Archive for June, 2009
I Bought A New Car and Survived!
Nobody got bloody, bruised or banged up in this auto buying excursion to Johnson Auto Plaza in Brighton Colorado on SH 85. This went so well that I had to tell it to the world in my blog. The government CARS $4,500.00 definitely got me inspired to go out and get a new car and with Dodges $4,500.00 I definitely had to go to a Dodge dealer which was Johnson Auto Plaza. My experiences with Dodge goes back to 2000 when I bought A Durango SLT brand new. My sales Rep, Dick Wollert was truly a seasoned pro in making the experience good. I am not boasting carelessly, for those who follow me know that I do know blow smoke in my blogs and truly have passion for which I write about. But I do have a little favor to ask of all of you; when you go to Johnson Auto Plaza for your next motor vehicle purchase that you mention Simon LaLonde and his article on Johnson Auto Plaza is what brought you to them. I know your experience will be as good as mine if not better, “. . . they guarantee it!”
Everyone Wants to Get Rich
This has to be true because everywhere you look you see some kind of advertisement shouting about the riches that can be made at doing this or that. Then there is Simon the Blogger Geek, who has to admit, I have responded to a great number of them and the great thing resulting from almost all of them is I have more that I can blog about using my experiences from them. Out of the many things I have tried I have found one thing that really does work. It isn’t a MLM or stuffing letters at home. What I am talking about is an Investment club I have joined. With the investment club I have had the pleasure to experience a larger return on my money than I ever thought imaginable, especially in these hard economic times. Now I am not talking about returns of 500 or 600% on my money. No, what I am talking about is a consistent overall average of 17% (It isn’t and wasn’t with Bernie Madoff) annualized return. Going off into left field here but many of you are not aware of how I love to go on and on about this and that, telling stories, spinning yarns and fables. You soon will know and look forward to these instances because they are amusing and entertaining. Kinda like the time in 1982 in Salina Kansas when I was standing on top of a garbage truck to change a light bulb in the garage I was working in (rebuilding the engine of the garbage truck) (QUICK NOTE: Whenever working on a garbage truck in a confined space for whatever reason, be sure it has been emptied) moving forward about the light bulb, here I was standing on top of this garbage truck to change a light bulb when someone walked into the garage hollering for me when I spun around breaking the bulb with my elbow, not a whole lot wrong with that other than the power to the light bulb was on and when I broke the light bulb, the electricity grabbed ahold of me (and I ain’t puny by no means 210 pounds to be exact) shaking me as a 5 year shakes his piggy bank to get enough money to buy a Popsicle, and it was not letting me go. So here I am being shook by the surging current of the electric (and yes before you ask, I did wet myself which didn’t help matters) until I no longer had the ability to stand any longer. YES! That is what saved me from being electrocuted (fried like a criminal on judgment day) dropping from the top of the garbage truck to the ground; you can bet that hurt but I didn’t know because I was unconscious. I later woke up all busted up and broken in the hospital, that’s when you really knew that it hurt. Anyhow, that is why I act the way I do to this very day. Of course you ask and just how is it that I act? My response to that is for you to hang around here for awhile and follow my tales and fables and you will see. If you think that the story I have just told is absolutely gut splitting and probably the best I got, I beg to differ, that is just the beginning, like the time I was a truck driver and in the dead of the early morning, on my flat bed trailer was dancing . . . . I can’t go on with that tale because I really want to have a blog that is appropriate for any one but that truck driver story is a DOOZIE! By now you are most likely asking yourself “What does all of that really have to do with wanting to Get Rich”? Well I want to get rich and after a fall like that I bet you would too! Not really, the gist was that by joining the investment club and the opportunities were a great way in to begin the journey, my journey to riches. The importance of this goes back to the year 1999 when the stock market went crazy and many dot comm.’s ceased to exist. Problem was I lost everything I had, all hope in my retirement funds gone up in smoke, all gone . . . Just this month (2009-07) with the returns from my latest investments, I am now even, I have earned to this day every penny I lost in the dot com dive. One of the keys was when I rolled over my abandoned 401k to a self directed IRA and invested it and continuing to re-invest it. The best news is that before the year 2009 is over, I will be in a growth mode to where I will have a retirement fund, which I will desperately need because I am no longer a spring chicken. I’ll have you know being 53 years young (not only do I like to blog but I love to play which bears witness to my being a serious contender in winning as the boy with the most toys notoriety; just ask my wife) and possibly having my retirement funded. That pretty much is what it is all about. I want to be rich and possibly I will find the magic to do so as I continue to muddle my way through this perplexing mystery which I liken to being in a long dark tunnel, so as long as I keep moving, I eventually find the light growing and glowing brighter as I got closer to gathering the riches I sought.
About the Author: Simon LaLonde is just your average blogger. What Simon brings to blogging is his unusual sense of humor and satire, not that he really wants that type of notoriety, it is dominant characteristic of his writing, a style that led to his demise in College 101 English composition but led him to recognition as contributing columnist later while part of the School Editorial staff, how about that for ironic! (Never got the failing grade erased from record either.) More than anything Simon LOVES BLOGGING! And enjoys sharing this with you.
Blogging and Pro Blogger
Most that I can tell you at this point is that I am definately a Geek. Does that qualify me as a blogger or a Pro Blogger? Not but oh how do I like to talk and ramble on. I have been there and done that. I have a list of so many Gurus and their alleged speciality that I fear I am losing focus as to what a Guru even is. But, Hang with me and we will try to examine every aspect of blogging possible. I will do the reading for you and geek mash it into something reasonable sounding that won’t even cost you anything other than the 10 seconds it will take to read my blog from time to time and to comment on how off base I am if I nailed it. So hang with me and we will see what cracks out!
John F. Kennedy
In the life of this great nation, a few of its presidents have emerged from the pack as truly historic and memorable even more than others. Of course, the presidents from the generation of the founding fathers certainly fit that bill including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. And presidents that served the country in times of great crisis also are deeply honored in memory. But in recent memory, there probably no other president that brings up emotions of respect and admiration as much as that of John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy seemed to capture the hearts of the American people in a way that was unique in presidents before or since. Part of it may have been the era in history that the country was in when he became the President of the United States. The historic time between 1950 and 1970 was a time when the largest generation of youth, now known as the “baby boomers”, was coming of age. With them a new youth movement brought a sense of optimism, a “can do” attitude and to some extent a sense of revolution. They were looking for new ways of seeing things, a new vision of the future and new leadership and John F. Kennedy was the perfect man of the hour to provide that leadership.
So much about Kennedy’s presidency has an aura of romance and almost a fairy tale excitement of it. From the naming of his family estates “Camelot” to the love affair that the public had with the strikingly beautiful presidential couple, Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy. That touch of magic extended to everything he did and virtually everybody in his family including his younger brother Robert who was idolized as well and almost certainly would have served as president had he not been tragically assassinated during his early bid for that office.
But this was not to say that Kennedy was not a phenomenal leader. He faced serious challenges. The Cuban Missile Crisis may have been one of the most frightening show downs between a nuclear Russia and a nuclear America that has ever happened in history. When it became clear that Russia was beginning to build bases in Cuba and arm them with those terrible weapons, this was no time for a weak president. Had Russia been able to bully Kennedy or intimidate the young president and put those missiles in Cuba, it seems certain that the outcome of the cold war would have been one of failure rather than success. But Kennedy was not bullied or intimidated and using the power of his office, Kennedy stood his ground and stood ground for all Americans and forced the Russians to remove those missiles.
But this was not the only great accomplishment of Kennedy’s administration. It took a leader who had great vision and ability to inspire a nation as nobody else than John F. Kennedy could to set the sights of the nation on landing on the moon. But Kennedy put that desire and that high calling in the hearts of his people and the nation rallied to finally see that man step out on the moon and declare, “This is one step for man, a giant leap for mankind.” That was one of the proudest days in American history and it was Kennedy who inspired us to that kind of greatness.
As much as the life and leadership of John F. Kennedy perfectly exemplified the optimism and youthful zeal of a generation, his tragic assignation changed the country forever as well. On that sad day of November 22, 1963 when Lee Harvey Oswald gunned down America’s beloved president, the hearts of Americans changed forever.
This was one of those days that almost everybody who was alive at the time, from school children to grandfathers remembered where they were when they heard the news. Since we laid to rest this great leader, the presidency itself has never been the same. While Americans will always respect their presidents, that sense of adoration for the man in the White House disappeared forever. But the thing that did not disappear was the ongoing adoration of the man, John F. Kennedy, who inspired a generation and a nation to look forward to greatness and in the famous words of his inaugural address in 1961…
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Simon is typically a normal laid back guy who just can’t sit still and has a curiosity that runs wild. His mind is constantly churning, thinking of material to write and what would be the best subject. Be certain, if nothing else to subscribe to the RSS feed from the blog page or to be certain you do not miss nothing new subscribe to his weekly newsletter CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE or if you just want to sent Simon a note then Email Simon.. It is a known fact that there is nothing so well researched or diverse than what you read here in this blog so certainly be sure to stay tuned for much more. Good Day!