Life Lesson #2

You Can Adjust to Anything You Need To

I know, it sounds like a bold thing to say. And I'll admit, there may be some circumstances that I'm overlooking when I make that statement. But I have discovered that you can adjust to things that look impossible from the start.

At the beginning of May, we thought that we had a couple of days or weeks that we would need to work through some challenges. Little did we know that it would be the middle of November before we would live in our house again. However, there's reasons that God doesn't always reveal the whole picture to us. If I would have had the whole picture in mind back in May, I would have just wanted to give up. However, by just taking one step at a time, and not knowing what's coming up, we were able to adjust to whatever we needed to to overcome the summer.

So if you're needing to adjust to something that you don't think you can, take it just a little bit at a time, and get a lot of people to pray.

Life Lesson #1

No matter how ugly you think life is, there are some things that are unchangeably good.

• 1. God, in his all-knowing, all-seeing wisdom. Sometimes it seems like He's playing a board game with us. Sometimes we are sent directly to jail, without collecting $200, and other times He gives us Boardwalk and Park Place with hotels on both.
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• 2. A family that loves you. I know that a caring family sometimes seems like a thing of the past here in the states, but I was reminded of how utterly important it is that we don't let family fall by the wayside.
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• 3. Friends that are right there for you when it feels like you've been sent directly to jail. There were many times that I had to chose to accept their help, even when I felt completely undeserving of their services (lawn mowing, house cleaning, etc), gift cards, money, food, taking us out to eat, and many other things.
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• 4. Probably the most amazing thing is how all three of the above tie together. It's all part of the board game of life.
  

Oh, The Lessons Of Life

It's amazing how God inserts things into our life to teach us different life lessons. Over the past 5 months, I've experienced this multiple times. With my wife on bed rest, at home and at the hospital, and having a son born 13 weeks premature, there were many opportunities for these valuable lessons to be inserted into my life. Were all of them fun to go through? No. Were all of them comfortable? No. Would I trade any of them for a normal summer? Absolutely not!
Although I wouldn't even close wish that anyone would go through what we did this summer, I really wish everyone could learn what we've learned. So, over the next couple of weeks, in an effort to give you the lessons without the pain, I am going to give you the blog version. Hopefully, the 'No Pain, No Gain' philosophy won't apply here.

Minimum Wage Increase: Perfect or Horrible?

I was listening to an interesting discussion today about the increase in the minimum wage. Is this the perfect timing for the increase, or is it the worst possible time they could have picked?

If you think about the fact that there are many people that will be getting $0.70 per hour more, that could mean millions of dollars being pumped into the economy. Might I also add that those millions wouldn't have to come from the government. I am sure that many families and individuals are glad for this wage hike since it may loosen up their budget.

On the other hand, there is an ugly side to the equation. How many businesses are on the brink of shutting down? How many of these will "kick the bucket" when they need to pay their employees more? When a business shuts down, jobs are lost, and the employees are in worse shape than they were before they got their "raise".

There's something else too. Take a pizza shop, for instance, that employs quite a few people at minimum wage. It could cost the owner around $15,000 per year more just because of this wage hike. I think we could all assume that pizza shop owners don't make enough money to just write off $15,000. So what happens? The owner jacks up the price of the pizza. People buy less pizza at his establishment. The owner doesn't have work for all his employees anymore. The employees get laid off. Back to square one.

So, while there are some pretty good arguments for the increase, I'm gonna say that they could have picked a better time to do it.

The Bizfisher

Mysteries of Marketing

I usually get a bit of a bang out of trying something that I'm not experienced at. Partly because I like to learn new things, and partly because I enjoy the challenge of blazing through new territory. Right now, marketing is one of those new territories. There's so many things to consider. With a very limited budget, what gets you the most traffic for your dollar? Which areas have more potential customers for your business? Is your business relevant to the interests of the residents in the area that you're targeting? Can you get more circulation for less money if you shop around a bit?

As I said, I really do enjoy the challenges that new experiences create, but sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the options and all the loopholes that you need to be aware of. All this to say that I would definitely welcome any advice from all of you marketing gurus.

The Bizfisher

Tired of Listening to Your Boss?

Something random just entered my mind today. Have you ever thought about the fact that the employees are always the ones complaining? You hear it all the time, "Can you believe what the Bossman just did?" or, "If I were the Boss, I wouldn't do it like that." Or on the radio you might here, "Tired of hearing the boss? Tune him out and tune us in." Why is it that employees find so many things to pick on?

It makes me wonder if a boss gets together with his friends and talks about his employees. I think I should start a boss-friendly radio station. "Are you tired of putting up with your employees? Are you sick of them not doing what you want them to? Tune them out and tune us in."

I would like to take my hat off to the employers out there including my own. Though we may sound like complaining little children sometimes, we really do appreciate the jobs that you've created for us.

The Bizfisher

Help Me Become Efficient

Tell me, what do you do when you have a day that you feel like you're taking 1 step forward but about 20 back? Today just happened to be that kind of a day. I got up this morning, knowing that my day held almost more than I could handle. I had hopes that things would go well enough that I would be able to get everything done. Soon after I arrived at work I saw those hopes come to a screeching halt. It seemed that every corner I turned there was one more thing keeping me from getting done what I needed to get done.

Before too long I had too many things on my mind and couldn't even think about the job at hand. Now I would like to ask a favor of you. What do you do when you have a day like that? How do you keep from coming to the end of the day and having 20 things on your mind when you go home? What methods do you have to make sure that those 20 things get done the following day when the following day is already packed full too? Or is my situation just hopeless?

The wonderful thing about a day like this is that it gives you much more appreciation for the fun you can have with your family when you get home. Two kids running at you when you climb out of your truck is the perfect way to get your mind off of work.


The Bizfisher

Cheap Payback

How do you go about rewarding your employees when there's just no money to spare? If you can't afford to be handing out bonuses or gift cards whenever one of your employees does a bang-up job, what do you do? Do you just decide that once things get better, you'll give them a raise. Or do you do nothing at all? If you're the latter, shame on you.

There are ways to reward your employees without breaking the bank. There are really two paychecks that your workers take home. They're physical paycheck is the one that you're aware of. Sometimes you're painfully too aware of it. However, what you may not know is that each of you're employees also takes home a mental/emotional paycheck. This is the one that you need to work on when the money's not flowing freely.

If an employee goes out of the way to do something for the good of the business, it's amazing how far a bit of recognition can go. Just simply recognizing his/her good works will be a bonus on the mental paycheck, but if you really want to make them feel good, give them some public recognition. If you do it in front of their co-workers, it may inspire them to go out of their way too.

You can also take the opportunity to find out more about your employees. Take them out to lunch or coffee and talk to them about their dreams, visions, etc. If you go this extra mile, you can expect that your employee will be flying high for quite a while. I'm sure you can think of some ways that you can reward them in your own special way, but whatever you do, please don't make the mistake of just not doing anything.

The Bizfisher

Bright Side of Recession

As a business owner, you may be experiencing some high levels of stress right now. You might look at the title and wonder if there is such a thing as a bright side. For those of you who consider yourselves to be entrepreneur's, there is a bright side.
If you take a look at some of the past recessions, there are some big companies that were started right in the middle of them. Towards the end of the Great Depression, in a garage in Palo Alto, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard used $538 to start up an electronics manufacturer. This manufacturer has become well known as Hewlett-Packard, or HP.
Do you like pancakes? If so, you can be glad for the Eisenhower depression. The first IHOP opened its doors during that time period. IHOP started franchising just 3 years later, and now there are more than 1,300 locations across the US.
So, you see, a recession can end up having a bright side. These are only two of many examples. If you got laid off, and feel like you have an idea for starting a company, don't just sit there! Get out there and get things rolling. Maybe next time we have a recession, we will be reading about your company, and how well you blossomed during a tough time.


The Bizfisher

Fantastic Things About the West

I'd like to start by saying that us boring easterners just don't have a clue how to have fun. This picture doesn't come close to doing justice to the hilarities that we experienced at this donkey basketball game. It was a fundraiser for the local high school. The players couldn't pass or shoot unless they were sitting on the donkey. If they got off to go get the ball, they had to drag their donkey with them. You know how bull-headed donkeys can be. Truly hilarious.



This is just me trying to board down the unbelievable sand dunes. Or rather just trying to keep my feet off of the scorching sand. It was so hot that I actually got blisters on the bottom of my feet from walking across. The sand dunes are definitely something to see. Mountains of nothing but sand.


This is just part of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range sticking up above Lake Deweese. Not far from this view, further down the valley, is a buffalo/horse ranch that I plan on owning sometime. It's probably around 55,000 acres of the nicest looking land you can possibly get.
Tomorrow we leave this beautiful country to head back home. Two days of nothing but driving.


The Bizfisher

What to Write About?

Now that the guys have been to Florida. Now that I don't have the bike wrecks to write about. Now that I will actually need to think about what I write instead of just posting whatever Derrick texted me. The question is raised, "What will I really be writing about?

Well, when I started this blog, my plans were to write about business related things. However this seems like a stark contrast from the antics of four men on four bicycles. So I decided maybe I'll bridge the gap a little bit with some info about the bizfishing.com.

As you may have noticed, the website is developing over time. There are a few business that have created a profile. To these businesses I say, thank you. We know that over time there will be more and more businesses joining us. As I am writing, we are working on the option to upload your company's logo onto your profile. We will also be working on making it possible for consumers to leave comments about previous experiences with any business that has created a profile. Another thing for the future will be chat option that will make it possible for businesses and customer's to network more efficiently.

I will try to keep you updated with any new developments that turn up on the website. I appreciate your patience with us as we work to develop what we feel will become an important tool in the growth of your business.

The Bizfisher

"And We Made It. Praise Jesus!"

These are the words of the bikers that came with a picture of the four of them in Sarasota. They arrived there around noon today.

Here is the welcoming site of Pinecraft Park.

Congratulations!! You guys are unbelievable! There are many orphans in Africa that will be quite thankful to you. I'm totally pumped for you, and hope that you can enjoy a few days of relaxation.


The Bizfisher

Blood, Gore, and Railroads

I'm sure that the title probably had most of you on your knees before you looked any further. If you're still on your knees, you can thank the Lord for protection. It really wasn't as bad as it sounds, but it could have caused at least some broken bones. There was a 4-bike pile up, just north of Tampa.

Derrick, Shawn, Jared, and Brent were approaching a railroad track, in that order. What they didn't realize is that this track had deep grooves in it. Well Derrick's tire hit the groove first, and he hit the tracks. Shawn was coming up next, and was too close to stop, so he hit Derrick. Next came Jared, who tried to steer clear, and would have been successful had his tire not gotten stuck in the tracks too. You guessed it, next came Brent who then ran over Jared. I wouldn't wish this kind of experience on anybody, but, knowing that they will be ok, I sure do think it would have made a wonderful YouTube video. Below are some pics that they sent me of the results.

Here's what the sidewalk looked like.

I believe this is Derrick's elbow.

And I'm not sure who this is.

Despite the mishaps, they still managed to mosey 102 miles down the road. They ended up in Lutz, Florida for the night. Congrats, and best wishes for tomorrow.


The Bizfisher

FLORIDA!!!!!

Check it out!!! The Florida line is now behind them!

This has got to be a good feeling! Not only the fact that they're within the boundaries of Florida, but also the fact that they got out a whopping 115 miles today! That's incredible. They did say it got quite warm today. Things were kept interesting today with a snake and a couple of dead armadillos. The nesting place tonight is Williston, Florida.

The plans are to get down close to Tampa tomorrow, then finish things up on Saturday.


On quite a different note, I'm doing some traveling of my own right now. This evening finds us in Lawrence, Kansas for the night. We are on our way to Westcliffe, Colorado. I was behind a trailer all the way out there that looked kind of unique. Maybe some of you would recognize it. This is what it looked like.

Bizfishing.com? I need to check that out. I wonder what that website's about.

Taras was loving the idea of wearing his new "Lightning McQueen" trunks into the pool.

Oooh, So Close!

The four bikers are sooooo close to the Florida line! They are staying in Lake Park, Georgia tonight.
I do believe that it's only about 5 miles from the line. They were able to pump out 106 miles today, and said it got pretty warm. Good news for the day is that they managed to get a free hotel with choice points.

We have no new pictures to post and no new videos, so this is going to be a short little post. It's a good thing though because I need to get to bed. At 2:oo in the a.m. I need to get up and start driving. It's Colorado or bust!!

The Bizfisher

A Mr. John Patterson

Here are a few videos that I had been trying to upload for quite some time. I believe they sent me these on Saturday. Sorry for the delay.

Derrick going crazy! Jared biking the Tennessee River

Taking a short day.

Well, the guys are resting up in Cordele, Georgia tonight. I think they had a pretty decent day. No flat tires, no rain, but it sounds like they had pretty extreme winds hindering them from having a perfect day. They did, however, blast through another 95 miles today. If I'm not mistaken, another good day should bring them mighty close to the Florida line! Keep on cranking guys!

On a not so pleasant note, Jared lost his phone today and will be looking for another one. But on a very pleasant note, they met up with a wonderful man named John Patterson. John gave them directions and the cash in his wallet. He also took a picture of them and told them that his church would pray for them. Thanks John. It's guys like you that make a trip like this fun.

In answer to the fiz bisher, I would be honored to tell you all about our Colorado excursion. But first I must make the trip. Starting this weekend, you will probably hear about parts of the trip.

The Bizfisher

The Genteel Man

Well Josh, I think the guys have reached the Georgia that you know and love. At least the genteel man part of the Georgia you know and love. They didn't say anything about the southern belles wafting on the summery breeze like angelic butterflies. And they didn't mention the smell of magnolia and peach trees. But one would just assume that these all exist if there's nice brick sidewalks and a beautiful downtown.

That's what they encountered when they reached Barnesville, Georgia, the "Buggy Capital of the South". What do you want to bet that Barnesville wouldn't feel much like a capital at all if they would see the amount of buggies we have around here? The crew biked a good 89 miles today. Quite good considering the fact that Jared had 3 flat tires. These guys have tire changing down to an art now and it only takes them about 5 minutes to fix one.

They said the hotel guy (I'm assuming maybe the person behind the front desk) gave them 20 bucks toward the orphanage and some Huddle House dollars. Now that sounds like a real southern genteel man.

Derrick says that to any aspiring bicycler wondering what kind of diet to use, he would highly recommend the Huddle House Triple Burger.

Of Rain, Headwinds, and Georgia Hillbillies

I think you can probably guess from the title that today wasn't exactly an easy day. To start things off, there was a strong headwind pretty much all day. To top things off, there was rain most of the day. But that was just the beginning of the adventure. I guess in Georgia the hillbillies don't have anything better to do than go around hollering at bikers. I can only imagine what kind of profane southern hospitality that might have come flying at them. To top things off, these hillbillies decided to throw some pill bottles at them. Unfortunately, Shawn ended up being the target for one.

But, all in all, it must not have gone too bad, because they cranked out 109 miles. Wow!! With a headwind and rain? And hollering, pill bottle throwing Georgia hillbillies? These guys are unbelievable! They ended up in Dallas, Georgia for the night. Well guys, all I can say is, we shall pray for a better day tomorrow. And for no pill bottle throwing fans.

The Bizfisher

The Slacker Day

I'm terribly sorry for the delayed post. I was trying so hard to get two movies on here that Derrick sent me. Seriously, these were some great quality videos. No, not really great quality, just fun to watch. Derrick tried his hand at singing as he was passing his fellow bikers. But for some odd reason I couldn't upload the videos. Bummer. So today I'm afraid that there will be no pictures. Unless of course I would happen to get those uploaded.

Our Four Fearless Mennos from Millersburg were slacking a bit today. They got sixty miles in, which isn't bad considering that they only biked till 12:30 today. I would like to see how many of you can guess why they stopped at 12:30. Just leave your guess in the comment. I'll tell you what Derrick told me. "It's a beautiful day, straight from the Lord. We're gonna cut our day short because the ____ ___ __ ___ ____-____. Let's hear your guesses. They are sleeping in Cleveland, Tennessee tonight, which is probably around 30 miles from the Georgia line.

Well, I've got quite a bit on my mind tonight so I think I'll leave it with that. If any of you should happen to think of me between now and 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. Good night.


The Bizfisher

Nearing Halfway!!!

Derrick claims that they're so used to a forenoon break at home that they just need to do it here too.

I think Shawn's ordering a huge piece of that chocolate pie for supper.

Well, if I added it up right, our bikers are at 484 miles tonight! If you do the math, that's getting pretty close to the half way point. They trucked through 95 miles of hills and had some wind in their face. They're settled in to their hotel in Kingston, Tennessee, and are resting up for yet another day on the road.

By the way, did you notice that we had a celebrity post a comment on a previous blog? I believe it was Shawn himself. Shawn, it's nice to know that you're checking into the blogs every now and then. Make sure you keep telling people about it, because it's interesting to see them comment about how they met you. Best of luck to you guys as you slaughter another leg of the journey tomorrow.

The Bizfisher

Biking the 'Rocky Mountains'

Judging by the view in the background, this was a grueling day.

I think Derrick is trying to be as much of a man as Daniel Boone.

When a biker asks to exchange the Fredericksburg hill for the one that he's biking, you know he's got a pretty serious hill. Word around Valley View has it that that's what Brent was asking for this morning. Here's Derrick's take on Day 5. "We fought through what seemed like the Rocky Mountains this morning, then we caught a good wind and cruised into Williamsburg, Kentucky for the night."

They blasted through 92 miles today. Congrats on being ahead of schedule again! Best of luck to you tomorrow.

The Bizfisher

Day #4

So this morning Derrick asked me, "Are waffles and lots of butter a good breakfast for bikers?" I thought about telling him that he needs loads of peanut butter on top of the waffles and then powdered sugar on top of the syrup. On second thought, maybe not if your planning to bike all day.

The pictures weren't quite so plentiful from the men today, so I'm going to dig into the archives a bit. Here are some from Sunday when they left.

Oooh, look at those guys. Dawn there's your picture of Brent

Now would you look at those shirts. I wonder where they got such classy looking outfits.

For some reason their pose in this picture makes me think of the cover on a CD. Maybe we can call them the 'Biker Boy Band'.

Well, our heroes are staying in Irvine, Kentucky tonight. They got a total of 82 miles in today. I don't know if they ran into any nasty weather or not. I would guess I would have heard about it if they had any trouble. If you look on a map, Irvine is right beside the Daniel Boone National Forest. I'm kind of jealous because I bet that's a really nice area down through there. I will say this though. Judging by the terrain map on google, they have some ups and downs coming up tomorrow. Can't say I'm jealous about that. So, best wishes to the bikers.

The Bizfisher

Kentucky!!!!

Derrick said, 'It's like biking with a chicken.'

Shawn looks a bit skeptical of their tire changing capabilities. This is 1 of 2 in their series of flat tires for the day.

The fearless foursome is in Kentucky! However, they didn't get there without difficulty. I'm imagining this is where they may have started wondering 'Why are we really doing this?' The cool thing about this is that their pain is our gain. I get much more intriguing pictures from them when they're having trouble. Not only did they run into some rain, but they also had two flat tires.

Rest assured, last time I talked to them, they were eating supper at a Ponderosa. So all-in-all, some rain and flat tires behind them, they got in 55 miles today. Their plans are to bed down in Maysville, Kentucky. To the bikers I say, I hope you encounter better circumstances tomorrow. To the readers I say, I'd better go, because my wife is coming with milkshakes. I do have a wonderful wife!

The Bizfisher

Dedicated

A big congrats to our dedicated foursome! 162 miles under their belt! Now that's kickin' some serious hiney! They did, however, encounter some not so nice weather. They found an innovative use for Subway bags. Derrick said his feet were cold and wet. Thus, the Subway bags. At about 4:00 pm they were in Hillsboro, Ohio. I haven't gotten word yet whether they were planning on sleeping there or not. I would say they deserve a good rest after they biked 100 miles in this inclement weather. Keep them in your prayers!

The Bizfisher

Off They Go!

Today we saw our friends off as they left Millersburg with their bicycles. We pedaled with them for the first 8 miles just to give them a good start. I was impressed by the amount of friends and family that was there to see them off. Sometime I want to get some pictures up of when they were leaving, but for now I just have one that they sent me about two hours into their journey.
I got word that they have enjoyed a supper at Bob Evans, a hot bath, and are kickin' it into bed in Heath, Ohio. Congrats guys on the first successful leg of the journey.

The Big Day

Tomorrow's a big day. For many reasons really. 1. It's Easter. The celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord. 2. This means that we will be with family. 3. Remember what I said about the guys biking to Florida? They're leaving tomorrow.

I will be posting a daily update on my blog to say where they're going and what they encounter. Tomorrow we are going to have a bit of a leaving party for them. Several of us guys from church will bike the first couple of miles with them. There's a man from the local newspaper that will be there to maybe write an article about them.

So if you would like to keep up with these guys, just watch my blog. I will try to post some pics of tomorrow when they're leaving.

See-ya later, The Bizfisher

What Is Bizfishing?

In my first blog I mentioned something about Bizfishing.com. You may or may not be wondering what a website called Bizfishing.com might consist of, but I'm about to tell you. It's kind of hard to explain without taking all night to tell you about it. To keep a long story short, I will just tell you some different descriptions that people have given it.
A social networking site for businesses.
A business directory.
A "dating site" for businesses.
So you see, it's a bit of a combination. It can either be useful to a person looking for a specific type of business, or free marketing for a business that creates a profile. The best thing I can tell you to do is to wait for this weekend and check it out for yourself.

On quite another subject, I have four friends that are leaving for Florida on Sunday. They're not really planning on getting there the conventional way though. They will be biking. As in pedaling. They're raising funds to benefit an orphanage in Africa. They are taking donations per mile with the estimated mileage being 1,100 miles. I will be keeping a daily update of where they are and how they're doing on this blog.

The night is coming on strong and tomorrow is yet another day. So with this I sign off.

The Bizfisher

An Introduction to My Blog

So here begins a new post. Not only that, but a completely new blog. Wow! What in the world will it be about? There are endless numbers of possibilities as to what one could write about in a blog. Mine however will just include a few. Mostly Business, some Bicycling, probably some Family Life thrown in, and maybe we'll tackle some Religion every now and then. Please do not think for a minute that this is the order of my priorities.

This blog will be posted on the homepage of my Bizfishing.com website. Therefore, I will be writing mostly about things that pertain to Business. However, business can include many different subjects. Don't immediately think that I'll be offering my opinions on what the stock market will do.

I think I heard some of you in the background yelling. What were you saying? Oh, yes, I should tell you what Bizfishing.com is. Well, it's Saturday morning, and I generally do breakfast here at a local restaurant, so I can't take the time to tell you now. Come back though, that's what my next post will be about.


P.S. I do believe today is my Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Woman.