All You Need Is Love!
Most of us are not sure what that means in modern America, but it sounds freakin' great. Here is one explaination.

THE STORY OF A REAL AMERICAN

Love is a great concept, but it needs definition. For instance, I don't remember when, but at some point I stopped believing in gravity. I simply became convinced that the World just SUCKS. I have been here for over 55 years. Little impresses me. This is it? Obvioulsly, "hope" is important to me and "Love" is important to all of us. What does it mean to love? Love what? Love who? Why? Meet "the REAL American:" Melvin; he knows.

Melvin went to work just out of High School for a trucking company. He was eventually put in charge of "Logistis and Delivery." He saved most of his of money (by being content) and constantly scanned the newspapers for his biggest dream: a good deal on a house in the country. He was 18 years old. At age 26 he bought his dream house in a rural county in Texas. He bought some land and a nice home, with a moderate barn out back. He also paid cash for a used, late model pick-um'up truck. The seller of the truck threw in a 2 axle flat-bed trailer, to seal the deal!

Melvin felt that his life was exactly what America offered: Good rewards for hard and consitent work. He went to work even if he did not feel 100% "well". He pushed through, knowing that his paycheck would reflect his committment to his job. His boss often told him, "I wish I had more people like you!" Melvin was "the" example of a great empoyee.

After 16 years, at Melvin's age of 34 to 35, his company was bought by a larger company and "duplicate positions" were eliminated. Melvin was "let go."  Most people would have been devastated, but not Melvin. He was actually glad that some of the senior people in the company - who he knew had kids in college - were kept on, even if he wasn't. He was the hard working single guy. He'd be OK.

"No big deal," thought Melvin: "I'm the best at what I do, so SOMEBODY will hire me." Melvin was agressive. He went through the entire Yellow Pages in ONE day. No trucking and transportation companies were hiring. He was rejected over, and over, and over, and over, and over and over again. Mel became despondent. He had put off being married until he was prosperous, and now he was needy, and alone.

One day Mel went out determined to do a full day of job interviews. When he  finally headed home at about 6:00 PM, a contingency of his neighbors met him at the crossroads of the highway and his Farm to Market road, and told him that his house and all of its contents had burned! There was NOTHING left in, around, or consiting of his house. All was consumed by the fire. Mel was destitute. Only the barn was spared.

For weeks Mel lived in the small, drafty barn, and constantly dwelled upon the word "destitute." It meant "nothing left." It meant "at the mercy of ..." It meant "Certain Death." Mel eventually decided that he was LARGER than that. He was convinced that "Mel's Life" was intended to change the course of HISTORY, no matter how, or what it all meant.

Mel searced high and low, far and wide for "The" answer. He was surprised at the result.

Mel read the story of Moses, and of God telling Moses to deliver Israel frome Egypt. Moses asked "How?"

God answered: What is in your hand?

Moses took his staff and threw it on the ground and it became a serpent. This event ultimately led to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.

Mel decided to take an inventory of what he had. In his hand.  What he had left; a truck, a 2-axle trailer and a barn. Oh, yeah; there was also a rain barrel, and Mel had a few dollars in the bank. What to do?

Mel went to a Printer and had some flyers and business cards made: "Mobile Car Washing Service," and pasted them everywhere in the city! He would drive up to 30 miles to wash a car. He was very, very busy and made a lot of money very quickly. He figured he could rebuild his house within 16 months. After 12 months he had an Architect draw up plans for his next "Dream Home," and could almost smell the "new house smell" of his fantasy home.

 He was now in control of his own destiny. What a great feeling! But something happened that put his dream house on hold, temporarily.

One day, he picked up the newspaper and saw that a family's house burned down and both parents had been laid off from their jobs. He approached the husband and asked "Are you willing to work?" The husband said, "I would do anything to make money right now.  I have no job, no pride and no future, and I have a precious wife and several precious kids."

Mel said, "God Has Already Provided For You. You have  a truck, a two-axle trailer and a barrel. Here is a list of people who want their cars washed. There are more dirty cars than any of us can keep up with. You will pay me back as you are able, and promise to help others in the same way."
For many years after, Mel would find fire victims who were also unemployed, and put them in the business of washing cars. Everyone he ever helped did the same, with a few exceptions. He fixed up the barn so that is was more comfortable and less drafty, then he made it larger. He never built his other dream house, but he did find his own precious woman and had three precious children of his own. The barn became nicer with the birth of each child. He is one of the happiest men you will ever meet. He has helped launched more businesses than most banks.

Love IS all we need.

When I was a boy (born in the mid 1950's) there was only one television set in any household. It wasn't until I was 14 years old until some of us had color television sets. We had three TV networks to choose from, not 300. I'm sure the advertisements on TV these days that promise "Watch any show you record in any four rooms at once!" don't seem strange to my kids, but it stops me in my tracks; why, under heaven, would you have TV's in four different rooms? Wait a minute. We can't afford health care, and we have TV's in multiple rooms? WTF? No wonder certain politicians believe we can afford more taxes!

I won't even start on central air conditioning, because no one can get a loan on or sell a home that doesn't have it. We thought we were in "high cotton" if our car had an AM radio, and now we have CD players in every car and - whoa -  satellite radio! Even today's AM stations broadcast in "High Definition," almost as invulnerable to lightening and other interference as the fancy FM stations of old! Hey, when I was in my 20's a calculator that performed the four basic functions (add, subtract, multiply and divide) was $400.00, and had little red numbers that were hard to see. Nowdays, I have a GPS I call "James" with a 3D color screen that  (quoting comedian Ron White) "receives fuc_ing satellite signals from outer-fuci_ng space!" It cost me $200.00, and it  is PROGRAMMABLE! Within the next decade, it will even drive my car for me after I punch in the destination, although the price may go up to $205.00. The technology exists, already. It is not even a hop between theory and reality, much less a leap. Since it will save gasoline, it will be sanctioned and maybe even funded by "the government."

My dad forced me to take typing classes when I was a Junior in High School. When I received a failing grade after the second 6 weeks, he made me stay in my room and type throughout the Easter break. I couldn't hang out with my friends. It was just me and that damn old Underwood that my brother Ed dubbed "The Maneater." Hot tears ran down my cheeks for three days. You see, my dad was convinced I needed to learn to type because, as he told me, "One day soon, every worker will have a computer screen and a keyboard on their desk." I thought he was crackers, but he was right. I still wonder why he didn't buy stock in IBM, or that new "Apple" company so I could've been rich and have someone do all my damn typing for me.

I guess if you don't like my blogs, you can partially blame my dad. But I digress.

A man I know is 72 years old, and he worked on the early computers (Big Iron) of the 1950's as a key-punch-card programmer. He shared with me that an IBM rep once told him that the building full of computers they used, requiring about 60 tons of air conditioning, would "someday fit in a suitcase." My friend laughed, because he knew the rep was either blowing smoke up his butt, or he was an absolute idiot. My 72 year old friend still works every day, 6 days a week, for a living. I don't know where his former IBM rep ended up, but there is a slight percentage of a chance that his name was Ross Perot.

You see, the "good old days" aren't what they are sometimes cracked up to be. I'm very thankful, for instance, that God saw fit to have me be born after indoor plumbing was already well established in the US. It's really no good to look back fondly at the past and sigh.

No, don't turn your head and look back, very often. Otherwise, the future might just run your ass over!

Ah, well. Home please, James.

Gold Futures closed at a record high, today, and the Spot Market in the US has just over an hour until close. The price went above $1035.00/T oz. today, which was a critical point. The fact that it will close well above that this afternoon means that $1,000.00/T oz. gold will be a bargain, so keep your eyes out for it.

Gone is $950 gold, for a while.