Creativity feeds Creativity.... in Detroit

hanks for your comment Donaldman.
Here's the note you sent to The Detroit News:

Topic for discussion: Creativity feeds Creativity...

Your comments:

What is it about Detroit anyway? It seems that just like politics... it is a polarizing topic. You love it or your despise it. Personally for me it is my birth city AND a place my Grand Parents (both sets) lived on the fringes of for my entire childhood. My aunt worked at the J.L. Hudson building right up until it was closed for good. My Dad drove to work at Chevrolet Gear and Axle (now known as American Axle) for almost his entire working life. He ended up spending much of his later years at the beautiful UAW center on the river front.

What more do I need to say... Detroit is in fact in my DNA and my certificate of birth will prove it. That being said it might explain why I love to visit the city AND do so lovingly with my family as often as possible. My "B" team (two younger daughters) and I enjoy a day trip to the fabulous YMCA located on Madison. This is a real treat if you have not visited. I believe for non members it is a $5 entry fee and well worth it for a unique multi story urban recreation experience. I love hooping it up with the large glass wall that reveals the city scape view. The pool is excellent AND includes a jetted therapeutic section and a warm tub.

Back to the point.... kudos to this Royal Oak firm that recognizes the value of renovation and rejuvenation for their new home offices. Not to mention that they already have an established client list in Detroit. Good for them, Good for Detroit, Good for the Citizens of Detroit. A win, win, win.....now if we could only get that spirit to rub off on the Tigers and Lions. ;)

Poster boy for the collapse of an industry....

Thanks for your comment Donaldman.
Here's the note you sent to The Detroit News:

Topic for discussion: Poster Boy for Collapse of the Industry

Your comments:

I don't know who David Hall is other than I feel like I should know him because of his face and name being every where during the rambling gambling days leading up the the collapse of the banking industry. David has that "Eddie Haskel" look and feel about him. "Good morning Mrs. Cleaver, you like nice today Mrs. Cleaver, Yes we can get you zero down with no points Mrs. Cleaver...

Here is my problem with this story. David Hall represents a disturbing series of events that are undeniable. He was the ultimate poster boy for the sell at all costs financial arm and best buddy to Dan Gilberts... Quicken Loans. No turning back the history of their marketing machine and the overall reduction in the standards used in the industry leading up to the collapse. It could be said that they aren't to blame for any of it....everyone else was doing it too. Those are very dangerous words that can lead to a false sense of a "new norm".

I believe that there were tell tale signs happening before our very eyes that were sending off red flashing lights that should have triggered some where.... a switch to turn off the machine. There was no switch and worse yet there was no one in any regulatory body that was able or willing to pull the plug. The machine kept running faster and faster... pushing out loans for every qualified person until there really were no more "qualified person's" under the then current standards. How do we fix that... we change the standard's and create a whole new set of odd and irrational standard's of lending. Let's check this body... yes I detect a faint pulse... APPROVED!

Here is a summary of my recollection of events I witnessed leading up to the beginning of the end. Event one: I tune into my favorite radio talk show for the weekend and discover the red headed step child has bought his way onto the air waves. The question you have to ask your self is... why would anyone need to talk about or listen to a show about mortgages on a Saturday morning for three hours... every weekend? The second is who the hell let the inmates run the asylum? These are fast talking hustlers of loans giving financial advice to people over the phone. Ohh... based on your income we can get you into a $1,000,000 5 yr arm with no closing cost or money down... we don't need to see your income... this special plan does not require it... and we can close next week and give you $10,000 from closing to fund your vacation. Seriously! that is the kind of crap that was being spun AND worse yet... we ate it up. Wow.. we live in a new world of bigger, better, more... and I guess I really don't have to have a stable job or any assets to live this live....WRONG!

The second alarm that went off was simply attending a Detroit Pistons game leading up the the crash... Rock Financial was every where in that place. I am not kidding you when I say this... they log was plastered on the side of a mini remote controlled blimp that was caged in a net in the rafters to be taken out at certain times and remotely lead the charge to... I am not kidding here... drop little Rock Financial gifts from little parachutes from above... like Manna from Heaven! Don't quote me on this... but I think their logo was also placed in area's I cannot mention on the Auto motion girls! I cannot verify this since I was raised in a strict Catholic household and looked away toward the falling parachutes.

You get my point... here he surfaces again... after the recovery is trying to come alive... and that kind of scares me into thinking... what did we learn? Why are these guys allowed to operate and better yet why were they not punished for the sins of the past? Don't fall for this pitch mans next show folks. We cannot afford it and if we have not learned from the last go around then we will get what is coming to us.... and it is not gifts falling from parachutes from yours truly!

Emergency Manager coming soon to a Public Entity near you...

I read this article today in the Detroit News and felt compelled to comment on the remarks of Danial Howe. See the attached link:  http://apps.detnews.com/apps/forums/writeus.php

Tough decisions are made by tough people who usually are not to close to the core issues themselves.  That would be wrong since it could effect their decision.  It's like when we were kids and we needed an adult arbitrator to resolve some sort of ruling over who get's the call in a game.  Maybe we've come to this point because of  socities appetite for shows like... Peoples Court, Judge Judy, and American Idol.  We need some type of appointed figure head or panel to tell us what is right, wrong, and what path to follow. 

We are indeed not in Kansas anymore...    

Mid Life Career Change: Lifeguarding?

Have you spent any time lately talking with a young person about what they want to do for a career?  Well... I have a 17 year old son who I've had several conversations with of late on this topic.  Funny thing... have you ever heard you self saying the phrase..."I haven't figured out what I want to do yet when I grow up?"

I see life as a continual "growing up" process and we never ever really get to the place we think we ought to be.  I remember having it planned out in my mind when I was 17 that I wanted to be an Optometrist. Why? How did I come to that conclusion?  I can tell you I think it was because... number one... I started wearing corrective lenses when I was about 6 or 7.  Two... my dad had a sweet package of benefits thanks to the UAW that allowed us the ability to get an eye exam AND glasses every year.  I have more on this later.

I remember meeting a then young Dr. Donald Borsand... yes we hit it off because we were both the "Donald's" before Mr. Trump arrived on the national seen.... and two... he was tall and gangley like me... and three the office was brand new plus loaded with all kinds of cool gadgets that interested me to no end.  I loved the multiple choice questions and always excelled at that growing up.... "Is this better?... or This? FLIP This? or This?  And before your eyes the letters got either better or worse.  Dr. B was the final authority and would finally come to the conclusion that this was indeed the correct prescription for your vision.  WOW... that was pretty powerful to me. 

I even remember going in to talk with him years later to dig into the details about the career opportunity.  One thing I should have paid closer attention to.... really truth be known there are probably more than one things... but I never really looked into the cost involved in getting through the education required to follow this career path.  I did my homework and learned that there were 13 schools of Optometry in the United States and that in fact there was one in Mid Michigan at Ferris State University.  I guess I figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.  Ohhh.... the other couple of minor things... Uhhh.... having a solid and great understanding of Mathematics and Science is another very important requirement. 

Let me say it this way.... I enjoyed science emensly but I must admit that mathematics was not my strong suite coming out of high school.  I'm not going to sling arrows and stones at the education factory I attended growing up.  We all have a choice in every thing we do.  Then my choice was to excel in entertainment and stand up comedy (or sit down comedy) to my friends in school.   It then put me in the position to play some major catch-up once I left the factory.  

The bottom line folks is that when I got that bridge crossing moment I learned some very important things.  Now pay careful attention young folks!  Lesson one.... I financed my own education by doing manual labor of all sorts.  Hard work... back breaking work.... to finance my education.  Two... I re educated myself in the area's I came up short in such as math.  Three...programs like the medical path I was thinking about are very expensive investments.   The bottom line is that the effort for me to get to this point was significant AND monumental.  To this day I have dreams of being late for a class that I have not yet been to.... and it is already well into the term.... walking across campus to find a classroom I have not yet been to and walking in trying to somehow make it work.  I consider this my own version of "post traumatic stress disorder".

Getting back to the main point.... 25 years into my life time career.... I now see I have missed the target yet once again.  Just a few short weeks ago we vacationed in beautiful New Port Beach California.  April is of course the off season and the thin skinned Californian's would never think of hitting the beach in April.  However,  the hearty stock in us mid-westerners consider this to be like one of the finest days we'll get back in our home states.  I did take note of the red jacket, faded tan, sun glassed, blanket covered, Haselhoff want to be in the tower.   It never occurred to me that this could have been my career path.  If I'd only taken swimming class more seriously from Mr. Hill back at SHS.  I could have been a life guard....with a sweet life on the beach.... knocking down $200K and living the dream.  I could have been a contender.... a California Dreamer.

Well... it's never too lake so I am off the the Y... got to hit the weights and then the pool!