martedì 18 dicembre 2007

Going Great opportunity

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Free Spirit

giovedì 13 dicembre 2007

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Get ahead of them: We'll ambush at the Canyon

Portable Electric Power Tools
Mission Control @ ABLECorp
Analyze and Assess Information Available
By Patrick Darnell
Strategic Management/ Business Strategy
First Draft: Friday 13th April 2007/ Pages 3-10 Word Count: 2793
Introduction
It is unwise to label the ABLE Company at this time. Although by definition it appears the company is leveled off in a vulnerable position of weakness. I do not perceive leadership is lethargic, or willing to let go any time soon of what they still claim to have.
This paper is a preliminary to more in depth team driven discussion forum. The task is to develop a strategy for ABLECo. What and why we will be recommending will have been hollowed out by the time we are ready to present to Strategic Officers Steering Committee. Our strategic assessment will be also a result of research in secondary sources, and any primary data that applies to our strategy development.
Each agent in the development will be asked to arrive at a recommendation that is:

  • Plausible

  • Defensible

  • Rational

  • Feasible
No team member should try to achieve consensus on his recommendations, rather think in terms of the best reciprocating strategies each other will have developed. This initial appraisal refers to the first four chapters of text: Strategic Management in action, by Mary Coulter. Those sections explain concepts and context of strategic management. Also, the author addresses external and internal analysis frameworks for strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats applicable of ABLECo’s new strategy.
Task Objective

  • Explain strategic management process within global environment

  • Integrate and apply knowledge gained in other courses in business administration curriculum

  • Use effective communication techniques
Task Detail
As a preliminary step in preparation of business plan, brainstorm major elements of strategic management processes. Using questions as guides, items to include might be:

  • Insights

  • Issues that need to be addressed

  • Questions that need to be asked

    • How would you go about defining the identity of Able Corporation and creating its mission statement?

    • Where would you look for the information?

    • What do you already know about Able that can help?

    • What are some of the key elements that might be contained in ABLECo value propositions?

    • What principle would you use in order to prioritize the implementation steps needed to accomplish the strategic objectives?

    • What post implementation and feedback mechanisms would you have in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the process?

    • What measures would you use?
For the ensuing presentation the deliverables are: mission statement, operating principles, market analysis, company strengths and weaknesses analysis, one-year, five-year and ten-year strategic objectives, sales forecasts, financial and operational objectives, and pro forma financials.
Discussion: Driving Force
Besides market demands what is the driving force of ABLECo? In many cases, a manufacturer in need of help will initially take on too much internal clamor. “The monthly meetings of senior management team have been reduced to arguments over attainment of company metrics [measurements] with each department pointing to its own set of reports to support its positions” (CTUOnline; April/2007).
Internal operations have evolved for many generations at ABLECo and those divisions may be change averse. If the firm depends on its own strategies it will create too much strife.
Organized by the senior management at ABLECo a future position is envisioned that sets the tone for a new channel of marketing. That channel is of end-users of industrial PEPT, Portable Electric Power Tools, who are drifting into the consumer PEPT channels of distribution. A shift in the gap between higher costing industrial tools and lower consumer tools is significant, so reports say. In this instance the gap is closing.
The senior staff has formed the position for Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis for our emerging ABLECo. The text defines the position as: “...management of a series of interrelated continuous steps that lead to the outcome” says the author. “Situation analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation” point the company in navigating its course (Coulter, M; 2005).
For help we look at levels of strategies on different organizational echelons and what they will divulge in context of driving forces.

  • How would you go about defining the identity of Able Corporation and creating its mission statement?
Our firm has one vision, though yet to be assessed, but has several missions. Functional areas at ABLECo are ideal in finding the various missions emerging for the now strategically employed company. Major function areas are commonly:

    • Production

    • Financial

    • Distribution

    • And, unique areas to ABLECo
To establish competitive advantageous mission statement for ABLECo we will have evaluated our competitive levels in all departments. Once done we will attempt to implement, and evaluate our changing competitive strategy in a continuous improvement cycle. Competitive business unit strategy levels are comprised of:

    • Resources

    • Capabilities

    • Core competencies
Each [business strategy] unit’s mission statement still provides an overview of the unit’s purpose, what it does, and its goals,” says Coulter. “Ideally what you have is a broad framework within which organizational members know what they are doing and why they are doing it... aligned with the vision statement, ...with commitment to social responsibility, and ethical decision making” (Coulter, M; 2005 p48).

  • Where would you look for the information?
In hope of finding useful information that has a thread of continuity for ABLE Co’s survival; strategic planners will ask management of functional strategic levels “What direction are we going and what businesses are we going to be in? What business do you want to be in” (Coulter, M; 2005, p7).
Tools to utilize for this stage of conceptual thinking are those already in use by crews. Tools for dynamic change and organized culture that have been in use for the life of ABLECo can be our best inroads.
Otherwise searching for the right path is in generating questions and weighing of ideas springing from those findings. Research questions, means questions about which you will be conducting qualitative research. The outcome of facilitated strategy on internet and secondary findings will lead to develop quantitative strategy that would help ABLECo make its business strategy decisions:

  • Should explain how statistical tools can be valuable to our business

  • Should provide specific examples where we can effectively use statistical tools

  • Should create a list of research questions that apply to our ABLECo situation

  • Should use persistent links to help generate ideas for research questions

  • Also, generate research question ideas by conducting research in library and the Internet to find information about strategy management

  • Should study and apply benchmark cases of similar companies
Strategic decision makers will find plenty of information, too much in fact, when they:

    • Explore Additional Marketing Opportunities

    • Explore Alternative Marketing Channels

    • Set Up Comparison Shopping Campaigns

    • Optimize Marketing Channels

    • Pursue Credibility Indicators, such as

      • Improve Order Process

      • Optimize Product Offer

      • Optimize Presentation, and

      • Implement information technologic Metrics and Testing Platforms
With a little generous help from researchers, and strategic planners specialized in manufacturer’s unique battery of recent successes, ABLECo will find enormous amounts of information (Alt, B and Usborne, N; 25 April 2006, paraphrased).

  • What do you already know about Able that can help?
What is already known about ABLECo is found in its historical natural attraction minus the new competitive threats. In context of analysis, a preliminary SWOT discloses weaknesses of our firm. Further study into complement context reveals threats, opportunity, and strengths, of this table and will clear up much of “what” is going on.
Evaluation of major strengths will characterize ABLECo culture from the early days and contrast it to cultural actions today. And how that will make our firm prevail?” (Alt, B and Usborne, N; 25 April 2006, paraphrased) This table is paraphrased from CTUOnline Task Details, 2007.



Strength
Weakness
Opportunity
Threats
C-Staff
Loyal, truthful, passionate
Weak leadership, nepotism, short-sighted

Superior Marketing by competition
Products

Outdated products
Cordless for Industrial and consumer
Knock-off, low competitor price levels
Operations

Inefficient and costly


Bottom-line

Net loss in 2 of 4 past years


Structure

Stove pipe, non-functioning, differing metrics in different departments


Funding

None, no re-investment in company in past 3 years


Manufacturing

Not progressive, ill-maintained, high-priced


Human Capital
Venerable
Bad morale, Insecure, Agitated, pessimistic, failed, layoffs

Loss of industry expertise due to exiting key personnel, unattractive to investors
Locations

Dilapidated, in disrepair, bereft


Costs

Labor high, promotions high, operations high


Sales/Marketing

Pull Sales/ push marketing, market knowledge-base at ABLECo is lacking, declining sales



Remember “ABLE Corporation has come to a decision to not let itself be manipulated in its market without some better reference” (CTUOnline; April/2007). Since stakeholders are timid about re-investing in ABELCo, senior staff turns to strategic planners. Upper Management hopes to distinguish itself and see if it helps boost interest of investors. Knowing it has weaknesses will motivate staff to identify strengths and opportunities.

  • What are some of the key elements that might be contained in ABLECo value propositions?
ABLECo has lost track of its original Value Proposition, VP. In manufacturing we are an innovator of PEPT. However, defining VP is paramount to market penetration; actually the whole purpose of the VP is market penetration. Is innovation our value proposition?
If ABLECo were only interested in putting a spin on its marketing it would hire a marketing specialist, and innovation would be the spin. The firm is not looking for a patch. ABLECo has hired a strategy management specialist. Value proposition is to be made using all measurements, Optimized search produces ratio of our value proposition to truth.
That said, it turns out the key elements will be derived from the internal functions of:

  • Human resources

  • Business Historical perspectives

  • Brand values

  • And core competencies
We could at ABLECo devote extraordinary time and resources “developing and fine-tuning the product delivery chain; sales, marketing, distribution, customer service, and all, but fail to assess the most fundamental of business success factors: our Value Proposition. So how did we survive?” Our VP will be the concise statement of the uniqueness of our business that sets it apart from all competitors. Without our Unique Value Proposition, ABLECo “risks becoming lost at sea with a host of similar businesses” (Alt, B and Usborne, N; 25 April 2006, para).

  • Analyzing our competitors further identifies our strengths, weaknesses to strengthen our bottom lines

  • Competitive analysis helps to develop our VP

  • VP forces us to Test validity of claims we make about our business

  • VP statement must contain quantitative statements about uniqueness of ABLECo

  • What percentage of our market channels truly has an effective value proposition?

  • How will this affect competitive marketing in our channels?

  • Our primary research question will have to be this:

      • How do we evaluate our own value proposition?
It seems that many firms try to incorrectly “out-market a poor value proposition” over the top. Messily, if their VP is improper, it is like saying “We can cross over to the island when the tide is out.” The researchers at Marketing Experiments say, “[Those with poor VP’s] use the heavy force of marketing to try to overcome the weak force of their value proposition” (Alt, B and Usborne, N; 25 April 2006, para).

  • What principle would you use in order to prioritize the implementation steps needed to accomplish the strategic objectives?
Because ABLECo is innovator in PEPT, it deserves to reap benefit of better design by being rewarded in large volume of sales. This could be developed in a closed circuit of defining market potential and planning each release to that volume. A little bit more work for accounting management, and operations, but is worth the effort in reduced waste.
Our firm wants to carve out its own niches using service supported sales, and matching competitors’ pricing. Our strategic decisions will be based on a “five forces model as posed by Michael Porter in the text.” Our strategy will find exit barriers that threaten and provide opportunities for ABLECo, such as: Buyers; Suppliers; Substitutes, and Potential new entrants creating natural rivalry amongst firms in the PEPT industry (Coulter, M; 2005, p 70-75).
Volume can be created several ways. One way is to create opposing lines, each with its own curve and completion. Each is the nemesis of the other. While the border of each line defines a whelk, or spiraling development, a well-placed opposing line will complete the strategy. Only a large venerated company like ABLECo could get this to work for them for each generation of innovative tools.
Another way is to create shading and spin. One technique is no more effective than the other, because each must be implemented at the time it best fits. Therefore, the implementation is all about the timing and space the market has for the co-functional operations of these strategies.
Priority for implementation can spring back from force that is working against ABLECo at any given time. The forcers designated are then like this:

  • Search for market stability

  • Produce only a limited product line for a narrow segment of total potential market

  • Seek to protect and defend its well established business

  • Do whatever is necessary aggressively to prevent competitors entering our turf

  • Carve out, maintain niches within our industry that competitors find difficult to penetrate
This is paraphrased from the text where is described the characteristics of a Defender Strategy of competitiveness. (Coulter, M; 2005, p 188-190)

  • What post implementation and feedback mechanisms would you have in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the process?
Once the company launches its satellites, it will have a mission control set up. At mission control will be the senior management, directors and investors. Success will have been dependent on strategic continuous improvement of functional levels at ABLECo; therefore monitoring will be a similar process, a common thread running between all divisions.
Team building is our first organization-wide strategy put into practice at ABLECo. For that to come about workers will be needy, demanding much more encouragement and follow-up. I have found one company that comes up in a majority of benchmark discussions: IBM, big blue. “Everyone talks innovation but IBM helps with a: Six Different Potentially Innovative doorways,” says the authors at IBM website. “Responding to competitive pressures and market opportunities requires business systems — and supporting technology infrastructures — to be quickly adaptable and flexible in structure,” claim IBM Partners (IBM Global Services; 2000).
Post-evaluation is the first functional strategic consideration because the firm must make a decision about its information technology systems right now. In best interest of efficient tracking, the entire company needs a trustworthy, helpful, friendly measuring system that ties functional, competitive and corporate strategies together. Useful strategy evaluations can not be made otherwise. Organizational context and external and internal contexts are not going to be explained properly unless the post-evaluation implements are in place from the beginning.
IBM proclaims that they can help with at least six doorways of “Service oriented architecture, SOA that helps clients create business value by helping them develop a more on demand IT infrastructure.” If this sounds familiar, it should: “IBM introduced the idea of On Demand Business.” Continuous managed improvement means to continually:

    • Continually re-consider your business model

    • Re-examine your processes

    • Constantly challenge your management culture

    • Make your products special

    • Make your services special

    • Respond to changing conditions
(IBM Global Services; 2000, paraphrased)
IBM global Services may have the most recent word on implementing evaluative systems: “But the demands of an increasingly competitive global marketplace — driven largely by the networked world — are driving companies to find new ways to grow their businesses, while at the same time they must operate as efficiently as possible.” If IBM’s logic prevails then the Unique Value Proposition at ABLECo will have to include its new attitude on strategic post-evaluation. I am going to support continuous improvement with post-evaluation in mind at ABLECo throughout my own assessment.

  • What measures would you use?
Initially our post evaluations will have been structured around our internal and external analyses. However fine tuning of a more universal review to respond to each business unit’s unique function is our goal. With losses showing up in the last few years, ABLECo must support cost of strategic command with senior Mission Control, to curtail awkward downward spirals of functions and business. Rather ABLECo will show compounding gains over all to thwart bad press.
In a previous brief we showed how small, incremental gains can produce significant gain when compounded in a sequential manner. When the gains themselves are significant, the compounding effect is quite impressive. Albert Einstein is widely rumored to have once said that the most powerful force in the universe is compound interest, and we can clearly see why from the above data (Alt, B and Usborne, N; 25 April 2006, paraphrased).
Making ABLECo products special for future generations is the purpose of this strategic analysis after all:

  • Do customers demand our products?

  • Do they convert their friends to use our products?

  • Are we innovating products that can “best our existing products?”

  • How will we be ahead of our competition, when the next big idea emerges?

  • Will ABLECo be attractive to investors and acquisitions when we finish?
(IBM Global Services; 2000, paraphrased)
Conclusion
Concluding arguments are pointing to a many-branched, multi-faceted strategy workshop environment for ABLECo. It includes the following, but is not limited to this list. In fact the condition today in the business environment is that there is too much information to sift. Therefore the planning and adopting an efficient outline of strategic objectives that is unique to ABLECo will prove very effective.
Consider our business vision, value proposition, mission models:

  • Has the world evolved faster than our business models?

  • Has our market changed?

  • Is new technology enabling new competition, and new opportunities?

  • Could we leverage our strengths, or the scale and skills of ABLECo partners?

  • Will we identify where we are competitive and not, then restructure for optimum performance and return?
Examine processes

  • Which processes run smoothly, and, which are bottlenecks?

  • Are systems and processes outdated?

  • Do we have duplication of processes?

  • Do we have adequate infra-structure communication; do we speak to one another?

  • Do we speak to our partners’ and customers’ processes and systems?
Challenge management culture

  • Is encouraging innovation in your company more than a gesture?

  • So the employees share in opinions and sharing ideas?

  • Do we have collaborative projects in the works?

  • What companies, industries suppliers force ABLECo into exit barriers?

  • What is labor forcing ABLECo to do?
Make sales support and services special

  • How do our customers rate us?

  • With real-time feedback form our customers could we respond faster, with more services? And, Plan better?

  • Drive loyalty through the roof.

  • Respond to changing conditions.

  • Put in place comprehensive external studies for each strategy adopted
Adopt and install a company-wide evaluation system

  • Find a business partner like IBM to help expedite our information tech

  • Utilize exit barriers to motivate the strategic decision makers into action on IT

  • Conduct a Competitive Analysis and Price Testing, but also cover market analysis, quantitative analysis, product and program strategy, usability testing, and similar efforts unique to ABLECo way of doing business
(IBM Global Services; 2000, paraphrased)
References
Alt, Brian and Usborne, Nick; (25 April 2006, para) In Search of a Value Proposition Tuesday, 25 April 2006; Editor Flint McGlaughlin; Writers Brian Alt, Nick Usborne; Contributors: Jalali Hartman; HTML Designer: Cliff Rainer; retrieved from April 12- 14, 2007 at: marketing experiments com improving website conversion value proposition
Coulter, M; (2005) Strategic Management in action, 3rd Edition, Pearson/ Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
IBM Global Services; (2000) IBM Corporation 2000 -- IBM Global Services; Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 USA; Printed in the United States of America 01-00; retrieved April 10-14, 2007 at 935 ibm com services us index wss it service cases its a1002583

martedì 20 novembre 2007


Where is everyone? time to check in!

lunedì 10 settembre 2007

Randomn3ss!!!


W0000sHa!!!!! Don't you wish you were me???

venerdì 24 agosto 2007

M.I.A.

Sometimes I sit here and think, "Man I really do miss all of my cousins up in Itay now that this time I spent all of two months up there, instead of ten days like two years ago. I got to know all of them a lot more than I have always known them." Sometimes I sit and look through the pictures that I took on the last few days off all of my family that I spent most of my time with up there. I smile knowing that they will always be there for me, then all of a sudden, I start having these tears of joy. The tears are sometimes for joy and also for that hurt that I feel deep down inside because I wish I would've stayed there. It also because I got too attached to them like I never have before!!! The last time that I spent the most time up there was back in 1988, and frankly, I really don't remember the past that well. So that kind of hurts to know that I couldn't remember all the good times that we had back in those days.

There will be a time when I can go on that travel alone, and that way I can explore everything there is to know about my family and Foggia, where my mother was raised, and to know where my background is from. That way when I eventually have kids of my own, I can explain my roots. I do know this, when it was time to leave Foggia, majority of my cousins offered me to stay with them for a year and then there were others that said I could work with them to see how I would like it there. Then after staying for a year over there, that is when I could make my decision if I wanted to go back to Texas or stay in Foggia, where I belong, with the family, as they put it.
TRANSLATION
A volte mi siedo qui e penso, "uomo che realmente manco tutti i miei cugini in su in Itay ora che questo volta ho speso tutti i alto due mesi là, anziché dieci giorni come due anni fa. Mi sono familiarizzato con tutti molto più che li ho conosciuti sempre." A volte mi siedo ed osservo attraverso le immagini che ho preso gli ultimi giorni fuori di tutta la mia famiglia che ho speso la maggior parte del mio tempo con alto là. Sorrido sapendo che saranno sempre là per me, allora tutto di un improvviso, io cominciano avere queste rotture di gioia. Le rotture sono a volte per gioia ed anche per quel hurt che ritengo la parte interna profonda del basso perché desidero il would've di I rimasto là.

Esso anche perché ho ottenuto ugualmente fissato a loro come non ho mai prima!!! L'ultima volta che ho speso la maggior parte del tempo in su là era indietro in 1988 e franco, io realmente non si ricorda del passato che buono. In modo che genere di hurts per sapere che non potrei ricordarsi di tutte le buone volte che posteriore in quei giorni. Ci sarà un periodo in cui posso andare su quella corsa da solo e quel senso che posso esplorare tutto là deve sapere circa la mie famiglia e Foggia, in cui la mia madre è stata alzata e sapere da dove la mia priorità bassa proviene. Quel senso quando finalmente ho capretti dei miei propri, posso spiegare le mie radici. Conosco questo, quando era tempo di lasciare Foggia, maggior parte dei miei cugini lo ho offerto per rimanere con loro per un anno ed allora ci erano altri che dicessero che potrei lavorare con loro per vedere come la gradirei là. Allora dopo avere rimasto per un anno là, quello è quando potrei prendere la mia decisione se desiderassi andare di nuovo al Texas o rimanere a Foggia, in cui appartengo, con la famiglia, come la mettono
.

Between Cousins --The Trip/ Planes, Phones, Paul, Robin, and Pic's


An E-mail dialogue of late between Cuzz's: (in reverse order, here latest first!) >>pd



What a delicious email CUZ!
I will answer in kind. Yes, mama's b'day was fun. We had a feast and dancing
and singing and hats.......Alices boyfriend Dan is from Kenya, Africa and the
celebration cd he brought for birthdays was magical. We all danced together
except for my straight laced Italian husband!
The visit with Robin and his lovely wife Diane (they call themselves Big Bird
and Lady Di) was great. I think I told you they live in Tampa and Robin is
retired and plays alot of golf and Diane works for NW Airlines and is in the
military reserves, Navy. Robin is so much like my dad that it freaked mama out
a bit.......anyway, it was a good visit.
We are familar with the plights of our Italian family and friends being behind
the times. I get frustrated when Sam wants me to contact them and most don't
have emails! So we have to maybe email a younger cousin who works in a big city
and they in turn call and leave messages. Whatever.
EDGY, EDGY! Cuz, this is a daily deal with me! And yes I know about the gut
wrenching punches when they say and do things that just don't mesh! Mom will
complain of sweating in odd places and maybe feeling light headed. I drop all
and go down there and find out her friggen thermostat is on 85!!!!! So many
little things like this......she didn't want to run up her electric bill from
say $50 to maybe $75.................it is a fine line between their dignity and
our sanity. Lets just keep pumping each other up for now! And yes I felt the
same way when I found out about cousin Steve and his behavior........he is a
selfish one. Very strange too because I always liked Steve.
Most girls like sparkling things and to this day I appreciate a good looking
diamond! The older I get the more I see my limited jewelery for what is really
is. My favorite things that I wear all the time. My wedding ring which
represents the love and devotion for Sam my man and all that he is to me; My
necklace with the 2 tiny diamonds and one saffire which represent the most
precious gift my body could have given me, Cat, Sam and Nina and finally the
circle of love diamond ring on my right had which tells me daily that all the
crap I put up with in 30 years of marriage was worth it! Ha............
You are a wonderul, caring and funny and smart person my CUZ.
I am working on getting our moms together and might just get full fare tickets
for Jerre and Robert to come and see mom............long story, but moms health
is too wierd maybe to bring her down there. I am pondering this so we will see.
I just know that somehow, some way after NOT being able to see Elizabeth, Fran
and sweet, sweet Chuck, our moms have to see each other more often.
Gotta go now and ready me-self for a visit with me son.
Love to all, Lesan
---- Patrick <patdarnell@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Cuzz's:
>
> It's that time again? Aunt Leslie's birthday, wow what a blessing.
>
> And mystery revealed to our aged-ness; we have yet another cuzz-- Robin!
Goodness sakes alive.
>
>
> Airline travel, especially coach international is not what it used to be. We
have had to sweat the details throughout the entire three airport trip. And it
was even 30% higher prices than two years a go. Hey, do you want to put our
heads together and figure out how to fly to Naples cheaply and comfortably? Sam
and you, et al,?should sojuorn there again. Yes!
>
> My peeps are always wanting to see the pictures as soon as I slide off the
tarmacks. I apologize in attaching so many pic's and no explanations.?Our folk
in Foggia have confirmed again with me this time that their town is fifty years
behind the rest of the world. Okay, so what is the translation? They just now
have some internet capabilities.
>
> Two years ago it was non-existent in the homes. Today it exists, but at a
premium. The reason is simple, as the homes and outlying farmhouses do not have
land lines in place. The whole phone system has evolved as a wireless industry;
and the cell phones are pre-paid, non-contract. Hmmmm....
>
> That brings me to Mom, Jerre J.,?who has of late been unable to manage her
long distance from her land line in Pearland, and they had gotten rid of their
cells. Of course I had to wrench the information out of her... so I put her land
line on our calling card. We have one of those rechargeable Texas outward
pre-paids... This seemed to take the edge off. Les, you know our Mom's do once
in a while get edgy?
>
> So the next day Mom told me thank you and that she had finally gotten to talk
with Leslie. I could have my eyes plucked out, needles stuck under my
fingernails, and compressed air blown into my duododenum -- but when Mom tells
me that she has been putting off catching up with Leslie because of the f@#$*&
phone companies -- well that is a special gut slip-knot. It was kind of like
when I heard Steve B out in Atlanta never invited Ankle Chuck into his house,
after Chuck drove the gamut from OC. Good lord, Padre Pio, and all the pierced
saints at large.... sorry Steve but that was a low one
>
> Lesan you are a rare jewel amongst us pieces of charcoal. I remember once when
we were tiny, right! me tiny, and Paul was taking me around on his motorcycle,
Honda 90. We stopped at the Piggly Wiggly or something and we put our dimes and
quarters in the gum ball machines. I noticed he was gambling on the machine
reserved for girls. "So, Paul what are those for?"
>
> "These are for Lesan, she likes that sort of thing. Here try it," said Paul.
He was so right, as in accurate,?that he was like St. Francis teaching a child
to talk to a swallow. So I put all I had left into getting sparkly things for
you, Katy, Alice, Sylvia and Justine. It turned out just like Paul said.
>
> Can we get a witness? Love and hugs... happpppy week, and Vive Italia.
>
> ?Patrick Darnell
> Foggia '07
> patdarnell@aol.com
> moopigwisdom.blogspot.com
> italianwomanintexas.blogspot.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lesliebaiocco@tx.rr.com
> To: Pat Darnell <patdarnell@aol.com>
> Sent: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 5:37 am
> Subject: The Trip
>
> Hi Patrick and Marinell,
>
> What a wonderful trip for you and the photos and presentation are
> awesome.......can't wait to show my Sam. I am sure it will put him over the
edge
> and want to return to his family ties in Italy. I am happy for you.
>
> Take care cousins, Love Lesan

mercoledì 1 agosto 2007

Lo Campo, Ruggiero, Padre Pio, io Darnellio
























































































































A Picture is worth a thousand words!

lunedì 30 luglio 2007

Tutti in pista-- Foggia '07































classifica e premiazione delle classi cc1300 dal 1° al 5° classificato cc1500 dal 1° al 5° classificato
ROBERTO RABBAGLIETTI roberto2743@interfree.it
tel 0881 880284 dop le 18,30 cel 329 0110112

Colors










The Colors That Make me

Passionate Purple is the color that describes
passionate and caring
loyal and loving
a helping hand that somebody can reach out to.
But there’s a very sad part in me,
charcoal black, very dark
depressed and upset
mournful and deeply sad
sulking and sobbing, waiting for the pain to end.
They both have very different meanings,
yet, they are very, truly beautiful, and describe me.



Desiree 2006

venerdì 20 luglio 2007

sabato 7 luglio 2007

To GC; or not to GC... that is not the question





George Carlin's* Solution to Save Gasoline

"Bush wants us to cut the amount of gas we use..... The best way to stop using so much gas is to deport 11 million illegal immigrants!
That would be 11 million less people using our gas.

"The price of gas would come down..... Bring our troops home from Iraq to guard the Border.... When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the border, hand him a canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Iraq .... Tell him if he wants to come to America then he must serve a tour in the military.....

"Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it..... After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended this country...... He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal patriot......

"This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a solution for the troops in Iraq and the aliens trying to make a better life for themselves......

"If they refuse to serve, ship them to Iraq anyway, without the canteen, rifle or ammo..... Problem solved....."

*George Carlin


"Floating around the Internet these days, posted and e-mailed back and forth, are a number of writings attributed to me, and I want people to know they're not mine. Don't blame me.

Some are essay-length, some are just short lists of one and two-line jokes, but if they're flyin' around the Internet, they're probably not mine. Occasionally, a couple of jokes on a long list might have come from me, but not often. And because most of this stuff is really lame, it's embarrassing to see my name on it.

"And that's the problem. I want people to know that I take care with my writing, and try to keep my standards high. But most of this "humor" on the Internet is just plain stupid. I guess hard-core fans who follow my stuff closely would be able to spot the fake stuff, because the tone of voice is so different. But a casual fan has no way of knowing, and it bothers me that some people might believe I'd actually be capable of writing some of this stuff.

"HOW TO SPOT A FAKE Here's a rule of thumb, folks: Nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it came from one of my albums, books, HBO shows, or appeared on my website. If you see something with my name on it, and you really need to find out if it's mine, post a question on my bulletin board . But only if it's really important to you; don't fuck around with me for a lark." GC website: retrieved 7/7/07 http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html