Thank you to those who have followed along on my journey. I will see what results I receive over the next day or so and make a determination from there if I continue or not.

For those looking to have manuals, ebooks or catalogs written in an easy to understand format, v1-p offers those services and includes video in online manuals.

Volume 1 No.11

Friday July 11, 2008

As I mentioned last time, there is so many whys we can ask God. Most religious leaders I talked to would try to push or force their belief on me and not answer my questions. When a religious person was done speaking to me they would always say something like, “Do you understand?” No, I’d say and they would come back with, well, we love you. I use to think, how can these people say they love me; they don’t know me, or anything about me. What if I were some mass murderer, would they really love me? What if I were some pervert who slept strung up from my big toes, would they really love me; I think not. To me, these religious leaders were nothing but a bunch of hypocrites that only cared about getting my money. It was always, pass the plate at churches I visited.

Maybe these people are representatives of God but all they do is beg for this and beg for that. God never begged. Does God need to pass the plate or beg for money? I think not. Oh, but he’s God, the religious people would say. Yeah, well you claim to be working for him and you claim to know him. Does he ask you to beg for him? I’d get the proverbial no.

Let me ask you something, I’d ask the religious people. If you knew someone and maybe they even worked for you and you knew they had a need; would you help them? Sure, they’d say, if I could. Suppose you had the means to help, would you? Yes they said. So would I. Do you think God has the means: The means to help anyone? Yes, they would say. Then why doesn’t he, I asked?

They would give me a song and a dance why God does or doesn’t help people but not once and I mean, not once, did any of them pull out a Bible and show me from that book why. What made one person’s word better than the other person’s? Nothing, it was a matter of who do you want to believe. I chose to believe none of them anymore. I will explain more of that statement later.

I arrived back home. What a great trip. Now it was time for me to buckle down and get back to work. I had no plans on going back to that music store, oh no, not me. I planned to take a couple of days, once home, to get my laundry done, put food back in the house and just relax as I returned to a routine. I vividly remember I got home on a Monday. I took the week to get things going again on my home front, visit my family and clean my house. The following Monday, I was practicing on my organ I had in my home when the phone rang. It was about three in the afternoon. I said hello. On the other end of the phone was Roger, the General Sales Manager to the music store. And friends, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to see what I told Roger.

Chaaps International has made their Treasure Hunt 4 Charity poster available online, check it out if you get a chance. If you can’t participate, make a donation. Donations are going to Habitat For Humanity and The Salvation Army – thanks.

Volume 1 No.10

Thursday July 10, 2008

I stopped in Virginia at a freeway exit to gas up my car and get a snack. When I got back into my car and headed up the entrance ramp onto the freeway, I felt something crawling up my leg. I was still on the entrance ramp so I grabbed what appeared to be a bug crawling up my leg and quickly pulled over onto the shoulder of the entrance ramp. Without giving a second thought to where I was, just get whatever is crawling up my leg off, I quickly removed my pants. Yep, in front of God and everyone, I was standing on the shoulder of an entrance ramp to the freeway in my underwear. The bug was the largest black beetle I’d ever seen. Maybe I should confess, he didn’t live through the night.

While driving home, I started to think about the country I just toured. The majestic mountains called the Rockies to the diverse oceans of the Pacific to the Atlantic: Cactus and deserts to swamps and valleys of green carpet. I remember saying to myself, “ I don’t know if there is really a God, but there must be a divine creator who created this beautiful country called America.

Events in my life caused me to think about a “Supreme Being” called God, by most. Like most people however, I had the same questions:

1. If there is a God, why do people suffer?
2. If there is a God, why is there famine and disasters?
3. Why are people born deformed or without and others are born with a silver spoon?
4. Why are there blind people?

If there is a God, why does he let all this happen? I would make everything just right if I were God, I thought.

There is a grocery list of whys when it comes to God. No one could adequately answer these questions for me. My mom didn’t know the answers and all the religious people I asked didn’t provide an adequate answer I could understand and accept. What other questions I had weren’t going to be answered then but God did answer. Have to go today but see you tomorrow.

Don’t forget to check out Chaaps Treasure Hunt for a great charity program at:

Volume 1 No.9

Wednesday July 9, 2008

When I first arrived in Reno, it was a whole new world to me: All the lights, the slot machines, and the people. When I walked down the sidewalks and looked into the casinos, I was amazed. I started taking pictures of the casinos. This tall stout man walked up to me and said, “Sorry, you’re not allowed to take pictures of the casinos or inside the casinos.” Ok, I said, sorry. I put my camera away but the first five pictures I took earlier came out great. I know, you want to know if I gambled. I confess, I did walk into a casino and put a dime in a dime slot machine. Suddenly, a blue light went off with a siren and I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. Great, I thought, now the cops will come and ask me what I did to the machine. Suddenly, all these dimes came out in the bottom tray. A man from the casino walked over and said congratulations you won. With relief I smiled. I’m not much of a gambler and never had been. I took my winnings and left. I had a few extra dollars for my trip I thought. I headed into California.

America is so vast and oh so beautiful. I explored new places and engaged new foods while on my trip around the country. It was time to head south into Arizona and on to Texas. The desert southwest is a bit brown and barren for me but I was thrilled to see huge cactus. One night there was an electrical storm and I was able to capture the event with my camera. Believe it or not, the lightening even came out in the photo. When I saw the lightening, I remember thinking, gee z God that was awesome. But I didn’t give God another thought.

I traveled into the southeast and it was humid. I marveled at the contrast of a rocky Pacific Ocean beach like up in Monterey or Carmel, California. Yet in Florida, it was flat, no rocks in the water, but a smooth beach. I even saw my first alligator. As I traveled up the east coast, I stopped in Virginia. I had my first experience with real bugs there. I’m not saying Virginia is a buggy state, but my experience with the bugs put me in a precarious position. After I gassed my car up and went to enter the entrance ramp to get back on the freeway, I felt something crawling up my leg.

Because I’m trying to keep my posts a bit shorter so you don’t get bored, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to see what was crawling up my leg and what I did. I’ll just say, how I handled the situation is not what most people would do. See you tomorrow.

I found an interesting blog2god site at: http://www.blogtogod.com/ .

Volume 1 No.9

Tuesday July 8, 2008

I went to my bank, deposited my commission check, picked up traveler’s checks and went home to pack. After all, I hadn’t learned to play the organ so I could sell pianos and organs. I learned to play because I had wanted to play since I was a child. The cool thing was in the piano and organ store, I could play any instrument I wanted, even the twenty thousand dollar ones, any time I wanted for as long as I wanted. There was a certain mystery of intrigue working in music.

Professional musicians played instruments supplied by the manufacturer. If I remember correctly, Norlin Industries owned Fender guitars at one time or maybe it was Gibson guitar. Regardless, Chet Atkins, a world famous guitar player, endorsed the guitar and would go to the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show, play the guitar in concert and music dealers were admitted to the event, free. Sure the music dealers paid for a general ticket to the show but professionals appeared at many booths displaying products they endorsed. Another example is Chuck Mangione, a famous flugelhorn player and Gap’s brother, also played and endorsed the Kawai piano. So there was an intriguing part of piano and organ stores.

Later, the store started carrying Baldwin pianos and organs. With endorsements galore, there were people like Billy Joel, Burt Bacharach and even Liberache. I remember the first NAMM show I went to: Harry James played. I remember asking, “Who’s Harry James?” You had famous drummers, keyboard players, brass musicians and even those who played the harp. Downstairs held the more “wild” bunch, the rockers. When you walk into a retail music store, most people never think of how far that store reaches in the music industry. The music industry from an instrument side is a very small industry; everybody knows everybody. They use to say you could fit the entire music industry dollar wise into the cost of five airplanes, jets of coarse.

Once I was packed my car loaded and said my catch ya laters to my family, I headed west. California here I come. If I found something great in California, maybe I’ll move there I thought. God was not even in my mind. I love looking at the stars at night because it makes me think about what little specs we are compared to a universe. I landed, so to speak, in Reno, Nevada. I walk down some sidewalks, look into casinos and start taking pictures. A tall stout man walked up to me and said, (well you’ll have to check with me tomorrow to see what happened).

If you have any great links you want to share with our readers, which are increasing daily, please post them or send me a note. I will give credit where credit is due. See you tomorrow. Chaaps International is having a Treasure Hunt 4 Charity with real treasure. You might want to check them out.

Volume 1 No.7

Monday July 7, 2008

After reviewing the pay structure with me, the general sales manager wanted to know if I was interested in the position they had open. My qualifications or credentials didn’t matter to the manager; they just needed salespeople. The manager said it would take a while for me to learn all the different models of organs and pianos. The store had a training program but it was mostly product knowledge. God had given me a gift when it came to books. Product knowledge wasn’t an issue, money was. I wanted to earn extra spending money for my vacation not start some new career with a poor paying prison job. I thought retail jobs were like prison. I thought, how hard could it be to sell a couple organs and pianos for six weeks? Just stick it out for six weeks, earn some bucks and leave.

It was my turn to inform the general sales manager of my decision. I looked at him and said, “It’s all right. My concern is how fast can I learn the products. He said most salespeople learn the product within a few weeks but he would be available to help answer questions for my customers. I said I wasn’t thrilled with their pay plan but I would try it out. Then I had to say something about my vacation. I couldn’t just tell the guy a lie. If mom found out, she would be disappointed. So I told the general sales manager most of the truth.

I don’t have a problem selling. I have a planned vacation though. Several months ago I planned a five-week vacation. Needless to say, his jaw dropped. Five weeks, he exclaimed! Yes, five-weeks. Where are you going, he asked? I’m touring the country. I’ll head for Reno, Nevada then into California, Mexico, Florida and back to New York. Sounds like fun, he said. I hope so, I said. With my next statement to him, only God could have prepared his heart for his reply. I said to the general sales manager. This is what I propose. I’ll start working here, learn the product and sell pianos and organs for six weeks. Then I’ll take my five-week vacation and when I get back, I’ll come back here and pick up where I left off, what do you think? He said, when would you leave? I gave him a date. When will you be back? I gave him another date even though I had no plans on coming back. Then he looked at me, smiled and said when can you start? Monday. Fine, see you at ten o’clock. On Monday you’ll meet the president of the company. OK, fine.

I walked out of the store, got in my car grinning. The wheels were turning. How much can I make in six weeks? Ah, I had a challenge, something I thrived on. Monday came. I went into the store and the president of the company walked out of a plush office with the general sales manager. After our greetings, the president asked me about my musical background. Then he looked me square in the face and said, “How did you convince Roger to hire you, let you work for six weeks and then take a five week vacation?” I smiled. The president said, we’ll have to see how this turns out then he walked away. I made $ 2200 in six weeks. I didn’t think it was bad because I was still green on all the different products. It was time for vacation. Smiling and waving goodbye to everyone in the store I walked out. Getting into my car I thought, boy am I glad that’s over. I hate being cooped up all day. What happened next? Tune in tomorrow.

The community outreach program by Chaaps International helped many children enjoy an old fashion picnic. Check out their video here Chaaps International.

Volume 1 No.7

Sunday July 6, 2008

My plans for my tour around the country were made. Hotel reservations were booked. All I had to do was get in the car and drive from New York to California while stopping in Reno, Nevada to see what slot machines really looked like. After seeing San Francisco drive down to LA into San Diego then visit Mexico. I heard you could negotiate with merchants in Mexico and I wanted to see how I could negotiate with someone when I didn’t know their language. Cruise through Arizona and on to Texas, Louisiana and into Florida. Just ditty-bop up the east coast and viola’, the plans were set.

After circling the ad in the local newspaper for the organist job I decided to give them a call. My intention was to take on an extra job for a few weeks to earn some extra spending money for my trip around the country. I had no intention of staying in any new job. “Hello,” I said. A man’s voice said, “Hello, may I help you?” Sure, I said. I noticed your ad in the paper for someone to play the organ. Yes, he said. We don’t do phone interviews so I’ll have to make an appointment for an interview. Fine, I said. I’m available on Wednesday or Friday to come in for the interview, what’s best for you? Wednesday he said and we set the time for my interview. Now I’m thinking, gee, how much can something like this pay? I’d like to pick up an extra thousand or two before my trip.

Wednesday came. When I arrived at the address the man gave me, I noticed it was a local piano and organ store. Yuck, they want to coop me up all day. I parked my car and walked into the store telling myself, it’s only temporary, just make some extra spending money. A hefty, tall man walked out of an office, which had a two-way mirror. He had curly blonde hair and his shirt was a bit tight around his waist. He put his hand out to shake mine as he pushed a cigarette butt into an ashtray on a desk. After the introductions, he said sit down. I sat down and he proceeded to explain the position they needed filled.

We need a salesman, he said, someone who can play the organ well enough to demonstrate the instrument to a potential buyer. What kind of music do you need to play, I asked. Pretty much anything, he said. He lied. How does it work, I asked? All you do (ever notice when someone says all you do, it is their way of saying there is more to this than I’m willing to tell you?) is when a customer comes in the door; you greet them and qualify them. Then you take them to an organ, play a couple of songs and then close the sale. Once the organ is delivered, you get paid. Oh, so this is a straight commission job, I asked? Let me just say something here. Any salesperson worth their salt deserves more than straight commission. Good salespeople work hard at honing their skills and pay for education to improve their knowledge and abilities. If a company isn’t willing to pay them a base plus commission for getting THEIR product into customer’s hands; they aren’t a good employer. No, the general sales manager said. We pay a draw against commission. We guarantee you a minimum of six hundred dollars per month. You earn commission on each sale. If you earned $ 1,500 in commission for a month, we would pay you $600 as a guaranteed draw and you would receive a commission check for $900. So either way, you receive the $ 1,500. Why not just pay a salary of $600 then and pay the $900 as commission, I thought. I would realize later, the pay structure was set up for legal avoidance. Their pay structure enabled them to say you were not really an employee but an independent contractor. Yeah, right.

After being shown around the piano and organ store, the general sales manager asked me what I thought. I couldn’t tell him I was just looking for a job for a few weeks to get some extra spending money together. How did I handle the situation? You’ll have to tune in tomorrow.

You can read this story at: http://www.v1-p.com/hellogod/ too. Make money online blogging. Check out the following sites: ProBlogger is a site rich in information, tools and resources. The bookworm that I am, I even bought their new book Blogging Your Way To A Six Figure Income. Great book.

Volume 1 No.6

Saturday July 5, 2008

I wasn’t giving much thought to God at this time in my life. My mom would say to all her children, “If you can look in the mirror and say, what I did wasn’t bad and it would be OK with God, then it couldn’t have been too bad.” My family believed in God, but we were not religious nor did we go to church as I mentioned. I was raised German Lutheran.

Now that the stitches were out from my knee surgery, I was free to take professional music lessons. My instructor commented on how much I learned from the books. She didn’t know I practiced eight hours a day because I couldn’t do much else. I wanted to learn to play the organ. I wasn’t looking to make a living from music nor play in a band. When I was twelve, my aunt played the organ and I remember sitting on the floor listening to her play. One day, I’m going to play like that, I thought. My uncle would let her pick whatever organ she wanted to buy because she played so well.

I held down steady work earning my money at real estate, sales and marketing. Selling any product or service was not an option; I had to believe in the product or service. One day I decided to look through a local newspaper peeking at job openings. There was something interesting; some company had advertised their need for an organist. I’m not a great organist I thought but, what the hey, it can’t hurt to see what this is about. Gee, I wonder how much organists are paid? What kind of money can you make from playing music? Sure, I knew bands made decent money but that was only if they “made it.” Orchestras didn’t hire organists. The interesting thing about this help wanted post in the local newspaper was I had already decided to take a trip cross country. How could I take a job playing music and six weeks later, go on a five-week vacation around the country? What employer in their right mind would hire someone, train them in the position and then let them go on vacation for five weeks? As an employer, would you? Let me tell you what happened but you will have to wait until next time.

A great resource to learn how to make money with blogging is John Chow check him out.

By: HelloGod

Volume 1 No.5

Friday July 4, 2008

My love for music and journalism didn’t quench. I chose to learn real estate and business. I signed up at what I felt was a professional real estate company and went to school to get my license. I went to business school at the same time. Because I need to have my feet wet in what I’m doing, I was the first person in that real estate company’s history to have two listings and two sales before having my license. I teamed up with someone in the office and whatever listing or sale I got, we put those listings and sales on his license. Then he would pay me. Naturally being just a sales associate wasn’t good enough for me; I had to be a broker and then a REALTOR. They say you must always capitalize every letter in REALTOR to properly spell the word. I didn’t give much thought to God at that time. I had achieved the highest level I could in real estate and then the challenge was gone. I decided to tinker with personal investing when I had the opportunity, but I needed to move on.

I had played baseball in an industrial league and had the most home runs and was voted most valuable player by my peers. I enjoy baseball. One time I rounded second base and I lead with my left leg instead of my normal right leg lead and went crashing down to the ground. I had never felt such pain. My baseball days were over. Torn cartilage, shattered hamstring, water on the knee and internal bleeding on my knee were the diagnosis. Couldn’t they have added a few extra just to make it real interesting I thought? After surgery, my leg was in a brace for six months. I knew I would be “out of commission” as they say. Music. I thought, if I’m going to be laid up with a leg brace, maybe it is time to work on my music.

I went out to a local piano and organ store and talked with a salesman (who happened to have a Manhattan in his hand) I wondered why he was slurring his words. I hadn’t played that Magnus Chord Organ in years. Frankly, I think my mom sold it in a yard sale. The salesman showed me a few organs and I determined it would be a theater organ. I didn’t want some boring church organ I wanted drums and neat sounds. Heck, it even had a cassette tape player. I bought a fifty-three hundred dollar organ and didn’t even know how to play. Not a problem I thought, I’ll just read the book. It must be delivered before I go into the hospital for knee surgery and it was. Once the stitches were out (thank you Doctor Schrock) I was ready for rehab. I hurried things on rehab by putting tomato soup cans, peach cans and tomato sauce cans into a fabric bag and hanging it from my ankle. I’d lie on the edge of my bed and do leg lifts. Once I could sit comfortably with the leg brace, it was time. I put a footstool next to the organ and I’d read through the book while propping my leg on the footstool. I’d sit there for eight hours a day, just going through the books and practicing. Was God in this? Did God know I would hurt my knee? Did God plan the whole thing? You could never have convinced me years ago. However, now I see God’s hand guiding me into music. You think you know where this is going, don’t you? Not when it comes to me, you’d never guess but you can find out more tomorrow. Right here at: Listen God.

Chaaps International a work in progress. Don’t forget, you can also read this at: Hello God.

A great resource to learn blogging is John Chow’s website. Thanks John for helping me get started. Thanks to Chris G from Problogger for sharing John Chow and for the Problogger book I just bought.

By: HelloGod

Volume 1 No.4

Thursday July 3, 2008

I must back up a minute. I said I liked research and would document my research by writing myself notes. As a child, I did have one other love, music. I loved classical music and still do. My mom had been, before she married my dad, a professional singer and first chair with the violin. She won a scholarship for violin (way back when – which meant she had to be good back then) plus Glenn Miller’s orchestra wanted her to join their orchestra. Imagine where I’d be today, oh well. I know where I get my musical abilities; a gift from God and my mom’s genes.

When I was little, I wanted to play a musical instrument. Naturally, mom didn’t have the money to buy me an organ or piano and that is what I wanted to play. Mom must have seen I was really interested in music because I’d go over to the neighbor lady’s house (who happened to be our landlord) and tinker on her old out-of-tune upright piano. So mom thought she would surprise me one Christmas: she bought me a cheap plastic guitar with cheap plastic strings as a Christmas present. Oh well, she meant well.

A few years later, mom went to Sears and bought a Magnus Chord Organ for fifty dollars. Wow, our family had arrived to upper class I thought. Of coarse, we all had to share the organ. That was mom’s polite way of telling me not to hog all the time up on the organ, but share. As time passed, my brother who went to church school with me tinkered on the chord organ whenever he could shove me off the seat. My first song I ever learned was Silent Night. It was beautiful and I thought God fell into the organ because I would think about God when I played. It wasn’t that I knew God; it was the song Silent Night that made me think.

When school was out most of my siblings enlisted in the armed forces. One brother had already been in Vietnam and my buddy, the brother who went to church school and played the chord organ too; he went in the Marine Corp. Even the girls went in the service. Everyone would come home dressed in uniform and mom would dote over them and I’d get jealous. So guess what I did? You guessed it; I enlisted too. I wanted mom to be proud of me too. She was proud of us all but was tired from working so hard. She didn’t tell us how proud she was, she would show us by always cooking our favorite meals. She would have little things we liked when we came home. She never remarried until we all left home; she was lonely.

My military service is not what you think. All the “guff “ recruits take, it escaped me. Instead, they sent me to school; leadership training school. So I never peeled potatoes or had KP. Never went camping in the woods, I was in school. When I came home I thought, schools out, now what. My next move, you can’t guess, yep, I enrolled in school. There were several things I wanted to do but started with journalism. I’ve come to realize, I get bored easily. It is like I want to conquer the challenge and when I succeed I want to move on to the next challenge. How many different jobs have you had? Would you believe, when I got out of journalism school, I didn’t go into journalism? Not me. I went to another school and you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to see where.

Chaaps International is a network of people helping people. I hope you’ll explore their website. You can also read this blog on our mirror site: Hello God and leave comments there too. Listen God.