Let’s be clear, this was not the NCAA tournament, or even the NIT, this was the Lancaster Recreation League Midget Division Championship.

My son participated in our local recreation department basketball league. The age group is 9-11 and was a terrific experience for a kid who isn’t all that interested in sports to ease into it. The league consisted of 8 teams and has a nice format.  Each team consists of 2 captains (two of the older boys) and did not have an actual ‘coach’.  Some might question the lack of a coach, but it was really a terrific way to set it up for this level.  There are too many adult coaches who interject themselves too much and get obsessed with winning rather than learning at this stage.  Don’t get me wrong, I hate to lose, but at this entry level the format that brought the younger boys in slowly and laid the responsibility on the older boys was a terrific building block for the next step.

The captains are responsible for subs and making sure each player gets equal time.  The responsibility assigned to the older boys was worth its weight in gold for them.  I didn’t witness a single argument about playing time or substitutions.  The captains were tasked with handing it out evenly and they did a terrific job. Our team captains deserve a lot of credit. I would call them out by name, but not all parents want to see their kids name on the web nowadays.  Great job Jacob!

My son’s team had a captain who took his responsibility very seriously and even made sure every player scored during games where a cushion allowed it.  As someone who is new to the game, my son was rather lost out there.  The first few sessions of the league were instructional, but since he doesn’t watch the game on TV, he didn’t know what they were saying when they would shout “cut through”, or “set a pick at the top of the key”.  He had a deer in the headlights kind of look at times, but he worked as hard as he could (amidst his confusion) to make sure he didn’t let his teammates down.  He must have seen a Ray Lewis pep talk.

I am not sure if winning or losing is the best in terms of a learning experience at such a young age.  My son participates in Tae Kwon Do and should be testing for his black belt this summer, however Tae Kwon Do doesn’t have a winner and a loser in the pursuit of your black belt.  I hope that he doesn’t take the experience for granted and continues to build on it. My hope is that he is instilled with the winning feeling and never stops chasing it.

This one starts with the perfect timing of a HUGE lottery jackpot and an April 1st date!  Well, almost April 1st.  The stars haven’t quite aligned, but the day early prank (if it is this good) might just add to it by catching your victim a bit off guard.

First off, let me suggest that you act natural when you attempt to pull this off.  Do not go outside of your normal routine other than making your visible purchase and ticket placement. 

The Mega Millions Jackpot is now $540 Million and growing!  How would it feel to believe that you were a winner for just a few minutes?  A few seconds?  Great… and then gut wrenching.  I am going to go through the steps in an orderly way.  After the steps, I’ll outline the case of a friend partner who played this prank on his wife. It didn’t go too well for her, but it was the perfect prank.  It was even difficult to convince her that it was a prank.

You are going to convince someone that they just won one of the largest lottery jackpots ever!  Not only that, but they are going to do most of the work and convince themselves based upon your actions. When they do this, they will be so locked in that they won’t be easily convinced that they didn’t win.

The Prank

• Obviously this prank needs to take place on or around April 1st with a huge lottery Jackpot on the line. Big enough, that you will go out of your way to purchase a ticket even if you normally don’t.  Guess what?  It is a perfect storm.  It is nearly April Fools day and we have the largest Mega Millions Jackpost ever!   If the jackpot is large enough, it isn’t inconceivable that you will go out of your way to play.

1. Get out the night/day before with the person that you are pulling the prank on.  This drawing is on Friday. You could purchase the ticket (actually tickets) on the same day, but it might even be better if you purchase them a bit earlier. Don’t force it, but get out there with the victim and purchase the tickets.
2. Purchase 2 tickets and after you purchase them, hold on to them and make a joke about what you will do with your winning ticket.  They can do what they want with their winning ticket… Don’t go overboard. Make it your own.  For example: “I am buying an island with my winnings, you can do what you want with yours, but I am buying an island!  Mine is on the outside, so don’t get any bright ideas about stealing my winning ticket”.  The 2 ticket part is what locks them in to that being the winning ticket. They now believe that you folded up your 2 tickets and theirs is the one on the inside of the 2 folded tickets.
3. Wake up the morning after the drawing and get out and find the winning numbers.  Take those numbers and buy a ticket for the next drawing date.  Get back home and replace the inside ticket with the recently purchased “winning” numbers.  It might be difficult to be able to do the ticket swap, so you might need to leave the tickets somewhere like out in a car.  If you do that, leave them in the car when you return from your trip to the store to grab “milk” or “a coffee”.
4. If possible let time pass.  Let the other person make the discovery.  Be natural about things.  If they ask about the tickets let them know you still left them in the car and that you will grab them in a bit.  They won’t want to wait.
5. If they do go out and get the tickets, have them look at them while you read the numbers off to them from the paper or from you phone.  Act natural.
6. Don’t let this one hang in the air for too long. You will have a very disappointed significant other in front of you.

Now, I have to admit.  With cell phones and headlines stating that there was no winner, or the winner hails from elsewhere this prank might fall apart.  Fifteen years ago when my cruel friend played this one on his wife, there weren’t the same simple methods at our fingertips.

Tilted Kilt

The Tilted Kilt Girl

What’s your opinion of this picture? Seriously. Here’s mine…

I’m married with 4 kids. Yes I’d be lying if I said I don’t notice beautiful women. Let’s just say there are attributes to the female body I find hard to ignore. God made women to be works of art. Just like Elaine said in the show Seinfeld, “a women’s body is like a work of art.” These “attributes” are hard to ignore under the best of circumstances. The Tilted Kilt has decided to make it harder on me, obviously (see above) and cut to the chase…literally.

While I’ve never been to a Tilted Kilt, and won’t based on the picture above, I can obviously imagine what the featured “attractions” are. The bottom line is this…the picture/ad is pathetic. It really is. Yes, men are simple creatures. We are weak. But, they’ve cut the head off the model because I guess they’re looking to focus in on what’s most important to them. Beer and Boobs right? Can I get an AMEN from the horny guys?! How about a whistle instead? Do they serve food? Not sure. Do they serve skin? Most definitely.

While I’m not the moral standard for this country, we can do better can’t we? Let’s start with the entire models face. Can we at least recognize that boobs have a face? Can we add a chicken finger or something so we know there’s food available? My gosh, it’s gotten so ridiculous that our basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are now cropped out to eliminate all the fluff (ya know…humanity, clothing, faces, food, etc.). Now, it’s just about flesh and foam…beer foam.

I’m attempting to use a little humor to address what’s become the path of least resistance. Look at GoDaddy.com. They’ve completely ignored any efforts to focus on the business and play the exposure game. Get it? The Exposure Game. Using women in little to no clothing to sell domain names is a real stretch. The founder is a couple times divorced (wonder why) and we glorify him as a business and marketing genius. If that’s genius, then count me as a failure. I’m fine with that term. If not finding the kind of financial and public success is the price I pay for trying to keep it above some level of human decency, then I’m a failure.

I’m also tired of having to work so hard to avoid or reject this kind of stuff. Can we all make a little more of an effort to not engage or promote the lowest common denominator of human lust and gluttony so every time a commercial comes on tv, we have to ask our kids to plug their ears and cover their eyes? Please? Pretty Please?

It’s not about becoming being to “goody-to-shoes” or having no fun. The Tilted Kilt can do much better. So can most of us…including me. I’d just like some help.

Every once and a while, my inner caveman comes out and I need to step out from behind a desk and build something. I am sure that many of you feel the same.  I have had a home workshop for a number of years and I find myself with many scraps.  In addition to the wood scrap, I have years worth of old paint that I can’t quite bring myself to dispose of.

I found the perfect project to marry those 2 things (scrap lumber and old paint).  This cool floor mat / welcome mat plan comes from the people at Lowe’s Creative Ideas.  If you don’t subscribe to the publication, you should. It is a free magazine that comes quarterly (I think).  There are some great project ideas for all skill levels. The beauty of the publication is that you can bring the list to your local Lowe’s store and purchase all of your material.

If you have the need for a splash of color (who doesn’t), this floor mat / welcome mat certainly brings that.  I suppose you don’t have to use bright colorful colors, but who wouldn’t want to?  On the other hand, if you are using old paint colors from your home you are certain to match/complement your existing color scheme.

About Me: I have been a woodworker for since I caught the bug in middle school (thanks Mr. Jakel). I might go stretches without building anything, but I often squirrel away wood plans for future use, in fact, I have a site that started as a way for me to bookmark plans that I like and to remind me of future plans to build (check it out at www.WoodworkCity.com. requests appreciated)

Click on the image to view the full plans at Lowe’s Creative Ideas.

Life Priorities

The older I get, the more I think about life’s priorities. I admit to doing this quite often. I believe most all of life boils down to four priorities. For me, these priorities are:

1. Faith / Religion / Spirituality
2. Family
3. Finances / Job / Career
4. Friends

I’ve been able to keep my eye on the ball, so to speak, because I’ve compartmentalized most everything in one of these 4 categories. I’ve, at least until now, believed mostly that my faith is, has been, and will continue to be my first priority. How I honor God with my life is a life long goal and top priority for me. I believe my family comes second. My wife and kids come first here then the rest of my family (parents, siblings, cousins, etc.). For the last 20 years, I’ve decided that finances or making sure the family is provided for comes third. The final priority has been friends.

I hope the first two don’t change. Recently, however, I’ve wondered if friends are more important that finances. God calls us to love him with everything we have and to love our neighbor. Because that’s true, then friends should probably be ahead of money right? It’s hard however to decide what that means to rank friends ahead of finances. I’m not sure I should leaving work because my friend wants to go for a beer. I’ve watched a lot of Seinfeld episodes. Remember the Kenny Roger’s chicken roaster episode when Jerry convinces a college buddy to go to lunch even though the buddy is supposed to be at a big meeting? Hilariously funny episode that ends with Kramer eating chicken in his bed. Anyway, the buddy gets fired from the job which allows him to spend more time with Seinfeld. If he was married, there would have been many consequences to that decision. So…it makes it difficult to manage how the relationships we are called to have with our neighbor can really conflict with making sure our family is provided for.

Again…my opinion but how we live our lives is very important, especially if you believe in heaven and everlasting life…which I do. Managing the priorities is the hardest part. For me, it’s about managing what’s in my heart. I trust that money itself is not bad. It’s the love of money and worshiping money is what I want to avoid. That’s a struggle too. I guess I’ll just keep working to be a better person. I learned probably everything I needed to know by second grade. Be nice to others. Obey the law. Work hard. Never Give up. Have fun. It’s probably harder to rank these but I’ll give it a try…

1. Be nice
2. Work hard
3. Obey the Law
4. Have fun
5. Never give up

I bet if you asked 100 people to rank these five, you might get 100 different answers. There are 120 different combinations of the above 5 attitudes. Ask 120 people and you might get 120 different answers. I’m not sure I’m set on my 5 but know all five are on the list somewhere!

How Do You Spank A Child?

Believe it or not, like it or not, spanking is a part of the “parent tool chest” and might be used IF necessary. It looks like, however, the days of spanking are leaving us. I’m pretty sure my wife doesn’t believe in spanking. You certainly won’t get me to endorse spanking (I’m not crazy!) and I don’t know many parents anymore who talk openly about it. I suspect spanking is something that is just done in private. Personally, I remember getting spanked in public. I never see that anymore.

But, I’m also kind of surprised there are over 40,000 searches a month on the phrase “how do you spank a child.” Maybe spanking isn’t so yesterday after all. Clearly, parents are wondering how to spank a child (Google keyword searches say so).

Anything I know or have learned about spanking was “handed” down to me.  My father believed in spanking IF necessary. He found it to be a very valuable tool and used it when he felt  other methods of punishment/discipline were not getting through. I clearly remember not wanting to be spanked. I remember the threat of spanking caused me to “take notice.” I also remember, however, when I did not heed the warning(s), a spanking was something my father was willing to do.

So here it goes…although I have no idea (who would ever consider themselves an “expert” on spanking anyway?!), I suspect spanking involves using an open hand on the softest and cushiest part of the behind. You know, the  area where the bottom of the butt meets the leg. That’s as best as I can describe it. Use of anything other than the hand (belt, stick, etc.) should automatically be considered abusive…in my opinion. The child’s clothes should ALWAYS be on.

A couple critical things to remember:

1. Many states have laws about spanking. Here’s a website to check. Not sure how up to date these laws are.  State Spanking Laws
2. If you’ve spanked your child more than a dozen times in his/her lifetime (between the ages of 2 – 10), you should not be spanking your child. You’ve completely misunderstood any value spanking might have and it’s most certainly lost any effectiveness it might have had.
3. Your child is a child and probably between 2-10 years old. You are a grown adult. Your child cannot defend himself/herself.
4. Lawyers and legal proceedings often do not consider the laws. They act in the best interests of the child no matter what the law says…which is good.
5. If you’re spanking your child out of frustration, you shouldn’t be spanking your child. Spanking a child out of frustration or because you’re angry is probably abusive.
6. If you’re spanking your child anywhere but on the bottom side of his/her behind, you’re probably abusing the child. Ok, not probably…definitely. Because I’m not an  expert, I say probably. If you’re asking my opinion, I say definitely.
7. If you “enjoy” spanking your child, don’t ever spank your child again. No one should enjoy spanking a child/children.
8. A parent might choose to spank a child if they are unable to “reason” with the child. After the age of 7 (lastest 10), you should be able to reason with your child.
9. Don’t be a one trick pony. Admittedly…I am a pretty strict father. I expect my children to behave and be respectful. I don’t continually have to harp on it because we worked very hard during the formative years (2-8) to make sure these things happened. We are in more of a reminding and maintenance phase. But, I have also noticed that if I only talk to my kids or discipline my kids using one method, it gets old. For example, don’t ground your child every time you want to discipline him/her. Don’t just yell all the time. As mentioned above, utilize all the tools in your parent tool chest.

I am only one opinion. I’m a father who’s tried to raise kids who are faithful, kind, behave, have fun, and try their best. I’ve got a long way to go. Who knows whether my ideas about parenting will prove to be successful. When will we know? When do we get to pass the responsibility of our kids actions onto them?

Something To Consider
Do you want your kids to spank their children? Do you want to pass spanking down to your children? They model the behavior we teach them. If the thought of your legacy involves being remembered for spanking your kids, then decide if you can accept it. If not, don’t spank your child.

At the end of the day, I’ve personally found parenting to be a very rewarding experience. It can also be frustrating. It’s probably hardest to maintain control when you’re frustrated. I’ve certainly found that to be true. It’s also hard to remember that during these times of frustration, our kids are watching us and learning from us. Keep this in mind, especially if you think spanking is a “tool” you might consider using.

Did you know the IPhone WordPress app allows you to quickly take a picture and post it to your blog. Here’s a picture of my daughter studying for her math test tomorrow. Just had to try it out and see what happened.

Update: the app allows you to take the photo, write something about the photo, and upload. Make sure once you publish, you go back in and add additional info like keywords, category information, etc.

BrightStar Healthcare

BrightStar Healthcare is an exciting franchise opportunity for those who want to specialize in staffing services to hospitals, nursing homes, schools, as well as to private individual clients. So far, BrightStar has over 100 franchise locations and is growing. Soon, they will expand into Canada and other countries.

Statistics say Americans 65 and older will grow dramatically over the next 20 years which will increase the demand for home health services and all types of care for seniors. As the baby boomer generation ages, nurses are increasing in demand as well. BrightStar is the only national franchise of its kind and serves both corporate and private clients. Many of BrightStars competition serves one or the other.

Other exciting facts about BrightStar Healthcare:

• Reasonable franchise investment
• Average number of employees: under 2
• Business to business AND business to consumer
• 5 income streams
• National contracts can drive business at local offices
• Proprietary systems including web-based software programs
• Strong Item 19 representations

Scott offers a risk free, no obligation consulting service designed to help you find out if franchising is right for you.
http://www.franchiseopportunities500.com 

Blogging From My IPhone

Ok fine. I’m probably very late on figuring out that you can download a free WordPress app and, within seconds, be posting to my website that’s so easy it’s ridiculous. Seriously.

While I’ve just admitted I’m probably behind, I hope I never lose the appreciation for what people with God given talent can accomplish. Not only does the WordPress app work, it does so without a hitch. The interface is so simple, it’s just awesome.

I have a busy life and was starting to get worried my blogging might suffer. With this Free WordPress app, I can blog whenever and wherever I am.

If you have a WordPress blog and, in my case, and IPhone, I highly recommend the free WordPress app.

The only thing it’s not letting me do, unless I’ve missed something, is post an image or insert keywords. I guess I’ll have to remember to edit my post another time. Oh well, nothing’s perfect right?

You can download the WordPress for iPhone app and give it a try yourself

Justin Bieber has arrived…in the Hollywood Hills to the tune of $10,800,000!

To be a fly on the wall in the Bieber house:

Step aside Mom and Dad, I am 18 now.  Time to let me write my own checks tell my manager to pay my bills, make my own mistakes have my publicist tell some lies, mow my own lawn hire my own lawn service, take care of my own pool hire my own pool company, pay my taxes, and have some parties.

Bieber seems like a nice kid, but we are all cavemen and there have been a couple of glimpses of Bieber’s inner caveman slipping out of his carefully crafted PR bubble.  A year in which he earned a reported $53 million dollars will swell his head to the point that he feels he can do no wrong.  This kid has experienced more before his 18th birthday than most of us do before the age of 35.  Money, fame, woman, travel, drugs, alcohol, etc.  For some in that position, they mature quickly and live a fruitful life with a long career (insert celeb name here, can’t think of one). For others, the stress gets to them and they turn into complete head cases (Michael Jackson, Prince, Howard Hughes).

I have to admit, hearing Justin Bieber speak is a surprise.  He is clearly a bright guy who has opinions with some substance.   I just hope that he can deal with the fame and fortune better than others in his peer group (Demi Lovato | Miley Cyrus).

In any event, take a look at the Zillow Blog post regarding Justin Bieber’s house purchase.

Justin Bieber Buys $10.8 Million Home for 18th Birthday | Zillow Blog – Real Estate Market Stats, Celebrity Real Estate, and Zillow News.