Dear Clients

Yes, it has in deed been some time since my last communiqué.  Some of you have really hit me on the fingers because of that.  However, as you might also have experienced business, even though slow, demands still that special attention to make sure that what you are busy with is done with precision and meticulously.

Once again I am going to speak about another 2 services that Virtual Office Assistance deliver.

Call answering

Have you ever had the duty of advertising just to be confronted with the ghastly task of answering all the calls?  Well call answering is one of the solutions that can be looked at.  People do this in different ways, but I offer the following:

I will use a separate cell phone with a special sim card bought specially for this purpose.  Calls will then be answered using the company name and the enquiry or questionnaire can be completed and forwarded to the client.  It all depends on what the need of the client is.

Client Screening

Based on given criteria a questionnaire can be completed which will assist in screening clients.  This service has already taken a load from many clients, as screening of clients can be a very onerous job.

If you should need any of these services, please contact me for more details.  Virtual Office Assistance offers various administrative services as well as typing and transcription services.

Our package deals remain the most competitive in the market.

With warm regards

This is the second in a series of five brief essays reflecting on my process of writing my June ‘09 release, Mixed Vice Work. In order to help make sense of the project and in an effort to further include listeners in my process, I’ll be sharing three more in the coming months – each in reference to a specific song from the EP.

Here is the story of “Faded”

(as I write on each song, I will post that song online. Please feel free to listen along at www.myspace.com/jonwattsmusic)

“I’m Great”

Back when I was a camp counselor at Shiloh Quaker Camp, we often had to get creative in order to come up with afternoon activities towards the end of the Summer. Thus it was decided one afternoon that we would have a rap battle. The joy of seeing 11 year old Quaker kids battle-rapping was only supplemented by the fun of writing my own verse, which I shared at the close of the camp-wide event later on that evening.

Having always existed somewhere on the fringes of hip hop culture, I am made uncomfortable by the self-centered-ness, competetive braggadacio and put-down culture of the battle scene. Rappers freestyle insults about each other and whichever side looks less pathetic at the end of the event ascends to the next round. As a Quaker trying to “get low” and encourage the ongoing healing of those around us, the rap battle is in many ways the furthest away I could stray my faith.

There is, however, some redeeming value in virtuostic displays of self-affirmation and at Camp Shiloh I was given the opportunity to freely explore that side of my art form. I sat down with a few fellow counselors and out came the first verse of “I’m Great,” which contains some real lyrical gems:

“I’m going to bounce from this town to get a pound of mouse pals. Around smiles I frown to put down the bound styles. The ground is shaking, making fakers statement makers. Hate your neighbors. Do favors like Quaker saviors, helping people meet their makers.”

-From “I’m Great,” The Art of Fully Being

“Faded”

There was no song that I looked forward to re-mixing, re-vising and re-working more than “I’m Great.” The opportunity for full and unfettered word-play-ful-ness is so exciting! I intentionally included as many tongue twisters as possible, which makes it one of my hardest songs to perform yet:

“Bounce to the mountain top. Look in the thrift shop. Find a little nice piece of linen, living sin and for your pen top: send it in a tin top. Listen, when offense is given, that’s a thin slice of living like a gentleman. Be a gentle woman; women sending signals mixed within any silly simple little sentences.”

I changed the chorus to be a bit more inclusive:

“We’re Great. Your sedatives can’t keep us sedate, and while same sex marriage stays state-to-state, we’re going local. Pick up the mic and throw vocals in your phone book, send it to folks that you know. Look, we’re related.”

…and I wrote one of my favorite verses EVER:

“…our forefathers got lost in Boston, it’s the fault of Lord Baltimore and it’s all the more solemn for the following of psalms; some sons and daughters of the hypocrites, which, to the benefit of many, found themselves giving into sentimental money”

Whew! what fun. (try saying that out loud)

The Invitation…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Marianne Robertson, written for Nelson Mandela

An important part of our religious movement and counter-cultural committment is to find a different way to be in relationship with the ego and all of its attachments and posturing. But simply wishing our egos away is not enough to make them dissappear.

Pretending that my ego doesn’t exist isn’t any less dangerous than ignoring my pain or my sadness. Each is a part of me, and ignoring a part of me always results in that part acting out in ways that I have no control over and am not aware of.

So I invite you, Friends, be whole. Invite your ego to speak in a safe environment and do not hate or judge yourself for what comes out. It is only when we fully accept ourselves that we can begin to lovingly shift our way of being.

in peace,
Jon

More About “Faded”

“Faded” is online and available for anyone to listen to. Visit www.MySpace.com and “I’m Great” will be the first song to play, followed by “Faded.”

Mixed Vice Work can be purchased at www.JonWatts.com and now downloaded at CDBaby.com!

Great news! Check out the posting on YOUTUBE for the latest version of my Drink Water for Life™ flip chart. Let me know your reactions!

Saturday was an amazing day. I accompanied a new distributor who is enrolled in Multi-Pure’s “College Program” on her first demo. Her grandparents live in Independence, OR, about an hour and a half from here. They agreed to a demo, mostly because they love Sunni, but they were VERY CLEAR that they were not going to buy anything. Sunni and I were fine with just having the experience and had no expectation for anything other than a pleasant drive and an opportunity for Sunni to see how the demonstration process works.

When I’m training a new distributor, I like to go with him/her for the first three demonstrations. I do the first demo, and then she will do the next two, with me to back her up. Since Sunni is brand new, I did the demo. Sunni is very clever, and added appropriate comments here and there. She’s also really good with her hands, so attached the countertop system to the sink faucet in a couple of seconds. We did “Drink Water for Life”. Grandpa Norm already drinks quite a lot of water. Grandma Reta is trying to drink more and nodding affirmatively as we did the Drink Water for Life™ flip chart. She seemed to intuitively know that there was room for improvement in her own personal hydration.

As we were driving there, Sunni filled me in a little bit about their personalities and backgrounds. Sunni said they were very interesting, and quite “intellectual”. Since they are both getting close to 80, I was curious and quite eager to meet them. They moved to Independence from Southern California because Norm is a pilot and there are accessible airfields in Independence.

I loved them both the minute I set eyes on them. Their easy-going manners and sweet personalities made them easy to like. They have a complete HUGE hangar attached to the back of their house . . . with two airplanes in it!! Norm still flies and is in a continual state of rebuilding one or the other of his airplanes. He has his PhD in physics and gave me the impression that he could do just about anything he set his mind to. That’s the kind of “80” I want to be!! Grandma Reta is just sweet and lovely and seems to do a good job of keeping up with Norm.

We finished the demo and did a little math on what they were spending on water. They were buying three types of bottled water and had a refrigerator filter. They were spending about $570/year. We compared their present expenditures to “Filtermania” and concluded that they could have 10 years of water for a little more than what they were spending in a year! But the best part was that the Multi-Pure water TASTED BETTER than the bottled or the frig! Norm noticed more of a difference than Reta did, I think because he is more hydrated.

We got ready to leave, and I suggested that they have four choices.

Not buy. Be happy that they gave Sunni a chance to learn about an in-home demonstration. We had a delightful time with them and it was worth the drive just to get to know them.
Keep the demo for two weeks (I’m going on vacation), drink the water, and read the Multi-Pure information we were leaving for them. Then decide.
Study about the Multi-Pure and let Sunni know if they want to buy. If so, she could order a filter for them and have it shipped.

Buy one today. (I just happened to have one in my car . . . ) If they bought today, Sunni would install it for them (with my supervision). It would be good training for her.

By now, you’ve probably already guessed their choice. They bought. Right then. I went out to the car to get it and Norm already had his drill set up by the time I got back with the filter. He drilled the hole, and Sunni did most of the rest.

Sunni and I did some evaluating of the experience on the way home. It was the best of the best. Grandma and Grandpa were as nice as anyone could be. They were easy to talk to. They had serious intelligent questions . . . which are always easy to answer with Multi-Pure. They loved the water. The water TASTED BETTER than the water they were drinking. The Multi-Pure cost considerably less (about 1/10th the cost). Sunni had a great first learning experience. We chuckled because Grandma Reta kept wanting her to do the demo again so that she could have more practice. We would have if I could have stayed longer (David and I were going to a wedding reception and we were already running late . . . )

I think this is the first sale on the way to many for Sunni. She’s leaving for Utah State in the fall to continue her education in nursing. Multi-Pure has already offered her the position of “team leader” at Utah State, a position that will allow her to mentor other students in the Multi-Pure college program. She will be terrific.

If you know of a college student in your circle of family or friends who needs to earn money over the summer (and while at college), check out the Multi-Pure college program at http://www.multipureco.com/summer.htm/

The college program is really too good to be true. We already have three college program distributors in our network, soon to be more as we are implementing and working the program. I can envision many more fun training sessions with new college-age distributors.

Join us for training on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 7:00 pm to 8:30, my house, to learn more about the college program and how you can introduce it to your college acquaintances.

This week’s Multi-Pure training is The Multi-Pure Business.

The sliding economy has accelerated our Multi-Pure business in a big way and there is room for you to join us. We’ll discuss more about the Multi-Pure business . . . and how to add $300 to $3,000+ to your monthly income. The best part about Multi-Pure is that it is REAL. When you sell a filter to someone, you receive a commission. When they sell to someone, you receive a commission. The more you do, the more you get. The best part is that people are always happy to have Multi-Pure water.

This week’s class will cover:

Our new business incentive: “New Distributor Quick Start Special.”
The amazing Multi-Pure college program
Presenting the business to your customers
How many demos? How much do you REALLY have to work to earn $300 or $3,000 a month? Develop your own strategy based on your personal needs incorporating Filtermania and regular sales.
Incorporating a part-time Multi-Pure business into your already busy life.
Making a living at Multi-Pure. What do you do if Multi-Pure is your full-time job? How should you spend your time?
How to encourage a new distributor to make his/her first four sales and become an Executive Builder.
Building a Network . . . one distributor at a time.
Key activities that help you succeed in building a network.

Hope you’ll join us!

Deanna

We are proud to announce the launch of our new client newsletter entitled, “The Trust Advisor.”  This newsletter will be e-mailed to each of our clients, and anyone else who wishes to subscribe.  Quite often I will include content written for the newsletter on this blog, but to be sure to stay properly informed, it is recommended that you review the newsletter and the blog.  “The Trust Advisor” will be the primary method by which our firm will keep our clients updated with changes in the law and other dynamic issues relating to their estate plan.

No one like to be inundated with lengthy dissertations on legal subjects and as so, I am keeping the newsletter to one page, and like this blog, will only include information that is consumer-oriented and practical.

To subscribe to “The Trust Advisor,” please e-mail me at Bryan@EisenbiseLaw.com.

Like always, feel free to e-mail me at Bryan@EisenbiseLaw.com should you have any questions, or visit my firm’s website at www.LanphereAndEisenbise.com for more information.

We had more groups out at La Baie this past week and a ton of stuff got done. A group from Illinois helped us distribute seeds (given to us by Hope Seeds which is linked below) to people in the community. They also helped us put the finishing touches on the chicken coop, which now has chickens, and the garden as well.

A group from Nicholasville, KY came out to La Baie to show the Jesus film in Creole. There was a good crowd and I think that the town really enjoyed watching the movie, which we projected onto the side of the house.

The Jesus film projected onto the house.

A youth group from California also came out and did a VBS for the kids and also had a sports camp. The yard was pretty packed with children and the group had a great craft in which all the kids got to make their own shirts.

Another group from an organization called “No Boundaries” came out to La Baie as well. They also did a VBS and we were all very blessed by a worship service that they held on the roof to the background of a lightning storm and some beautiful stars.

A shot of The Milky Way from the roof.

Throughout all of this we had a small group from Heartland Community Church (linked on the right). These guys did several projects including building the structure for our tree nursery (really excited about that) testing out the new solar ovens that we would like to introduce to help scale back the use of charcoal and erosion (see the Sun Oven link on the right), they terraced the new land to allow more planting to be done, built a compost pile, designed a small footbridge to cross the creek, helped organize some depots, and even started building a boat with some local builders in order to help replace boats that were destroyed in the hurricanes. It was great to have these guys with us and also to have one of our close friends Jodi, get to visit Haiti again and see where we live. One of the guys in the groups, Dustin, is a photographer and all of the pictures you see in this post are his. To see more of them check out the Flickr link on the left.

We cooked rice, hot dogs, eggs and more on this solar oven, hopefully these will have a big impact on the communities with which we work.

The boat, which was financed by this group, will be finished in about a week, the idea is that this will be the first of many.

These terraces will allow us to plant more on our new land.

Organizing the tool depot was a lot easier with the extra hands.

PLANT SALE SUCCESS

Getting Ready

Ready To Go

The May 16th Plant Sale was very successful earning $713 for CCOG, despite having to delay it while we all waited for warmer, drier weather .

A MUST SEE TOUR AUGUST  16 3:00 PM 
Cape Cod Organic Farm

Proprietor Tim Friary has added the former Barnstable County Farm to the already considerable acreage under his cultivation.  This summer will usher in the farm’s first CSA, a new farm stand and a huge variety of delicious vegetables, dozens of fresh eggs, pints of juicy strawberries, as well as a selection of beautiful nursery flowers and bouquets. See CCOG Calendar for details. http://www.capecodorganicfarm.com/

NEW MEMBERS

Many new members have joined CCOG over the last few months!  Welcome to all who have joined. Invite your friends to join as well.

THANKS

Thanks to all of our members who made the Plant Sale a huge success with their plant donations and by helping out with the set up and sale.

2009 LATE  SUMMER CALENDAR

JULY
July 19 Sunday 3:00 pm: Home Gardens

Enjoy the home garden of Robert and Virginia Palmari.
Directions: Palmeri’s home 34 Pine Street  (off 6A), Yarmouthport – 6th house on the left.

July 19 Sunday 4:00 pm:  What To Do With A Small Lot!
Unique organic lawn care, hanging baskets, circumference of veggies, raised beds to waist high, electric mower.
Directions: Chris Vanhooft’s home on 36 Birch Hill Road, Dennisport

AUGUST
August 2 Sunday 3:00 pm: The Burk’s Farm
Chickens, Rasberries, Blueberries, Strawberries
Directions: Rt 149 W. Barnstable opposite the Community Building.

August 2 Sunday 4:00 pm: Conrad Gieser’s Cotuit Solar
Organic veggies and solar warehouse
Directions: 64 Old Shore Road, Coutuit 508 428 8442

August 7 – 9 NOFA Summer Conference @ UMass Amherst

August 16 Sunday 3:00 pm: Tim Friary’s Organic Agriculture Project
Tour by CCOG Member Mary Blake.
Directions: Barnstable County Farm Rt. 6A on the right a ways past Barnstable Village Heading East.

SEPTEMBER
September 13 Sunday 1:30 pm: Pot Luck Picnic at the Kelly Barn

Bring your Pot Luck dish and picnic plates and utensils.

Directions: Jean Iverson’s home Kelly Barn, 66 Marstons Lane, Cummaquid 508 362 8136.

Check out the new Faculty Focus Newsletter for May 2009

This past semester was quite different from the scholarly grind I’m used to of having to form and present arguments. Instead, I found myself back in a universe where I was either wrong or right, and having to reflect on my own experience rather than what someone else said. It was also a busy semester as I took on some big challenges, and excelled in my objectives.

This semester included two subjects: New Testament Greek and Leadership. It was an odd combination, but I was glad to do a lighter subject along side of Greek.

Greek is a funny sort of a subject. It’s impossible when you don’t know what you’re doing, and a snap when you do. For the first 10 weeks I considered Greek the hardest course of study I had taken on. Particularly when I scraped through one exam with 51%! Then I conceded there are no shortcuts to leaning Greek, and put myself on a daily routine of paradigms (that’s like a times-table for language), translation and vocab. The real stroke of genius (even if I do say so myself) was making my own vocab cards that I could view on my mobile phone. This allowed me to learn my vocab on the train without the fear of hundreds of bits of cardboard ending up on the carriage floor! My Greek improved greatly, and I found the going easy, if monotonous. The rewards are worth the effort. I was recently told the difference between reading the New Testament in English and reading the New Testament in Greek is like the difference between watching TV in black and white and watching TV in colour. Knowing Greek provides so much more depth to the text. So any time I’m in the New Testament, I find myself looking up the Greek. It’s something I’ve really come to enjoy. Though throughout the course I felt sorry for the lecturer. Before he could teach Greek, he had to teach us degree students English! Such is our education system that failed to teach us grammar. Still, I’ve yet to find out how much Greek can a Greek geek speak if a Greek geek only speaks Greek. (Sorry. Just a little vent I came up during the semester to relieve frustration!)

Leadership was the first stage of me becoming officially “Presbyterianised” as I learned about the inner workings of the denomination. I guess it had to happen some time. This also included learning and developing leadership skills generally. For this I organised a seminar on Disability, the Bible, and the Church at my church in Gosford. This was the first time I had organiusd something like this on such a large scale. It was an invaluable experience giving me insight into the demands of leadership, and the type of person and leader I am. Happily, the seminar went off without a hitch. It was well received by those who attended, and enjoyed by those who contributed. Of course, I am extremely thankful to those who contributed and helped out in smaller ways.

Life beyond the theology books…

Church services at the Allambie Heights Spastic Centre are heading in to their 8^th year (I think – just where has the time gone?). God is continuing to bless this ministry with consistant numbers which is so encouraging. Also, plenty of people from my church have come forward to assist with the work. This year we finished our series on Daniel, which didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. We are presently working through the miracles of Jesus which is a very interesting study for anyone to do. I certainly have been challenged and corrected in how I think about Jesus as I prepare the talks (with the Greek text in hand of course!), and I certainly hope and pray the discussions leave a similar impression on the people there.

I was also involved in a disability camp as the speaker. This involved using technology which is always a challenge on the day, and talking to a puppet! Never in my theological training did I think I’d be talking to a puppet! Still, this just typified the whole semester – different! What I was encouraged by was the discussions after each talk. For the first time I set discussion questions for the different room groups, and wandered around to each group to hear good, meaty discussions taking place. This worked better than I had hoped.

From the crazy files…

I thought by the time I got to my mid-30s, I’d stop doing so many crazy things. But no. They’re continuing on. Last summer I learned to sail. Perhaps that doesn’t sound all that crazy, but bearing in mind I have cerebral palsy along with the fact I can’t swim, it doesn’t exactly put sailing within the realm of sensibility!

A mate has become really involved in kayaks that can be paddled as normal, peddled with your feet, or sailed. He through me in one of his kayaks to see how I’d coped. I loved it, and it wasn’t too long before I was out-sailing him! The picture on the left is from a trip down to Lion Island in Broken Bay (click on either for a larger image. But, it hasn’t always been plain sailing. (How else can you say it?). There has been some misadventures in some shocking weather conditions. But that’s all part of the fun! The only time I’ve ended up in the water was intentional. That was to see if I could get back in unassisted. What a fun afternoon that was – not! Gladly, I was able to climb back on board! And of course, I always have a life jacket on when on the water.

I am really thankful for these opportunities. This boat really has opened up a part of God’s creation that was closed off to me. There’s also video footage from the same trip.

It’s still uncertain of how long I have still to go in my course. It really depends on how much I want to do and whether I tackle Hebrew as well. At this stage, I dare say I will be studying Hebrew. As difficult as Greek has been, the rewards have been well worth it. I imagine the same will be true for Hebrew.

Getting nearer to the end of my course has not yielded a closer vision of what I’ll be doing after my studies. This is a source of frustration. However, there are many questions I want to pursue and write on as a result of my studies. One way or the other, I will have something to do.

O projeto é uma realização do Circuito Fora do Eixo em parceria com a Alvo Discos e a Travolta Discos. O programa prevê lançamento e a distribuição de produtos culturais de artistas independentes em todo o território nacional.

Bandas e coletivos interessados em participar da rede de distribuição nacional terão a chance de fazê-lo a partir desta segunda-feira, dia 13 , quando o Circuito Fora do Eixo (CFE) lançará em parceria com a Travolta Discos e a Alvo Distribuidora o Programa Fora do Eixo Discos 2009.

A proposta tem como meta promover o lançamento de cd`s e outros produtos culturais, bem como garantir a distribuição em banquinhas e lojas físicas dos coletivos integrados ao CFE. São quase quarenta pontos integrados a rede, em mais de vinte estados brasileiros, sendo quatro no nordeste, quatro no sul, oito no norte, cinco no centro-oeste e outros dezessete no sudeste, com amplo destaque para os estados de São Paulo e Minas.

Para atingir a meta, o programa se pauta em seis eixos temáticos que envolvem desde o lançamento de artistas independentes à distribuição e mídia em torno desses materiais.

O primeiro desses eixos é o lançamento de bandas referenciais de cada cidade que serão indicadas pelo coletivo local ao Conselho Gestor do projeto, responsável pela curadoria dos lançamentos. O Conselho é formado por representantes dos coletivos e também pela equipe da Travolta e Alvo, que será responsável pelas prensagens.

Artistas e grupos que não atuam em coletivos FE, podem buscar o ponto FE mais próximo de sua cidade. A relação completa de PFE pode ser buscada no www.foradoeixo.org.br.

Plano de distribuição e divulgação – Para viabilizar os lançamentos, as prensagens dos produtos serão feitas via a Alvo Discos, com a previsão de lançamento de 1 mil cópias por prensagem. Destes 50 (5%) serão destinados à loja da Travolta Discos, que possui uma loja na Galeria do Rock em São Paulo (SP), e ainda à Loja Virtual do Fora do Eixo. Outras seiscentas serão destinadas à Alvo, que distribuirá 200 cópias para pontos de vendas tradicionais e outras 400 para pontos Fora do Eixo em todo o Brasil; e ainda outras cem serão distribuídas gratuitamente com vistas à promover o material junto aos formadores de opinião. As duzentas e cinqüenta cópias restantes ficarão nas mãos do artista.

O projeto prevê ainda a elaboração de um catálogo de divulgação do projeto, e ainda a volta do projeto Compacto.REC, que prevê o lançamento de singles virtuais via sites e blogs dos coletivos FE. A rede de comunicação também será utilizada para a realização da assessoria de imprensa em cada cidade.

A íntegra do projeto pode ser conferida no link a seguir: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dhrs7m5m_15c3r7jdc4

Sobre a Alvo – Empresa especializada em prestar serviços de produção, divulgação, consultoria e distribuição fonográfica. E nosso objetivo é bem claro: solucionar os problemas encontrados por artistas e selos em qualquer uma das etapas de produção, promoção ou distribuição de seus trabalhos. Atendendo a clientes em todo o País, a Alvo Discos trabalha para viabilizar e comercializar discos de bandas ou cantores independentes, de todos os estilos e linguagens, atuando desde a prensagem até a distribuição e a divulgação do produto.

Sobre a Travolta – Selo paulistano com loja na Galeria do Rock e que conta no casting bandas com a Ludovic; Eu serei a hiena; Rhd e outros