The New Year is Upon Us

2011 is here. Just look at the numbers to the left. We have passed the year of the Space Odyssey and its sequel. We have survived Y2K. The next important date besides January 17th (which is my birthday) is May 21, 2011....Judgement Day, The Rapture, the second coming of Jesus Christ then followed by October 21, 2001..The End of Days: The World will end. Harold Camping has calculated this date based on dates and special events noted in the Bible. A number of groups have taken hold of this information and are promoting it world-wide. Even Pat Robertson (and its on the internet) indicated that God shared with him that there would be a reckoning in 2 years.
There have been bold predictions before..and those days have passed. Could there be some truth to these dates noted by this group of people? Don't know, could be...we'll see. If it is true, I hope that I will be ready..if not, perhaps this information will help me become a stronger Christian and believer. If it comes..it comes. I had a former boss who truly believed that the end of days would come in our lifetime. According to the scriptures "no man knoweth the day or the hour, not the Angels, not the Son, but only the Father." I am good with that as well. Perhaps the calculation is based on a prophecy of FIRST CONTACT.

If you are not familiar with this prediction of May 21, 2011 you may want to look over their website. Its some very interesting reading and possibly study. http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html


For those who do not follow me on Facebook or missed some of my recent postings. I thought I would repeat those here on the blog.
If you are on Facebook and have not friended me...please send me your friend request. I enjoy many new friends and associations that have come my way on that medium. Have found many old childhood friends and classmates and have enjoyed getting to see their children as well.


I enjoy Fresh Bread. During that past two years I have spent extra time at the Supermarket squeezing bread trying to find the freshest loaf. At the local Publix in Cool Springs..this has been hard to do. Many of my Facebook friends or even on the blog know of this frustration. Recently with the help of the Internet, I discovered that there was a way to find the freshest bread and the key was the twisty tie on the package. It's color coded based on the day the bread was delivered. For Your Information here is the code: Monday is blue, Tuesday is Green, No delivery on Wed. Thursday is red, Friday is White, and Saturday is yellow. This past Saturday in anticipation of the Snow, I went to Publix and tried to find the freshest bread using the color coding. I found a Blue ty which meant it had been there since Monday and a Red ty which meant Thursday. This bread was still priced at the regular price..no reduction for old bread. The brands that I was searching was Mary Jane, Colonial and Sunbeam. Finally I found a yellow twisty ty on Bunny Bread...and boy was it Fresh! I was very pleased with my efforts and proud that I went to the store that day for Patricia. (We'll talk more later in this edition about paying for substandard product) Hope you will use this information to your advantage and share it with your friends and family.






On Facebook I am a member of a Group named TNN Refugees (The Nashville Network) These are people who formerly worked with the Network, Opryland Productions, WSM-TV, and WSM Radio and some other corporately related entities. While I did not work there, I did know many of these people. My dad was a Senior Producer-Director with the Network and had been with this entity since the 1950's when it was all apart of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company. We all know what happened in 1997 and in 98. December 31st was the last day of Opryland and in the same year or the next year Gaylord sold its interest in TNN and that was the beginning of the end of the Opryland Saga.

Most people in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee area felt the loss and many felt it was a bad mistake which I share the same sentiment. The Theme Park was profitable but the Suits felt that they could get a better return. The Nashville Network had some valuable assets...most notably where it appeared on most cable systems which led to its sale and eventual demise.

As a candidate for Governor, I did not forget what happened here. (Mayor Karl Dean should recognize the mistakes with sale and closing of Opryland and TNN and see how that would related with closing of the TN. State Fairgrounds) I had an overall plan which tied in the Tourism business, jobs, corporate relocations and Opryland figured into that plan. I stated publicly in several forums and appearances that one of the first calls that I will make as Governor would be to Gaylord. I wanted to find out what it would take, who we would need, and what assets we could offer to build that business model once again with some additional enhancements.

I felt that the Gaylord suits or whomever had a voice in those decisions did not see the bigger pictures. They had solid assets. In their mind, break it up and sell it off and rebuild onsite a different venture. Lets see...They had a profitable Theme Park, a Convention Hotel, a National Cable Network, The Opry House, a Riverboat....with all of these assets, what if they had built a mall to go with it. It seems that the assets could build off each other. I still think that can work. As Governor, I might have had some clout to plant some seeds. Today as a private citizen, I don't think I could get the time of day from them.

GETTING A FULL MEASURE FOR YOUR DOLLAR
Have you ever gone thru a drive in window to get a meal? You ordered a large french fry and the container is only half full or you ordered your burger a certain way and after you drove off you found it was done completely different...and you didn't go back. You ordered a specific product and it wasn't complete? Someone agreed to provide a service for you and didn't complete it. Did you address the matter with the person or company or did you just let it go? If people let everything go and do nothing and just live with it...then problems will continue for others. Our value for our precious dollars should be kept in high standards and we should not accept mediocrity. This can be applied to many applications in life. Stand up and set the record straight. We should expect better and higher standards than what we get at times.

IT SHOULD MAKE SENSE (CENTS)
Even with reforms in place, credit cards are still charging high interest rates and fees. People are defaulting on their credit cards as not being able to reduce their outstanding balances partially due to the high interest rates and fees. If credit card companies lowered their interest rates perhaps people would be able to reduce their outstanding balances. This is revolving credit process...you pay down your balance and you have room to use it again. It would seem to help our economy for this to happen but yet the government and the Banks are not interested in making this a reality. In my research Capital One still offers lower rates than most cards..perhaps more should follow their lead. What happens when gas prices go up...consumption goes down..prices go down and consumption goes up. People make more plans when gas prices are down..another good step for our economy. If the price of beef is down will you buy more beef? Will you buy something else as well? Many of you know how I feel about Credit Card companies and credit scores...just another reason.

There is a specific prescription that is available for men and is optional and used as needed (as I have been told). Most insurance companies do not cover the cost and its totally out of pocket. It is expensive. If they lowered the price of the prescription to make it more affordable, the consumer would probably purchase more than normal. Their profits per pill may be lower but they should make up for it and more by lowering the price. WalMart has mastered this concept and is working mightily for them.

THE GOV!
Saturday Bill Haslam will take the oath of office as our next Governor of Tennessee. He is a good man. I got to know him on the campaign trail and I pray that he will lead us into good days...as a True Statesman and Good Steward of our Tax Dollars.

Congratulations to former classmate at David Lipscomb College in Nashville Beth Harwell was recently elected to Speaker of the House in the TN. State Legislature. What people might not know about Beth, she was our Homecoming Queen back in the 1970's. The Lipscomb Community is proud of her.

Your comments and thoughts are welcomed and encouraged on this site. Please post them here on the blog site. Many of you send me direct email with your comments or put them on my Facebook page. Post them both places if you wish. Hope the new year is starting out well for you.

Until next time...I remain the Dedeacon!!