Pretty amazing numbers in this.
The Then and The Now
My post about Theo apparently has been the most popular post I have ever had. So many people have emailed me. I was right when I quit because the time came to be paid all 40+ people were "released from employment" without getting paid anything. Theo is still up to his old tricks though, trying to recruit people for houses that pay for themselves.
Life moves forward I have been involved with a company called Radius Products and a lot of exciting changes are happening here. Our most popular product, the Radius Atomic Bass Earphone is really making it far. Just mailed out 5,000 last week to buy.com alone. Since I'm in charge of marketing and shipping and such, for everyone that knows me you will get 30% off any order by using the radius30 when you check out.
Feel free to check our evolving website at http://www.radiusearphones.com/
Other then working at Radius, my other business goes up and down, sometimes super busy other times quit dead. In December that would make sense.
Illusions of Grandeur
People are amazing in what they say and really believe. My roommate was offered a job with AEUSA and within a few days got a raise up to $4,000 a month, was offered full medical coverage, a cell phone and a company car all within 30 days. In 3 months you get a house with free electricity too and a expense account and Paid vacations. Theo Stevens (the owner), was all about hiring people and said anything to get people. He claims that all of these are services he provides. http://aeusa.biz/services.html and these are the perks. http://aeusa.biz/employeebenefits.html
I called and got a job doing the web design and IT work, of which after 2 weeks of the offices "getting ready" I never had any work, the website that is up, he created himself using yahoo sitebuilder. Still though I being promised that I was getting paid never less as if money was no object to him. He told me after I got hired that he was outsourcing the website to a company and wanted me to just over see it and it would be done in a couple of months. So wasting my time again to do nothing?
We kept meeting at places and he never had the money to pay for the meetings rooms. In one week, he asked that my roommate hire 40 telemarketers and 10 sales reps. Telling all of us to hire, hire, hire, 40 people calling, 10 going door to door, an assistant for me even though he told me he outsourced it anyways and then told me that he was going to a hire a person for IT. (So like what will I do then and why hire a person to help do something that I have nothing to do in the first place?)
We get there today and he tells us there is only 5 offices and no phones and he only wanted 10 people which is a lie because he had no offices until he pays the other office off. Like 40 people went to dunkin doughnuts to go over calling pitches all from their own cell phones, I couldn't stand looking at all these innocent people being used so I knew monday was going to be my last day.
The more I asked questions the more I found out, Theo works at Cracker Barrel, he has this huge plan that he believes with all his heart will happen. He wants us to plan a multi-million dollar Christmas ball in a month and half, yet is unable to pay a $300 bill from last Wednesday for one office. Yet, wants to open up 290 offices across the country and talked about buying out Comcast, starting his own electric company, and the company car was going to be custom designed by him for $350,000 and we all will get one in 30 days.
So much talk about how every Fortune 200 knows Theo this and that. He claims Yahoo and BofA are vendors of his company but reality is he has a account with Bank of America so he considers them vendors / investors of the company. Yahoo hosts his email so they are a investor in his company. All major twist on reality. There are no investors, just like I do have a legit business at www.pixelfusions.net and I used BP gas today, so BP is an investor or vendor of my company. Yeah right!!! That's his thoughts though and so every person he pays to do a service with, he talks about them as if they are backers of his company. Check out this page. http://aeusa.biz/vendors.html and http://aeusa.biz/aboutus.html
In addition to everything Theo doesn't have a car and doesn't have a license so we were picking him up and taking him everywhere with believing all these plans of paradise that really sound like a serious mental issue after you start asking questions. Stay away from http://aeusa.biz/, its a scam.
He calls people telling them he has jobs for them such as we need plumbers. Then they get there and he wants them to pay $20 to get 20 jobs. At first it was on the spot they find out what jobs they get, then it became $20 for legal fees and then they get the contract. Then it was $1 per job and they get up to 20 jobs with no definition of what a job would be. (A site / per day or is a job to pick up a rock or to complete the whole building, everything is vague) As we are the administration, we still had no idea how the whole thing worked. Basically from what I gathered you scam people to give you $20 claiming you have jobs for them. Reality no jobs exist, he wants to use the $20 fees to basically build skyscrapers, franchises and such and then use the contracts that people bought into it to do the work. So they pay for the chance to work for you. When asked when will these people know the details of the job. Answer, sometime next year. So they pay for something now that they don't even know what they are paying for and honestly may never hear back from.
Everything changes day to day. My roommate and I quit at the same time, its crazy, all the talk but there's no way we are going to get paid. How can someone pay over $125,000 for a month of wages (cost of wages changes all time, he talked about paying bi-weekly lately) plus like $38,000 for the offices when you can't pay a $300 for a one day use of an office. There will be no offices for the CCR's, I was promised one from the start, one day it was Cool Springs, another West End, then another lets go outside and talk, and I ended up at meeting at places like Shoney's and all over. I spent so much gas and wasted time believing in this get rich scheme. Or for Theo a rags to riches story, he really was going to leave nashville to go back to Knoxville and buy a house, truck and open offices there all after like 3 days here in nashville. His administration (all whom quit expect for HR) convinced him that his idea can't generate the $40,000 a day like he wanted just like that without him there. We didn't even understand how the company works, the more we asked the more confused we got. Something about promo cards that he contractor was so supposed to buy like 20 of them or he was counting on them to buy that much.
In addition to my blog about it, feel free to read this blog as well on her experience there. If it sounds too good to be true, trust me it isn't. I'm not the only person who is upset about this, some CCR's have said that he is being investigated for fraud in a few counties anyways.
http://aeusa.biz/aeusa.html
So if you want to deal with a legit company like mine and need computer repair, website design or photographer. Go over to Pixel Fusions and check out a real deal.
New Website
Check out http://www.tabithahawk.com if you haven't and let me know what you think. Also be sure to check out my flickr for updated photos.
Latest Updates
So Nashville gas sucks, literally out of the pump. After driving 44 miles with my roommate to get gas in a long line for 15 minutes we got home and Nashville of all places was on CNN. View the article here.
In other news I find politics funny, there is so much mud slinging. I made my mind up back when there was like 7 people to chose from. Someone who could bring real change to this world.
Like pointing out that the evangical favorite John McCain dated his wife, Cindy, while still married to Carol. Cindy and John got married a month after his divorce was final.
And Palin said that she understands energy for this country because her state is 20% of the domestic oil, actually its 7%, not sure my vote will go to people who speak more words then actual truth/sense.
I've been updating my flickr with a lot of new photos lately. My memphis photos and some from Nashville are there. My Louisville and Abbey of Gethsemani photos will be up soon. Funny thing about the Abbey of Gethsemani is the last time I was there, it was a good mix of genders. This time I showed up and went to eat in the dining room like I did before. Well I wondered why all these guys were around and coming up to me asking about my photography and such. It was all male catholic conference that weekend. Whoops, guess I stood out a lot, at least it was a fun experience, got some neat photos in.
I'm trying to get back to creative writing again, its just hard being so busy. My latest non-crap writing is.
Hero of the Skeletons - Written 9-1-08 by Tabitha Hawk
Have you wondered if its destiny, fate or our will why we go through what we do in life. If other people bring their own gifts, powers or talents into our lives to enrich and even save us from ourselves.
We feel so lonely, so anonymous, lost in the shadows of the other people’s light. We live so disconnected, so focused on ourselves that we blur reality.
We long to be extraordinary but we accept only the ordinary. It’s the few who challenge the status-quo, whose own extraordinary must be nursed through rejections and challenges.
Maybe faith or answering a mysterious guidance these people become a cocoon to others. Dreaming and talking nonsense it appears but on the inside they are growing, a journey that metaphorize their full potential and fulfilling the debt that exist to our creator.
People who are beautiful by their own choice but wounded by their own humanity. A paradoxical concept our true colors, scars of our mistakes and frailty of nature can carry a redeeming beauty.
For some it takes the skeletons of their closet to draw them to change, a great challenge faces us, we must face ourselves and then the mirror of our peers. We speak of hero’s in our writings, divinities in faith but we speak not of our own skeletons.
Wither or not our hero is real or created we search for a rescue. We dream of place of peace, good intentions and safety. A world of extraordinar that is free from the limits of normality of putting on our routine mask and locking the closet door.
Sweet Buffet of Fees
Thank you dear caring bank with a buffet line of fees like the Opening Fee, Closing Fee, Maintenance Fee, Transaction Fee, Excessive Transactions Fee, Unavailable Funds Fee, Insufficient Funds Fee, Returned Deposit Fee, Teller Fee, Below Required Balance Fee, Returned Check Fee, Internet Banking Fee, ATM Fee, Out Of Area ATM Bank Fee, Telephone Banking Fee, Withdraw Fee, Check Cashing Fee, Internet Bill Pay Fee, Overdraft Fee, Overdraft Protection Fee, Overdraft Protection Transfer Fee, Daily Withdrawal Limit Fee, Monthly Fee, Annual Fee, thanks to you I can’t afford the $6,500 to die but I’m just rich enough to live to pay my taxes.Speeding Tickets Suck
So going over a 4 lane bridge and being the only car on it, the cop at the bottom of the hill had trouble pulling me over 48 in a 35, I wasn't even in a hurry which normally I am. Oh well this happened back in June. I just remembered to take care of it today. $100 fee to sign up for their 4 hour defensive driving course so it don't show up on my driving record. Been clear for 15 months now. Thankfully its online. So about $$$ now days, he charged me another $100 for not having my proof of insurance but I complained about that since I had it with me just not in the 15 seconds he gave me to look for it. They dropped that like it was hott. I sure was.
Florida Trip
My trip to Florida went well, very short but well I uploaded my photos here. I went there for free to a marketing event and then took a day to go to the beaches. I went swimming at Cocoa Beach and the Hilton pool at Disney. I was staying in the VIP section in the penthouse.
It was fun jamming to XM 81 and then stopping by Ikea in Atlanta on the way back.
Work has been slow lately so if you are reading this and need a website or something just let me know and I'll be glad to charge you. :)
Saint Bernard Abbey, Benedictine Monks of Cullman, Alabama
I needed a break from things so I took off to a church in Alabama I saw online. I uploaded more photos to my flickr.
Out with the Old, In with the New
Above is a photo of my 1995 Nissan Maximum as of last Wednesday at 4:00 on I-440. No one was cited, the other driver was very certain I didn't cause it but some loser decided to cut in the lane in front of him and then slam the brakes. His car slowed down and my car slide right into the back of his. I had some bruises and a killer headache but made it through just fine.
Above is my 2002 Nissan Maximum as of Sunday. My nicest car yet. I went to the tow yard and parted out my old car. I don't like to get dirty but to get my xm radio out and alot of other things. I singled handed took out the whole dash to my old car. I saw a guy take apart it before so I just did everything in reverse that he screwed things in and wholla you just saved yourself alot of money. So I got my GPS, iPhone gadgets and XM Radio back in my car. I really just wanted something functional but it is nice to have halogen lamps to blind people with and white leather seats instead of the oven hot black.
Coterminous, stakeholder engagement
Some news out of England, I think our PC gets alittle out of hand at times.
----------------
The body that represents the country's local authorities has told its members to stop using management buzzwords, saying they confuse people and prevent residents from understanding what local governments do.
The Local Government Association, whose members include hundreds of district, town and county councils in England and Wales, on Friday sent out a list of 100 "non-words" that it said officials should avoid if they want to be understood.
The list includes the popular but vague term "empowerment;" "coterminosity," a situation in which two organizations oversee the same geographical area; and "synergies," combinations in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Officials were told to ditch the term "revenue stream" for income, as well as the imprecise "sustainable communities." The association also said councils should stop referring to local residents as "customers" or "stakeholders."
The association's chairman, Simon Milton, said officials should not "hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases."
"Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?" he said.
The association sent its letter after reports that one town council had told staff to use the term "thought showers" instead of "brainstorming."
Officials at Tunbridge Wells council in southern England felt brainstorming might offend people with epilepsy, a condition that involves periodic electrical storms inside the brain.
However, the National Society for Epilepsy said it had surveyed its members and they did not find the term offensive.
-----------Life is going well for me, business has slowed down some but its ok. I've typed out some poems I wrote a few weeks ago.
What I’ve Done
From the moment I rise and put my feet on the cold floor
The memories try to unhide from the closet in my mind
I can handle being beaten, laughed at and hated
But you gave the one thing I can’t handle: silence
Your silence fueled the pain of isolation from so many relationships
So to get even, I made sure you felt pain behind your façade of laughter
After I had time to understand what was all done.
God cleared the slate, but still I must face myself
I must let go of what people think of me.
Everyday to face myself, erase the past
Struggle to put to rest the regret.
I let this go tonight, I move on to become the better person I am without you.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll start again but for now this guilt trip ends.
Memories of Who You Are
I have these recurring dreams since I was young that I will die soon and I wonder who would care, who would be sad, when my time comes.
Will the wrongs done be more then the rights.
I can’t be the person so many people wanted me to be.
Will they remember the person I was or am?
I hope there will be memories people keep rather then quickly forget.
Separate what I’ve done to what I’ve lived for.
I’m not perfect but neither are you.
Until that dreams takes life, let the reality of today sink in.
Listen to each other before you’re left to regret what was last said or unsaid.
Live free in the present and let the past have no part of your future.
Friday Humor
A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike
English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.
'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la Casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'
A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two
Groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves
Whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each
Group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of
the
Feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for
Possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
Spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be
Masculine ('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time
They ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a
Little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The women won.
Bare Minerals, good stuff. I've had alot more compliments since then. I wrote a check and the girl was looking at my driver license which the photo is from this January. She said wow, you look so much younger now. I've been asked by people if I'm a teenager, I get 19-20 sometimes. For being 25 and hearing that, I think this bare minerals is going to be a keeper.
Other news, onsite computer repair has a dangerous side to it. A client that I've worked on his laptop before, has been calling me all week. He was like I want to see you. Well he asked for a hug and he then he started kissing me and all that. Gross, he kept saying I really like you and I was like I have to go now. This is like 3rd time I've gone somewhere and a guy asks to hug me and they end up going kissing me. Its really freaky. My roommates think I should carry maze. I've been asked repeatably by single, hairy, old guys to go out to dinner and a movie. People call me sometime and say my computer is fine but can I just see you. The guy today told me what alot of people tell, I have pretty eyes and a smile. Maybe I should use black eyeshadow and frown alot.
I'm still doing this weightloss thing, its hard to lose weight I've always dropped it faster then this time. No matter what I do I only lose alittle bit. I might go to the green hills Y again tonight and commit murder on some fat cells.
The Switch to Bare Minerals
This is a great spoof on the Mac/PC commercials from a "Christian" perspective
XP SP3 is Evil
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/146059/users_report_more_trouble_with_windows_xp_sp3.html
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207600950
I'm not the only person who has had trouble with SP3. The main IT guy that I work for, installed it when it first came out and his laptop restarted endlessly due to a GDI error. I've installed it on my own personal pc just to have some programs such as outlook fail to start. I've uninstalled it on a few clients pcs and it oddly enough "fixed" the problem.
So avoid SP3 unless you are paying me and then install and call me when you need it fixed.
Also Windows Defender is crap, I have yet it see it ever detect anything and let alone remove it. I've repaired Vundo and smit fix on computer where Defender claims the machine was clean. I use Ccleaner to start off with a cleaner computer, then install and run Spybot Search and destroy, followed by Adware by lavasoft and that almost always fixes the problem.
$ Spent on dirt and rocks
When we first gazed at the moon through powerful telescopes, the moon appeared to be full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent astronauts there. They brought back samples for scientists to analyze and it was confirmed that indeed, this was just dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we went to the moon another dozen times or so just to really be sure it was real dirt and real rocks.
When we first gazed at Mars through powerful telescopes it appeared to be a mysterious planet. Our early flybys of this planet revealed a terrain full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Rover there. The little robotic vehicle traversed the topography sending back pictures and data and guess what? - more dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Phoenix there. It landed safely and started analyzing the soil and sending beautifully detailed images of a Martian landscape full of … dirt and rocks.
But wait, this is different. The Phoenix landed in the North Pole area in the hopes of discovering life. Its little sensors microscopically scrutinized the soil and made an amazing discovery. Mars is still full of dirt and rocks. But wait, this is different. The dirt has a pattern to it.
Due to a lack of verbiage this year, here is a recap of 2008 thus far.
I was really poor in January due to pathetic decisions on my part. I gathered all the will-power and creativity together and restarted what I intended to do in September 2007. Working for myself. I legally became Pixel Fusions, intentionally focusing on web graphic design and computer repair on the side. Slow starting, I got some web gigs but staying home all day long for days on end wasn’t healthy for me. I needed to get out and socialize with people. I started focusing on Craigslist as a way to buy technology items and then return and sell for a profit. As I’m doing this, my computer repair business started to explode. Having been picked up by Steve at TSKC as a vendor for his Networking and Computer repair business. Having an alliance of a technology company that is over 24 years old in Nashville has done wonders with constant work. As my free time dramatically decreased between TSKC and my own referrals, my cost has gone up to were I don’t usually show up for less than $75 an hour. A ton of thanks to Steve for showing me what I’m worth and believing in me. If I’m not out on repair runs, I’m Steve’s secretary. Not quite as exciting but for some days my mind needs a change of thought.
In February my apartment was broken into by people that lived across from me. My computer, an mbox 2, my dvd collection was stolen and my NES had the wires cut. At that time I was acting like a cheap hotel, renting out my dining room to people for temp stays. I had 3 people plus me sleeping there in Hendersonville and I was still broken into by two guys. Anyways, having my computer taken from me with every client and personal file I’ve ever had done just like that made me a zombie for 3 days. I just was in denial, shock, I felt perhaps it was karma. Talking to a old pastor who prayed for me on the third day, literally 5 minutes later the cop had my stuff at my door.
Two people got arrested and I was subpoena to go to court. I met the one guy who took my computer, talked to him for alittle while, at first I wanted to smack the guy but realized that I had the power to get this guy a lesser sentence and so I asked him one question. Do you regret the burglary? In almost tears, he gave his answer. So that night I wrote a letter forgiving him and asking for mercy in his sentence. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves mercy, maybe its just a God thing but God forgave me plenty of times in my life, as Michael W Smith said, love ain't love until you give it away.
Needless to say I kicked everyone out of my apartment and ended the temp stays even though nothing happened from there that I can prove other then $120 came up missing from under my bed and when you work as hard as I do, that’s not cool so no more renting out for me.
I stayed in Hendersonville for 2 more months as I prepared to move in with Larica/Patricia a friend of mine that we met ironically on Christmas Day. Two losers eating at a Chinese Buffett b/c we can’t be home. After hiring 3 people to help me move and verifying that they were still good to go, no a single person showed up to help me move so I bailed Alvin out of a DUI deal and here it was just the two of us moving all my junk to West Nashville. This new place rocks for price, I’m saving about $500 + each month, its smaller, but this is the best location I have ever had, I get to almost everywhere important in 15 minutes or less. Brittney, a Vanderbilt student moved in a month after me in this 3 bedroom house. I have up to this point in life, lived alone or with male roommates. Literally living in between two other girls (I have the big room) has taught me that there is no clean gender and these girls can really burp and fart louder then some guys I know. They are cool, always a crazy story to tell.
I have gone to the Smokey Mountains twice this year, going again in June, been to Chattanooga last weekend when Nathan there installed XM Radio in my car, so I look like a cop now with an iPhone, GPS and XM radio along the dashboard.
My mom got remarried yesterday, I guess I'm now related to Nick Lachey of 98 degrees. Step cousin or something like that now but who knows I'll probably never get to see him in person. I am however planning on showing up to Ohio Labor Day weekend or near there since I have a list of people who haven't seen me in 2 years or more and want to reconnect. I'm pretty excited, always good to meet old friends.
That’s basically what has happened this year, I work a lot more then play, mostly because I never want to be as poor as I was. I’m planning on going to a beach this summer / early fall, either Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, or Gulf Shores. I’m trying hard to lose weight, due to stress of last year, jobs and personal I gained over 60 pounds so focusing now on getting back in shape and maybe I just might go swimming at a beach this year.
As I take this weekend to relax the logical / computer fixing side of the head I might work on revamping the look of this blog and maybe work on pixelfusions.net and get something more longer lasting up.
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