Val-Du Lakes

I'm all set for my last summer trip for 2007. I'm headed to Val-Du Lakes in Mears, MI. We should be rolling in late tonight and returning sometime Sunday. I have never been to Val-Du and have no idea what to expect, but I have heard amazing stories from past years about the fun-times at Silver Lake, Lake Michigan and the Dunes in the area. Check back throughout the weekend for picture updates. It should be interesting. Hopefully I'll return with some good stories to share.

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

3-Days To Fight Cancer

A very good friend of mine, Gretchen Chapin, has taken on a new challenge. She along with 2 other incredible women have volunteered to walk 60 miles over the course of 3 days to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

Of course the primary objective is to raise money. If you'd be interested in supporting please see the link below:

http://www.the3day.org/michigan07/gretchenchapin

Given the current economic climate it may not be possible to give money but remember that donating your contacts by posting a bulletin, blog or email may prove to be more beneficial than any gift of money. I appreciate you taking the time to consider supporting this cause as I'm sure Gretchen and her team are as well.

The Gameday Pro

After a few months of ironing out our process, developing pricing and getting the website to function we’re finally ready to begin taking orders. By now you’re probably wondering wtf I’m talking about. Easiest way to understand is to just visit the site here TheGamedayPro.

The Gameday Pro creates custom sports memorabilia. We’ll take any digital graphic and transfer it to a football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, hockey puck, softball and/or Christmas ornament.

We’re targeting HS Booster clubs and any other organization interested in easy fundraising without any upfront expense. We’ve also recently been approached by a couple companies interested in our products for marketing purposes as well as fantasy sports leagues for trophies and other gifts. We’re currently investigating the possibility of creating custom mini-helmets to go along with the other merchandise. If you know of anyone who may be interested in something like this please direct them to the site.

People of Monroe have been working all night to clean the city.

Storm damage in Monroe

Mobile Blogging Update

So it didn't go so well tonight. The Hens did win but the mobile posts did not go through. I learned my lesson though.

The problem is that Verizon send messages from two sources depending on if it's a text message or picture message. I originally claimed my text service but not the pix service. If I would have sent a basic text to my blog it would have gone through just fine. Since I sent a picture first...not to mention a bad one...it sent me a basic claim message so I stopped sending the pictures.

Hopefully this will work better for me in the future. Thanks for suffering through my learning process.

Omar Infante found in Toledo.

Mobile Blogging with Verizon

I'm sure it has been obvious to most of you that I'm new to blogging/writing, but now I'm going to attempt to expand the blogging experience to my mobile device. No more excuses for not updating the blog with a picture at least.

I'll be at a Toledo Mud Hens game tonight and hopefully I'll be able to snap some decent pictures to send to my blog. If this doesn't turn out well I won't know until I get home so please forgive any errors I may create trying this.

Be Inspired Again

As mentioned earlier I am a proud subscriber to to Entrepreneur Magazine. One of the main reasons I enjoy it is because of the inspirational articles and quotes I pick up from others who have been exactly where I am right now or where I hope to be in the near future. It's easy to get bogged down with the ideas that fail to translate into anything substantial or to start listening to the many many people who are there to laugh and put plans down. Entrepreneur mag can help muscle through these low times.

My last post, of course, was titled "Be Inspired" mainly because I was looking for inspiration my self. Little did I know Entrepreneur's Editorial Director Rieva Lesonsky would title her editor's note the exact same thing. (No I had not seen that magazine before my post). Rieva's inspiration came in the form of quotes collected by magazine readers. Below are a few that I found interesting:

"Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't." - A student in an entrepreneurship class

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed. And the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying!" -Tom Hopkins

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"A leader must accomplish the difficult task of getting those on the team to believe that 'we' supersedes 'me.'" - John Wooden

"Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them." - Constance Newman

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a know and hang on." - Ben Franklin

"Illegitimis non carborundum. That's Latin for: Don't let the bastards grind you down."


I am always in search of great quotes. If you have any, please share them.

Be Inspired

What a Philanthropist

Anyone else see a problem with this?

I pay. You pay. We ALL pay. Good or Bad?

I've commented before on the intellectual horse power of you, my faithful readers. Now I'd like to challenge your opinions in an attempt to 1)Learn something myself from you and 2) open constructive dialog on an important topic that I feel we as 20 and 30 somethings really need to understand.

The question is simple. Is single-payer healthcare good for our great country or not? (check the poll to the right)

I haven't seen the movie Sicko yet, but I will just to understand what Michael Moore is spinning on the subject. Please understand that it's also our obligation to understand the opposing argument then make our decision based on those opinions, facts and personal beliefs.

Here's a link to an article in the Toledo City Paper, a free publication we get down here in T-Town similar to Real Detroit and MetroTimes.

I am anxious to read your thoughts.

Buick wins

Buick has started the slow process of turning perception back toward what is and most likely always has been real. That reality, I believe, is that US-made cars are not truly that different in regard to dependability and quality than foreign made rigs. The problem is that owners of foreign cars have, for years, yelled louder about the quality of their Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Perhaps, they've been making excuses or defending their automobile selection.

Doesn't really matter.

Point is, more people yell about the superior quality of foreign made cars. People listen and then. . .don't get me started again about how stupid the American public can be. Sheeple just start following along without a clue. Next thing you know Detroit's industry is non-existent. OK, I know the fall of the auto industry in this country is more complicated than that but perception is a huge factor in our buying patterns. No?

So, in case you've been under a rock today or you just don't care that much about the auto industry I'll fill you in. J.D. Power has released their rankings for all types of car related categories and Buick has tied Lexus(Toyota) in the Dependability Study. Keep in mind Lexus has owned this honor alone for the past 11 years.

Nice job Buick!! U.S.A. OK!

[read story from Autoblog here]

Attention Entrepreneurs

The freep is reporting that there is a cocaine shortage in The D. The market should be right for making money. The shortage is driving up prices and perhaps competition is lower as well. Any entrepreneur's dream market, Cha-Ching! Now all I need to do is lose my ethics, morals and find a sense of adventure (to jail or hell).

Although there was no way to strictly quantify the reports of the cocaine shortage, Walters' office said the average price of a kilogram of cocaine in Detroit was between $18,500 and $24,000 in the last three months of 2006 and has continued to rise substantially since then, by as much as 70%...

70%!!! A business with that type of growth may get you hired as the next Cerberus owned Corp's CEO.

Asked about the effect on crime a shortage and rising prices can have, [director of National Drug Control Policy for the Bush administration, John P.] Walters said that generally there is less violence when the drug market contracts and that if people can’t get cocaine, they are more likely to seek help for their addiction. The vast majority of drug-related violence, he said, is traced to people under the influence – and a shortage can mean fewer people using the drug.

Well good, as long as Bush's administration says it. Must be true.

Don't laugh. This could happen to you...

Enjoy. I'm biting another very entertaining video posted by Alwyn Cosgrove, but I knew TJ would enjoy this video too much to not post it.

Detroit - Best Sports City, 2007

It's about time we're recognized for what we really are, a fantastic sports city. Sporting News has released it's Mighty 99 and The D tops the list for 2007.

The ranking is based on regular-season won-lost records (from the most recently completed season); playoff berths, bowl appearances and tournament bids; championships; applicable power ratings; quality of competition; overall fan fervor as measured in part by attendance as percentage of venue capacity; abundance of quality teams; stadium and arena quality; ticket availability and prices; franchise ownership; and marquee appeal of athletes.

Hip-Hop Mayor is quoted in response to the SN honor, but we all know he'd rather be giving chest-bumps and ass-slaps to Bron Bron in Cleveland. That's right I'm still upset by the way Detroit's mayor fell over himself to get next to King James during the playoffs.

DETROIT IS THE GREATEST SPORTS CITY! Just ask us.