All posts by Jan Landy

Ramblings of a Successful Entrepreneur & a not so Successful Comedian as well as, a man amongst men and women.

Celebrating Going on 17 Years

I read somewhere that most people on their deathbed, talk about what they could have done or should have done with their lives. I also heard that no one says, I wish I put in more time at the office.

We all make choices and then we have to live with the outcome of those choices. In my opinion, the main goal of life is enjoy yourself whenever possible. Having said that, I will say, it is better to be happy doing nothing than to be unhappy and do everything.

I have some friends that are fortunate from the stand point that the work-a-day world that most of the rest of us live in that forces us to make work choices so that we can be in the place to make the rest of the choices that you make every day without having to work. For example, one of my hobbies is taking naps. That is a hobby that that I cannot accomplish while I am at work. However, my friends that are not at work, find plenty of time to practice their hobbies and are quite proficient at taking naps.

I once heard the theory of life life described as the Law of Substitution. Simply stated, it does not matter how much time or money you have, you cannot do everything at the same time. You cannot take a walk in the forrest and search for metals at the beach, you cannot make love and play tennis, you cannot eat and scuba dive, you cannot type and drive a car. I think you get the idea. Likewise no matter how much money you have you cannot buy everything that is available to buy, so you have to make choices. Hopefully the choices you make will be the right choices and the ones that will reward you the way you want to be rewarded.

I feel extremely fortunate that my work life provides me most of the pleasures I desire, and it gives me the free time to do most of what I want to do and most importantly satisfies my need to strive for a worthwhile goal and assisting good people which in turn makes me a living from doing my job. In short, I really enjoy what I do so much so, that it is almost like not working. The only reason it must be called work is that I need to continue doing my job during the times I would prefer to be sleeping (and as of this writing, I have not been able to sleep on the job).

It is with humble heart that I wish to thank each and everyone of the people that allowed me to assist them which in turn has allowed me the chance to live a most enjoyable life.

Here is to the next 17 years,

All my best,

Jan Landy,
CEO and Founder of soundbroker@gmail.com

Get a free HD280 Pro headphone or free monitor carrying case

NEUMANN.BERLIN REBATE: For a limited time only, get a FREE gift with an eligible Neumann microphone or studio monitor purchase Get a free HD280 Pro headphone or free monitor carrying case with your qualifying Neumann purchase! Offers end December 31, 2013

NewImage1. Get a HD280 Pro reference headphone free via mail-in rebate with your purchase of ANY Neumann microphone from an authorized Neumann dealer

OR

2. Get a free soft carrying case with your purchase of a pair of KH 120 studio monitors or any single KH 310 studio monitor from an authorized Sennheiser dealer

To claim your free products by mail, please send:
1) A completed rebate form:
• Download Free HD 280 Pro Rebate Form
• Download Free Monitor Carry Case Rebate Form
2) Original UPC and EAN code (no photocopies from the box accepted) 3) Copy of the original dated sales receipt

Rebate claims must be postmarked by January 31, 2014. Offers valid for U.S. customers only.

Terms and conditions: Rebate via mail-in rebate with the purchase of products mentioned above. Limit (1) free HD 280
via mail-in rebate and (1) KH 120 or (2) KH 310 free soft carrying cases via mail-in rebate per household.

Offer valid only
on purchases made between October 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013 from an authorized Sennheiser USA dealer. Internet auction site purchases are excluded from this offer. Mail-in rebate claim forms must be postmarked no later than January
31, 2014.

Sennheiser distributors, retailers, their employees or their families may not claim rebates on behalf of consumers (end users).

Rebate requests not including proper documentation (this official form, clipping of actual UPC or EAN code from the box, dated sales receipt containing model # and retailer’s name) will be ineligible. Sennheiser is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail. Sennheiser reserves the right to terminate the program at any time. Void where prohibited by law.

Click to access 1013_Neumannn_EU_Rebates.pdf

Sennheiser is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. Rebate eligibility as determined by Sennheiser is final. Offer valid to U.S. addresses only, for new product only.SoundBroker com logo copy

Final Reminder: Last Chance for Customers to Download Legacy Avid Video and Broadcast Software is This Thursday, October 31st

October 29, 2013 – Final Reminder: Last Chance for Customers to Download Legacy Avid Video and Broadcast Software is This Thursday, October 31st

This is Avid’s final reminder to you, our resellers, to take action and notify your customers of the important changes Avid is making to software availability as of this Friday, November 1, 2013. This change affects those customers using legacy Avid video or broadcast products. It is critical that you study the information provided and actively reach out to customers TODAY to ensure they take the appropriate steps to back up their software installers by end of day this Thursday, October 31st.

While we will continue to offer downloads of more recent Avid software releases through our Download Center using an Open Source Java alternative, the following versions of software—and all prior releases to these—will be removed indefinitely:

Avid will be sending out a final, “last day to update” reminder email to our customer lists tomorrow, October 30th, but you should reach out to your key customers directly to ensure they understand the impact of this change and the actions they need to take.

What You Need to Do
Call your key customers now to ensure they are well informed and remind them that the deadline for them to back-up their Avid video or broadcast software is this Thursday, October 31st.

Please note that customer licenses and entitlements will not be affected by this change. However, after Thursday, October 31st, Avid Customer Success, Professional Services and our resellers will not be able to assist with the affected software installations listed above; customers will have to rely on their own backup copy to install software.

We have continually updated the Avid Software Availability forum for customers to get tips for downloading, backing up software, and other best practices. If they need last minute backup help, please guide them to the forum.

Resources Available
All reference documents can be found on Partner Central in the Avid Software Availability folder (>CHANNEL PROGRAMS>Communications>Avid Software Availability):
· FAQ (continually updated)
· Avid Software Availability recorded PowerPoint (BrainShark)
· Avid Software Availability Phone Discussion Guidelines

If you have any additional questions please contact your Avid Partner Account Manager. Or SoundBroker.com 702-736-3003

NewImage

SoundBroker com logo copy

SoundBroker.com for ALL you ClearCom needs

NewImage

Tough exterior for the rigors of everyday use
Incredible sound for hearing even the softest whispers
Ease of operation for even occasional users
Compatible with a range of partyline systems

Housed in a light-weight and ergonomically-design casing, the RS-Series beltpacks are engineered to withstand the demanding day-to-day use even in high-intensity situations. Functions are easily customizable and accessible with simple-to-use straightforward operations.
Use less than half the current draw of previous beltpack series, so you can put twice as many beltpacks onto a system!

For all the details: http://www.clearcom.com/product/partyline/wired-beltpack

NewImageSoundBroker com logo copy

Sonos Music System – Something to Believe In

I am not sure if I have ever been so blatant in promoting a product that I am not active in selling, but if not, there is a first time for everything. The product I am talking about is the Sonos Home Musical System. I bought mine so that I could have music at the pool, but now I have those speakers in my living and bedrooms. I have never seen anything quite like it, but I am sure that anything this good, is going to have competition shortly.

The Sonos is stand alone, speaker with built-in amplifier. So if you wanted a single source the Sonos would do the job, however that is not what it does best. What it does best is provide a high quality wireless and app driven stand alone complete music playback system, including the playback material. It will play all of the music you own, plus Spotify, Pandora, Sticher, and multiple other choices, just by controlling it with a smartphone app. Not only that, but each speaker can be programed to play the same thing in every room or each speaker can be independent and play something different.

I hope you like it as much as I do and support my links so that I can get a discount on the next one I buy. Thank you.

Save $50 on the Sonos Zonebridge w/ purchase of S5 Player.


Here is a link on YouTube from Tekzilla that goes into great depth and detail into the Play 1- http://youtu.be/wEuus_k8bjM

SONOS, INC. REFER A FRIEND PROGRAM TERMS & CONDITIONS
Eligibility

The Sonos, Inc. (“Sonos”) Refer A Friend Program (the “Program”) is open only to current Sonos customers in good standing who are thirteen (13) years of age or older (“you” or “Participant”). The Program is void where prohibited. Participation in the Program constitutes the Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Terms and Conditions. Employees of Sonos and its related companies, agents, and suppliers, as well as corporate and government accounts with volume-purchase-level agreements are not eligible to participate.

How it Works

Go to the Refer A Friend Program page.
Enter a person’s name and e-mail address.
Send an e-mail to the person you would like to refer.
Your referred friend will be directed to a landing page where they may purchase Sonos products via a personalized referral code.
For each qualifying referral, you will receive one credit on your status page.
You may redeem the credits for the following products:
3 credits → Play:3
5 credits → Play:5
Program Rules

The Program begins on May 1, 2013 and applies only to referrals and orders made following that date.
Below is a list of Program rules:
To be eligible for the referral program, the person you refer must purchase their new Sonos product via their personalized landing page referenced in the e-mail sent by Sonos.
The person you refer must purchase their Sonos product within one year of receiving the invitation e-mail.
You will be issued one referral credit for each newly referred customer 60 days following purchase of a Sonos product by such referred customer. No referral credits shall be issued if referred customer returns such Sonos product prior to the expiration of this 60 day period. Any further or subsequent purchase by any referred customer will not be rewarded and/or credited for Participant.
Referral credits are only given at the time of purchase and can not be applied after the purchase is made.
If a Participant cancels their account with www.sonos.com, all remaining referral credits are forfeited. The referral credit cannot be refunded.
Offer may not be used in conjunction with the purchase of products sold by third parties.
Referral credits are not refundable, exchangeable, or replaceable, and can only be used by the Participant. Credits can not be reused or transferred. Referral credits do not constitute property of the Participant and are not transferable by operation of law or otherwise to any person or entity and cannot be transferred to any other account on www.sonos.com.
Offer is not for resale and credits are not redeemable for cash or credit and have no monetary value.
Referral Validation

Sonos checks the validity of all referral orders. The Participant’s e-mail address CANNOT be the same as the referred customer’s e-mail address. The Participant’s physical address CANNOT be the same as the referred customer’s physical address.

To receive credit for the referral, each referral order must originate via the referred customer’s personalized referral code provided in the e-mail sent by Sonos introducing the Program. If a referred friend does not purchase a Sonos product using the personalized referral code, the Participant will NOT receive a referral credit. Due to the Sonos privacy policy, Sonos cannot provide information to the Participant regarding the status of a purchase by the referred friend. Sonos reserves the right to require proof of purchase, including, but not limited to, a receipt that a Sonos product was purchased in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

If a Participant sends information to another person via e-mail or through social networks it must meet the general conventions for sending e-mails and messaging through said social networks to friends or family members. Mass messaging, messaging to strangers or any form of action which violates the law or serves commercial purposes, particularly in the form of “spam”, is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate cancellation of the customer account of the Participant and the personalized landing page in question will be deactivated. For the purpose of the preceding sentence, mass messaging includes but is not limited to:
(i) any website with a URL that contains any or all of the following terms, or derivatives of the following terms: “code”, “discount code”, “voucher code”, “promotional code”, “voucher” or “coupon”;
(ii) any website which appears in search engine listings under any of the terms or derivatives of the following terms: “code”, “discount code”, “voucher code”, “promotional code”, “voucher” or “coupon”; or
(iii) any website whose primary or main focus is to promote the use of voucher codes and/or referral links.

Modifications and Termination of the Program

Sonos reserves the right to modify any of the terms and conditions set forth herein – including, but not limited to, the methods through which Participant’s may earn credit and the amount of credit that can be earned by referring friends – at any time, with or without notice, even though these changes may affect Participant’s ability to receive their credit.

A Participant’s participation in the Program constitutes the Participant’s acceptance of any changes to these Terms and Conditions. Customers are responsible for remaining knowledgeable as to any changes that Sonos may make to these Terms and Conditions. The most current version of these Terms and Conditions will be available at www.sonos.com and will supersede all previous versions of these Terms and Conditions.

General Terms and Conditions

To learn how the personal information collected in connection with the Program may be used, individuals should read the Sonos Privacy Policy. The terms of the Sonos Privacy Policy are incorporated herein by reference.

Sonos reserves the right to discontinue the participation privileges of any customer who acts in a manner which causes, or contributes to, an abuse of the intended operation of this Program, engages in any fraudulent activity or uses the Program in a manner inconsistent with these Terms and Conditions or any federal or state laws, statutes, or ordinances. Discontinued participation privileges may result in the loss of all accumulated referral credits. In addition to discontinuance of participation privileges, Sonos shall have the right to take appropriate administrative and/or legal action, including criminal prosecution, as it deems necessary in its sole discretion.

Sonos’ failure to enforce a particular term or condition does not constitute a waiver of that term or condition by Sonos.

Sonos is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information supplied by Participants or referred friends while participating in the Program. All questions or disputes regarding eligibility for the Program, earning of rewards, or a customer’s compliance with these Terms and Conditions will be resolved by Sonos in its sole discretion.

By participating in the Program, Customer acknowledges that technical processing and transmission of information on the Sonos web site may involve transmissions over various networks and changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. Sonos is not responsible for:
(a) incorrect or inaccurate transcription of information;
(b) problems related to any of the equipment or programming associated with the Program or utilized by the Participant;
(c) any human error or printing error;
(d) any interruption, deletion, omission, defect, or line failure of any telephone network or electronic transmission;
(e) problems relating to computer equipment, software, inability to access the Sonos web site; or
(f) any other technical or non-technical error or malfunction.

Except where prohibited, Customer agrees that:
(a) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Program shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action and exclusively by arbitration under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association;
(b) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred (i.e., only costs associated with participating in the Program), but shall not include attorney’s fees under any circumstances; and
(c) Customer hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, and consequential damages. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be severed from the remainder of these Terms and Conditions, which will otherwise remain in full force and effect.

Questions

If you have questions regarding the Program, please contact the Sonos sales department at questions@sonos.com or 1-800-680-2345.

Celebrating 15 years as SoundBroker.com

I am happy to be celebrating my first 15 years doing business as SoundBroker.com.

On Sept 4, 1998 (15 years) I Registered the name SoundBroker.com with ICAN and the rest is history. I want to thank all the people that took a part of our growth. SoundBroker.com is the original and will always be the first and since that day, I have lived with the philosophy : If you are not the lead dog, the view never changes.

Family: Blood is thicker that water, but then so is..

For the Labor Day holiday, I went on a trip from Las Vegas, to Baltimore, MD to attend my cousin's second wedding in less than seven months. But more on that later, for now I am just covering the trip itself.

First, I had to buy the ticket and as I was not sure if I was going that took me a good month to figure out. As this was his second wedding. His first one was on December 12, 2012. 12/12/12. And the second one to the same woman I might add was scheduled for September 1, 2013.

I live in Las Vegas, and the wedding was going to be in Baltimore. In flying across the country, you need to not only schedule your transportation, but you also need to plan your lodging. The lodging was simple, as with most weddings the Bride and Groom usually block off a set of rooms for the out of town guests at a local hotel, where all the relatives and friends stay at a discount rate. I didn't like the discount rate and it turned out that I did better y booking through Hotels.com. I saved 7 dollars and night or so I thought at the time. I highly recommend that you do not do that or you may not get your welcome bag that your hosts put together for you. It took some work and time, but I was able to get mine.

I left my office on Friday at 11:00 AM to catch 1:20 PM AirTrans flight. Despite all you have heard, about AirTran, it is not as bad as I was expecting once I got over the shock of traveling steerage class and not being able to pick my seat. The computer picks it for you. I lucked out, 17D. I got an isle seat in front of the emergency row. That is not good news, that means that the seat does not tilt back as to not block the emergency row. I thought I might be able to get myself moved, but that was not the case. Although by accident I sat in 17C. At the when I sat down, my actual row 17D, E, F was empty and it was a legit mistake on my behalf, even though, in seats A & B, where 2 teenage girls, sisters, I might add, and very thin. That was to make a pleasant flight.

As the plane was boarding, seats 17 D-F the flight attendant happened to be right there when the overweight Asian women took there window and middle seat, the Asian man who commented, ” I think that he is in my seat” the flight attendant responded, don't you want to sit with your party? He answered I do not know these women and he is in my seat (pointing to me). It bothered me that happened for a few reasons, one is I was happy sitting next to thin women so I could have more space in my seating area, where there is very little as there is, and secondly the nerve of her type casting the Asian man, and not type casting me with the thin women!!!! Where as it was impossible for me to be traveling with young thin teenage women.

Some how he decided to sit next to the Asian women and I had a nice comfortable space thanks to the fact that the one sitting next to me was so thin. One other interesting thing happened on that flight that fate took a role in. When I went to put my iPad in the seat pocket in front of me, I found the latest issue of the Robb Report that the passenger traveling in 17C from the previous flight left behind. Made me think, who would fly AirTrans and read the Robb Report????? Talk about a wishful thinker.

The flight left on time and took only 4 hours and 10 minutes, rather than the scheduled 4 hours and 15. But not worry, the luggage took for ever to arrive.

Caught a taxi and 30 minutes later I was checking into the Marriott Waterfront Hotel at the Baltimore waterfront district, Beautiful location. Right on the water, next door to the Four Seasons and upscale shops. Checking in is where I had my first snag. By booking through Hotels.com, I was not confirmed to a king bed. Reading the fine print, it said, something like Blah, blah blah, king or full size bed. Full size is really not full sized. Full size is really a single and for what I was going to be paying, I wanted a King. I got the King but I had to pay an additional $50 a night. Not sure if it well worth it, but I had a nice Jr. Suite which I was told goes for $450 a night, and I was no where near that, so I guess I got a deal after all.

Okay, now for the inner story of the 2nd wedding. My cousin an American, who grew up in of all places, Baltimore, MD married a Brazilian woman that lives in São Paulo. My cousin also lives in São Paulo. So they go married in São Paulo on 12/12/12 and because most of the family could not afford the the excursion to Brazil for the wedding, they decided to get married in city where my cousin grew up for those family members that did not make it to Brazilian wedding.

I do not have much family and after this weekend I would have to report that I am right. In life they say, that 90% of the people you know do not care one iota if you live or die, 3% want to see you do well and support your efforts and the rest what to see you fail and do worse then them. Most of my family fall into the 90% category, but a few of them are in the 3% and those are the ones that I was looking forward to see and spend the weekend with and now that I am heading from Baltimore to New York City on the AMTRACK, I am so glad that I came to this event. I had a great time and was able to bond with my family.

I also had a great business meeting with one of SoundBroker.com's major vendors so all in all this weekend was one that I will think back fondly on.

On the Amtrack, it seems that they lost power on the tracks in front of us somewhere outside of Newark, DE and the train is moving at about 5 miles an hour and has been going that speed for the last 40 minutes.

If you ask me what the highlight of the trip was, it would be a no brainer. Bonding with my 3rd cousins, Isabella and Sam. Twins that just turned 6 months old this weekend. I need to say, that I have no recent experience with babies of any age, much less ones this young, but let me tell you, these babies were great and I loved playing with them.


More to follow………

 

Money can’t buy you happiness, but it makes misery much more tolerable.

I remember David Lee Roth plagiarizing Errol Flynn by saying in an interview, “People who say money can’t buy you love, just don’t know where to shop”. Personally, I think that just sounds funny but it is not true. Sure money can’t buy you happiness, but it sure is better to be unhappy with money than unhappy and broke. I know I have been on both sides of that fence and make no mistake that I am much happier now that I have money, then when I was broke. I even wrote a song about it called “Broke as a bloke can be”. Maybe one day I will play it for you.

To clarify, I am not equating being in love to happiness, but if you are in love it can make you happy and true happiness, one can say only can come from within, thus money cannot buy you love, money can only temporarily rent it.

I have never really had a problem with money, my problems always stemmed from the lack of money or having too little money. Having too little money as I remember it, makes you become a juggler. And although juggling is the secret of life, I don’t like jugglers. I didn’t always feel that way, but somewhere in my past, I was in a talent contest at the Mayflower Theater in Santa Monica, CA and I came in second to a juggler and ever since then, I am just not a fan.

So now I am 62 years old and have been working for myself for the last 16 years and I have made a good living but not a Bill Gates type of living, I have enough F-U money, but not enough retirement money. I own a house, an office building, a couple of cars, a Rolex, a bicycle and iPhone.

All in all one would say, I live a comfortable life, with all the creature comforts that money can buy. You would think that I have nothing to complain about and you should be right, but I can find plenty to complain about. And that is the challenge. With the amount of success in my life, I should not have one thing to complain about, except taxes and corrupt politicians. It is hard to believe that I still find things to complain about. Does that make me a bad person? I think not.

I have been dwelling on this the last few days, because I have been depressed. Not the type of depression that will cause me to drive to the Grand Canyon and take a leap of faith over the edge, or overdose on Twinkies and run nude on highway flailing my body parts and giving a policeman cause to shoot me, but a depression that made me think just how lucky I am and that I have a lot of nerve to be depressed. Maybe it is good to be depressed every once in a while. Maybe by being temporarily depressed, I can appreciate how good it feels to not be depressed and to be happy for who I am and what I bring to the party of life.

Those that know me, know that my favorite expression (and the one I want to be remembered for) is “You Make It Happen!”. I like the way it sounds. It just flows off the tongue. It probably should be “I Make It Happen,” but when you say it to someone, you sound too conceded. But when you repeat and say” You make it happen” then it sounds great. Either way, we make happen together. And to know that I am associated with a great phrase like that and having a lot of money in the bank, gives me reason to live.

Although I have been married and engaged and have had numerous love affairs, I never had any children. Unfortunately, that is a regret that I have. A selfish person might comment “but look at all the fun that you were able to buy yourself not having to give any money to your child’s college fund or for that matter doctor bills, birthday presents and the lot”. It is true that I have traveled the world and have enjoyed the company of strangers everywhere I have been. I might not have been able to do that if I had a wife and children.

Now I think that the time has come for me to settle down and find a woman that I can love and be loved by. A woman that will take care of me and one that I can take care of. One that finds me funny and lovable and one that I find that funny and lovable. I think that is a positive and rather than look at it as if I where alone, I look at it as I if am between marriages.

I have always chosen to look at life from the perspective that the glass is half full and that lemon is best when it is lemonade. That “No” is a term of endearment and love. I’ll explain. The first word we learned as baby from our mothers is the word “No”. We are taught that word only because our mothers care about and love us. They do not want us to hurt ourselves. Okay it is a stretch, but it is true. Delusional, but true.

I have heard the word “No” my whole life and I am sure that I will continue hearing it until I can’t hear any longer especially considering the fact that I am single and dating again in my sixties and want to be in a relation with a younger woman that has a teenage or younger child. I know what some of you must be thinking. I know that it will take a special woman to find me attractive and lovable. I know that it will have to be a woman that believes that age is only mind over matter and if she doesn’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

I am a lucky man and that although I have felt depressed the for the last week, I am confident that it will be short lived because I have a positive outlook on life. I know that I make it happen. I know that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I wish you all the best and hope that your life is filled with as many things to be thankful for as mine, and if you find yourself depressed, remember the good things that have come your way and that nobody cares that you are depressed.

I will never have another affair with a Hollywood Starlet.

Read to the end to hear about my affair with a Hollywood Starlet…..

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If you took the time to do the math, you would easily figure out that I founded SoundBroker.com 27 Nov 1997 (16 years ago). That is a long time to do anything even when you love what you do.  Sure many of you have trees in your back yard that 100s of years old and I do not underestimate, how difficult it must be to stand in the same spot, without clothes, never to able to sit down, or for that matter take a break.  Fortunately for me, I have taken many breaks, not stood in the same spot for any length of time and changed my clothes so often, I have lost count.

When you love what you do, it makes it easy to get up in the morning and do it again. I love what I do and I can’t wait to do it again.

In our industry, you get to meet a lot of interesting people in your life some you do business with, some you do not. Some you bond with and some you do not. Those that you bond with makes all worth while to get up and do it again.

One such person, that I have had the privilege to get know and bond with is Lauren Harakidas. Over the last 10 years, Lauren has been with me as my office manager, bookkeeper, secretary, inventory manager, why she has basically done everything any employer would hope for in an employee and more.

As you might imagine over the last 10 years we have become family, so it is with sad heart that I have accepted Lauren’s resignation.  I know that she has also touched everyone of you that is reading this newsletter.  I urge you to reach out and wish Lauren the best of luck in her future endeavors, I am sure that if you feel like I do, she will surely be missed.

My life is going through a myriad of changes at this moment and I am not sure what any of it means, I just know that I am a winner and a champion and living well is the best revenge. I must say I do live well. However, on to the list of challenges I face:

1) After 61 years of next to perfect health and never having surgery before, on January 25, 2013, I fell to the floor in the most pain that I have ever experienced in my entire life.  The pain lasted until April 9, 2013 at which time, I under went a double Hemilaminectomy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminotomy).  Now I am getting healthier everyday and I would say I am at 96%. Still have some numbness in my things, but I will take numbness over pain any day of the week, including today. Physical therapy is a wonderful agony.

2)  After almost 10 years living in the same place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I find that my roommate and I have decided to give up our place. I am sad about this, although I knew that it was going to happen for over a year, I just didn’t know when.
3) I broke up with my girlfriend. Although she was imaginary, I can tell you the pain feels real, unlike her.  I alway have had a good imagination, but this time it had me going.  I am sure given time my mind will come up with another one for me, but right now, I need the time and space to heal.
4) Lauren quit after 10 years of working for me.  The change in the office environment, the time I will invest in hiring her replacement and then the training. I have come to terms with the training as, I am going to take on the training personally.  I have come to know myself to a point where I can almost second guess myself.
5) I will be going through a rebirth of sorts as I will be in the thick of training. I am actually looking forward to this as I am sure that will reinvigorate me to strive to make the most of what I have built and make the necessary changes to forge into the future.  What better way, then to go back to the basics? And with the training I will trust back to the basics.
6) I am wondering who is still reading this
7) The bank that financed my office building 5 years ago, would not refinance my loan and the balloon payment is coming due, instead they extended the loan for a year. That by the way is the good news, I am not in the street and they lowered my mortgage interest from 5% to 3.4% and that is a significant monthly saving. Here is the bad news, I did not want to go through the refinancing next year, so I applied for a loan with a different bank, one that I do almost all of my business with, they have my home, my car, my, my, my…. And it turns out although they approved me for a loan, the appraisal came out so low that and the interest raised to 4.5% that it doesn’t pay to move the loan. Very depressing.
8) I am getting older everyday and James Wood is dating a 22-year-old.
9) The NSA is monitoring my phone calls and I have nothing to hide, not like when I was in my 20s and living in the Hollywood Hills of California.
10) I will never have an affair with a hollywood starlet.
11) My dog doesn’t love me. No wait!!! I don’t have a dog, that must be someone else’s’ life. But why not keep in here for the humor.
12) Paula Dean is called out for being a racist, rather than for all the people she’s given heart problems to with the amount of butter in her recipes.
11) I need to save more for later. Did I tell you I am remodeling my house in Vegas and I am Rio?
My friend Peter, told me this week that when one door closes an other opens. So it is at a time like this when I am feeling down in the dumps and wondering what the future holds in store for me, I remember my Uncle Al’s words to me. “You are a champion and when a champion gets knocked down, he back up and gives it his all”.
The one and only thing that is certain in life is that our lives will not stay constant. We are born (no one knows why) and from that moment on we are on a path to die (no one knows why).  From time to time, there are moments of joy,  happiness, achievements, friendships, magic moments and myriad of other occurrences that for a moment or two allow us the opportunity to forget that eventually……
I ran out of room on this blog to cover the part about me and the Hollywood Starlet,  tune in to my next post.

My Statement of Life

In the last three months, I learned a lot about me, my life and the people and things that are part of it on a day to day basis.

My life and the life of SoundBroker.com are non separable. I love them both and do whatever I need to do to make both the best that they can be. I am honored that you are reading my words and even more honored when I think of the people that allow my staff and I the opportunity to assist them when buying or selling what it is that we buy and sell for them.

If there was only one thing (there isn't one there are many) that would stand out as the most important aspect of my life, it would be my integrity. Thus in turn my word. Without keeping my word, my life would be meaningless. It is because of that fact, I take the responsibility that I must safeguard the money that is in trusted to me and insure that the buyer gets what they paid for and the seller gets the agreed upon price paid to them in a timely manner.

Most of the gear my company SoundBroker.com sells is over $1,000 and sales can run as high as a few hundred thousand dollars. Or in other words, we are not talking about chump change, we are talking about real hard earned dollars. So it is with great pride and no hesitation that I can report, since the day I started SoundBroker.com in1997, that every seller has received their money in a timely manner. To take that statement one step further, when someone new asks me for references, my reply is for them to talk to anyone that they have respect for and ask them about their experience with SoundBroker.com. Odds are that if they are a player in this industry, they have had a positive experience with me.

So on January 25th this year, when I was physically brought to my knees in the most horrific attack of body pain I have ever experienced in my 61 years, thanks to two herniated disks in my lower back, I persevered and did everything in my power to maintain a sense of being, as well as my desire to rise above the pain and fulfill my obligations to SoundBroker.com , it's members and my staff.

The last three months have been extremely hard on my body and soul. I have learned many lessons and experienced the most trying time of my life. In and out doctor's offices, pain pills and the loss of my mobility, friends that turned out not to be friends, and the fear of the known and the unknown.

Throughout it all, I hung in there and now as the pain subsides and my life is returning back into my control, or at least back to the point of lack of pain on a moment to moment basis, I look back and realize that my focus on doing the right thing by my members never once wavered. No matter how great the pain, no matter how much all I wanted to do was go to bed and sleep it off, the fact remains, I toughed it out, focused, and accomplished my goal of providing the best customer service for my customers/members.

In closing, the number one reality that shone through this whole experience is a lesson that I learned ions ago, and that lesson of life is this: The only thing in life that we are in control of, is how we react to what happens to us. There was nothing that I could have done to avoid going through the pain and suffering, all I could do was react.

I am proud of myself for being proactive, positive and determined to get my health back while keeping my life's priorities in order.