iPhonetics or iPhonics or for short iPhon are now officially a word that can be use in place of “I did not mean to text that, my phone auto corrected it. iPhonetics is a my new word to describe the iPhone auto correction misspelling feature.

I am the first to come up with this name and I am claiming it. Please enter some of the classic ways your iPhone auto corrected your text message and changed the entire meaning.

Instructional Video

Preface – This article is an in-your-face and was written to help to those that going through this unpleasant process.

Ok, so times can be tough and you have lost your job. It has been 6 months and you are still going through life like you still have a job, still eating out, going to the movies, having the same parties, and your mini-vacations etc. Yeah, sound familiar…you have some savings and your not desperate just yet but you know it is coming.

Your Ego has allot with what your doing or not doing now. Maybe you have 3 kids and your concerned about the backlash and how your kids, wives, and friends will view you as less of  a man or breadwinner. This can happen to the best of us and it is realizing that you should “suck it up” and do what you have to do to keep the family in food, rent, and clothes. This may mean a part time job or something but you should act now and stop the financial bleeding, so you do not pay more in the future.

So… what do you do and how do you get started? Most people avoid the reality of taking financial assessment and this should be one of  the first things you do after you pray for strength and getting a new job.  Consider at temporary but immediate financial diet, TV, kids cell phones, overpriced home and car insurance can weight you down.  These NON-Essential expenses are only realized when that steady paycheck is not coming in and you have to take money out of savings or pay with an already partially overtaxed credit card, oh yeah, the credit card. Maybe you were blessed to get some severance pay or had 3-6 months emergency, which the average family does not have, so there is that. What do you do? You start to feel squeezed and you need financial relief until after you get your new job.

First off, don’t kid yourself about looking for and finding a new job as it can be scary. The National job hunting average says it takes 6 months to 2 years to find and land a new job.  Now days you will find that there might be 5 other applicants competing for the same position. It is time to get your family and or select non-judgmental supportive, friends involved. If your married, your wife can start looking at the coupons, your kids may lose their phones, X-Box,  and your internet premium channels package get trimmed. All these reality efforts now will pay off big for you in the long run. Most people in our country do not know how to live without. Think about the daily Starbucks or Pete’s Latte you get, hmm… that is $3.50 x 20 days a month or more, that is $70 per month you can really live without. Make it at home for $15/month. It is not pleasant but you should dig into those sometimes hidden and unnecessary expenses that were “gotta haves”.

Your parents and how you were raised- Think back on your families history, Parents or Grandparents life, ranging but not limited to tough times in 1950-80′s. As a kid, did your parents get you a weekly or monthly allowance and a cell phone, car and or car insurance, XBox monthly subscription, and that Family Gym subscription that you barely used, or something like that.

Most of our older and wiser Mom and Dads, made us earn whatever we wanted over our basic needs, but not so much today. As a Father and Mother providing for their family of 3 kids, these multiple seemingly small miscellaneous expenses can add up and represent $200-$600 per month!. Money that you now don’t have and should not be paying for. Think deep and hard, is it critical for you or your family to have these things at this moment?  Really? Probably not and as painful as it is, have a talk with your family, wife, girlfriend, or whomever, and let them know you require your help.  Husbands and Wives have to get on the same page, as one maybe saving and the other spending on things that are just not necessary to a house in financial instability. Do your best to not use that Credit Card and line of Credit that is just hanging out their for you to pick.

Help your kids with ideas by suggesting they may help themselves by getting part-time work, babysitting or helping around a store or something… anything to cover their OWN, non-essential needs.

College, this is a real tough one… You have a son or daughter going to a nice school and you ONLY have enough funds to cover 3 more months? What do you do? Line of Credit? NO. Think about it now, but do something now before it gets even tougher.

House Payments, Mortgage - Yeah there is that “roof over your head” thing. Look over your current mortgage and see if you have room to refinance of your house. Many people are upside down or owe more than it is worth and you cannot qualify for an interest rate adjustment. Try anyway, by talking to your current bank or lending institution and get some ideas as to what they can do for you without going through a complete refinance. Most are upside down and in the past 15 years, jumping from job to job and bigger house to bigger house to end up with one that scoops up a large amount of your monthly income… Now that house is not as attractive now that the music has stopped. (i.e. no job) Did I say Income? Oh yeah, hello? remember you do not have a job.  Next, look at your auto and home insurances, (oh that boat insurance). A simple phone call to your agent can get you and Immediate adjustment on your insurances by adjusting your deductibles, coverage amounts, the boat, RV, or other Toys, and strip them down until you get on your feet. DO IT NOW, DO NOT WAIT.

Agreements and Contracts – You always want to honor your agreements with all the companies you do business with unless you did not get what you agreed to or you find out what it costs you to get out of an agreement. One thing to remember, if you do not have a copy of the agreement and the company wants to enforce it, it will be up to them to get you a copy of that agreement. In many cases (I.E. phone, alarm company, or cable company), will not have an agreement and will tell you they do to keep you on. Ask for it, it cannot hurt. If they cannot produce it and your certain that you are at the end of your term, pay the fee to get out or tell them that you do not have an agreement because they cannot produce one for you.

Looking for a job - This is typically not a pleasant process, and especially if your over 40 and have worked at the same job for many years. You have to learn how to network and make a resume, if you ever have done one before.

How do you go about finding a job?  Start with the Internet is a great place to start, but your best job seekers are your friends and family. Post it with your friends on your Facebook or blog page if you have one. People love to help others. Post your resume or job qualifications EVERYWHERE. An old sales saying comes to mind, “Untold is UnSold”   Your friends and family know you well and if your a hard worker, they will help you network for a new job. It is great if you have a specific skill. Sometimes you can find misc jobs you can pick up just by telling others about your situation. Ya gotta do what it takes to make it and you will have to roll with these times to keep moving forward.

Church and Food – Networking for a job is critical. Let your Church office know that you are looking for a job. If you don’t have a Church, get one. Do not be afraid to ask for meals that some churches or private food banks offer. Churches are getting strained with the great need a the time of this article. The hardest thing for the proud man or woman is to just ask.

If your not a church goer, find one and get plugged in. One of the best things you can do  is volunteer your time at anything to do with the church, meeting people that are sometimes in the same space you are. It seems that you always find a job or opening when your helping others and not actually looking for a job at that moment. When you volunteer, your guard is down and your open to things you never thought you would be. Think about volunteering on evenings or weekends. Volunteering is extremely therapeutic when your out of a job or anytime.

P.S. Find a smaller church that has missions and is actively outreaching in the community. Our family go to Calvary Refuge Huntington Beach, a non-denominational church, where the door is always open.

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Enough is Enough, cannot wait for the new one. Maybe you will not find it as entertaining as I did but remember, I am just opening my umbrella…

Is this the oddest way to open an broken and crippled umbrella? The top ripped from age and it time for it to retire I just ordered my new Teak Umbrella from www.TeakFurnitureClassics.com Coming on Monday.
Teak Furniture Classics has Good prices an quality selections.

Every time I get to spend some quality time with my kids or a person in need of listening time, it is a good day. Yesterday, my hardest to reach son, still living at home, 22 year old and I went to the beach with the potential of Surfing. Turns out, it was flat slightly windy, but a warm and beautiful day, 78 degrees in the middle of December. We sat in our beach chairs by the water talking and relating to each other. As a parent, sometimes you just need to listen period, especially if you have a girl. It was a real treat.  We had good talk, not judgmental nor condescending talk. We left the beach after about an hour and a half, ate lunch together at a hole-in-the-wall Thai place we found on Urbanspoon, and then went home.

That late afternoon, it took a little coaxing, but together we finished putting up the Christmas lights.

You have kids? Connect with them, make the effort now, for they will be gone before you know it and they will not have those small memories that are burned in for life.  I was so fortunate to have great parents as role model so it is not so much of a stretch for me, but you who struggle, get some help from others to show you how you can connect and make a difference.

Fulfilled Dad

It was great seeing my son who just graduated from Gerry Katzman’s, School of comedy. Robbiek’s and all his graduates have a certain style. You can tell when Gerry has been schooling them because they do not suck. Gerry has a knack to bring out the best in even the meekest of performers.

RobbieK performed for his 2nd time last night in Hollywood at the Comedy Store and he was great and he kept it clean. See his performance on Facebook.

Or here if you can see it.

First Stand-up – Comedy Club Union August 16th 2010

Laurenne’s Blog… HumansareSoFunny.com

Most do not think too much about health or its affects till you round 45-50 years of age until stuff starts breaking.  Torn knees from football, or Shoulders from another sport, prostate, Cholesterol, etc..

Probably around that time it is not too late but if you have not been taking care of yourself by monitoring what you intake and your activity, your going to play some hard catch-up.

The reality that you need to find “time” in your day/week for you . Unless you are independently wealthy, can afford a full time trainer, you going to try and fit in whatever time you can get for your body somewhere in “Life”.  This will not be easy and you got to be disciplined.

When it comes to exercise, whatever you do, go slow and do not over do it.  You may be trying to undo 40 years plus of fast food with little exercise, soooo TAKE IT SLOW.

There are many people that are going to give you advice, for both exercise and what to eat and take. My best friend Steve Gibbs said something that pretty much sums it up, “If it tastes good, pretty much it is probably got stuff in it that is not good for you”

So, what do you do? Learn from research on the net, taking to others, gathering an opinion on things your body needs and for now try to hit the middle, read allot. Use your caloric intake as a guide when you eat.

Iphone has an food app called “Lose it” that helps you get and idea  of what you when your on the move.  But you say “I do not have time to enter all that information!!”.  Details … Lose It Developer
Yeah I get it, it is a real inconvenience to find the time to enter it during your busy day so try doing at the END of each day.  None of this is perfect and is not an exacting science.  Record this for about a week and at the end of one week or two you have a good idea of what you will be eating. Be careful with recommendations from others as they are not doctors or your docto and unless they know your medical history, you cannot responsibly recommend things to consume.  Ok, so now that I am too busy to get all this and understand it, what is safe?  Just about any mature multiple one-a-day pill or set of pills can help. As you get older, especially into your 40′s you need Vitamin D for some reason and and Calcium replacement for your aging bones.

Many are selling “HOPE” and it is easy to get hooked up with a Self-serving Health Store or person selling Multi-Level-Type products.  You will probably spend allot of money you do not need or could cause a disservice to your body.  Give your self some months to learn, be strong, and you will learn some beneficial things along the way. Buying a Multi-Vitamin from a Walmart, Costco, or Sams type store is a good way to start. I have understood that Sam’s Club Members Mark has a great set of multi’s.

An example – I have a lady friend I know that was using a daily juice mix that had lots of Protein soy in it which, later we found out that Protein Soy can affect their hormones. She was taking Hormone treatments which could set her in the wrong direction and I suggested she talk with her hormone doctor. I have learned that Not all Soy is bad. One thing I learned is that Soy Lecithin is mainly a filler found in many protein powers that have NO value and take up space in the can to make more money.

Listen to your body and remember, your starting from probably ground Zero, so start slow and listen.  Taking too many things at once your body will react and you may get some serious changes and you will never know what change made what improvement. Make small changes and try and listen to your body for changes. Talk to your local doctor and tell them what your taking so you do not go backwards.

As for exercising, you may start by walking more, outside, or using an elliptical.  Got or feel you need a Gym pass?  Think of what days or times you can devote, yes I said devote, (put the Double Double Cheeseburger down).  Do not get a Gym pass if it takes you more than 20minutes to get there.  Start out by buying a few weights at Walmart and start with, 5, 10, 12LBS.  If you used to lift weights, bump them up a bit but start slow.

You know, buying a Gym pass is not a bad thing to get but don’t buy the “HOPE” and sign up for 3 or 5 years. Get a month to month for the first year and if you are still using it, then sign up for the long term.  Your Gym Sales person will NOT like that as they do not make ANY money off you, so they will sell you products… If you have never been in one, it is a pain getting out of those 5 year contracts that you may not use. Spend the money one minimal weights, Vitamins and supplements.  One important thing to remember, if you are not s self-motivator which most of us are not, a Gym membership will allow you to be around others who have being fitness in mind which can be a motivator. At the Gym or Health Store, you are fair game for the sales trainers to load you up with overpriced health monitors, juices, power bars, and the like.

More later…

Check this little peice of information.

Have you see the “FloMax or Avadart” ads with the guy frantically looking for bathroom?

Is that you? What do I do? Make an appointment with your doctor and have a PSA test and get physically checked. You need to rule out cancer. Then, when you found that you just got what every many has one time or another after 45 years old, you can chose to use what they prescribe them or try some Holistic solutions.  Unless I must fix it now and it is critical to get under control in a month, I chose the Holistic solution. I do not like putting stuff in my body unless I have to.

James Lent of the HHRGroup is a knowledgeable guy of what things are naturally good for your body. He supplies health products to places like Mother’s markets and the like.  For Prostate issues, he recommends from IHerb.com this product which is called “A man’s Zinc” . Try it first and if it does not drop your score in a month, then take the Flomax or Avadart.

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