Phil Staudt Blog Article

Phil Staudt is now posting his blog articles on philstaudtblog.com.

Posted by Phil Staudt at Tuesday, March 13, 2012 3:27 PM | Add Comment

Offshore Drilling Disaster - What A Plan

Offshore Drilling Disaster - What A Plan

By Phil Staudt
May 21, 2010

I did not vote for this administration, nor the last administration. But isn't this President the one who blamed the last President for how he handled a hurricane? And isn't this much worse? And wasn't this disaster caused by failed government policies and regulations, instead of a natural storm? We need some politicians that do their job, and this is more proof that it ain't gonna happen with Republicans or Democrats.

Posted by Phil Staudt at Friday, May 21, 2010 8:00 PM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment

Republican Voters Are To Blame For Health Care Reform and Democrat Control

Republican Voters Are To Blame For Health Care Reform and Democrat Control

By Phil Staudt
March 22, 2010

Or, I guess I could also say that Republican Voters are to thank for health care reform and Democrat control, depending on whether or not you like it. My opinions on the health care reform bill that was passed yesterday in The House of Representatives are being saved for when it gets signed into law, so I can see all the changes and then form an opinion.

I don't like the Republican Party or the Democrat Party, and I want to see everybody win no matter what political party they are in. I am appalled by people on both sides, who display disrespectful and childish and rude behavior, and talk and write and yell in a way that makes people think that they are not very loving and kind human beings. To people on both sides, who are convinced that they are correct and others are wrong, and want to be heard, what I would say to them, is that people do not care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.

Voting for the lesser of two evils, is still voting for evil. Until voters in America stop thinking that they need to pick a political party and be true to it come hell or high water, we are going to keep ending up with evil, more or less. All the money that is funneled to the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, guarantees us a not-so-desirable outcome.

The Democrats owe their majority rule to the Republicans for doing such a bad job when they were on top. Actually, the re-election of G.W. Bush in 2004 is what got the Democrats into power. That was the beginning of the end of the GOP, unless they can figure out a way, in the future, to win the hearts and minds of the American voters. Americans had a chance to see the Republicans show their true colors when they controlled everything, and there was record debt and record deals, favoring the super-rich and hurting average Americans, climaxed by Bush pushing through the $700 billion bail-out for his buddies who are dirty rotten bankers and AIG. Now Republicans are the minority party, and all they have to offer is trying to convince more than 40% of the country that the other side is horrible, but it ain't working. (They better come up with something better than that if they want to be in power again.) If the GOP had done what they say they are for, instead of doing what they say they are against, they would not be in this pickle.

The Republicans and conservatives are belly-aching about health care reform and the stimulus bill and all the debt has been racked up since Barack Obama became President. But the truth is, that the reason the Democrats are in control of the Senate and The House and the Whitehouse, and can hand-pick any new Supreme Court Justice they want, is all because of elected Republican officials who have abused their offices and have betrayed the American people, many times over during the 20 out of 28 years that the United States had a Bush as President or Vice President of the United States of America.

Independent voters are supposedly growing in numbers, so they say. I am not so sure that the bulk of these self-proclaimed independents are not just hard-core Republicans calling themselves "independent" in order to get the attention of people who have been turned off by the antics of the Republican Party and Bush. I would love to see a lot of truly honest independent voters in the upcoming elections, who are interested in voting based on ALL the issues, not just a few sticking points picked by a few politicians and the media.

By Phil Staudt
March 22, 2010

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, March 22, 2010 3:25 PM | Add Comment

Stopping US Mail delivery on Saturday is Good Idea

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

United States Postal Service may stop Saturday delivery


by Phil Staudt March 3, 2010

Stopping US Mail Delivery on Saturday is a Good Idea - it's about time!

Written by Phil Staudt
March 3, 2010

Who needs mail on Saturday? Who needs mail more than 3 days a week? If you want less government, start scaling down the United States Postal Service. If the US Mail finds a way to be profitable on the days it is open, and can be profitable delivering mail five days, then go for it. But there is no reason for our country to borrow more money from China to have mail delivered on Saturday, or even more than three days a week.

According to news articles today, the United States Postal service is considering dropping mail service on Saturday. It needs to pass the approval of Congress, which means all the politicians who are up for election will stand up and spout off and try to get their mugs in front of the camera, and waste even more tax payer dollars debating this. I can already hear the stories from the politicians about how their grandpappy was a mail courier, or how wonderful it was to get mail as a child.

Look, we do not need to throw away any more tax dollars. Having mail delivered on Saturday is just throwing away money.

Of course, there is the issue of jobs. The prevailing sentiment on Capitol Hill seems to be that the way to lower unemployment is to borrow money from China to pay for jobs doing useless and meaningless things. So I am sure there will be an outcry from legislators who want to keep on having the mail delivered on Saturday to save jobs. I am all in favor of jobs, and if the government is going to use borrowed money to create or keep jobs, they could come up with productive ways to do that where we would actually have something to show for the money being spent. Went Hoover borrowed money to create jobs, we ended up with a dam that is still providing power today. When Eisenhower borrowed money to create jobs, we ended up with an interstate freeway system all over America. When Reagan borrowed money to create jobs, we ended up with a strong technologically advanced military that kept our predators from planning to attack us. (And the military defense build-up was money going to United States companies, not paying workers in other countries.) But Obama and Congress have spent more money in the past year than all of those spending sprees combined. And what are we getting?

Then there is email and social network messaging. Many things that used to be delivered via the US Mail are now being sent via the Internet. It does not make any sense at all to try to keep the United States Postal Service going at the same pace, with the same expenses, of the last century. Scale it down, cut back on expenses, and let free enterprise do the rest.

The United States does not need mail on Saturday, and cannot afford it.

Written by Phil Staudt
March 3, 2010

Postal Service Could Lose $7 Billion in 2010, Top Official Says
FoxNews
The U.S. Postal Service could lose a staggering $7 billion this year, Postmaster General John Potter said Tuesday, as he began to outline a proposed overhaul of the nation's mail service that could include cutting Saturday delivery....click here

Postal Service's emerging model: Never on Saturday
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service is increasing the pressure for dropping Saturday home delivery as it seeks to fend off massive financial losses. Postmaster General John Potter is also expected to raise the possibility of higher rates Tuesday in a speech to postal-related businesses and officials....click here

Postal Service Talking Again About No Saturday Delivery; Congress Must Say OK
NPR
By Mark Memmott
There's been talk for nearly a year that Saturday mail delivery might be on the way out as the U.S. Postal Service looks for ways to cut its billion-dollar-plus annual losses....click here

U.S. Postal Service Seeks to Raise Rates, End Saturday Delivery
Wall Street Journal
By Judith Burns
WASHINGTON—U.S. Postmaster General John Potter expects to deliver more bad news Tuesday to postal customers, employees and Congress, revealing forecasts for continued losses that can be stanched only with higher prices and reduced service....click here

US Postal Service may scrap Saturday deliveries
New York Post
The U.S. Postal Service was expected to move towards reducing its delivery service from six days a week to five, according to reports Tuesday. Postmaster General John Potter said a dramatic reshaping of the agency and significant changes to mail delivery were critical to reducing its massive debt, USA Today reported....click here

by Phil Staudt
March 2, 2010

Blog articles written by Phil Staudt are in the Phil Staudt blog.

Tags: Mail Postal Service Saturday Mail Postal Service Saturday

Posted by Phil Staudt at Tuesday, March 02, 2010 10:00 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Seeking Real People for Networking

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

SEEKING REAL PEOPLE SOCIAL NETWORKING


by Phil Staudt February 22, 2010

I Am Seeking REAL People Who Are Interested In Internet Marketing

Written by Phil Staudt
February 22, 2010

You don't have to buy anything from me or join any of the marketing programs I am in, but let me know if you are a real person who learned how to play with others on the playground, and want to network with others who are interested in Internet marketing. I am seeking persons with whom I can build good working business-oriented relationships. I am constantly looking for people who I can acknowledge and promote, and learn from, who are more than just one-sided billboards. Please let me know if you are real person, who is interested in sales and marketing.

One of my twitter accounts has the user name "VegasTaxiDriver". About two weeks after I started the account, I went through all of the direct messages that people sent me on twitter. It was amazing to me how many messages said, "What do you do for a living?". Pay attention people! I am not a taxi driver now, but that is obviously a canned message, just like a lot of the stuff I sort through in my inboxes, or at least the inboxes I actually go through after they go through all my spam filters.

I do not mind giving other people shout-outs and recognition, but if you are looking for another groupie to follow you around like a lost puppy dog, count me out.

SELF PROMOTION AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

What I see all the time on facebook and twitter and myspace and blogs and websites, is that the trend of today for marketers, seems to be to market themselves first, and try to impress everybody with how great they are. This approach did not make people successful before the Internet, and just because you cannot see how turned off people are, because they are looking at you on a computer screen in their home, does not mean that it is any less of a turn-off.

There are too many people who tell me how great they are BECAUSE they are an author, or tell me that I should read their book, or watch or video or join a program, because they are such a great person, instead of promoting what is IN their book, or explaining to me the value of the contents in the book, and telling me why I would like reading this book, or joining a program. Somehow they want me to think that I should read their book, or watch a video, or join a marketing program, because they are smarter than me, or more experienced than me, or just plain better than me. And I guess I am supposed to follow them around every where, and pay them money, so that I can hope to maybe somehow aspire to be almost as great as them. And this is supposed to be marketing?

Look, we are all in this together. It is not how much I know, or how much you know, or who is better. Zig Ziglar says "people do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care". That does not mean that you should put yourself down or not tell people about your accomplishments, but when you present yourself to people, who may end up being prospective customers, or may refer you to somebody else some day, don't try to portray yourself as superman or superwoman, or the saviour of the marketing world. If you take a look around in the world of social networking, and social media marketing, you will find that there are already more than enough people doing that approach. We don't need any more.

"Me, me, me, my, my, mine..."

...is what it looks like to me that so many people are saying on the Internet. It is as if these gurus and coaches and mentors and experts and authors and speakers and marketing pros, are all standing on the same street corner yelling at the top of their lungs, and they think that whoever shouts the loudest or the most wins. Maybe that is just my perception, and maybe these people might be real decent folks, but I will never get far enough to find out, because they turn me off on page one.

Work with me, network with me, respect me, and I will do the same for you. Don't follow me, because I am not going to follow you. I don't want a mentor, or coach, or a guru. There is nothing wrong with being a mentor, coach, or guru, but that is not WHO you are, that is WHAT you are, and I am more interested in what kind of person you are than what title you give yourself. That does not mean I won't read what you write or say, because I might. But what I am really interested in, when it comes to social networking and social media marketing, is being associated with, and connected with, people who I can network with, and work together with, in an environment of mutual respect and reciprocity. That is the way that I believe networking is supposed to be.

I know that it made sense to be a real person and care about others before the Internet, and when it comes to networking, it is still true today. Dale Carnegie said that "people want to have a feeling of importance", and if you can make people feel that you acknowledge them as an important person, with a unique set of circumstances and situations that they have had to overcome in life, then they are a lot more willing to actually pay attention to what you have to say.

When it comes to Internet marketing, and being up on the latest techie stuff, I am a novice. So, if being impressed with how many Rolls Royce's a person owns, or the style of their website, is what you pay attention to, then there is no reason to ever read anything that I write. But I have worked for a lot of companies and have owned a few small businesses, and I know what it is to struggle and scrape by, and I have had ups and downs, just like most people whom I have met. If you are one of the privileged people, who have had everything handed to you, then you probably would have a hard time understanding where I come from. But that is okay, you can be my friend any way.

Just Be Real!

When the Internet was brand new, those who knew how to put up a website and take an order with a credit card, had an easy time making money online. But that was short-lived. When something stinks, it attracts a lot of flies, and that is what happened with Internet sales. The more advanced and determined proprietors, kept finding out new ways to keep making money online. As the years rolled on, there was email, chat, blogging, myspace, facebook, twitter, youtube, iphones, skype, and hundreds of social networking websites along the way. But the way money is made when something is new, is not necessarily the way to build a long term sustainable business that will keep growing over time.

If a new restaurant opens up in a "hot" location, surrounded by new retail stores and big entertainment attractions, there will be an immediate surge of customers who want to try out the "new place". After nine months, then you can find out how good the restaurant is, and how good of a fit it is in that location, by whether or not it can stand the test of time, and whether it gains in popularity, or it goes out of business. Network marketing, especially Internet marketing, is no different. Don't try building a high-rise without laying the foundation.

The Opposite of the Shotgun Approach.

The shotgun approach is fine when it comes to Internet marketing, as long you keep changing and adapting to each and every new twist that major search engines put in place, or if you have a lot of extra money to throw at something. But for small potatoes like me, it is better to build some solid bridges with real people who have character and are building good business relationships with other real people. I am constantly looking for people who are interested in others. Aren't you?

One time I went to work at a small bar as a part time manager. I did not know any of the customers. I put a steno pad next to the cash register. Every time I served a new customer, I wrote down the name of the customer and what they drank. At the beginning of each shift, I studied my list of customers on my steno pad, and I visualized each one of them. As a result, I quickly had good relationships with many customers, made good tips, and went on to be the general manager, and that little dead bar became one of the busiest bars in the State of Oregon.

When it comes to Internet marketing, I have a list of real people I have met during the last year, on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The people are not people who just send me to a generic page with an affiliate tracking code, or send me fake messages that are sent out to everybody they can. The people on my list, who I want to network with, are real people who acknowledge that I am a real person.

The old saying is that "you have to be a friend to have a friend". That is true in social networking. Right now I am building a list of people who are interested in Internet marketing, whether they have extensive experience, or are just getting started. I am surrounding myself with people who are heading down the same path as me. By myself, I know I can get some things done; but by being a part of a network with others who have similar interests and goals, we can all succeed together.

Maybe I am totally wrong, and what I should really be doing is just throwing as much garbage on the Internet as possible, and hope some of it sticks. There seems to me like there are plenty of garbage throwers already. Even if it is the wrong thing to do, I will take a chance on doing some honest-to-goodness networking, any way.

If you are a person who is interesting in Internet marketing, and likes to network with success-oriented entrepreneur-minded people, and would like to network with me, then please join me, and tell me about yourself so we can learn from each other.

Phil Staudt has a facebook fan page,
and also has a personal facebook page.
Phil Staudt is on myspace.
Phil Staudt is on OrangeLeads.
Phil staudt is on twitter: @philstaudt @philbucks @vegastaxidriver @portaldirectors @vipwealthclub
Phil Staudt has several websites and blogs, including PhilStaudt.org, PhilBucks.com, PortalDirectors.com, 2010WorkAtHome.com, and VegasTaxiDriver.com.

The best way to network with Phil Staudt, is to send me a non-spam comment on this article or send me a private message on orangeleads or facebook.

Success to you!

Written by Phil Staudt
February 22, 2010

by Phil Staudt
February 2, 2010

Tags: networking real friends people networking real friends people

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, February 22, 2010 5:01 PM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Roofing and Roof Repair in Portland Oregon

FEBRUARY ROOFING SPECIAL IN PORTLAND, OREGON

If you have not heard about it, my brother-in-law, Jim Schlatter, is a licensed general contractor in Portland, Oregon, and owns a roofing company called "A Roof Above". If you were thinking about getting a new roof or getting some roofing repairs on the old roof, then you should give him a call, because he is giving discounts if you get your roofing job signed in February.

Since I grew up in the Portland area, I know how hard it can be to get a good roofer when spring time rolls around, with all the wind and rain. So right now would be a great time to get the roof taken care of, before all that nasty weather hits during the spring.

Well, I hope everybody has a nice spring up there in Portland, and hope everybody tries to stay dry. I live in Las Vegas now, and I am glad we don't have all the rain that you do up in Portland.

Have a good one and happy roofing!

Phil Staudt

Roofing and Roof Repair in Portland Oregon.

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, February 22, 2010 3:20 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

The Social Networking Media Mouse Maze

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

The Social Networking

Media Mouse Maze


by Phil Staudt February 17, 2010

The Social Network Website Media Mouse Maze

Written by Phil Staudt
February 17, 2010

Social media marketing and social networking are phrases that keep popping up everywhere. Of course, I am sure that these phrases are totally cliche and out of date by now, because I am not in the know. There are as many social networking websites as there are people living in China, or so it seems. You try to pick which new ones, or even old ones, that will matter later on. But the truth, unless you are an insider in geek circles, when it comes to social networking, you are just like a blind-folded mouse trying to find some cheese in a maze, and the cheese keeps moving.

After I heard the word "blog" on the news many years ago, and people started being titled as "bloggers" on the major news networks, I figured it was time to check it out. So I started some blog accounts and figured out how to get some blog articles online, and even get them listed on google's blog search. But everybody who knew how to write a program started flooding the blogosphere with so much nonsense and garbage and re-directs, that blogging turns into a tsunami of stupidity. And my blog articles got lost in the hurricane. I learned how to do pinging to get my blog articles listed. But if you ping too much, you get banned from the blog search, but if you don't don't blog enough and kiss up to the right blogging websites, nobody will see anything you blog about.

Then I hear that Myspace was this wildly popular people magnet. I remember all the time I spent learning how to get friends on Myspace and put together the CSS and html so that my Myspace page would look presentable, because that was the future train and I was told I better be on it. I figured out how to get a whole bunch of people on my Myspace page, just about the time that I was told that I should be on Facebook instead, because that was where the good people are, and Myspace was just for kids and bands. I still have a Myspace account, but if I log onto Myspace computer that has Vista (don't even mention Windows 7) nobody can see my profile picture on Myspace, and half of the profile pictures of my so-called friends on Myspace don't come up either. I probably would have fixed my Myspace account a long time ago, but every time I go to a page on Myspace, I have to wait for 50 ads and videos and audio to get loaded.

Less than a year ago, I started my Facebook account, just because my sisters, who live in a city far far away from me where it rains all the time, are on Facebook. So I found some long lost relatives (actually, I am the long lost one), and figured out how to use it. Since then, Facebook has turned everything upside down and changed the feeds a few times. But I found out many months ago that having a Facebook Fan Page was the way to go, because it is a public page. So, I started one, for a blog I have. The day I started it, I went to settings and I was glad to see that I could select a URL. My blog was about driving taxi in Las Vegas, so I wanted my URL for my Facebook Fan Page to be vegastaxidriver. Facebook asked me if I wanted it for sure, and that a change would make it permanent, I figured why not, besides it was just my first fan page on Facebook and I wanted to see how it worked. Now, because I figured it out too late, my personal Facebook url is now permanently set to facebook.com/vegastaxidriver, with no recourse, because the Facebook gods decided that on the 2nd day of Facebook creation, or whenever it was, that just because you are on your Facebook Fan Page, does not mean that the "settings" link from there is for your Facebook Fan Page. Of course, I should have known that, but my magic wand and crystal ball were misplaced that day, and my blindfold was on and I couldn't smell the cheese. Now I finally have a Facebook Fan Page for Phil Staudt.

After building up hundreds of thousands of followers on several Twitter accounts, just by manually following and tweeting and retweeting (not even using automation), a couple of my Twitter accounts got suspended by Twitter for no good reason. I kept the ones I had, and started using some automation for posting and such. About the time i figured out to get some good responses from real people on Twitter, came up with their lists. I have used them some, but I don't really care enough about trying to keep up with the Twitter changes to invest very much in list making on Twitter.

Last week it was Google Buzz. Woo hoo! But I don't use my gmail account. The email that goes to my 100+ email accounts is all forwarded to an email account that belongs to a website I have hosted on godaddy. I know how to sort and filter and organize my email there. I don't use email much any more, for the same reason that I do not drink dirty water that is down-stream from a polluted factory. But guess what - to use Google Buzz I have to use my gmail account - even though I have Google profile and reader and blogger all set up with my personal email that is not gmail. (Didn't Microsoft have to pay a bunch of money for something like that?) I suppose I should just can all the email accounts and bow down to google for everything, but my email is good enough for what I do, and I don't need another email service. That is why I stopped using AOL.

Today I found out that Technorati had this very blog unlisted, even though I wasted a bunch of time to get my blog claimed by Technorati a year ago, and the articles on this blog were listed before on Technorati. But Technorati has made changes in the past two months on how blogs get claimed, and I was thrown under the truck with many others who were posting complaints.

Look, I understand that social networking and technology and spamming and iphones and hacking and blogging are all moving at supersonic speed, and I understand that keeping up with trends and data bases and security is way beyond my comprehension, but aren't these people, for the most part, the people who are against the impersonal robotic capitalistic people who are "ruining" the Interenet. But in order to police the Internet, so that it will be good for everyone, they have decided to pick whom they like, push everyone else aside, censor some and spotlight others, with no accessibilty or transparency or explanations or regard. And these are the people who are going to make the Internet "good"??? Yikes!!!

Here is an idea, folks. Maybe it would be nice if politicians and corporations and organizations and entities and people in power, AND the people setting up and running these popular social networks, would act like human beings with blood flowing through their veins, instead of ruthless heartless uncaring czars, the world and this country would be a better place. Hopefully, my observations are just a bi-product of my ignorance and lack of understanding, and everyone is really good-hearted and has good intentions.

Just saying. (Not like anyone will see this article any way.)

Disclaimer: If you cannot tell by my sarcasm, there is no intention to put anyone down in particular. My criticism is directed at society as a whole. File this one under "Murphy's Law".


by Phil Staudt February 17, 2010

Tags: social media networking blogging social media networking blogging

Personal Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory

Posted by Phil Staudt at Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:21 PM | Add Comment

Feb Roofing Special Portland Roofing by A Roof Above and Jim Schlatter

Jim Schlatter And A Roof Above Construction

Does Roofing in Portland Oregon

A Roof Above Construction is a company based in Portland, Oregon


by Phil Staudt February 16, 2010

Are you looking for a good roofing contractor in Portland, Oregon? You are in luck, because my brother-in-law, Jim Schlatter, owns a roofing company, A Roof Above Construction Company. Call him today and get a free estimate.

A Roof Above Construction is a company based in Portland, Oregon that specializes in roofing, roofing repair, gutters, skylights, solar tubes, windows, and siding. A Roof Above is a full service roofing and repair company serving the Portland Metro area and NW Oregon. We are licensed, bonded and insured, and all our installers are Master Certified. A Roof Above does all types of roofing installation, gutters, repairs, decks, windows, siding, and maintenance.

FEBRUARY 2010 SPECIAL >

A Roof Above, a Portland roofing company and lic. general contractor, is offering a 5% discount for full roofing jobs signed in February! Call 503-258-2910 in the Portland metro area, Oregon.

A Roof Above is a licensed general contractor and is bonded and insured. A Roof Above is committed to providing the homeowner with a positive experience. At A Roof Above, we know that having roofing, roofing repair, gutters, skylights, solar tubes, windows, and siding done on your home can be stressful, so we strive to be courteous and respectful, and leave the job site orderly, and answer any questions you may have. We not only promise to deliver exceptional results, we promise a pleasurable experience. We handle everything from prep to clean up. And, yes, we do leave the site absolutely clean. If there is any way we can make the experience more pleasant, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Jim Schlatter began roofing in 1998, working for a high-end metal roofing company. He wanted the freedom to offer a higher level of customer service and reasonable prices, so he started his own business in 2001. Since then, the business has grown to several crews, and Jim has maintained his high standard of conduct for all his employees, and interacts personally with each customer. His success is proven by his reputation for quality, honesty, and satisfied customers. Jim will use his years of experience and product knowledge to give you the best price possible.

Picking a roofer in Portland can mean the difference between a happy winter and a wet mess. A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Roofing is undoubtedly the second-most important part of a home. Rain, snow, dust and dirt are kept outside by roofing materials. Receive free price estimates on new roof installation, reroofing & repair. Need a Roofer? Get a Quote from a Local Roofer Today! Let a professional install and repair roofing. Jim Schlatter provides high quality craftsmanship for your roof installation, windows, and gutters. When it comes to getting a new roof, the first question is usually, "What's it going to cost?" Get a free estimate. Entrust your roof to a professional roofer. Portland, Oregon licensed general contractor for all your roof repair, installation & replacement jobs.

A Roof Above Construction Company specializes in new roof, roof repair, roof maintenance, siding, and windows. Commercial and industry roofing construction designed to accommodate all major repair needs for homes. Roofing, siding, gutters, windows, doors and decks contractor. A Roof Above offers a full-range of commercial roofing services, including re-roofing, roof repair, new construction and maintenance. Looking for a dependable residential roofing contractor in Portland, Oregon? A Roof Above is a full service roofing company based out of Portland, Oregon, doing business in Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Milwaukie, Boring, Happy Valley, Gladstone, Clackamas, Beaverton, Sherwood, Tualatin, West Linn, Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Sellwood, Laurelhurst, Parkrose, and other areas around the Portland, Oregon metro area. Roof repair experts providing roof repair services and roof repair maintenance. Commercial and residential repair, Portland, Oregon.

A Roof Above is committed to providing its customers energy efficient & environmentally friendly roofing solutions that are professionally installed. Jim Schlatter re-roofs residential roofs in the greater Seattle area. A Roof Above strives to provide only the highest standards of quality service. Portland roofing contractor provides roofing roof inspections and roofer repairs to the Portland area. A Roof Above works with residential and commercial customers to achieve total satisfaction for their roofing needs. Our experience and reputation with our roofing customers shows our dedication to doing a great job for homeowners, property owners, and/or property managers. Jim Schlatter specializes in roof repairs, repair diagnosis, roof inspection, preventive roof maintenance, and most types of re-roofing.

A Roof Above is a family owned residential roofing contractor serving Portland, Oregon since 2001. We understand the work we do on the outside of your house makes living better inside your house. Jim Schlatter provides vinyl siding, window replacement contractor and roofer services. There are many types of roofing materials—some of which are brand new—with a range of plusses and negatives. For something as important as a roof over your head count on A Roof Above to be your roofing contractor and roof repair company in the Portland area.

Your next roof will be exactly as good and as trustworthy as the team behind it. Consumers increasingly demand high performance roof systems that meet or exceed quality high performance and longevity standards. Whether your roof is watertight or has a gaping hole in it, or if you have a simple question or are in need of some detailed roofing advice, then call A Roof Above Construction.

In Portland, Oregon, if you need roofing, roofing repair, gutters, skylights, solar tubes, windows, and siding, A Roof Above is the company to call. Our specialty is roofing, roofing repair, gutters, skylights, solar tubes, windows, and siding.

We encourage you to check out any potential contractor, including us, with the Construction Contractor’s Board at:

https://ccbed.ccb.state.or.us/ccb_frames/consumer_info/ccb_index.htm

* Verify that their license is active
* If the contractor uses employees verify that the contractor is “non-exempt”

A Roof Above specializes in quality service at a reasonable price! Call 503-258-1920 today for your free estimate.


by Phil Staudt February 16, 2010

A Roof Above Construction
CCB#147271
jim@aroofaboveconstruction.com
503-258-1920

http://aroofaboveconstruction.com

Tags: Portland roofing Schlatter contractor Portland roofing Schlatter contractor

Las Vegas Cabbie Makes Money Online

A Roof Above Construction
CCB#147271
jim@aroofaboveconstruction.com
503-258-1920

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Posted by Phil Staudt at Tuesday, February 16, 2010 9:38 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

The Dreaded Poetry Book and My Creative Writing Teacher

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

"I Hate Poems"

Gladstone High School

My creative writing class in 1975


by Phil Staudt February 15, 2010

Teacher of the 20th Century - Dorothy Kembel Sawyer

In 1987, I was working in a restaurant in Kansas City, and I was reading the newspaper, and I saw an article about the National Teacher of the Year Award. They had a list of all the teacher of the year awards for each State, and the teacher of the year in Oregon for 1987 was Dorothy Sawyer from Gladstone High School. I agreed 100% with their choice. I was a student in one of her classes, and she made an impact on me that I never forgot.

Written by Phil Staudt
February 15, 2010

Here is a story I have told to many people I have met many times over the years, but it has never been written down. That in itself is ironic, since the story is about a teacher I had in high school, who was a writing teacher. I think I have the story fairly accurate, even after a few decades.

About 35 years ago, in the small town of Gladstone, Oregon, I was a student at Gladstone High School. I was not a good student, by any stretch of imagination. I hated school. That hatred began in the 4th grade, many years before I met Mrs. Sawyer, but unfortunately for her, she was affected by my deep-seated dislike for the educational establishment.

During my sophomore year in high school, I picked "Creative Writing" as my language course for one semester. Mrs. Sawyer was the teacher of that class, and she was highly esteemed by all the students and teachers at school, and both of my older sisters liked her. So I was thinking to myself that I was going to enjoy this class, because I loved to sit down and write things in my journal, and I was always writing long letters to friends I had in far away in places. (That is what people did before Facebook.) I had even written a play, and produced and directed it, for the church I belonged to when I was growing up. Since I was forced to attend school, I felt good about being enrolled in a creative writing class.

In the first week of that class, Mrs. Sawyer explained what we would be doing throughout the semester. As part of that creative writing class, we would be spending most of our time doing poetry and putting together a poetry book. As this was being explained, my blood started to boil. I did not want to be in a poetry class. I wanted to learn about writing short stories. A little bit of poetry would have been fine, but not for the biggest segment of the class. I was not happy at all. Why wasn't it called "Poetry" instead of "Creative Writing"? What a rip!

Since I did not care about grades, and had already concluded that school was a big waste of time any way, I decided to protest; not by arguing or whining, but by being aloof. Day after day I went to that class and was instructed to spend time with others in the class putting together this poetry book, which was supposed to be such a big deal. Instead, I sat in that class and did my home-work for the other classes. My policy was not to do any home-work in my spare time, so this class became my study hall for getting home-work done. I did not do one bit of work on my poetry book in the class-room.

My sister, Christy, happened to be in that same class with me. There were only two classes in school where I ended up in the same class as my sister, and that creative class was one of them. My sisters were both straight A students, which was one of my reasons for being so rebellious in school. Christy asked me several times about how I was doing on my poetry book. I let her know I would get it done, sooner or later. It was due to be turned in right before Thanksgiving. The night before it was due, my family attended a church meeting, and when we got home, I sat down at the dining table with crayons, a stack of blank pieces of paper, and the list that Mrs. Sawyer had given us as to what needed to be in the poetry book. My sister looked at that scene, and she was quite disgusted. I was getting ready to knock this thing off, and I was shooting for a solid C minus.

I stayed up almost all night long working on the poetry book, because I was enjoying my protest. Somehow, I made an exception on this project of my policy of not doing home-work in my spare time, because the value of protesting this one project superceded my rebellion against the entire system. There was a theme for my poetry book, and I applied it to every poem that I wrote; the theme was simply, "I hate poetry". Every single poem I wrote was about how I hated poetry. The next day, I turned it in, knowing it would not be received well or appreciated, but also knowing that I had fulfilled every requirement that was laid out for the poetry book. I had completed the project without doing any of it in class.

The day came to get the poetry books back with grades on them. I expected that there would be a few remarks on mine about not living up to potential, bla-bla-bla, which I was accustomed to seeing. Mrs. Sawyer got in front of the class and explained to the students that she had taken a train trip over the holidays so that she could grade the poetry books from her students in her classes. She explained that she enjoyed having time to go over the poetry books on the train. She also said, that after a while it did get a bit monotonous doing all the grading, even though she enjoyed the writing and art-work. Then, she said, she came across one poetry book that got her attention. She was not sure whether she should cry or laugh.

When Mrs. Sawyer said that, I thought to myself, "uh-oh". Maybe I had gone a little bit over-board on this one; okay, maybe a long way over-board. But this was just school. She couldn't give me a failing grade, or could she? I began to worry about whether I had gone through the entire list of what was to be included in the book. About the time I was wondering if I would have to do the whole thing over, or get a failing grade in the class, she announced that she gave my poetry book an A++.

She passed out the graded poetry books back to us, except for mine. She asked me if she could keep mine. I had no problem with that. She saved me a trip to the closest waste bin. Furthermore, I guessed she may have had a dart-board at home that she could pin it up on, to throw darts at it. But what she did was get my attention. She was not just a teacher, but a psychologist, and she knew how to deal with kids like me. She knew that if she did what I expected her to do, that I would never remember her class or the poetry book. She burned that memory in my mind.

A couple years after that class, I began writing songs, because I liked playing the piano and composing music. Of course, that involved poetry. I would always smile to myself and think about Mrs. Sawyer each time I was done writing a song. I have not written a poem for decades, but today Mrs. Sawyer added me as one of her friends on Facebook, so why not?

It was entitled "I hate poems",
My poetry book in high school.
I did the whole thing in one night,
Because I was a stupid fool.

My teacher knew I was a rebel
And she had seen this one before.
She treated me with respect.
She should have kicked me out the door.

My future was her main concern
And salvaging my wasted mind.
Instead of ragging and nagging,
She was thoughtful and kind.

She made such an impression on me
That it made me always appreciate,
That it is better to give a little praise
Than it is to retaliate.

Mrs. Sawyer gets my vote for Teacher of the 20th Century.

However, my sister was not exactly ecstatic about my good grade.

Oh well! You can't please 'em all.

Written by Phil Staudt
February 15, 2010


by Phil Staudt February 15, 2010

In 1987, I was working in a restaurant in Kansas City, and I was reading the newspaper, and I saw an article about the National Teacher of the Year Award. They had a list of all the teacher of the year awards for each State, and the teacher of the year in Oregon for 1987 was Dorothy Sawyer from Gladstone High School. I agreed 100% with their choice. I was a student in one of her classes, and she made an impact on me that I never forgot.

www.ccsso.org/projects/national_teacher_of_the_year/State_Teachers/1987

Tags: creative writing poetry school creative writing poetry school

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, February 15, 2010 4:15 PM | Add Comment

Deadliest Catch Captain Phil Harris Dead at 53

Captain Phil Harris, one of the stars of "Deadliest Catch" Dies at 53

by Phil Staudt
February 10, 2010

Having lived most of my life in the Northwest, I had the opportunity to meet quite a few fisherman from Alaska. The commercial fishing boat that I bought in 1998 in Charleston Harbor, near Coos Bay, Oregon, was sold to me by the widow of a fisherman who died on a crab boat in Alaska. My friend who I bought the boat for had worked on a crab boat in Alaska. I met quite a few fisherman from Alaska at The Portside Restaurant in Charleston Harbor (my favorite seafood restaurant anywhere). Alaskan fishermen have an air about them that they have seen things that others have not seen, that cannot be explained to those who have not experienced them; they are correct.

The reality show "Deadliest Catch" is one of my favorite television shows. It is about real people living real lives. It is about pain, struggle, work, and survival; things that many of us can relate to. One of the underlying themes is also death, and losing co-workers and business associates and friends and family members.

Phil Harris was a fisherman in Alaska his whole life. Phil Harris had the opportunity to live a different life than most of us, and see things that most of us do not see. His years on this planet took him through many storms and trials.

Phil Harris will be missed by his family, friends, associates, fans, and the sea.

RIP

by Phil Staudt
February 10, 2010

RIP Captain Phil Harris, 'Deadliest Catch'
ABC News Blog > NightLine Daily Line
February 10, 2010
Captain Phil Harris, fisherman in charge of the Cornelia Marie on the popular Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch," passed away late yesterday nearly two weeks after suffering a stroke on Jan. 29....

Saluting Deadliest Catch star Capt. Phil Harris with his crab-stuffed mushrooms
Christian Science Monitor
February 10, 2010
Capt. Phil Harris of the Deadliest Catch TV program passed away late yesterday. We'll remember him with one of his favorite recipes....

Deadliest Catch Skippers React to Captain Phil's Death
E Online
by Josh Grossberg
February 10, 2010
Captain Phil Harris left a mark on TV viewers as one of the featured crabbers on Deadliest Catch. And now, his friendly rivals on the Bering Sea are speaking out in the wake of Harris' death at 53....

Capt. Phil Harris Death Stuns Fellow Fishermen, Fans
People
February 10, 2010
by Mike Fleeman
..."Phil Harris was called home and will forever be remembered," writes the crew of the Alaskan crab boat the Northwestern, one of many tributes pouring in for the Cornelia Marie captain from TV's Deadliest Catch who died late Tuesday at age 53 following a recent stroke....

Deadliest Catch Captain Phil Harris dies aged 53
BBC News
February 10, 2010
Captain Phil Harris, whose fishing adventures off the Alaska coast were captured on Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch, has died aged 53....

Posted by Phil Staudt at Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:46 PM | Add Comment

Super Bowl Commercials - Why I Hate Them

Super Bowl Commercials - Why I Hate Them

by Phil Staudt
February 8, 2010

Sorry, but I hate all commercials; even Super Bowl commercials; especially Super Bowl commercials.

For the past few decades, all the media has been on a campaign to promote the popularity of Super Bowl commercials. With the threat of low-cost Internet advertising and the choice of 300 television channels to choose from, the Super Bowl commercial popularity is the one thing left that has been successful and profitable. The question I have is that if they had been telling everybody that eating spoiled food during the Super Bowl was the "in" thing to do, would everybody do that, too?
_________________________________________________

First of all, I don't like being sucked into something.

The popularity of commercials during the Super Bowl is proof positive that if the media tells people they like something, then they go ahead and like it. Every television network and ad agency and newspaper and conventional form of media, has been telling everybody for years that Super Bowl commercials are wonderful, and everybody likes it, and that watching Super Bowl commercials is the "in" thing to do. And that, and only that, is the reason why Super Bowl commercials are popular. SUCKERS!!!
_________________________________________________

Secondly, those stupid Super Bowl commercials ruin a perfectly good NFL football game.

I have not watched most of the Super Bowls BECAUSE of those stupid commercials. The game takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours longer than what an NFL football game usually is. This year I watched the last half of the Super Bowl, only because I woke up and did not feel like taking a longer nap.
_________________________________________________

Thirdly, I hate television commercials.

I set my DVR to automatically record my regular news shows so I can forward through the commercials. In fact, I spent the first half of this Super Bowl watching a couple of recorded news programs -which I watched without seeing any commercials.
_________________________________________________

Fourthly, I like watching NFL football.

I am not a huge sports fan, and the only sports I have time to watch is NFL football. I enjoy a good NFL game. . During the NFL season, the only television commercials that I consciously watch are the commercials that air during NFL football games during the regular NFL football season, because I enjoy watching what is happening in real time on the NFL football games. But no matter how much I enjoy watching NFL football, I hate the commercials enough to not watch the Super Bowl most of the time.
_________________________________________________

Did I mention that I do not like Super Bowl commercials? Of course, I have never watched one episode of American Idol or Survivor, either, so I know that I am not the one to follow if you want to know what people like.

by Phil Staudt
February 8, 2010

http://www.akaskee.com/02/top-super-bowl-commercials-2010.html Top Super Bowl Commercials 2010

http://www.nicernews.com/2010/02/in-super-bowl-commercials-the-nostalgia-bowl In Super Bowl Commercials, the Nostalgia Bowl

http://matthewcostner.com/2010/02/super-bowl-commercials super bowl caommercials

http://bloggles.org/?p=64047 Super Bowl Commercials 2009 (Top 11 Most funny)

http://respublica.typepad.com/respublica/2010/02/super-bowl-commercials-all-in-one-place.html Super Bowl commercials all in one place

http://thenextreporter.com/jg/super-bowl-ads-2010-youtube-videos/084885 Super Bowl Ads 2010 on YouTube (Videos)

http://internet-income.philbucks.com/2010/02/07/the-best-business-to-business-sales-opportunity.aspx

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, February 08, 2010 8:04 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Just an old salesman tryin real hard to adjust

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

Phil Staudt has been an Internet marketer, salesman, telemarketer, restaurant manager, cab driver, and small business owner,

Just an old salesman


by Phil Staudt February 2, 2010

Just an old salesman, tryin real hard to adjust.

I maintain several blogs, and this blog is NOT a marketing blog, and I promise to keep the hype and salesmanship to a minimum, but this article is more about my personal story, and since I am a sales person, this blog article is about Internet marketing and selling. I know that if I ever want to be an Internet marketing guru or big shot in the online world of mentors and trainers and coaches, that I would be advised to not really tell it like it is, but then I would not be me. I have gone through a lot of hard times, and I have also done a lot of dumb things that cost me dearly. When I was younger I went "all in" a few times in the poker game of life. Now I am not as much of a risk taker.

I also could have made a lot more money, and have had a much easier life, if I were willing to lie and cheat and rip people off. But I am picky about who I sleep with, and I have always realized that I would have to sleep with myself for the rest of my life, and I enjoy going to bed knowing that I chose to not make my living ripping off people.

Over twenty years ago, I took a part-time job as a telemarketer for Dialamerica, selling magazine subscriptions over the phone. It was a part-time gig, because I had been ripped off by a finance broker in Denver, Colorado, who lied to the finance company in California, which was factoring my accounts receivable for my business, to cover up the mistakes that were made in his office. I did not find out about his dishonesty in the matter until six months after my bankruptcy. It did not make any difference then, because the damage had been done, and he was buddies with the owners of the finance company, and I did not have the money or connections to go after him or his company. However, having to go to work as a part time telemarketer for Dialamerica, provided me the opportunity to meet one special person, who is now one of the top Internet marketers and sales people in the country, and owns several successful sales companies, and has been working independently as a full time Internet entrepreneur since 1995. So, out of my adversity, came the opportunity for me to be successful as an online marketer twenty years later, because of my association with my friend, who I met decades ago during a rough period in my life.

The first evening that I worked at Dialamerica, I was the second-to-the-top sales person in the room, which had about 40 people working. In the 1980's, we had to dial phone numbers on plastic boxes that sat on the desks that had push buttons on them (see wikipedia > push button phone; high tech version of dial phones) and they had cords coming out of them that were connected to plastic handles with speakers in them that we had to talk into. Across the room, was a fellow about my age who had a good phone voice, and obviously understood how to make sales, and he was the only one in the room who dialed as many numbers as me, and ended up making one more sale than me. Nobody else in the room was even close to the amount of sales the two of us had. I introduced myself to him, and asked him if he wanted to join me for coffee at Denney's after work. It took very little time for the two of us to find out that we had the same interests and experience being entrepreneurs and sales people.

At that time, my new found friend was experimenting with using automatic dialing machines to do surveys and get leads for sales people. He had several businesses going at that time, but he had been ripped off several times by customers not paying him, so there was little money to work with. In spite of that, I worked together with him, and he was able to get equipment, rent space and get phone lines hooked up, and put together brochures to sell leads to sales people. The operation was rolling along nicely, and orders were coming in, and then Mountain Bell notified him that they wanted deposits on all of his phone lines, including his home phone, because they said he had not a paid a phone bill from years ago that he did not even know existed. And thus ended his lead-gathering business in 1987. He and I ended up working for another telemarketing company, and they shut down their Colorado offices, and he moved to Ohio, and became a sales manager for a telemarketing room there.

In 1987, I moved to Kansas City, and we went separate ways, and lost track of each other. I worked at restaurants and sales jobs in Kansas City, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Portland.

I have been doing Internet marketing and promoting affiliate programs since 1999. But during most of that time, I was also busy managing restaurants and bars, and being the owner and operator of several small businesses.

In mid-2003, a company I had done work for, went out of business, owing me a lot of money. I had a year left on a lease for one of my offices, or I would have been on my way to Las Vegas sooner, where it does not rain all the time. Instead of just exercising my buy-out option to pay six months of what was left on the lease, I decided I would try and make some money first, which did not work out the way I wanted. Actually, the term "wipe out" comes to mind.

My trademark throughout my life has been to get up and get going, no matter what, or who, has knocked me down. Getting up and getting going after being wiped out, is something I am all too familiar with doing, because I have had an abundance of bad luck in my life, added to my own stupid mistakes and bad decisions. As a young sales person, I had a tape deck in my car (see wikipedia > "cassette tape"), and was constantly listening to recordings of Zig Ziglar, Dennis Waitley, Tom Hopkins, Earl Nightengale, Dale Carnegie, and dozens of others. So, I understood the principles of positive motivation and goal setting and being successful, which made me keep on trying, despite the odds. Now, I have a more balanced view of things, and I am more careful and cautious. Sometimes, positive thinking can you get into, and keep you in, things you never should have gotten into in the first place.

In 2004, I shut down a business I owned in Portland, Oregon, after some incidents involving some gang shootings. I am not going to say anything else about that story at this time, but that is what prompted me to decide to close up shop and move down to Las Vegas in 2004, where I had lived in the early 90's, and where I had worked for sales companies and restaurants and taxi companies. Up until then, the economy in Las Vegas was always thriving, and moving and grooving, and I knew Las Vegas would provide me with a good enough economical environment to get back on my feet. Unfortunately, it did not end up being economically favorable for me.

I worked at a restaurant on the strip for a year in 2004-2005, and then I went to back to cab driving, because I knew I could work lots of hours, so I could be able to make enough money to quit and just do Internet marketing. The time I went to work as a cab driver in 2005, was probably the best income taxi drivers have ever made in Las Vegas. But, word must have gotten out that I was going back to cab driving. From that point on, the Nevada Taxi Authority Board decided it would be good for everyone involved, if they started giving lots of extra medallions to the few cab companies in the oligarchy system of cab companies in Las Vegas, and they kept on piling on additional cabs on the streets, which resulted in continuous declines in cabbie income (http://blog.vegastaxidriver.com). Once again, I realized I had made the wrong move, and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I wanted to stick with the same job for awhile for the sake of medical insurance and credit. Hard work is supposed to get people ahead, but that has not been the case for me in most instances.

A little over two years ago, I was surfing on the Internet on my day off, when one of the waves I was on, took me over to a website belonging to my friend whom I had known in Denver, Colorado, who I had not been in contact with for two decades. I contacted him, and we started talking to each other on the phone on my days off. He came to Las Vegas a couple months later to be a speaker at a conference, and he and I were able to spend a long time catching up on 20 years.

At that time, I was about four months away from having everything I needed saved up to quit my job, and I was planning on doing Internet marketing full time. I had constantly been working on Internet marketing and blogging, and trying to keep with things, when ever I was not working.

But two months later, on May 29, 2008, I had a stroke, and totally lost my ability to speak and write. I had to learn how to talk and write all over again, because the brain cells that made that process work, were dead. I was out of work for 6 weeks, and when I got back to work, there was a world-wide recession which put Las Vegas into a tail-spin. I stuck with the job until February 2009, but every month was worse than the last, and I was making less than I would have if I were making minimum wage. It was time to walk away from that job, even though unemployment in Nevada was at an all time high. But it was time to make a move.

Fortunately, after 20 months of hard work and speech therapy, I can say that I am about 95% back to where I was before my stroke. I went out and got hired by a few telemarketing companies in Las Vegas a year ago, more to prove to myself that I could talk well enough to do it than anything else. I tried out a cab company that said I could work part time, but I decided to just stay at home instead, and concentrate on doing the Internet marketing business I have been wanting to do full-time since 1999. For the past year, I have been promoting affiliate programs, recruiting city portal directors, and blogging. This is a great time to be self-employed and work from home.

My friend has been working on a brand new online marketing business, that he added to his other existing Internet companies, and he just launched it a week ago, and this one is going to be a very financially rewarding (http://vip-wealth-club.info). It is good to be working for businesses where nobody has to get ripped off in order for somebody else to succeed.

There are many more crazy and unusual things that have happened to me that have made my life interesting, miserable, and wonderful. When I have been dumped on or ripped off or had bad luck or taken a wrong turn, I may have been down, but not out. Zig Ziglar says that a big shot is just a little shot who kept on shooting.

In addition to selling, I have also done factory work, cab driving, restaurant management, and running small businesses, but I always end up doing sales, and I love it.

by Phil Staudt
February 2, 2010

I'm an old salesman and now I know what to do.
I can hang on to the old,
while I grab on to the new.
I'm an old salesman; my new life is not a bust.
I ain't trying to change nobody,
I'm just trying real hard to adjust.

Tags: sales telemarketer Internet marketing sales telemarketer Internet marketing

Posted by Phil Staudt at Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:57 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Haiti Earthquake People and Politics

Haiti Earthquake, People, and Politics

This evening I have been watching news coverage about the Haiti earthquake. It saddens my heart. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be one of these people caught in this tragedy. The moment I heard about the Haiti earthquake, I just thought that these poor people in this area.

As privileged human beings, living in a land of plenty, it is normal for people to put up defenses and desensitize ourselves, and think to ourselves that somehow we deserve to not have these kind of horrible problems that these people have. It seems to some people manly or tough or smart to not humble ourselves and realize that we are just plain lucky to not be in this rotten situation that the people in Haiti are in now, as a result of this earthquake. But it is okay to let your feelings show and let people around you know that when others are hurting this much, that it hurts all of us. We are all apart of the human community.

It is distasteful and sad to see that some persons and organizations who are always pushing a certain political point of view or another on everything, would even think about using the Haiti earthquake as a way to further their politics. The political pundits should be mature enough and human enough to put down the boxing gloves and use their platforms to encourage their audiences to do something productive to help out the people of Haiti after this terrible earthquake disaster.

As I see the people who are hurting in Haiti tonight, I think to myself that it could be me.

Written By Phil Staudt
January 14, 2010

Posted by Phil Staudt at Thursday, January 14, 2010 9:06 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

Internet Generation Gap

I always tell people that when I went to college I wanted to sign up for the Internet courses, but they hadn't invented it yet. People under 30 have no idea what I am talking about - blank stares. People over 40 can relate. There is the generation gap of our lifetime in a nutshell.
- Phil Staudt

Posted by Phil Staudt at Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:37 PM | Add Comment

Doug Mays Company Denver Colorado - My former boss - RIP

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

Doug Mays

Doug Mays Company

Denver Colorado

my former boss - RIP


by Phil Staudt January 13, 2010

The Great Salesman - Tribute to Doug Mays

Written by Phil Staudt
January 13, 2010

Things don't always end up the way that we hoped they would.

This morning I was doing some searches online, and I decided to check if there was anything on google regarding my boss from 25 years ago. It had been quite some time since I looked online for anything about him, and I have not been in contact with him since 1991. Unfortunately, my search led me to an obituary notice. Sadly, Doug Mays passed a way a few weeks ago.

I wish that things would have worked out differently for me during the past decade, because I always wanted to go to Denver and track down Doug Mays and talk to him about old times. But things are the way they are now, and the past does not come back.

According to the Denver Post article, Doug Mays passed away on December 23, 2009. I found a guest book for him online, and here is what I wrote:

"One of the best men I ever met in my life. I worked for Doug at the Doug Mays Company for a few years in the early 80's. He had the reputation of being fair and decent and hard-working by everybody in the industry. Doug Mays taught me valuable lessons that I have always cherished.

"My heart-felt prayers and sympathies go out to Ruth and Carol and his wonderful family on the loss of this wonderful man in your lives. God bless you all."

In May of 1982, I was 21 and looking for a sales job in Denver. I had decided I wanted a sales job, because I had a friend in Portland who was a sub-rep for a manufacturer's rep firm in California selling HVAC supplies to wholesalers. It seemed to me that it was a good job to have. I had been working as a restaurant manager in Tualatin, Oregon, and was engaged to be married to a gal from Denver, Colorado. I had quit my job in Oregon and moved to Denver to find a sales job. I went to the library and made a list of the wholesale companies and manufacturer's rep firms in Denver, and started talking to people and handing out my resume. One plumbing manufacturer's rep I talked to ran into Doug Mays shortly after I met him, and Doug mentioned he was looking to hire a sales person.

Doug Mays called me on a Thursday and asked me to come into his office for an interview on Friday morning. I liked him right away. He was always jovial and polite and considerate. I met his daughter, Carol Mays, and his wife, Ruth. He told me that he would train me to sell the products he represented, as long as I was willing to work in the warehouse and on the phone to start with. He told me I could start on Monday morning. He shook my hand and told me he was on his way to Pueblo to make some sales calls to wholesalers. I asked him if he wanted company. I spent that day with Doug and we went to Pueblo and back.

Doug told me that he came into the office every day at 7:15 AM, but that I did not have to be there until 8 AM. On Monday, I was sitting in my car at 7:00 AM waiting for him. I was there every morning waiting for him after that, until he finally gave me a key to let myself in. Every morning I got there before Doug, and I usually had a list of questions for him. That is how I learned things about the business.

Doug Mays taught me about sump pumps, flow regulators, plumbing tools, solder, and all kinds of supplies that were sold by wholesalers to plumbing and HVAC contractors in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. But more importantly, Doug Mays taught me the psychology of selling. Doug Mays told me that people do not buy products, people buy things because of people. If they do not like you, it does not matter how good the product is that you are selling; they won't buy it from you. There is no such thing as a product that sells itself. Occasionally, people will even buy something that they do not want or need, just because they like the person or company selling it.

Doug Mays taught me that to be a good sales person, in an industry where people know each other and talk to each other, a sales person has to be honest and dependable and willing to admit when a mistake has been made. Doug Mays considered customer complaints as opportunities to show people that he was willing to provide service after the sale, and to go beyond what was expected in solving any problems.

There was a sign on a wall in one of the purchasing agents' offices, that said, "Diplomacy is telling somebody to go to hell, and making it sound like a compliment." And Doug Mays was a master at that. A plumbing contractor would take a sump pump back to the distributors because it did not work, and the distributor would replace it with a new one. Then the plumbing contractor would come back with that pump, and declare that Zoeller Pumps were no good. That is when the distributor would call Doug Mays. Then Doug would tell me to go along with him so that I could learn. Every single time I went with him on a job, there was something that the contractor was doing wrong, and the product was fine. Sure, it was important to show the contractor how to fix the problem, but the most important thing was to tell the plumbing contractor they had screwed up without offending them. And that was something that Doug Mays was great at doing.

When I began making sales calls to plumbing wholesalers for the Doug Mays Company, 95% of the places that I went to told me how much they respected Doug and liked doing business with Doug. I learned that it is good to have a good reputation built over time of being a genuinely decent person. I learned that there will always be unreasonable jerks who just want to trample over people, and there is nothing you can do to please them. Doug Mays wanted me to let all the distributors know that his company was available to help them if they needed it. Over time, purchasing agents and owners make changes in the product lines they carry, and the important thing is to make sure they know that you are ready to help them when they need it. But Doug also said to not forget to ask for an order.

Carol Mays, Doug's daughter, was his "right hand man" at the Doug Mays Company. She is not very manly, in fact she is quite feminine and attractive, but when she was on the phone she knew her stuff. In the early 80's, almost every order was called in over the phone. All of us answered the phone, and wrote down orders. Then we had to call in the order to the factory. That seems like a lot of lost time and productivity, and it was, and I am so glad that communication has evolved into much better systems today. But, on the other hand, I am glad that I had the chance to be a sales person and learn how to communicate with people and handle customer complaints without being able to hide behind technological barriers. And Carol Mays was the person that all the regular customers wanted to speak with, because she was just as people conscious and respectful and courteous as her dad, but she was way more efficient and organized than the rest of us (thank goodness!).

Ruth Mays, Doug's wife, was the book-keeper for the Doug Mays Company. She was a stickler for details. She was also very sociable and fun to be around. They were a good couple and complimented each other well.

For two years, I was the first and only sales-person that the Doug Mays Company had that was not family. Then they got bigger and needed to add more people to their organization. I could not see myself being an outside sales person as a career, and after 2 1/2 years I moved on and pursued entrepreneurial ventures and other sales and management jobs. But I have always remembered the lessons I learned from Doug Mays.

Marketing today seems to be all about knowing the newest techie wave fad gadget platform network whatever. Individuals in charge of public relations and customer service and marketing, all too often seem more concerned about being up to date on using the Internet and iphones and software to get the job done, than being concerned about the people they are dealing with. In all of that, it seems that the role and importance of the human element has been greatly diminished. Everything is all about the bottom line, and every action and procedure needs to show up on the bottom line at the end of each quarter. But even though technology has dramatically changed since the early 80's, people have not changed that much in regard to how they like to be treated. If the young up-and-coming marketing professionals of today, could step into a time machine, and ride around with Doug Mays when he was making sales calls, they would have a perspective and paradigm that would make them better marketing professionals, technology or not.

Zig Ziglar said that a society that calls a philosopher a professional, regardless of his philosophy, and calls a plumber a non-professional, regardless of his plumbing, will have neither philosophy nor plumbing that holds water. When it comes to being a small business owner, and a manufacturer representative, a pillar in his community, a boss, and a sales person, Doug Mays was a true professional.


by Phil Staudt January 13, 2010

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?n=loren-d-mays-doug&pid=137912720

http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=7688129372560&cid=full

Posted by Phil Staudt at Wednesday, January 13, 2010 11:14 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Rebounding from my stroke and aphasia

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

Rebounding from my stroke and aphasia

by Phil Staudt
December 7, 2009

On May 29, 2008, I went to work as a normal healthy person that felt fine that could read and write very well, and I when I got home from work, I was a normal healthy person that felt fine that could not talk or write at all. Obviously, something went wrong, and I had suffered a stroke. I had a short dizzy spell that included loss of coordination in my right hand, but I just figured that I was just tired after 10 hours of stressful driving. I kept on working, but when I had to talk to people, nothing intelligible came out of my mouth.

Sitting in the hospital for the next week, I never ever thought that I would not be able to speak and write and communicate. It was never an option for me to not do what ever I needed to do to rebound. The first time I sat down with a pen and paper and was unable to write more than a few words at a time, I knew I had my work cut out for me. The disc was wiped out and the memory of how to say and write things was gone. For a few weeks after my stroke, I was unable to watch television, because they were talking too fast. I got up and sat in my living room reading the newspaper. I found a list of the names of the States, and it took me several hours of working diligently in order to be able to pronounce them.

But I have met people with aphasia, who have had much worse trouble than I have. There were several times when I had people in my cab after my stroke, who I would have assumed were drunk or stupid before, had it not been for my stroke and aphasia. When I asked them if they had aphasia, their eyes would brighten up, and they became much more relaxed, because I explained to them that I had had a stroke and I know what aphasia is.

Being a cab driver was probably the best job for me to have following my stroke. If I had still been a waiter or restaurant manager or sales rep, it would have been horrible. I forced myself to talk to the customers in my cab, and when stupid things came out of my mouth, I just laughed about it. The first week I was driving, I picked up a nice couple at the Monte Carlo, and when they were in the taxi, I asked them the same question that I have been asking people in restaurants and taxis and sales for decades, "How are you folks doing tonight?" However, the word "folks" did not come out right, and they were quite shocked. Once they found out that I had a speech problem, they laughed about it.

It has been10 months since I walked away from a somewhat secure job with enoughincome to pay the bills, as a Las Vegas taxi driver working for WesternCab Company. It was the most foolish thing that I have ever done in mylife, and the ramifications of my decision have not totally played outyet. But I am glad, and if I could go back and do it again, I would dothe same thing.

Being a LasVegas taxidriver was not something that I was going to do for a long time. I havespent most of my life managing restaurants and bars, and doing sales,and during the last 10 years I have also done Internet marketing. Theobject of doing a job where you can't have a life and you work 60 - 84hours a week, was to sandbag some money to do something else. I had abusiness in Portland that did not end on a happy note, and put me in afinancial pickle. But instead of taxi driving getting me back on myfeet, it knocked me on my butt.

For the record, I want to say that Western Cab Company was a good company to work for, and the people in charge are fantastic. The thing that I liked least about the job, was that during the most prosperous time in Las Vegas, and during record tourist business and convention business in Las Vegas, that cab drivers in Las Vegas made less and less money every year, on the average, because of the planning and policies of the government regulators.

Now I work 15 hours a day instead of 12. Why? After my stroke, I decided to get busy doing things that I wanted to do, and learning things I wanted to learn. I had to work on learning how to overcome aphasia, which is the result of my stroke 18 months ago. I dug in and did tasks that require me to do a lot of writing and talking. Now the work that I do daily requires me to do telemarketing, and writing email messages, and writing tutorials to tell people about the products and services that I promote.

My good friend, Timothy L. Drobnick Sr., has made it possible for me to work at home, as a rep for his online companies. I realize that there are many people who have more qualifications than I do for the work that I am doing, and I try to work harder and get things done in order to make up for my deficiencies.

My speech therapist, Kate Maxfield, did a great job of explaining things to me regarding aphasia, and she pointed me in the right direction, and encouraged me to force myself to do as much talking and writing as I could. Unfortunately for my customers and co-workers, I took her to heart. When I had a double-hernia operation 20 years ago, my doctor told me then that the more walking I did, the faster I would heal, so one week after my operation, I walked up to the top of Multnomah Falls by myself. So my speech therapist telling me that talking more was a good thing for my aphasia, inspired me to get into situations that were conducive to lots of conversations. I even went to work at a couple of high pressure telemarketing rooms in Las Vegas several months ago, for a couple of weeks, just to assure myself that I could still make sales over the phone.

Fortunately, now I can holdmy own now with conversing, and only those who know me well can tellthat my speech is not as good as it used to be.

So I guess I can thank the Nevada Taxicab Authority, and the bad economy, and my stroke, for motivating me to get out of doing things I hate, and pressuring me to do what I want to get done. And I can thank Timothy L Drobnick Sr. for giving me a bright future with oogads of potential.

by Phil Staudt
December 7, 2009

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, December 07, 2009 3:57 PM | View Comments (6) | Add Comment

Las Vegas Marathon Videos and Pics

THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon Videos and Pictures

by Phil Staudt
December 6, 2009

You can see the tops of the hotels on the Las Vegas strip. This is the truck that was escorting the elite men runners in the Las Vegas "Rock N Roll" marathon.

They areheading west, going away from the Las Vegas strip, on Twain between Arville andDecatur.

Look at the beautiful mountains that surround Las Vegas in all directions. The area has 2.2 million residents and housing developments that go right up to the foot of the mountains.

This is a video of Las Vegas marathon runners heading west on Twain between Arville and Decatur. It was still cold outside.

2009-12-06 las vegas marathon

Las Vegas ROCK N ROLL Marathon!

Once again, youcan see the Las Vegas strip behind them.

You can tell bylooking at the police officer that it was still plenty cool at 7 am.

by Phil Staudt
December 6, 2009

MORE Las Vegas Marathon Video and Pictures:

Dayna Roselli and Dave McCann from Channel 8 News Now hosted the event on Sunday morning, and there are some great pictures and videos of the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Marathon below.

Channel 8 News Now lasvegasnow.com
December 6, 2009
Las Vegas Marathon 2009 Attracts 27,000 click here
LAS VEGAS, Nv — More than 27,000 people gathered in the cold Sunday morning to take part in the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon.
Las Vegas Now Videos click here

ROCK 'N' ROLL LAS VEGAS MARATHON: Kenyan wins women's race, prize for quick time click here
Las Vegas Review Journal reviewjournal.com
December 6, 2009
By PATRICK EVERSON
"Showing little sign of exhaustion, Rotich broke out a broad smile as she split the tape. And why not, as she stunned Ivanova with her late rally to claim the $15,000 first prize, while also winning the race’s male-female challenge, good for another $10,000."

Rock N Roll Marathon click here
Another Las Daily Photo Blog
anotherlasvegasdailyphoto.blogspot.com
Posted By Mo

Posted by Phil Staudt at Monday, December 07, 2009 11:20 AM | Add Comment

Las Vegas Strip Loses Money Because Of Marathon

PHIL STAUDT BLOG

Las Vegas Strip Loses Money Because Of Marathon

by Phil Staudt
December 6, 2009

It is true that some media companies made some money from advertiser dollars on an early Sunday morning, which is a time that the local television stations usually have nothing going on, so I understand why they promote it as a wonderful thing for Las Vegas. However, the truth is that shutting down the place in Nevada that makes money to pay all the taxes for the residents in Nevada, and doing it on the busiest money-making night of the week, is not good business. A few of the Starbucks stores had a good morning, but for most businesses on the Las Vegas strip, they were hurt by being barracked and blocked and strangled.

I heard an announcer on TV say that it was so fantastic for Las Vegas that there were 27,000 runners on the Las Vegas, and that what is a record for the amount of people on the strip, but anyone who has been in Las Vegas for New Year's Eve, and during most weekends, there are hundreds of thousands of tourists staying in the 140,000 rooms in Las Vegas. Trying to make this sound like good business seems like a huge farce to me.

Here is an article about it:

Las Vegas Marathon Is Bad For Las Vegas

by Phil Staudt
December 6, 2009

Roads, including Strip, to be closed for Sunday marathon click here
Las Vegas Sun lasvegassun.com
By Kyle Hansen (contact)
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
"Runners will be taking over some of the area's busiest streets — including the entire Strip for much of Sunday — for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon. More than 25,000 people are expected to participate in the race, which will also shut down some public bus routes."

Route Changes due to Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Sunday click here
KTNV Channel 13 News ktnv.com
Posted: Dec 4, 2009 01:18 PM

Drivers Brace For Marathon Delays, Detours click here
Closures Begin At 3 A.M. Sunday
Fox 5 News fox5vegas.com
POSTED: 7:57 am PST December 4, 2009
"LAS VEGAS — Getting around southern Nevada will take some planning ahead for a lot of drivers this weekend...Drivers need to be aware of more than two dozen closures during the event, with the majority of delays around the resort corridor...The earliest closure begins at 3 a.m. and several last until Sunday afternoon. Some freeway ramps will also be closed for the event..."

ROCK 'N' ROLL LAS VEGAS MARATHON: Kenyan wins women's race, prize for quick time click here
Las Vegas Review Journal reviewjournal.com
December 6, 2009
By PATRICK EVERSON
"Showing little sign of exhaustion, Rotich broke out a broad smile as she split the tape. And why not, as she stunned Ivanova with her late rally to claim the $15,000 first prize, while also winning the race’s male-female challenge, good for another $10,000."

Rock N Roll Marathon click here
Another Las Daily Photo Blog
anotherlasvegasdailyphoto.blogspot.com
Posted By Mo

Buffets In Las Vegas Golf Courses In Las Vegas Las Vegas Taxi Driver Blog

Las Vegas Taxi Cab Companies Las Vegas Taxicab Fares and Prices

Nevada Taxicab Authority Info Las Vegas Taxicabs Lost and Found

Posted by Phil Staudt at Sunday, December 06, 2009 12:21 PM | Add Comment

Ted Stevens Case Example Of Party Politics

Phil Staudt - not Republican, not Democrat, concerned, opinionated

PHIL STAUDT'S BLOG ARTICLES:
Why Giving Banks More Money Won't Work March 29, 2009
Obama Is Bankrupting America March 28, 2009
I Had A Stroke and God Is Mean March 27, 2009
Why I Write Blog Articles March 27, 2009
We Pay Taxes To Fix The World Plus Interest Added March 27, 2009
Clinton Blames United States For Mexico March 27, 2009
Border Violence And Drug Money And Guns March 26, 2009
Obama Has Been A Big Disappointment So Far, Just Like Bush Was March 25, 2009
Obama Says No Cash Or Guns In The United States March 25, 2009
Solves Mexico's Border Drug Money And Guns March 25, 2009
Is The United States Too Big To Fail? Another Day, Another Trillion March 23, 2009
Obama's Slip Up On Jay Leno Show And There Is My Aphasia March 21, 2009
The Real Enemy Combatants Are Greed And Selfishness March 19, 2009
Obama Knew About AIG Bonuses, But Is That The Really Big Story? March 19, 2009
No John McCain And No Barack Obama October 26, 2008
The Big Heist Of 2008 September 25, 2008

Phil Staudt - not Republican, not Democrat, concerned, opinionated

Ted Stevens Case Example Of Party Politics

by Phil Staudt
April 2, 2009
The Phil Staudt Blog

The loser is the Alaskan voters and the American voters.

In 1968 Robert Kennedy was the Democrat candidate for President because he was assassinated. Voters ended up with Hubert Humphrey instead, and America ended up with Nixon.

Paul Wellstone died on October 25, 2002, when his plane crashed less then two weeks before election day. He was a Democrat Senator in Minnesota who was extremely and considered a shoe-in, but the voter ended up with Walter Mondale, who lost.

Ted Stevens remained on the ballot, but the reason he lost the election was because of far-fetched charges of criminal wrong doing levied against him.

But the story is that American voters are only left with to choose between two candidates belonging to two lousy political parties. The Republican Party and Democrat Party control the elections, and if one of their shining stars gets knocked out during an election year, then voters are stuck with the runner up. Because of the wide scope of their power over all Americans, every Senatorial race and Presidential race should have at least five real candidates in the general election, with runoffs if needed.

It is tax time. Do not have any of your tax money go to the leaders of those crooked gangs calling themselves political parties.

by Phil Staudt
April 2, 2009
The Phil Staudt Blog

Phil Staudt - not Republican, not Democrat, concerned, opinionated

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