the sweat in your eyes.had to go barefoot because the black gumbo would stick to shoes and made you ten foot high So I didn't wear shoes much in the sommer (I didn't mind that much) Bugs that would bite and sting and the hotter and madder you got the more they would bite and sting Fighting through weeds a lot taller than me facing it seemed like unsurmountable challenges every day all day

But i'd give almost anything to spend a day in the bean field with my Dad

Delta Gumbo Ramblings

2008-05-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

Bean Field ramblings
I grew up along the Mississippi River just outside Ursa Illinois.our family had farmed for three generations that I was aware of and continues upon the tradition.I started working out in the field running a tractor(A John Deere Model A)When I was six years old . My dad had to slide a pipe down the clutch handle to give me leverage enough to engage and disengage it.The running of machinery came second nature to me and I enjoyed the command of power however one job that I did not care for and had little to do with any mechanization,was weeding soybeans.
Around middle june into the heat of August my Dad would roust me up with A (up and Ad am my Merrie lads rise and shine) For one thing I felt anything but Merrie at 5:30 in the morning;For another the term lads always gave me visions of frenchies in tights and was anything but what a farm boy was interested in. We would set off before light down into the bottoms( The Mississippi river bottoms was called simply the bottoms)My dad had taken some old broom handles and bolted a blade from a sycle on the end and these served as the best weed cutters you could find ;Alot lighter than a hoe and alot sharper.Well the early morning dew as well as any moisture from rains totally eliminated shoes as the gumbo would cake on your bare feet forget about shoes.Our rows were about one half mile long so weeding four rows would take you to the end and back for lunch then end and back go home do the chores (feed the animals) eat supper go to bed so you could do it again in the morning.
My Dad would tell me stories of his flying p51 mustangs in Europe during ww11 The only time he spoke of those things.so-- The job I dreaded the most the hardest hottest and most tiring,Ended up being my sweetest memories

Plow the Field

2008-05-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Plow The Field By David Shriver
When my youngest grandson was just a baby, I bought him his first tractor. Understood that I came from a long line of farmers ,to check profession down my family tree it was a straight limb ,of agriculture. This particular tractor was not just any run of the mill generic type ,Oh no. John Deere of course, with a very unique feature, in that it had a button that when pushed a very authoritative voice (Which I thought sounded like my Dad ) said "plow the field". When I say it sounded authoritative like my Dad, understand that my Dad was an Air Force Captain in WW11 When my dad said to do something there was no mistake, no question and definitely no hesitation. I didn't even have to ask how high I already knew the answer.
I guess even at a young age and maybe especially at a young age we need to teach A positive mental attitude.To plow the field meant lets get the job done.
To me, that tractor stood for the fundamental keys to my parents successes ,work ethic, and spirit, handed down from their parents ,and down the line. The guiding force that helped settled the west, Made farms and ranches out of the endless prarie,And kept families together throughout the hard times which were many.
The weak turn back and the faithful plow in. Nothing states the intention of going ahead better than plowing .The initial preparation of the ground for the planting of the seed. Plowing was the initial tillage in the preparation of the seedbed. To plant a crop you had to prepare the seedbed so that it was ready for the seed Any thought of quitting, any thought of turning back, was completely squelched as soon as you plowed the field.
Indecision, and hesitation are stopped cold with the affirmation "Plow the field"
What good advice for anyone who has lost there way "Plow the field"
What do you do when times get rough "Plow the field"
From marriage counseling to how to win a football game. To making it through rough times in Real Estate.Stop everything, put everything in perspective, and start at the beginning with the basics . Lets not sit around lets get busy and" Plow the field

Laws of Attraction

2008-05-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Laws of attraction are real
Whether you realize it or not, the Law of Attraction is already working actively in your life right at this moment. The events, opportunities and experiences you are experiencing today were set into motion by the thoughts and actions you‘ve taken previously.

The secret to the Law of Attraction is really about realizing that this law is already active in your life and deciding that you want to deliberately attract things into your life consciously rather than leaving it to the vagaries of your subconscious. This is going to take some effort on your part and if you are trapped in a negative spiral, it is probably going to take a great deal of work to change the patterns of your thinking. You’ll need to monitor your emotions in particular, because it is your emotional state that gives you the clues to the kinds of things your thoughts are attracting to you. With practice, this monitoring will become more routine and you’ll be able to let the negative thoughts go lightly while you move your focus onto the positive.

One of the main differences between the writers of the early 20th century and those who write about the Law of Attraction today is the emphasis on just how much work you need to put into consciously working with it. Many of the new breed of writers suggest that it is easy and that merely thinking about what you want for 20 minutes a day and putting together a vision board or two will get you on the road to prosperity and abundance.

The early New Thought writers such as Wallace Wattles, on the other hand, suggest that you need to do a lot of work and must deliberately take charge of what you are attracting into your life throughout your every waking moment. In the words of Wallace Wattles, echoing a common phrase in Christian,teaching you need to "pray without ceasing". In my opinion, this the correct course to take. And as Napoleon Hill taught; pursue it with a burning desire.Put a lot of work into the Law of Attraction and reap the large rewards. Or put a little work into it and watch the rewards trickle into your life. It's your decision. Reap what you sow.

Making the Best

2008-05-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Making the best of a bad situation
When you come home for the 4th of July weekend and your wife of 20 years has decided that her life and yours are going in different directions and feels we should sell the house so that she can get her half and go our separate ways : It almost could ruin your weekend until you think about it in a positive way.
Other than the huge hit you are going to experience on the house thing think about the opportunity's for free expression, the creativity you will be able to make a part of your life,once again.Purity of purpose wow what a concept.No one telling you your ideas are foolish ,no more ridicule over your positive attitude in all things.almost a new life awaiting.
I get excited about new ideas, new opportunities,and belief in a happy ending ,if your thoughts are such that attract those things
Some one told me years ago : the best thing that could happen to a person would be for them to lose everything before they reached thirty. That way they could go on with the rest of their life being fearless.I guess really a person doesn't have to lose everything ,It's all about not thinking about loss:but instead thinking about gain and being grateful for all good things in your life. Reality begins anew every day it is only what we think, only how we perceive things, every day that make it real.

Change Course

2008-05-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

A time to change course in my direction
By David Shriver
When I see defeat upon the horizon showing its ugly head My response that I have made a part of my physic Is to not quit, not retreat but change course in my direction all ways gravitating toward my goal.I was listening to Bob Seger last night and caught the significance of his song "running against the wind"To apply toward what has been going on with my life .It seems as though I have been running against the wind all my life It is just as we get older,It is a lot tougher.Some real guidelines for focusing on the prize I have found.
1. Defeat your fears with actions toward doing more of what you love.
2. Seek out a support network of people who will honor your integrity and who will believe in you.
3. Take a stand about something you believe in.
4. Create your own work around your passions.
5. Don't let external views get in the way.
6. Get creative about how to make a living doing what you love.
7. Downscale where possible to make the journey smoother.
8. Do something small in your passions each day.
9. Live with the intention that you will create work for yourself that is both fulfilling and meaningful.
10. Smile a lot, laugh a lot and be grateful for the life you have now.

A Higher Plane: Mountain Dreamer

2008-05-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

A higher plane By David Shriver

There is a dimension (not the twilight zone) Where we as humans are elevated beyond our normal selves. Napolian Hill called it "a higher Plane"
I have been there, when your hot your hot, you are also on a higher level of consciousness, or on a higher plane.
You have heard of the guy who picks the car up to free someone trapped, and the woman who runs for help at Olympic record speed. Feats that under normal circumstances would have been impossible.
If someone could remain on that plane of thought for any extended period of time, the things you could do. There are certain things that trigger this higher consciousness. Fear,anger,and love. Love being I believe the strongest.
I took some time off one summer and decided that I wanted to learn how to sell cars.
I got a job at A Ford dealership and along with four other newbees we were trained. I was muddling along not having a very good close, ratio ,I really had Issues with the arrogant,rude,condescending asst. sales manager, to the point where one morning I walked in with the attitude that this wasn't a Job this was a joke. I had decided the first degrading remark out of the asst. sales managers mouth I was going to knock him into next week, pick up my things and go home. A funny thing happened, Since I completely lost all caring I also lost all nervousness. The first people that came in I went up and talked to them as if I had known them all my life. They bought. The next the same until at the end of the day the asst. manager had all the sales people standing at the windows watching me." do my majic"He started using me as a training tool for the others. I was on a higher plane of thought.
In Real Estate, The pure satisfaction of knowing you are helping people, along with a pureness of heart, can lift you up into a higher plane. Find someone that you can establish as a kindred spirit, where your mind and theirs work together as one . This is real power.
I was on a social site and received the following quote, and was asked if it inspired me .
This is what lifts us up.

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Thunder and Lightning

2008-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Thunder and lightning
On my site on myspace I have a line from a song written by John Prine ;If dreams were thunder --lightning was desire This old house would have burned down a long time ago. These words hit home to me and have a place in my being .It wasn't until last week A friend commented on it and I realized that he had totally lost the meaning and symbolism that make the words so special to me.So here is my interpretation or actually how I see the words.
I see a married couple ;who have struggled through life and have little to show for their efforts other than A deep love for each other.But if dreams were thunder---Oh the dreams they each had through the years,---Lightning was desire--the desire to succeed,the desire to travel the desire to raise their children right,the desire to be there for each other as they both grew old,Yes if these desires had been lightning the intensity would have surely burned the house down .And through out their lives everything comes full circle and they have the answer to their dreams and the fruits of their desire in each other. Dreams and desire are beginnings of what builds relationships and fortune's.

Taking Control of the Subconcious

2008-05-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS
Your conscious is only between about 10% of your mind, the rest of it is what is known as your subconscious. I know that would not surprise my teachers I had in school, I think there would probably be some debate of whether I used my entire 10%of my conscious mind at any time during my schooling years..

Your subconscious is the most powerful thing you own, and the most dangerous one. When you hear of people having anxiety attacks this is totally the subconscious mind taking complete control. Throwing an individual into a complete panic for no reason apparent, to anyone ,but that persons subconscious mind.

If you know how to make it work properly, it will do things for you and help you achieve your goals and dreams. The laws of attraction.

If you do not work it properly, it will fight against you on any thing you want to achieve - including being happy. You also will be using the laws of attraction ,but instead of attracting the goodness into your life ,you will be attracting the bad.

Your subconscious has no personal preference for what is happening on the "outside" it only cares how you are dealing with things .(problems,obstacles,challenges).

If you are dealing with them incorrectly, your mind will "quit" on you, and you will lead a miserable life where everything is a struggle and there is little or no hope at all. Where every problem has no answer, all obstacles are insurmountable, and you end up turning from every challenge.
The subconscious mind can be programmed (basically the secret)By dwelling on the good,----seeing the beauty,----and expecting good .We attract ,what our subconscious mind see‘s.. laws of attraction.

A Different way around the Barn

2008-05-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Going A Different Way Around The Barn
By David Shriver
I had stopped in to visit an elderly couple ,who owned a 200 acre farm. In the conversation the possibility of them selling their farm came up ,where as the wife became very emotional and so I dropped the subject for another time. Upon leaving I mentioned possibly stopping in again in a couple days and It was agreed that it would be fine.
I spoke to a couple of my buyers about the possibility of this parcel coming on the market, and at the same time assuring them that It would take delicate handling as emotions were high .
In a couple days I called and set up an appointment to come back out and meet with the nice couple .Everything was going great until I mentioned a Listing agreement and the wife started crying and ran into the kitchen .The husband excused himself and went out to the kitchen to comfort his wife. After she had regained her composure they both came back out into the living room and were apologetic ,I assured them that it was completely understood as I realized the strong ties and memories associated with this two hundred acres. And I had an Idea; Lets not worry about a listing agreement, lets forgo that all together What we will do is write out a purchase agreement stating exactly what a buyer would have to do If they wanted to own this farm.
So I sat at the dining room table with them and they both helped me write out their dream purchase agreement and when we were through I calmly asked them to authorize the agreement on the bottom next to where it says seller. We dated it and I left with my signed purchase agreement telling them Now my work is cut out for me,for now I have to find a buyer. We closed in approximately eighteen days and everyone was happy.So I guess sometimes you do, have to go a different way around the barn.

Resourcefulness

2008-05-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Resourcefulness By David Shriver
I guess I was twelve years old when I received my initial lesson on resourcefulness. Now this wasn't a lesson that was in a book, It wasn't handed down by my older cousin ;no this lesson was one I had to figure out all by myself.
You see back then all the farm kids rode the school bus to school, I won't go into this too far but I can remember my oldest daughter explain to me that If she couldn't get a ride to school, she just wasn't going. Well I jumped all over that and forced her to ride the bus,untill the pain I ended up enduring became too great then she rode with a friend, Oh well, Anyway when I rode the bus there was a pecking order in as the older high school boys owned the back of the bus. After being picked up and thrown to the front of the bus I understood this. On our bus route were a family named Vonburg,Of which there were four brothers. Three of the brothers were older and in High School the youngest,Mikey was a year younger than me. A really old way of describing them would be to label them as ruffians which is what they were; bullies.
The older ones started egging on the little brother, saying they didn't think he could whoop me, and Mikey of course rose to the challenge of his older brothers, and started slapping me around. I had been taught not to fight ,and especially never hit a girl or someone younger so I retreated to the seat next to the bus driver.
I was really in a dilemma shrugged it off and when I got home I asked my Dad what I should do; expecting to hear him tell me to stand up for myself under the circumstances. However that was not his reaction at all just the contrary. My Dad went into a tirade about his son becoming a bully, and gangs and violence, now remember this was rural Illinois in the fiftys,So he over reacted some what,and told me that if he ever heard of me getting in a fight I wouldn't get a drivers license until I was twenty one years old and undoubtedly would end up in prison. This was not the helpful advise I was looking for, and was no where close to the world I was living in.
Every day the bus ride to school and back became increasingly intolerable as Mikeys brothers saw I wouldn't fight back and cheered him on.
Then one day I was sitting with my friend who lived in the bottoms, we were talking about my going down to his house and boxing with boxing gloves.Mikey sitting in the seat behind us was listening and spouted off that he aught to come down and beat us both up .It was like I could see divine grace showering around me as I said that would be a great idea ,he could finally beat me up. So we set it up for that night after school.
We all met at my friend house and went into the barn ,had an area all set up with old horse harness making a make shift ring, Of course Mikey wanted to waste no time so I put the boxing gloves on and my friend was going to referee. Ding,Ding,I don't think ole Mikey ever got a blow in as I tore him up, We ended up being somewhat friends as Mikey had a whole new outlook on things. After that his brothers even treated me with respect.
I wouldn't and couldn't disobey my father, or dishonor his wishes as well as I could not go on being constantly challenged, belittled and, goaded.
The recourse a pair of boxing gloves, some old horse harness, and a little bully that needed taught a lesson.
Problem solved What a wonderful world we live in may we all strive for a clarity of purpose, and resourcefulness

Everything In Perspective

2008-05-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Everything in perspective
I guess the greatest sales trainer I have had the opportunity to learn from was Tom Hopkins .He has certain things that he feels are super important and in his seminars you are required to memorize them one such Idea is -”-I will do the most constructive thing possible at every given moment.” Now that is powerful but how could anyone possibly do that?
The most productive thing for you, would not necessarily be the most productive for me, in fact I would almost bet on it .being productive doesn’t necessarily mean knocking on doors or cold calling ,It can be some much needed rest and recuperation too. I know when the wolf is at the door it is almost a given you are going to working twice the hours, at a frantic pace whoa just a minute :the most constructive thing you may be needing to do, you could be overlooking. Remember your family; Could be a little chill time, could be in order, this summer. A weekend camping trip a couple days at a quiet bed and breakfast, Just enough to get your mind back on perspective and you back in the game .A little fresh air nice surroundings can help you realize what you’ve got, that is really special, can’t be duplicated, and you really wouldn’t want to miss out on. Then when you get back,; unleash the tiger
Dave Shriver.

Conquer the cold call dragon

2007-08-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

I believe my Dad was the one who I can give the credit for this little bit of insight. If there is a portion of a job that you really do not like to do, That you are afraid of , and you become extremely proficient at that particular aspect, of the job you will excel .When I was starting out, in Real Estate, I had a real problem with cold calls, Ron Spencer, would open the telephone book, run his finger down the page and where it stopped was your cold call of the morning. This whole exercise ,let me tell you, struck terror in this farm boys heart. Nothing can bring about such immediate rejection, and such total humiliation in my eyes than calling someone you didn't know, and try to sell them something.
I am just so fortunate; that my broker and mentor strongly believed in sales training. The most important thing when I meet someone or first talk with them on the phone is to strive for them to like and trust me. Practice drill rehearse, remembering the good words and never using the wrong words. Asking questions to receive a positive response, leading to get the response we need to move ahead towards a close. Never push always lead, and always close.
I learned that cold calling is a numbers game ,every no, brings you one call closer to a yes. I finally found the key to self confidence when dealing with cold calling, and for me this simple truth is that no matter what, they can't hurt me. If I have something I truly believe in and try to help people find what I have found,” There is no such thing as failure only the opportunity to practice my performance, and perfect my presentation”( Tom Hopkins).

When You're Hot You Are Visionary

2007-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

I read somewhere that “opportunities are present for all of us however only a few recognise them and even fewer act on them.”This being said ;what do we need to do ,to recognise these vast opportunities,and take advantage of them ? I will tell you a little story of what happened to me once upon a time.
I was working for A. R .C. realty now defunct in South Ft. Myers. The whole office consisted of renegades from Remax that wanted a true 100% office so they hired a secretary and everyone paid office fees their own telephone and we had one guy Wayne Kelly who was Broker of record. Most everyone in the office was Cyprus Lake alumni' everyone had gone to school together and known each other forever except me. Ole Harvey Younquest made everything work as he had inventory So I was on fire,selling metro at a dollar a square ft.Well Harvey had sold most of Youngquest Road off I think I sold eight sites.I Was down there one day, when a pickup stopped me and the guy driving asked who owned a particular piece as they were doing work on old 41 and needed a place to get rid of a bunch of busted up concrete didn't know at the time but I got his number and told him I would find out. It turns out Harvey still owned it and had used it to procure the fill for the roads . I asked him about the zoning and he said Hey its all light industrial,you want to buy it? Harv said it would take to much fill to make it worthwhile for him so, he would sell me that two and a half acre piece for twenty thousand.
I told him I would let him know by five o'clock and got on the phone. How much concrete do you have and what kind of deal are you willing to make? Lets meet back down there. He assured me that he would if given the OK remove the soil fill to building spec.bring a dozer in and level everything and put top soil back on top ---I told him, I would call him at five o'clock. I then drove around the corner stopped in on one of my clients,whom I had sold light industrial lots to in the past and said hop in I want to show you something. We drove to the site and I said; How about If I fill this two and one half acre site to speck bring a dozer in and level it and cover it with top soil so that you can build two 10,000sq. ft. warehouses what would you give me He said a dollar a square ft. I said lets write it up.
I put it under contract with Harv, we closed simultaneously at a title company down town,everyone was happy and I was given a check after closing costs of over eighty thousand dollars.
Keep in mind That I disclosed everything to the person I bought it from,and to my client.Harvey got rid of a junk property, the construction co. saved thousands on trucking of the concrete,and my buyer made a couple hundred thousand on the buildings he had built on the lots and sold.Timing was everything and I didn't have to ask permission.Just did it.
That happened a long time ago, I went on to become a land buyer for Flag development,and now I am back in Ft Myers where I started. I do know that attitude and visualization of your end goals will make you HOT.Andlike Jerry Reid says” when your hot YOUR HOT.”

REAL ESTATE THRILL SEEKERS

2007-08-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

I think if everything would always go as we planned,and we never had disappointments,Life in itself would become boring.I have worked with clients tirelessly holding their hand ,encouraging them, helping them cross hurdle after hurdle only to have the whole thing blow up days before closing. And in todays market how many of us had all our Ducks in a row and the mortgage company pulls at the last moment? Without the lows how can we appreciate the highs?My life in the Real Estate business has been rocked with endless opportunities for ups and downs. You know what? I wouldn't have it any other ways of course I am disappointed at times ,but the adrenaline rush of the negotiation, the thrill of the counter offer,the satisfaction of the closing;would not be there without the risk of failure. The risk of failure is the thrill we crave every day,I know it sounds like we are a whole lot of thrill crazed individuals,all windblown ,eyes wide open and spooky,like the professor in “Back To The Future”That's us all right just look around at your associates, The 70 year old grandmother who specializes in single family homes, Just watch close at the rapid eye movement, the slight twitch of her lip when she receives a call on one of her listings;Thrill seeker,The semi retired gentleman making his debuts in Real Estate as his second profession,look at his trembling hand as he hands his client an ink pin Thrill seeker,Sure laugh,Look over there at the Single mom ,Working Real Estate to bring a brighter future for her children,and yes of course to fullfill her need –Thrill seeker-- I know that actually all your scoffing ,all your denial, all your arguments only try to hide one thing—That you are a -------- Thrill seeker

How to retain good tenants

2007-08-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Good tenants are easy to ignore – until they tell you they are moving out. Why are they leaving? Well, it might be because you ignored them. And when tenants plan to move, it's very, very difficult to get them to change their minds.

The reason you may ignore good tenants is that you spend so much time working on your not-so-good ones; cajoling them to clean up their acts or planning to evict them. When you are always on the phone with Average or Bad tenants A, B, and C, you quickly start thinking of Good tenant D as simply a check that comes in the mail, on time every month, like clockwork. They always say it is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil and unfortunately it’s the same with renters But your good tenants are much more than that. They are human beings who:

� Understand that they are paying good money, and expect good service in return

� Notice when their building seems to be going downhill

� Recognize when they are being B.S.ed or treated disrespectfully or dismissively

On the other hand, YOU may not recognize these feelings in your good tenants, simply because they may be reluctant to share them. The complaints are more likely to come from your poorer tenants, and you may be more likely to dismiss them as a result. The good tenants are more likely to suffer in silence, before deciding to move on.

It's vitally important that you retain your good tenants, not only because they make your landlording more pleasant, but because they are so hard to replace. Once that unit is vacant, you may not re-rent it for months, and you have no idea how the next tenant will turn out. He could be just bad enough to make your life really difficult, or so bad that he only lasts for a month or two before eviction.

Since your good tenants are less likely to contact you, you have to stay in touch with them. Try to get a read on their feelings by calling or emailing at least once a month. Here's a short checklist of questions:

� Does anything need repairs in the unit?

� Are you noticing any maintenance issues in common areas?

� Do you have any suggestions for me?

� How are your neighbors?

Not only have you learned how satisfied your good tenants feel, you've made them feel important and wanted. Now you need to follow up by addressing their concerns, if any, sincerely and quickly. Bear in mind as you do so that you can't get into trouble for being nicer to your good tenants than your bad ones. If a good tenant's got a maintenance issue, generally make it your first priority – the only more important issues will relate to safety or potential for very serious problems, such as fire or water damage hazards. If a good tenant's got a beef with a neighbor, get all the facts and deal with it right away – making sure you get the neighbor's side of the story before making a judgment. If a good and bad tenant are having a dispute, and neither is clearly in the right, it's okay to side with the good tenant. The old adage remember which side your bread is buttered on rings true here.

While you're at it, ask your good tenants if they're thinking about moving. Yes, that's pretty blunt. But it's the only way you'll ever find out if a tenant is planning to move before he or she actually signs a lease for another unit. Once they sign that lease, they're gone – and no amount of cajoling is going to get them back.

If a tenant IS planning to move, ask why and press (nicely!) until you get an answer. Hopefully their decision will be based on a problem you can fix. The unit feels kind of old and grimy? Offer to repaint it. It's too hot in the summer? Get them an air conditioner. It's too small? Maybe you have a larger unit vacant, even if it's in another building – and you'll help them move for free. A very cheap,guarantee,of occupancy and timely rents

Some of these fixes run into some serious money. You need to compare them to the cost of finding a new tenant. That is a certain amount of lost income, plus the cost of marketing the unit, plus any necessary renovations to make it re-rentable. If the unit needs paint anyway, then painting it to motivate a good tenant to stay is much better than painting to get a new tenant. If the money looks REALLY serious, ask them to sign a new lease. Point out that they would have to if they moved to a different building anyway.

You should also make sure your tenant recognizes the cost and aggravation of moving.Yes moving is expensive ,Don’t you agree? They'll have to rent a truck, buy or steal boxes, pack everything, arrange for new utilities, physically transport the stuff, and change addresses for all of their mail. Why should they do all that when you can offer them what they want with much less hassle?

On the other hand, they might be moving for reasons you can't control, maybe because they're getting married or taking a new job in a different city or buying a house. Thank the tenant for being a great tenant, and ask if they know anyone else who might be interested in renting the unit.

You have to be committed to keeping your good tenants happy. That doesn't include letting them break rules or pay rent late. Instead, look for little things you can do to be helpful. For example, when tenants move out, they often leave behind one or two objects of some value; bookshelves, portable fans, and so on. I offer these to my remaining good tenants. I also send Christmas cards each year with a gift card to a local coffee shop in each. It's definitely worth $5 to make a good tenant happy.

While you're at it, invest in a few emergency items you can have available for tenants if they need them. Get a couple of electric space heaters (for use if the heating system breaks) and big coolers (if there's a power failure). Now if you get a call about a heating problem or power failure, you can offer some quick relief until the issue is resolved.

Cowboy Real Estate

2007-07-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

I always liked working with cattle So I will call this cowboy Real Estate.
For a few years I had the opportunity to take care of some registered Romagnola cattle for a Doctor friend of mine who lives in Brooksville Florida.Romagnolas are a breed of cattle from Italy, which are white, but have dark pigmented skin, are able to thrive in a tropical climate as well as the cold are double muscled fine looking cattle that have all the attributes of the Brahma but are gentle ,really gentle. I taught A bull calf and a heifer calf to be halter broke so that we could take them to Houston Texas for the Houston livestock show. Whenever we were to work cattle Dr Bounds would line up some help and ask me what time I was going to pin the cattle ,so the help would be there ,Well after the first Rodeo that we had I learned to tell him a half hour later than when I was actually going to start. When they showed up all the cows would already be all penned up.
What I had learned was that you could get a bunch of guys to come in there with horses and hoop and holler and chase the cattle around and pen them in two hours, and have the cattle totally stressed out; or I could go out with a bucket with a few rocks in it to make noise and I could lead the cattle into the pens in fifteen minutes. And when everyone showed up they would all be calmly munching on hay in the pens.
Working with your people helping them find the home that is just right for them, Is the same, as penning cattle. All the fast talking,tamborine shaking, drum pounding high pressure antics, will make them run in circles not sure where to go afraid at every step, and totally stressed to the max.What they need is ---Soft quiet reassurance, leading them to make the decision they want to make,---that Is what they are desperately crying out for. Lead with self confidence and they will follow you anywhere.
David Shriver

competence

2007-07-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Something almost naturalistic happens whenever the Real-Estate market takes a correction move. It really gets down to the survival of the fittest, or should I say survival of the competent. I feel that I was greatly advantaged to have started out in my Real Estate career on a steady market( of course I was selling Farms and raw land) . My point being ,I was never exposed to the easy money ,the order taking, the I will put you on the waiting list for a Pool home ,that we had only a few years ago. No I didn’t have to walk two miles to school and back in the snow both ways uphill ---But I did have to learn the basics to survive I had to learn to list, I had to learn to handle objections, And yes I had to learn to close. I was also blessed to have a broker who took me under his wing and became my mentor. He stressed sales training and got us involved with training seminars, and had motivational sales meetings once a week. He told me one day” don’t worry about making money selling Real Estate You will never make any money selling ;Real Estate .Where you will make your money and lots and lots of it is in Helping People. Let me repeat You will make your money Helping People. That’s why we are here, that’s the whole Idea, Help people, and you never have to worry about the money. The thing I love about Real Estate is that unlike the automotive industry, Motor homes insurance,mortgage,you name it No other field give us, as great an opportunity to honestly help people become financially secure by leading them with competence.
David Shriver

Gratitude Rocks

2007-07-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

Even in trying times try to be a source of good things. Try to cultivate the attitude of thankfulness in your everyday life.
Make a list of things from large to small that you are thankful for every day from the beautiful sunrise, the green light on the way to work, the smile of a co worker, the gifts of your senses sight,smell,touch.Tune in on the beautiful, the fragrant, the pleasant touch, your cats fur,the leather upholstery in your car.
Overwhelm yourself with reasons to be thankful, and then share that feeling by giving. Giving a smile, a phone call to a friend you haven’t talked to in too long, random acts of kindness ,do remarkable things to our attitudes, and it is contagious,it effects people around us and brings out smiles which beget more smiles. I always carry a small flat stone in my left pocket . It is my gratitude rock, whenever I reach in my pocket for my keys I touch it and it reminds me of what it is there for .Gratitude will brighten your day as well as the people around you. It will help you receive the good things in life that you deserve.Gratitude really rocks!

Positive influence

2007-07-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

I suppose the greatest influence on my Real Estate career in the beginning was the book Think and grow rich by napoleon hill as it gave me the seed for change .The concept of anything the mind of man can conceive and believe coupled with a burning desire he can achieve. Took me and my spirit totally. At the time I was working as a skilled trades welder at Ford Motor Company. The fact was unknown to me at the time ,but I was the youngest highest paid welder at ford motor company. I had reached my plateau at the age of 27 time to find new goals and mountains to climb. After obtaining my license I had the blessing of a mentor(Ron Spencer) who guided me helped encouraged and taught me the ways of Real Estate and the ways of success. We studied the Tom Hopkins sales techniques practice drilled and rehearsed. In the middle of the 70,s we probably sold more farms in the Midwest than any other small brokerage. I learned the power of positive thinking, the secret, and of course the I never see failure as failure but only as a learning experience I never see failure as failure but only as the negative feedback I need to change course in my direction; I never see failure as failure but only as the opportunity to develop my sense of humor; I never see failure as failure but only as an opportunity to practice my techniques and perfect my performance; I never see failure as failure but only as the game I must play to win . Tom Hopkins wrote it I believed it. In these times it might benefit us all and remember the basic truths the things that got us where we are and helped make us who we are.

Route 66 and how I got into real estate

2007-07-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Back in the late 50,s early 60,s two young good looking guys made a lasting impression an a young farm boy from Illinois as they gypsy across America in a brand new Corvette. The television show of course was entitled Route 66 ;every week these two guys would drive into a different town, find work, couple of good looking girls(always) and stumble in and out of one adventure after another. As well as probably selling more Corvettes for Chevrolet than all the add campaigns combined ;That hour long TV show every week captured the imagination of countless boys and girls across America, I know that I had A dream of My cousin Allen and I Following exactly in their footsteps. By the way I was going to be Buzz. Of course Viet nam came along ,Then Allen met a girl from San Diego and got married then I met a Midwestern girl; who’s dad worked at Ford Motor Co. I went to welding school, got married ,and got on at Ford then made it into skilled trades as a welder. It seemed my life was pretty much laid out for me .Of course you never know
My young bride Karen and I started out buying a nice older house in town, I used the gi bill and things were going along pretty smoothly farm came up for sale that my dad said would be a good investment so--We sold our home and bought 100 acres, we were off to the races The farm had a real nice ranch style home with full finished basement .I bought some farm equipment at farm auctions and worked at ford night shift we were really doing great our first daughter was born then a second ,I made a camp ground atmosphere around the pond and our in-laws and friends would all camp and cookout down by the pond life was pretty good .I was getting a little restless and a little disenchanted with the factory life, and started looking for some more land The reasoning was to eventually have enough land that I could farm fulltime and leave the factory. I found 80 acres for one thousand dollars an acre and bought it .I moved to third shift midnight to 8 in the morning this allowed me to get more farm work done.
All this time I had been racing a stock car on the local dirt tracks ,I had an ingrained need for speed, And this satisfied it .I had raced my Mustang stock car at Findley on Sunday night and got into an altercation resulting in my rear differential being torn loose and my rear axle being askew a wrecker lifted the car on the trailer and I brought it home. Bright and early Monday morning I went out got the tractor and was standing beside the race car trying to figure out how I was going to get it off the trailer when a car drove in Did I say a car? --well it wasn’t just a car it was yes a brand new corvette.
A guy got out of the vette not much older than me and said If you were a little more careful loading that car and weren’t so rough with it pulling it on there It would be a lot easier to unload What a smart ass I thought. Well he introduced himself seems his name was Ron Spencer and he sold Real Estate.