Well, since Peety is on vacation and so is everyone else and I have yet to get a computer at work I guess I will write an update this evening. First of all, mom is finally back home. I am very thankful and I know that it was ya'lls prayers that saved her. She had a small pulmonary embolism that went into her lungs. My sister said it was small and only a small part of her lungs will die. She will probably be on oxygen for a long time. It could've been large and could've killed her. It makes me sick to think about it. Basically my Christmas was mostly spent worrying about mom. We basically had Christmas on Monday when mom got back from the hospital. I am glad she is back. Anyways the past 3 days have felt like a lifetime. My sister arrived in Dallas on Saturday afternoon. She stayed the night at my place and we watched Twister and Gladiator on the big screen. That was when I learned she has seen maybe a handful of movies in the past ten years. Is that possible? Before I get into the family dynamics of my dysfunctional family let me give you a previous highlight - my brother-in-law and my father don't get along. My sister, Melinda, and my brother-in-law, Greg, don't care for my step-father. My step-brother and my brother-in-law have had issues in the past. I am timid and want everyone to be happy, even though I have unspoken issues with every member of my family. So it is like a time bomb whenever we get together. I was actually glad the explosion took place on Christmas day night and not when mom came home. I suppose I could bring up the argument, but let's say that I was not an active participant, even though before Christmas dinner me and my sister agreed to let my brother-in-law say something to my father, just for knowledge sake about an issue. So after the words were out and the threatening was over we ate a terrible dinner at the hotel near the "falls" and were on eggshells the rest of the night. My genetic family is like the classic repressed white America - if you have issues, deal with it yourself and pretend everything is roses. I have to laugh at it, cause if I didn't I'd probably be crazy. I wonder if my footed PJ's are here yet ;-) Anyways, Sunday was like a spirit of peace enveloped the house. It was as if we all knew how precious family was and no one wanted to argue anymore. I got to play with my 2 nephews and 2 nieces and I was Santa. We all got some good presents and just chatted most of the time. The weather was incredible and I walked around the neighborhood with Tommy, my cute 18 month old nephew. Everyone got along, everyone. I wondered what it was but something I noticed that has also never occurred in that house - the TV was never turned on. We had good turkey too that Melinda and Greg cooked. I had 2 legs and a wing. I love being the only guy who likes dark meat. I finished the evening by saying goodbye to my mom and tickling my nephew and nieces. Christmas started off a nightmare a week ago and ended up in peace. The way it should be. Ok, no, it was bad. I was lucky the last day was good. This does not equal my other Christmas of being sick all Christmas, but it was close. Maybe next year everyone can come to my house and we all can pretend everything is roses while my fire is roaring and my tree is twinkling - like originally planned.

Thought of the Day
"Those lights aren't twinkling Clark."
-- Christmas Vacation

Hi everyone,
Brian is still computer-less at the IRS so I'll fill in. He should be doing
the blog again very soon.
Seeing that it's almost Christmas, today I'll talk about what I consider my
best Christmas. It was the Christmas of 1980. My sister woke me up shortly
after 6:00AM to go see what Santa brought for us. I was thrilled to see he
had left me the Millennium Falcon and the snow speeder from Empire Strikes
Back. It seems like yesterday to me, but it was actually 25 years ago. My
sister's main gift from Santa was an 8 track stereo with the Zanadu
soundtrack....that should really date the story. Anyway, I was thrilled
that Santa brought my stuff. Many years later, I found out what "Santa" had
to go through to get the Millennium Falcon. Mom went from store to store in
Wichita Falls trying to find one, but was unsuccessful. To make a long
story short, Dad found one in Denton and picked it up.....2 hour drive for
one ship. Thank goodness for internet shopping.
Everyone have a good Christmas, and please be careful if you're traveling.
Remember to keep Linda in your prayers/thoughts to get well soon.
Peety

Hi all,
I spoke to Brian this morning and unfortunately, it looks like Linda will
have to spend Christmas in the hospital. He said it reminded him of
Christmas 1993. I (Peety) went over to the Bass/Robertson house on
Christmas Eve to hang out with Brian and Melinda. We ended up watching a
movie and staying up pretty late. All evening, Brian complained about being
dizzy. We all dismissed this as a no big deal. The next day, I find out
that Brian and Melinda were about to leave for their usual Christmas with
the Grandparents at the Sheridan, when Brian pukes everywhere. It turns out
he had an ear infection that was causing the dizziness/illness. Let's hope
things turn out a little better this go around.
Peety

Hi all,
I spoke to Brian this morning. He said his Mom is in the Hospital in
Wichita Falls. I can't remember all the exact details, but it has something
to do with clotts in her legs, that they feared could affect her heart.
From what Brian said, it doesn't really sound like she's in any real
danger, but I would suggest including her in your prayers/thoughts. He
also mentioned that because of this, his Christmas plans were being
altered. Instead of everyone coming to his house, they will all be going to
Wichita Falls for Christmas. This will not affect the usual Thursday/Guys
night thing. Have a good hump day.
Peety

Hi all,
Brian is still out, so I'll say a few words. I went out to finish up my
Christmas shopping last night at Walmart. It's crazy out there. The whole
store was packed. All the male shoppers (including me) wander around with a
dazed look on their faces, wondering what in the world to buy for their
loved ones. I think I was there for an hour, but it felt like three. The
make it short, I'll offer one bit of advice. Finish up your shopping as
quickly as possible. I'd hate to be in a Walmart on Christmas Eve. Someone
could get killed.
Peety

It's been a while since I have written in my blog. I have yet to get a computer or Internet connection at work. It'll probably be at the beginning of the year when I get that so Peety will be my guest star for a little bit. Anyways, things are going rather well. I am fully Incorporated and I have sent in my first invoice and am enjoying my work. I have developed an architecture that should increase their efficiency by over 100%. Everyone is excited about implementing it too. Last weekend I saw The Chronicles of Narnia. It was a really good movie. I remembered reading that book when I was a kid. I also remember my dog eating the rest of the series. She liked to sleep under my bed and crawl out and eat things in the middle of the night. I was always wondering what she would eat next. One time she actually did eat my homework. So I am hoping sequels will come out and I can finally see what happens next. During the week I was still a little sick and I still am, but Robitussin has become my friend. I am feeling alot better. This weekend was good. On Friday I jammed with Wayne, the bassist from Corporate Red, and a new drummer. We jammed at a place in Irving that had everything already setup. It was mostly a classic rock style kind of jam with some punk rock thrown in there. We did 10 minute long songs with 5 minute guitar solos. Since we didn't have a singer the guitar tends to fill in for the singer. If you've ever heard Innagoddadivida that is what we sounded like. Then on Saturday I had a lot to do. My Sunday School Christmas party was at my house that night. I cleaned up my house, my front year, and my Christmas tree. I bought some extra chairs and a $15 letter organizer for our white elephant gift exchange. I got the letter organizer because I got the chairs at OfficeMax and didn't want to go anywhere else. It was my first time at OfficeMax and I was very surprised at their service. It was really good and the clerk actually led me into haggling for the chairs and gave me a discount. The party was very good. The guys brought appetisers and the girls brought drinks. We had bourbon, tequila, and hot damn. -J/k I lit a fire in my fireplace and turned on all my Christmas lights. We had the gift exchange. My gift was picked last. I guess no one wanted a letter organizer. I got a 30 pack of double AA batteries. That was a great gift considering most of my light-sabers take 6-8 batteries. Then I busted out my acoustic guitar and led the whole group into an hours worth of Christmas Carols. A girl I like was at the party, so I think I impressed her. Everyone had a good time and left by 11pm. On Sunday I went to Church, Sunday School, Lunch and fed the homeless. I am now the official class leader in the homeless ministry. This time another group was already at our biggest spot and was already feeding. So we gave them some bologna sandwiches and then proceeded to go to other less known spots around Dallas. We went to a total of 5 places that day. The third place was in between a shelter and a crack-house. When we showed up they all piled out of the shelter and lined up for us. The fourth and fifth places were under overpasses. That was were the homeless people live who don't really seek help. They have box houses and live in the darkness under the overpasses. It is a little scary there, but the homeless population is not what worries me at all. It is the people my age who do drugs and are stupid that I worry about. However we were in a group and the homeless people take care of problems because they are humble and don't bite the hands that feeds them. I finished the day by watching the Dallas Cowboys totally beat up on the Washington Redskins. I think the final score was the Cowboys,63, the Redskins,0. (let me be in denial, it's not just a river in Egypt)

Thought of the Past Week
"So Puddy, this is a pretty good move for you, huh? No more 'grease monkey.'"
"I don't care for that term."
"Oh sorry, I didn't know."
"I don't know too many monkeys that can take apart a fuel injector."
- Jerry and Puddy, in "The Dealership"

Hi all,
Brian is still computerless at work, so I'll fill up a little space. I
don't have much to say besides this has been one of the longest weeks. I
was even out of the office one day, and it's still dragging. I hope Friday
speeds up. Does anybody have any big weekend plans? Myself, the wife, and
the kido are going to visit my parents and see an Elvis Christmas show at
the Wichita Theatre. The Elvis guy is actually from Dallas, and plays at
the Hard Rock every week. But, as usual, I have to go to WF to see people
from Dallas. I don't even see my sister unless she's at my parents house.
Anyway, I hope all are doing well, and hope to see the guys tonight.
Peety

Here's a similar sentiment from the Wichita Falls paper







Wal-Mart has Christmas painted on front windows


By Times Record News
December 13, 2005


One Wichita Falls artist is making Christmas merry again.


Ann Jones, who solicits jobs decorating storefront windows during the holiday season,
painted "Merry Christmas" on the windows in front of Wal-Mart on Lawrence Road.






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Jones, whose work can be found all over the city, including on windows in downtown Wichita
Falls, said she's been thanked by dozens of passers-by for bringing "Christmas" back into
the holiday season.


"I didn't know about what's been going on in the news," said Jones, referring to the recent
controversy surrounding several national chains opting for "Happy Holidays" instead of the
more Christian-themed holiday greeting. "But all these people, preachers, even, have come
up to me while I've been painting and thanked me for what I was doing."


The Lawrence Road branch of the national discount chain specified the words "Merry
Christmas," Jones said, her only instructions before taking on the day-long job.


"That's what they wanted me to paint, 'Merry Christmas,' " she said. "That's what I'm
doing."


Calls to the Lawrence Road store were answered with both greetings: "Merry Christmas, happy
holidays. Thank you for calling Wal-Mart."


"That's just good rapport, good things in the community," said assistant manager Carla
Casey. "We're not dictating what (the receptionists) are saying when they answer the phone.
That's just what they want to say."


Jones would be stopped throughout the day, she said, by those entering and leaving the
store, complimenting her work and greeting her with the same words she painted on the
windows.


"Everyone's so glad to see 'Merry Christmas,' " Jones said.


Casey hadn't heard from grateful customers yet, she said.


"But other managers have," she said. "I just don't know."

Hi All,
Brian is on day 3 of his new/old job with the IRS, and doesn't have a
computer, so I'll fill in. I spoke to Brian this morning and he had a
little incident last night. It was raining in his area. He was inside on
the internet when he suddenly lost his internet. To make a long story
short, the rain shorted out his Christmas lights and his internet. Luckily
all is fixed now, but can you imagine the panic if Brian had no internet.
I hope everyone's getting geared up for Christmas....YES, CHRISTMAS. I
stayed home with my daughter yesterday, because the baby sitter had jury
duty. Anyway, I don't usually watch daytime TV, but I did then. All the
shows have become so PC that it's no longer Christmas. It's "Happy
Holidays." They even call the gifts Holiday gifts. What a bunch of freakin
wimps. I plan to piss off everyone by saying, "Merry Christmas."
Peety

My new corporation Motivium Consulting has just released its new website. It doesn't have much to start with, but it's got a lot of potential:

http://www.motivium.com

Thanks!
Brian Bass
CEO and Consultant
Motivium Consulting, Inc.

Today is Wednesday and it feels like my vacation is going by too quickly. It also feels like I am not actually on a vacation since I have been working most of these days on my company. I went to the cardiologist this morning and he gave me Benecar/HCT for my blood pressure as it was its usual 160/110. This time they had me do a "stress test" where I get an echo-cardiogram while I am on a treadmill. At first they were like - should we be doing this since his blood pressure is so high. Then I explained to them that my blood pressure actually goes down when I workout. By the end of the stress test when my heart rate got up to 210 beats a minute and my blood pressure was down to 150/90. Maybe I should get a treadmill and do that everyday. The doc said my heart was strong. Anyway, we shall see how this new drug works out. I am just chillin at home right now. Chillin is right, it is in the 20s outside and I actually saw snow when I left the docs. I remember loving snow. In Alaska we had mounds and mounds of snow. I am one of the guys who can really say I walked a mile to school in 10 feet of snow, also carrying a flashlight. That was a cool time. I remember we even had an ice skating rink in the playground and at recess we all would go ice skating. That was fun. I remember playing in the forest, looking at the Northern lights, that was very pretty. After the docs I went to Wal-Mart and got some lights for my house. This weekend I am making my yard a reindeer haven. Anyway, I think I will now start a fire, curl up and watch a movie. Later,

Thought of the Day
"Ya know, there are tribes in Indonesia where if you keep your coat on in somebody's house, the families go to war!"
- George, in "The Outing"

And now for the weekend plus Monday update with Brian Bass. This weekend was pretty laid back. On Friday and Saturday my step brother had a sound gig nearby and his family spent the night at my place. So I had 3 kids running around playing with my very expensive lightsabers. I was like - don't break em - and they were good and didn't break any of them. We watched movies, the ultimate babysitter. I think even parents plop their tykes in front of the TV at the earliest age now. Even for my conservative brother's family, TV is still a way of entertainment. We watched Mary Poppins (I watched that all the time when I was a kid), School of Rock, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and 5 minutes of Rambo I until they said the F word. Grant picked that movie, I figured it would be changed soon once we realized the swearing. On Saturday night I ended up watching the Best of Weird Al videos. My favorite has to be "Christmas at Ground Zero". Sunday I did church, Sunday school, lunch, fed the homeless, went to dinner with my peers in the homeless group, then went home and got my church friend to help move my Christmas Tree from the garage to the living room. What is great is I don't have to put it all together because it was all together in the garage. The ultimate in energy conservation. I then watched my tivo'd Dallas Cowboys decide to not have an offense and lose. Monday I woke up early because I thought I had a doctor's appointment, but called them and found out it was at 8am on Wednesday. I then went back to sleep until 12. Then I had a meeting with a CPA I picked out off the net. He is setting up my S Corp for me. I will be incorporated by Friday. I am also going to do my own accounting with Quickbooks software. That seems to be the best way to go. There is a lot involved but I think it will definitely be good for me. Monday night I worked on my company emblem and logo. See at the top of the page. The emblem is the letters ivi found in the name, but put together in such a way that it could also be 2 M's. I think it is clever like the Sun logo. Today I actually woke up at 6:30AM. I have no idea why, but I decided to stay up so that I can go to bed early tonight and get up early for the cardiologist tomorrow. Oh yeah, I had my first business expense yesterday as well. I was in dire need of a printer/scanner that works so I got this nifty printer that does it all: scanning, copying, faxing and printing. I am about to fax my offer letter back to the IRS. I guess come Monday it will be as if I never left. I will walk in and they will laugh.

Thought of the Day
"A bird ran into my giant freak-head."
"What giant freak-head?"
"The one that sits atop my disproportionately puny body. I'm a walking candy apple!"
- Elaine and Jerry, in "The Andrea Doria"

I can't believe I am actually forming my own corporation. To top it off in order to work at the IRS I have to register as a government contractor/vender so my company will be put on all of the gov. contractor lists. I didn't realize it but the big big downside is I won't start getting paid until Feb. 1st, leaving me all of January with nothing. So I will be canceling almost everything to survive, but I know I will be able to do it. I am actually setting this thing up, with the help of an accountant. It is very complicated. I don't think I realize how many forms and regulations I have to do. I will even have stock certificates, company bylaws, profit sharing, disability, invoicing, payroll and even quarterly board meetings. There is a 20 point checklist I have to maintain to keep things up to date. I will be working on my company business plans and website all next week and will have the unveiling before the 11th. Today I got the contract from MSD. It was the first correspondence for my company. It said Motivium Consulting ATTN: Brian Bass on it. I almost cried. The weird thing is, after all this is setup, I will go in on Monday the 11th, sit at a computer and do almost the exact same thing I did 6 months ago. Except this time I do have motivation. What a fitting name for my company, Motivium Consulting. The boss at MSD likes it too. Who knows I might even branch off into other things and actually grow this company into something bigger than just a job. I am thinking of using my musical skills to create music for corporate presentations. I might even hire some of my musician friends to help out. That would be fun as well. The futures so bright, I gotta wear shades. Or I could by a chicken and start a chicken farm...

Thought of the Day
"I've been reviewing Darren's internship journal. Doing laundry, mending chicken wire, high tea with a Mr. Newman?"
"Well, it all sounds pretty glamorous, but it's business as usual at Kramerica."
"Far as I can tell, your entire enterprise is little more than a solitary man with a messy apartment which may or may not contain a chicken."
- Dean Jones and Kramer, in "The Voice"

Well, I did it. I am finally taking the plunge. Management Systems Designers gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. I will be taking a 50% raise, form my own corporation and will be working at the IRS again. I will actually be building their Earned Income Tax Credit system that I architected later for a minumim of 1 year. Life is good. I gave my notice this morning right before the company Christmas lunch. It was sad for my coworkers, but they all understood and said I could come back anytime. Friday is my last day here and I get a whole week off next week. I will be forming my own Corporation next week and will be visiting an accountant to get everything squared away. I can't believe I am doing this, I will no longer have a techno-pimp paying me. Matter of fact my own Corporation will be my techno-pimp. All of my ideas can now be implemented with lower risk because it will be a product of my corporation. This is cool. It will be a lot of work in keeping up with paperwork and taxes, but when you work at the IRS there are tax advisors on the first floor. I will have to put up with the bad environment, but for that amount of extra money I am willing to overlook it. So if you hear me complain you have my permission to slap me. You know if it wasn't for a divine intervention I believe I would be out on the streets right now. When I quit the IRS my 2 job offers reneged and I had no where to go, then a day later Nokia gives me an offer. And out of the Nokia job I got to go to Prague and experience a cool paid vacation. And now the exact same day I am notified that my Nokia contract was terminated and bought by another company I have a dinner interview with MSD. Then today, the exact day that my other offer was due(in the afternoon) I get a call from MSD in the morning. I do believe that nothing is by chance and these instances furthers that belief. I also believe that God takes care of those who serve him. So it is an endless cycle of coolness.

Thought of the Day

Brian Bass
CEO and Consultant
Motivium Consulting