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Archive for the 'Random Stuff' Category

Adversity Introduces Us To Ourselves

December 31st, 2008 categories:Random Stuff

Happy New Year from the Ridgewood Front Porch

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and share a few interesting New Years Quotes.  My personal favorite quote of all time is “Adversity Introduces Us To Ourselves“. 

This is not specifically a New Years quote, but given the difficult times we are all facing, it seems to be an appropriate quote to remember as we head into 2009.  It is very easy to act a certain way during good times but it is during the most troubling and difficult times in our lives that we really find out what we are made off.  I am not sure who to attribute this quote to but the first time I heard it was during a Speech by President Bush right after 9/11 and I will never forget it.

Below are 5 great New Years specific quotes.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
–Benjamin Franklin

The only way to spend New Year’s Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.
–W.H. Auden

Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.
–Bill Vaughan

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.
–Oscar Wilde

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
–Oprah Winfrey

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Posted by Al Donohue | Discussion:No Comments »

I Want to Be The Biggest Loser…For A Good Reason

December 7th, 2008 categories:For Realtors Only, Random Stuff

47 (and counting) Portly Realtors are Each Putting up 50 Bucks to See Who is the Biggest Loser…and Help Out Their Favorite Charity

I entered a similar contest last year that was associated with Ridgewood Dad’s Night and had mixed results.  In other words, I was a big loser but not the kind of big loser I wanted to be.  This contest has a charity component so I am banking on this aspect to give me some extra motivation.  The winner’s charity will receive the contest pot which currently stands at $2350.

I am playing for the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Beth Israel Medical Center.  Epilepsy is a disease that gets very little publicity and also, unfortunately, very little funding.  Below is a quote taken from noted epilepsy activist and Hollywood director Jim Abraham’s testimony before Congress on the subject of the lack of epilepsy funding and its affect on children.

“I will not burn my time by repeating the inequity you can clearly see, however I will comment on it by saying that until you’ve seen your own child’s eyes go dead and roll back in her head as she drops to the ground, until you’ve watched your own child slowly fade into retardation, one painstaking day at a time, until you’ve seen your child decay from a drug reaction, or, you’ve buried your own child after she drown in her bathtub after a seizure, you can’t possibly appreciate the cruelty of this disparity [in funding for Epilepsy vs other diseases].”

Consider these facts:

  • Roughly the same number of people die every year from epilepsy related causes as from Breast Cancer - yet Epilepsy receives a tiny fraction of the funding that is given to Breast Cancer.
  • More Americans have epilepsy than muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease combined.
  • Of the roughly 181,000 new cases diagnosed each year, 75% will be children.

This is a charity that is near and dear to me because my son Luke has a severe form of Epilepsy called Doose Syndrome. He is one of the lucky ones.  His seizures have been controlled for years due to the help of God and a  brilliant doctor at Beth Israel named Stephen Wolf. I still can’t bring myself to say Luke “had” Doose Syndrome, as in the past tense, even though he has been in remission for years.  I have this irrational fear that saying that the ordeal is over will somehow bring it back.  Luke is doing extremely well but so many children who suffer from Doose Syndrome and other forms of epilepsy are not.  I try to raise awareness of this horrible disease and its pitiful lack of funding whenever I can - but probably not as much as I could or should.

Ok, time to get off my soapbox and onto the scale.  Below is my initial weigh-in number.  On February 1, 2009 whoever has the largest percentage weight loss wins.  Click here to learn more about the contest which was set up by Jay Thompson.

Click Here to Dontate to the Epilepsy Foundation

Posted by Al Donohue | Discussion:14 Comments »

There is Good News and Bad News Every Day here in Ridgewood and all Over the World - You Decide What You Want to Focus On

October 31st, 2008 categories:Random Stuff

I am a Geek, a Self-Improvement Junkie and an Eternal Optimist…

I read every business, real estate, motivational, self-help and success oriented book I can get my hands on and I take some flak for it from family and friends.  However, there are certain threads that run through almost all self-improvement books and these are the ones we should really pay attention to.  One of the most common themes is that “you become what you focus on”.

If you focus on the positive, and associate with positive people, you will be happy, successful and yes…positive.  And, of course, the opposite is also true.  Every great motivational and self-improvement speaker/writer covers some variation of this theme including some of my favorite authors such as  Dale Carnegie, Stephen R. Covey, Peter Drucker, Brian Tracy, Napoleon Hill and the one name I get the most flak for - Anthony Robbins.  Say what you like, his stuff is excellent.

Anyway, in these challenging times it may be a bit tougher to find positive things to focus on but, believe it or not, wonderful things are happening every day here in Ridgewood and all over thew world.

For example, today is Halloween, and we had a beautiful day here in Ridgewood. The leaves were falling, the weather was beautiful, my two boys had a great time trick-or-treating and it was great to see our little street (Colonial Road) packed with smiling children running around in there scary costumes.  I also got in a car accident this week and my basement flooded last week - but I choose to focus on the great time my boys had today and all the smiling faces that came to my door.  It’s a much better way to live.  I’ll get my car fixed and the basement will be fine - these things are not worth focusing on.

To help you get started focusing on the positive things in life, check out the list of 10 Things That Are Going Right from Kiplinger’s:

 

No. 1: Oil Loses Its Swagger

With the U.S. and global economy hurting, oil prices have dropped 50% in just three months, from $147 a barrel in July to the $70 range. Remember $80-$100 fill-ups at the pump? The national average for a gallon of gasoline is down to $3.00, from $4.11 in March, and should stay in the $3.00-$3.50 range through next year. Prices for home heating oil and natural gas are also headed lower this winter than last.

No. 2: A Tipping Point For the Auto Industry

After years of talk and false starts, finally, all the major car makers are furiously developing hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles that could lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Meanwhile, desperate dealers are offering unheard-of incentives on new, gas-fired models. For example, Toyota is offering $1,000 cash back and 0% financing on the 2009 Camry, the most popular car in America. Don’t drive much? If you’ve always wanted an SUV or truck, the discounting on some models is extraordinary.

No. 3: Interest Rates Are Low and Headed Lower

The prime rate is at 4.5%, which is driving down interest rates on home-equity lines of credit and some consumer loans. The interest rate on a traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is averaging 6.5%, the highest it’s been since the summer of ‘07, but still not too far from the historic low of 5.8% reached in ‘03-05 and ‘63-65. And although credit-card companies are cutting personal spending limits, rates are dropping, too. The average rate on credit-card purchases fell to 11.89% in the first week of October, down from 12.13% in September, according to LowCards.com.

No. 4: Homes Are More Affordable

Real estate, which was overpriced during the housing bubble, has returned to earth. That’s especially good news for first-time home buyers who were priced out of the market. While scare stories persist of credit drying up, the reality is more a return to traditional lending standards that had been thrown overboard-recklessly in many cases-by lenders. That means to qualify you usually need a 20% down payment, sufficient annual income, good credit and a tolerable load of debt. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Al Donohue | Discussion:10 Comments »