Linked Local Network

I have a friend named Jim who has his own business in which he inspects restaurants to help improve their sanitation. He does this part time, primarily on weekends. Then he has his regular job in which he is in charge of the food service for over 200 assisted-living facilities throughout the country. His primary job requires him to get up at 5:00am and drive into downtown Chicago from the suburbs everyday that he is in town and then there are weeks when he travels throughout the country and checks-up on some of the facilities he helps run. In essence, Jim work 6-7 days a week! We talk once a week on the phone and he always tells me how busy his life is that week. Jim never complains about how busy he is because he accepts the fact that he has created the world he lives in. Jim has two kids, one is married with a child and the other just graduated from college and is living at home, so for the most part it is just him and his wife at home. It’s not like he works all the time and ne...

In researching ways to prevent some pets from being turned in to a shelter, I discovered a great way to deal with this problem, a more sensible and humane method for treating the animals in question.  There is a website called “Get Your Pet” ( https://getyourpet.com/ ) which allows an owner who needs to give up their pet to post a picture and description of their pet to attempt to re-home it while it remains in their loving care. I tried a search to adopt a pet and found a great selection to choose from within 50 miles of my zip code. The tech is impressive. As the website states the direct-adopt method has these benefits: Adopters  meet and learn about pets from the Guardians (owners) who know them best. Guardians  keep their pets out of the shelter. By rehoming a dog or cat, they can find them loving, new homes. Pets  go directly from one loving home to another. Pet adoption with less stress. Less chance of illness or death. Local Veterinarians  ex...

Today is my thirty-first wedding anniversary and I am still very much in love with my wife. I still remember the day we got married like it was yesterday and when I reminisce about that day all the feelings of love and joy fill my heart along with the faces of all the guests. It was the most magical day of my life, it also seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye but it will forever be the anchor that keeps me grounded through the storms of life. Looking back on the last thirty-one years I can honestly say the good times definitely out way the bad. I can remember three times in my marriage where I really felt lost and began crying out to God for help and hope.1. When I did not like my job working in IT anymore and felt frustrated because I was making good money but my work just wasn’t fulfilling anymore. 2. When I lost my health and wellness business after two years in business and thousands of dollars in lost revenue. 3. When Valerie was in the hospital for three weeks with...

Community Voice Updates.  As promised, the new calendar is up and running. You can add events by accessing the “M.E. Calendar” menu item in the left column of the WordPress interface. Everyone should be able to add an event. Please follow the color coding:  Training  events are red,  Radio show s are yellow,  Networkin g events are blue,  Webinars  are orange and  Conferences  are green.  Please feel free to add your events into the calendar. TRAINING: The next Community Voice training and status update meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 5th at 6:00p Central time.  We will cover topics on WordPress, Community Voice program, best SEO practices, ensuring you add a Featured Image to your post, upcoming events, system updates and group therapy on your writing. Please attend so you can meet other Community Voices. Also, in May, the User Discussion Forums were added to the menu. Please create topics u...

Topic: Startup franchisor, Discussing the franchising process with Super Joe Pardo. What are the Issues & Opportunities of becoming a Franchisor? Broadcast Date: June 6th, 2019 at 5:00p Est/4:00P Cen/3:00p Mtn/2:00p Pac Join co-hosts Ray Pillar, Owner of Molly Maid Aurora-Naperville, Fred McMurray of Westvyne and Holly A Ford of Zarian Firm International as they discuss becoming a franchisor and all of the associated opportunities, problems and people with Super Joe Pardo Business Coach, Award Winning Podcastor, Startup Franchisor Our Guest: Super Joe Pardo , Business Coach, Award Winning Podcastor, Startup Franchisor Co-hosts, Holly A Ford womansplainer to Ray Pillar and Fred McMurray.     Chat live  to new episodes on Thursdays at 4p central. Call in on Thursdays at 323-580-5755. Listen to  past episodes Interested in buying a franchise? Complete the  form  and receive a free copy of the Franchise MBA! Message at the following sponsored pag...

I have a unique part of my job that differs from a lot of people’s work lives: I get to spend a LOT of time in my car everyday! Being in Sales, I drive a lot of different places all the time and put a minimum of over 20,000 miles a year on my car. Sadly, I see just about everything out on the roads here in Chicago and not too much surprises me anymore. People drive VERY fast. People drive VERY slow. People zig-zag in and out of traffic. Motorcyclists drive in between cars when traffic is slowing to a crawl. Truckers almost drive automobiles off of the road…I think you get the idea. So while I am out driving, I have noticed a lot of things that have lead me to create the following list of observations: Stay out of the left lane, unless you are passing several cars! In Illinois, you can now get a ticket if you don’t and I know someone who did! Studies have shown that slow vehicles cause accidents, not fast ones. Watch out for motorcyclists! I have several friends who rid...

I have been following the Scary Mommy Facebook page for years as many articles that they share are quite thought-provoking. However, many are political which I am not going to be going into at all, not right now anyway. The article that I want to talk about is the one that is titled Thanks For Your Concern, But My Fat Ass Is Fine . This article is about how fat shamers online pretend to be concerned about the health of people that are overweight and obese. They make snide comments about their weight and act as if they are truly concerned while what they really are doing is shaming the individual for being overweight or obese. Fat shaming is not a new thing by any means. This has been an issue that has been going on for years, and even underweight people are shamed for not having enough weight which is referred to as skinny shaming. Neither is right to do and this means body shaming has not gotten better over time. In fact, in many ways, it has gotten worse thanks to the internet. I chi...