My Life is a Great Adventure

My Life is a Great Adventure!   

This morning at Daybreak Rotary I was the featured member for our weekly 'Daybreaker Spotlight' so for this week's news I am sharing a few episodes of my great adventure with you…

Episode #1…  I was born with a hole in my heart that became a heart murmur by age 6.  My brother John called it a 'heart moo moo' and he teased me constantly as a kid.  It used to make me so mad until one day my dad said ‘just ignore him.’  So, I did and that made him mad, so much so that one day he trapped in the corner of the garage with a pitch fork threatening to put a new hole in my heart!  It was right then and there, at the age of 10, that I learned how to sell.

Episode #2…  I’m the oldest of eight kids.  Being the oldest has its privileges and responsibilities.  I learned how to cook, iron, sew, change diapers, baby-sit and more; all skills that would come in handy later on.  The squabbles and bickering often times were boys versus girls, until a non-family member would pick on one of our sisters.  Suddenly we became all-for-one because no one was allowed to picked on our sisters!

Episode #3…  After high school I couldn’t wait to get away from the mob and I enrolled at UNI as a music major.  On September 11^th, 1972, my first day of college, my brother John was killed in an auto accident so I went back home, missing my first two weeks of classes.  It was tough, but yet an incredible time where our family really came together.  Today we call it our own 9-11.  While in college I painted houses and barns each summer with three college buddies.  I loved my summers and I learned to love learning while in college. 

Episode #4…  Upon graduation with a broadcasting degree in hand I worked at Frank Magid (media research firm), as a Disco Jock (the ‘70’s Saturday Night Fever era), radio, a radio jingle company, newspaper and an ad agency.  Then, my last ‘job’ was with MDA and the Jerry Lewis Telethon for 20 years.  Honestly, I have loved every job I have had.  Of course, I’m an eternal optimist, or as my wife calls me, an EO, a close cousin to ET, that short dude from another planet! 

Episode # 5…  My family today.  Lonna is my wife, my very best friend and we’ve been married for 25 years (happily for 24 – okay, just kidding!).  She works at Mount Mercy and we have two sons; Jason the sports, track and football guy and Logan, the music and car guy.  Jason is married to his best friend Sarah and their two boys are an extreme adventure (grandkids are way cool!).  Logan at 19 still lives at home working two jobs, looking to start college this spring and he also works as disc jockey doing weddings, dances and parties.  I love it, when he calls me from a gig, asking for old rock and roll songs he can play for the ‘old’ people!   

Episode #6…  Let me tell you WHY today I’m a business coach.  My dad was a business owner and he always struggled with finances and people.  He’d talk to me about his problems because when he talked to my mom they’d fight.  Life in our house during this time was not an adventure!  At one point my parents were on the verge of bankruptcy and divorce.  Somehow though, by the grace of God, they made it through.  As I was looking at businesses 12 years ago, when I found coaching I knew it could be my passion.  You see, I don’t want anyone to go through what my dad did.  Many business owners need help.   I believe that my mission in life will glorify God when I help people to achieve their dreams.  I really enjoy working with small business owners.  Thus, business and leadership coaching is the focus of our firm.  That’s why I’m a coach.

Episode #7…  I joined Daybreak Rotary in 2006 because I wanted to do something more to make a difference, to help people outside of my business.  I visited every Rotary club in town and when I came here, it was a fit.  Life is an adventure to many of you in this club and I like the way we create opportunities to impact others in a very positive way. Just as being a coach allows me to help others so they don’t have to go through their challenges alone; we do the same as Daybreakers with the organizations, families and kids we serve.  Being a Daybreaker is very rewarding.

And that my fellow Rotarians is my great adventure.  Thank you.  

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Hey, Those Are My Tax Dollars

Hey, Those Are My Tax Dollars!

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Just saw a study that came out this week from the nonpartisan Office of Budget Responsibility and they chronicled the top 100 projects that are considered to be a waste of taxpayer dollars by our federal government. I thought I would share three of my favorites with you. 

Red Planet Menu…  Did you know that each year NASA works on the development of a so called “Mars Food Menu” that will be used when men land on Mars?  Researchers have test subjects simulate space conditions and rate the food being tested based on taste, their overall health, and the mood it puts them in. The only problem is that the first manned mission to Mars won’t happen until 2035 at the earliest.  Total wasted taxpayer cost since inception of this project…  $46 million!

Shoot First, Research Later…  The Missile Defense Agency has a bad habit of building things before they finish their research and development work.  However, on two occasions over the past decade, the agency has begun building interceptor missiles without first finishing the research and testing that should have been completed prior to their construction. Not surprisingly on both missile projects they experienced delays, failures, and system upgrade issues resulting in the projects costing nearly four times as much as original estimates.  Price tag for this project…  $760 million!

The Buzz Hormone…  The National Institutes of Health has funded over 30 projects in Michigan and Texas for the past decade to test hormone levels in fruit flies.  The tests discovered that male fruit flies are more attracted to younger female fruit flies than older ones.  That’s it!  And now researchers have started the process to obtain more tax payer funds to they can expand their hormone research to other animals.  Total cost of this fruit fly hormone experiment…   $940 million!

There you have it, some great examples of how our federal government spends our hard earned tax dollars and that’s the Bottom of our News on this Friday, October 19, 2012.   
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It's the Economy...

It’s the Economy…

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. The topic of the morning is economy related, so why not share an article I read awhile back entitled ‘5 Crazy Ideas to Save Our Economy’ written by economist Don Phelan.

Phelan begins by explaining how our free-market supply and demand economy works and the importance of having goods and services for Americans to buy. But, if they have no money, or are afraid of losing their jobs, or are hording their cash to weather this financial storm, they aren’t buying, right? So, how do you create incentive for people to BUY?

Crazy Idea #1: Instead of the government spending the $1 TRILLION stimulus, how about giving it directly to the people to spend? It breaks down to about $4,000 per person and yolu could send each a debit card with $4,000 on it. A household of four gets $16,000, of three, $12,000, etc. The spending would come with specific rules on how the money can be spent; down payment on a house, to buy cars, appliances, pay for daycare, tuition, etc. Only to BUY goods and services and if you don’t spend it within 18 months, the card expires and you lose the money. Imagine how consumers would line up for cars and different homes. The impact on the auto and housing industries alone could be big; more jobs, more spending and thus, more tax revenue.

Crazy Idea #2: Cut income taxes from 25% to 15% for middle-income Americans and you’d see another immediate impact on US households. For example: If you make $60,000, you get $6,000 more in your pocket to spend. Could you use an extra $500 a month in after-tax income? As disposable income increases you build real hope in people and they gain more confidence that they can better provide for their families, make their car payments and have money to buy that new refrigerator.

Crazy Idea #3: Eliminate the capital gains tax on investment properties and that would put a major dent toward eliminating the glut of foreclosure properties. No government bailout and no throwing money at the problem. People with poorly performing 401(K) or savings accounts, would RUSH to buy distressed real estate. Real estate investors would get involved big-time. It would be a boom. Many people would fix up these properties by hiring plumbers, electricians, HVAC people, carpet installers, etc. Then, those improved properties could be rented or sold.

Crazy Idea #4: Reinstate consumers’ ability to write off interest paid on credit cards, auto loans and second homes. This frees up more money for consumers and reduces their tax burden.

Crazy Idea #5: Regardless of what party you support, all of us should participate in a petition to eject our politicians from office if they don’t stop the partisanship and start working together to fix our economy. Our economic crisis is enormous. It will take ALL of us, rich and poor, conservative and liberal, black and white, men and women, to fix this. We must all start pulling on the same end of the rope. And that’s a summary of the article.

These five crazy ideas don’t honestly sound so crazy to me, but they most likely don’t stand a snowballs chance of ever happening. However, I believe that as a nation and government, we must start thinking differently. And here was Phelan’s final big question… ‘Could it be conceivable that ‘we the people’ might better spend the money generated from these ideas rather than our government?’

Remember that line from the Clinton campaign, “It’s the economy…” and that’s the Bottom of our News on this Friday, October 12, 2012. I’m David Drewelow and once again I approve this message.

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Presidential Fun Facts

Presidential Fun Facts

Good morning my fellow Americans.  Since our presidential season is in high gear I thought I’d share a few fun facts about some of our former presidents.  Here they are…    

·       George W. Bush and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner are cousins!

·       President Lyndon Johnson smoked at least 3 packs of cigarettes a day.

·       John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic President.

·       Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to have been born in a hospital.

·       Every U.S. president with a beard has been a Republican.

·       Franklin Pierce was arrested while president for running over an old lady with his horse, but the charges were later dropped.

·       Believe it or not, Andrew Jackson's tombstone does not mention that he served as a US president!

·       Herbert Hoover was the first president to be born west of the Mississippi in West Branch, Iowa.

·       No president of the United States was an only child.

·       Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.

·     Four of the past five presidents have been left-handed (even though only 10% of our population are lefties); they are Ronald Reagan, HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Only George W. Bush was a rightie.

·       Gerald Ford was an all-American football player at the University of Michigan and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers (Go Pack go!), however he decided to not play pro football.

·       And finally, George Washington for many years, grew marijuana in his garden.

There you have ‘em, fun facts about past presidents as the Bottom of our News on this Friday, October 5, 2012.  I’m David Drewelow and I approve this message.

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