Homes for Heroes captures Realtor in bank!!

Picture this. You are walking down the streets in Bryan-College Station TX. There is not a cloud in the sky and the temperature is just cool enough as to keep the perspiration at bay. As you walk into your bank to turn in your change jar for the families vacation fund you happen to notice a young lady with her two small girls talking to a Police Officer.

The Police Officer is describing something to the young woman. The animated hand gestures and the attentiveness of the young woman gives you pause. What is going on, you think. Is it a warning about a crime spree or something more nefarious? You steer your way closer in hopes to catch a snippet of what is being discussed. If what you hear is alarming you can step in and find out more. As you near the group you hear something about Homes for Heroes and witness the Police Officer accepting a business card from the young woman and her two small girls. Puzzled but not alarmed you continue to the counter and ask the teller to please deposit your change into your vacation account.

The teller takes your jar and heads to the back of the bank and dumps the jar into the change sorting machine. A couple of minutes later she returns the jar and several pesos from your last vacation that were rejected by the machine. You look at the amount and start to wonder if it is worth lugging 10 pound jars around for 10 bucks of change. You give no other thought to the Police Officer and the young woman. You head out to the street and start thinking about what should be placed upon the barbecue for dinner.

What this person failed to see, was that Homes for Heroes had just captured another Realtor. Let us introduce you to Dawn Thompson of Bryan-College Station, Texas.

Dawn Thompson

Dawn Thompson did what any good Realtor would do, she overheard the Police Officer talking about finding a home and promptly handed over her business card. Little did she know that by the days end she would be part of the Homes for Heroes team.

Speaking to Dawn about that day, she told us. “As I was walking out the door, the Police Officer called to me and asked me if I would help her and if I had heard of Homes for Heroes.  I got her number and told her I would check into it.  By the end of the day,  we were searching for her home.  The more I found out about Homes for Heroes, the more I wanted to be a part of it!  Wow!  What a great way to say “thank you” to those who, many times, lay their life on the line to serve & protect our communities, our cities, our states, and our country!   It is not a widely known program here, but I want all of the police officers, fire fighters, teachers, etc. to know of this program and it’s benefits.  After several years of real estate, I still had not decided on a niche market..  My heart was not set any where particular.  But Homes for Heroes has captured me, and I look forward to giving something back to those who dedicate their lives to help, serve, and protect us.”

Dawn has been a Realtor for over 5 years now and has lived in the Bryan-College Station area for the last 15 years. The two young assistants that were with her on that fateful day at the bank are also her daughters, Miranda (10) and Kyla (2). They assist her quite often and many of her clients have become great friends with them. Dawn is a web savvy Realtor that maximizes technology to make your real estate transaction not only simple but very rewarding.

So if you live in the Bryan-College Station area and want a Realtor that will get to know you and what kind of home you are looking for, then deliver. Dawn Thompson is who you are looking for. You can reach Dawn at the Homes for Heroes website.

Good Luck and happy home hunting!

Looking for savings in all the right places?

Unfortunately California is one of the states that is feeling the housing crunch the hardest. We at Homes for Heroes are aware of this and have a new member who will ensure that our heroes will get the savings and professional service they deserve.

Homes for Heroes would like to introduce to you our most recent affiliate in California who will be able to guide you through your real estate transaction with a high level of professionalism and experience. Tom Hicks became aware of us through a client of his that had been using one of our affiliate mortgage brokers. Tom contacted us and after learning about our program, immediately became a member.

Tom Hicks

Tom Hicks has been a Realtor in Southern California for over 10 years. He is currently working on his Broker’s license and will receive it within the next couple of months. Serving the northern San Diego County and southern Riverside County regions where he has lived in both areas combined for over 20 years. Beginning his business career with IBM working as a Field Engineer, bringing him to a management position with a competing firm, he started his own office equipment servicing company and operated it for 8 years. After selling his firm, he entered the technical sales field as a Regional Sale Representative for an engineering firm selling solid waste landfill gas system products. His highly conservative personality and technical background have served him well when interacting with clients, solving problems, taking care of details and maintaining a high level of integrity throughout the real estate process. For Tom Hicks the client always comes first.

We think Tom says it best himself. “I joined the Homes for Heroes because I have worked with heroes before, especially teachers, police and military and I enjoy giving back to those who have sacrificed so much. I understand their needs and they always appreciate the dedication and hard work I give to preserving and protecting their financial interests.”

So we come back to the beginning. Are you sure you are you are looking for savings in all the right places? Homes for Heroes program is a good place to start saving money. We are happy to welcome him aboard. Contact us at our website if you would like to use our program or work with Tom.

See you tomorrow.

Semper Fi

Is a free pizza worth a heart attack? Ninjas on the loose.

I think we have ninjas in our office. Homes for Heroes is a small office and we all know each other pretty well. So it is hard for me to believe that one of them is a ninja. But I have no other explanation. This morning I arrive at my desk and turn on my computer. I get up and mosey on over to the the new kitchen and pour my self a cup of coffee. The kitchen is only 4 feet away and in complete view of my desk. When I return to my desk, I set down my mug of brew and turn on my monitor. The monitor comes on but “no video present” is all it says. I am the first one in so I know that no one could have turned off my computer. I push the power button on again and get up to see if there is any one lurking in the shadows. I see no one but I feel a breeze across my face and turn back to the desk. The computer has been turned off again.

If that is how it is going to be, I say out loud, then let the duel begin. I myself have studied the ways of the Ninja and am not afraid to stare at the face of death. I quickly make my self unseen and change into my ninja outfit. Using ninja stealth, I reach my desk undetected and take a position underneath it. With a ninja masters grace I turn on the computer. I watch the power button for 3 full minutes, waiting to catch the office ninja in the act.

My plan is simple. When the office ninja reaches over to turn off my computer I will secretly sprinkle onto his hand my special ninja detection dust. I will let the ninja come out of disguise and resume his or her role as office worker. I will then make my way around the office and with my ninja trained eye sight, I will detect which office worker is the ninja.

Nothing, no sign of office ninja trying to turn my computer off. I may not have discovered who the office ninja is, but I did foil his/her attempt to turn off my computer again. I relax and come out of my hiding spot to take a look at my monitor. As my head rises over the desk top I am immediately distracted. My boss is standing there with hands on hips asking me, “just what in the h#$@ are you doing?”

I gain my composure as I notice that the computer is still not on. I explain to my boss that there is a rogue ninja in our midst and I was just trying expose and keep him/her from turning off my computer. She listens, then bends down and plugs my computer into a power source. There is your ninja, she says as she walks back to her office. Darn! Office ninja won’t trick me again, I think to myself as I reach over and successfully turn on my computer.

Who gets nervous when you are being followed by a police officer? Let’s say you are driving down the road minding your own business. You glance up in your mirror just in time to see a police car pull in behind you. If you are like me, you go into a an immediate and chaotic panic. I check my speed, I make sure I not only use my turn signals when I make a lane change, I use hand signals. I don’t dare look over to my passenger for fear it will be reason to be pulled over. Heck, I get so nervous I signal when my car wanders close to the line on the road.

I mention this because I read this article. Police in Florida are pulling over drivers to give them tickets for driving well. The tickets are gift certificates to the local pizza joint. My first reaction was positive, thinking this is a great way to stir up public support for the police. Then I started to think about it. How would you feel if you came to a complete stop, the take your turn passing through a 4-way stop, only to be pulled over by the cop behind you. I do not think I would be in a calm and relaxed state wondering why I was being pulled over. I know I would be very agitated and quite possibly let out a string of obscenities when police officer arrived at my door. I might even say “screw it” and take off, justifying the bold action by my faith in my innocence.

I would be on the news in a high speed chase, my blood pressure rising with every mile driven. Soon the old ticker starts to sputter and I pull over hoping for a quick ride to the emergency room. As the car stops, 934 police rush the car, jerk me out and slam me to the ground. As I protest my innocence and my urgent medical needs, one officer bends down and hands me a slip of paper. “Sir I just wanted to give you this certificate for a free pizza. You did a complete stop back at the 4-way and I just wanted to thank you for your safe driving.

I take the offering and thank the officer as the light fades from my vision………..

See you tomorrow.
Semper Fi.

As petty as revenge is, it is still revenge.

I got the ticket dropped, but I am still out for revenge.  I am convinced I was ratted out by a county clerk.  I think he thought I was not acting appropriate when questioning the logic of government.  So I headed back to the community center with laptop in hand.  I am sitting by the number tape machine and when people come by I hand them a number. I am sure they all think I am providing a small courtesy, but in reality I am here for revenge.  I hope Homes for Heroes is understanding.  I need to strike a blow for the common man.

Every so often I pull two or three numbers from the tape and only give one away.  Watching the clerk call out “number 231!”  and then wait for a minute before calling out again.  The clerk looks around, not wanting to go to the next number until he is sure that it will not come back and create another crisis at the service desk.  I can see him worrying, is the holder of 231 in the restroom?  If I move on will I be unfair and unjust?  How will the holder of 233 feel if I let 231 cut back into line?

I must admit watching the clerk do this is quite fun.  He finally hits the button and calls out “232!”  As 232 heads to the desk I approach another person waiting in line. “Here is 231, I have to leave now but if you get up there you can probably still use this.”

I sit back down by the number dispenser and watch with glee.  Sure enough, the holder of 231 walks up to the counter, apologizing for being late.  Holder of 232 displays a bit of annoyance.  This has the clerk visibly shaken.  He moved too soon and is potentially upsetting a customer.  He apologizes to 232 and takes care of business for 231.

I now take about 4 numbers and do not give any of them away.  So the run from 240 to 244 no one responds.  Timing is great.  The clerk is now thinking (I hope) that he has upset a lot of people who left to go to another community service center.

I have been alternating both scenarios now for about 3 hours.  The clerk is becoming rude to the customers.  I feel I have accomplished what I came to do.  He wrecked my day the other day and I will send him home agitated and not knowing what went wrong for the day.  As the title says, it was petty but it sure felt good.

Only in Minnesota.  Dog sled raced canceled due to too much snow.  This amuses me. What did they do in the old days? Was the cancellation due to nanny state politics or is there a situation where the snow can be too deep for dogs?  Watch this video and it even becomes more apparent that we are in a nanny state. This dog seems to have no problem getting from point a to point b in the snow.

I have another dumb criminal today.  The other day, there was a story regarding a missing policeman.  I did not mention it because this blog isn’t really the place for disheartening news.  An Alabama policeman that headed up the Organized Crime Unit did not show up at home and his office showed signs of a struggle.  I read the article and was going to comment on the first sentence but I passed.  Today though there is a different headline.   Alabama Organize Crime Unit Investigator Arrested in Las Vegas.  The article goes on to state that the Officer had stolen $2,500 and decided to enjoy a trip to Sin City.  How does this qualify for dumb criminal?  Come on $2,500? Is that it?  What was he thinking?  Obviously not enough thinking at all. I would not go to Vegas with less than $100,000 in my pocket.

From a Firefighter feed I saw this article about firefighters showing up at a warehouse fire and finding not only a burning building, but a marijuana greenhouse as well. It reminded me of this video.  Could this really happen?  I would think so.  That would be a fun fire to put out and I am pretty sure the firemen would not get busted on the next urine test.

So far it has been a good year for the Homes for Heroes Foundation.  It was established last year to do more than offer real estate and mortgage savings.  There is a great need for simple day-to-day projects that we take for granted.  Fixing a clogged drain can be pretty hard to do if confined to a wheel chair.  We have received quite a few donations so far and I will be letting you know what comes of those resources.  I would like to ask you to visit the Homes for Heroes web site and take a look at our Foundation.  We can use any help you have to offer.  Whether it is donating money, services or time, all will have an impact on our nation’s Heroes.  Thanks for taking a look.

Talk again tomorrow.

Semper Fi

Heights are bad, women are wrong, justice is served.

My wife was not impressed with yesterdays motivational picture.  She claimed she did not understand the whole aviation thing.

Come on, you know this would freak you out if you had to do it!

I at first became defensive, thinking that this is the ultimate scenario in the sense that everything you thought and dreamed about became second fiddler to the situation at hand.  Here you are at 3000 feet in a single seat aircraft,  enjoying the solitude, then your only source of survival sputters and quits.  Does this photo not explain being between a rock and a hard place?  If you are frightened by heights and in a plane and the engine quits and you have to go out and reposition the propeller and you have 20 seconds, what do you do? (I am sorry Keanu, it was too easy)

My wife experiences vertigo when driving over high bridges.  So I thought this photo would give her that same sensation.  I thought she (and everyone else) would sympathize with the pilots predicament.  So let’s use a more feet-on-the-ground approach of what I am trying to point out.   When watching this film, and you don’t have to watch all of it, pay attention to the girl walking.  I get the eebie-jeebies when I watch it, especially when they have to pass people.  This will give the sensation I am looking to induce (I hope), but it does not convey the urgency I want to add.  Unless you consider the urgency to get the heck off of there as fast as possible and make it all go away.  Basically, heights are scary when flying in an aircraft and you have to exit the aircraft in order to save your life, because this includes the fear of heights with the addition of  stress and anxiety that comes with needing to go against nature and fix something in 1 second or less.

I suppose I could have saved a lot of time and effort if I had just thrown this baby out there and kept it simple.  But that was from a long time ago and I think today we live a little bit more complicated lives.

This started it all. Sorry.

I am not sure if yesterday I had just said, “Hang in there baby for 2009,” it would have conveyed a positive attitude.  I think it would have conveyed a sense of resignation.  This is not proper when looking forward to a bright and prosperous year.  We all know there will be bumps  in the road (or should I say holes?), but if you keep your mind sharp and you’re aware of what is happening  and you think on your toes, then those holes will be easily sidestepped in life.

Here is a good example of being aware and thinking on your feet.  A man in Florida tried to evade getting a ticket.  He saw the cop following him and he was sure he was going to be pulled over.  He did not want to be pulled over.  The reason was quite simple.  He was a felon and sitting on the seat next to him was a handgun.  Now you people in law enforcement know that is a no-no.

So how is this an example of thinking on your feet?  The felon knew he had to get rid of the cops without bringing any attention to himself.  He knew he had only seconds before the lights would go off on the following police car and that would be that.

He looks around in his car desperately looking for something, anything that would divert the police attention.  He sees the gun.  No, that would not work, that would bring unwanted attention.  He had some coins in the ash tray, but it was barely a dollar.  Not enough to throw out the window and have a hundred kids clamoring in the streets diving for shiny objects.  There was was the fuzzy dice hanging in the windshield.  No, not heavy nor big enough to stop a pursuing cop car.  How about the air fresheners?  They were new, but were they strong enough for the cop to smell and stop to see where the smell was coming from?  How about the empty pop cans and bottles sitting in the passenger seat floor pan?  No, if he bent over to grab some that would again draw unwanted attention to a situation in which he wanted none.  Cellphone?  Yeah, cellphone.

He grabs the phone, calls 911 and reports an armed robbery only a few blocks away.  He hangs up the phone and looks into his rear view mirror.  Nothing yet.  Crap, do I panic now and run?  Just give it a few more seconds he thinks to himself.  He wipes the sweat off his brow and looks up again.  His heart sinks.  The lights come on.  $%@#!!, he yells.  Now he is in a deep state of panic.  He is reaching for the gun when he glances in the rear view mirror and sees the cop turning off the road in the direction of  the armed robbery.  “Victory is mine!” He says with a smug confidence.

See?  This man was thinking on his feet.  He fought the flight or fight instinct, kept his cool and got away clean. .  or so he thought.  One thing this man did not anticipate was that another police unit in the vicinity picked up his tail and followed him to a parking lot where they arrested him for, yes, you guessed right.  A felon with a hand gun. You can read the article here.

The other part of the story that I failed to mention was that this felon was out looking for a home to purchase.  His demonstrated ability to think on his feet had also told him that now is a good time to buy.  Homes for Heroes will not be providing any assistance to him, but they will to the fine officers that made this guy go away.  So pick up the phone and get a hold of your local Homes for Heroes affiliate and find out how much you will save in addition to the great deal you will find in your new home.  I can’t repeat enough how good this program is.  Get moving now.

See you again tomorrow.

Semper Fi

Heroes Who Qualify

         Workforce heroes include but are not limited to teachers, firefighters, public safety officers, health care workers, military personnel, and other every day heroes who provide quality services to the public every day. If you aren’t sure if you qualify, please contact Homes for Heroes at 763-412-1272