My Mom and yodeling

My mother to say the least was a character! She would sit on the front porch in the summer and attract all the neighborhood friends in a heartbeat. They would sit and talk about the church and the school, quite frankly about anything that seemed interesting at the time. the porch was a focal point for our little community. Everyone loved her from the old to the young. She was such a sweet spirit. She loved her family, church and friends and they all new they could depend on Anna Mae.

One of the things that always amazed us was her ability to yodel. Now yodeling was an art. you had to be able to take a note from a song and as she explained it swallow it back and push it forward in the throat thus creating the western yodel sound of Roy Rodgers and Gene Autry. She worked hours as a teen perfecting the sounds we enjoyed when she would showcase her talent!

All the neighbors and family from grand kids to siblings would ask mother to perform. She would feign modesty for a while and then with perfect pitch and eloquence she would serenade us with her western renditions of good old country songs with a yodel.

To this day when we talk about our mother with others inevitably the yodel comes up.

Well in my mothers honor I can say that she taught me to yodel and sometime in the future I will serenade my grandchildren and their friends with the yodel stiling of my mother. Heaven help us..... Yodel-lady-Who.....move over Gene and Roy here I come.. Love you mom!

Work History

Jobs I have done since I started working:

1. Paper boy for Oakland press and Detroit News 1964
2. Stock boy for Kresge's department store 1968
3. Stock boy for Peoples food market 1968
4. clerk and then asst Manager for Dunhams sports 1972-73
5. sales for Rupp Campfitters 73 about 3 mo
6. Line worker for GM truck and bus 3 mo in 73
7. Custodian for West Bloomfield Schools 73-75
8. National Life Insurance sales 75-76
9. National Life Insurance sales 76-77
10. Car sales Hahn Motors 77
11. Pinkerton guard 77
12. Kelly and Company channel 7 ABC 77
13. Youth and Music Director Heritage Baptist Church 78-79
14. Youth and Music Director Lakeside Baptist Church 79-80
15. Youth Director Heritage Baptist Church 80-85
16. Teacher Heritage Baptist Schools 80-85
17. Bus driver Pontiac City Schools 79-85
18. Supervisor Custodial services Pontiac City Schools 85-95
19. Asst Supervisor Operations Van Dyke Public Schools 95-97
20. Director of Operations Maintenance and Transportation Fraser Public Schools 97-present

I also owned a business S and T Quality Printing and Advance Litho Printing from 83-87 and currently Own a consulting business called SE Michigan Facilities Management, LLC .

I also do seminars for Facilities Management at Oakland University, Saginaw Valley University, State of Michigan Department of Agriculture pest Management, Michigan School Business Officials and Schooldude.com

The New Me

Well I thought I would right a little about my journey over the last 8 month's. as you can see from the photo to the left I was one big boy. I weighed in at 318 lb's and had a 48 inch waist with a 54+ chest. I could not do 1 push-up or walk a long distance without hurting for the next three days. not only that but my blood pressure was through the roof with medication it was still at 134/85. cholesterol was in the 250 range. I was definitely on the road to being a statistic on a slab in a morgue somewhere (I know to dramatic). When I saw pictures of me I would cringe at what I saw. You know when I would buy clothing I would get the expand-o pants to make me feel better about getting a size smaller than I was around the waist. A little sad I know but that is what it was like. people always said no! your not that big you carry it well. To kind to say anything bad. My friends would call me "Heavy T" as a nice way of saying your fat. It was difficult to sit in a booth at a restaurant or a seat in a movie theater. Planes were also fun! you know "hay sir could I put my leg and arm in your space so I can be comfortable and annoying to you". I think you get the point.

So in December 2008 I decided this was going to be the end of this life style. I started going to Ballys ( I was a member for over 25 years but just having the card does not get you in shape ) and exercising a little 3 times a week. It helped but not a lot. I was still eating 3000-4000 calories a day or more. Grabbing a candy bar on the way home from work was not the way to loose weight and get in shape. I kept telling myself that I would not diet again because they do not work. Quite frankly I still feel this way. I new it would take more than the typical diet to get me on track. When I was 18 out of high school I weighed 155 pounds. less than half of what I weighed in at in December. I started looking at ways to get to my goal of loosing down to 220.

Now I have to tell you the idea of using a trainer scared me a little. Honestly some of these guys looked like they needed a trainer and they were going to train me? I do not think so. I checked out all of them. Some were good but their was one man who really looked like he had it together. I watched him work with other people and he seemed to know what he was doing and he was in good shape. So in March 2009 I asked Marcin to be my trainer. This was the start of something more different than I could have imagined. The first thing he said to me was "I do not want to work with you if you are going to quit". Wow he actually gave me an ultimatum. I will work with you if you commit!! I liked it and we started the journey to health.

So my weight at our first weigh in was 296 Lb's! my BFI was 36.6, way off the charts. Marcin was methodical. We started slow because I could not have done anything else. Push ups on an incline, rows, squats with a Swiss ball, balance on a BOSU ball, (a lot of exercises were done using a TRX device), light weights for muscle tone and then their was the meal log. Logging every thing I ate every week.

Every week at the start he would ask me questions like "why do you eat bread stix and pizza at the same time?" or Why do you not eat any fruit or vegetables? You know when you are answering to someone about your eating habits it is hard to explain why you do the things you do. I started changing my eating habits a little at a time. More fruits more vegetables less bread less pizza. I did not stop eating I started eating things that were more healthy. Guess what, I found that I loved them. Plus I was eating 3 meals and 1 to 2 snacks a day instead of skipping meals and eating a lot late at night. Lots of water and no carbonated beverages ( well a few cocktails from time to time but not every day or every weekend).

About two months into our training he ask me to do a 5K Marathon for Autism at Oakland University. I have not ran in years(or ever), but he thought I could do it so I did and low and behold I completed the race. He ran it with me along with our Bally friends. I was at about 275 Lb's at the time and thrilled to say the least. I run regularly now and completed a 5K in 42 minutes August 21, 2009. Not fast by any means but better than I ever thought I could in the past.

Every week has been an achievement. I average loosing 2.5 Lb's a week. right now I am weighing in at 239 Lb's with a 38 in waist and a 47 in chest and a BFI less than 27. I still have 19 Lb's to loose and already am smaller than I've been since I was in my 30's. My cholesterol is below 150 and my blood pressure is 120/75.This is a life change for sure. I now can do 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 rows, 50 lunges and a lot more and without my trainer leading me in the right direction it would not have happened.

Bailouts/spending package

Well here we go again. A bailout! What is the problem with the servants of the masses? They cannot seem to come to a conclusion as to what is best for the nation. Why do we need to put so many spending agendas in this rescue plan? It would seem to me (really uneducated as I am on the subject) that we would be better off with not giving money to sex education, condoms, water slides, veteran Filipino of WWII, and focus on supporting the banking industry, to get us to freeing up the cash flow issue.

This should not be an opportunity to stack the bill with pork items to make senators and representatives popular in their regions. Nor should it be used to forward your agenda for a “New America”. Let the vetting process set up in the legislative branch work its magic for large scale change. Don't try to subrogation the system under the false idea that your saving the economy of the USA.

By the way this idea that the USA gave the new government the right to whole sale change the American way just is not so. 49% of the us disagree with the liberal agenda. That is significant! Believe me if they do not get it right the next election could turn them out in the street. It is at best a fragile majority. Many were willing to vote for change, but not to spend our money indiscriminately to further a total liberal agenda. We are still a moderate nation. From New York to California, the middle of the nation still believes that we are better at spending our hard earned money than the government is.

Quit blaming President Bush (43) for governing during one of the most difficult times our nation has faced. 911 changed the face of his presidency. He made some mistakes for sure but we also faced some horrific situations that clouded the path for the future of America. Remember that many believed that their were weapons of mass destruction including many Democratic politicians and the united nations.

Lets pull together and make sound well thought out decisions not knee jerk decisions based on an agenda that does not work for all American's.

Well that is my 2 cents worth. For what its worth!