I've just returned from my morning coffee "talking story" with my pals here in Honolulu. We all watched a "shark tank" episode last night that featured a wanna be entrepreneur who was proud of her live achievements but couldn't stop talking. All of us have started, owned, and sometimes been partners with one another in business ventures. This you understand follows long stretches in universities and extensive work experience. Together, we were astonished at this foolish young girls inability to take advantage of the Sharks considerable experience and knowledge as they kept offering her advise - free advice from extremely successful business people and she couldn't shut her mouth long enough to learn lifetime lessons! What a stupid youngster. Of course, at our advanced age, we tend to pick on those too short-sighted to see the obvious. Oh well, we were not to become her partners anyway so.......let her learn from experience as we have. It is just a little frustrating though to witness those who insist on the harder path when the golden one is laid out right in front of them. I suppose that might be the basics of naïveté vs. Wisdom. And of course, I wish her all the best!
Peace & Aloha.......another day at the beach

Another day in paradise, mostly with my daughter and her friend -that I've known for maybe 12 years. Simply all that an old man could wish for. My daughter seems to be becoming more comfortable with who she is. That has long been an issue that has interfered with her journey and this growing acceptance just makes me as happy as the day she was born! She has everything  and combined with this growing sense of peace with herself is all that a very proud father could ever expect. That gives me two, brilliant, incomparable children who, as they each approach 50 years of age are more than I could ever have had the nerve the nerve to ask for! And it makes me extremely happy to know that each has arrived at this exceptional point in life. Aloha to all, I need to prepare for an evening of exceptional food as my son-in-law and I get an evening together. Aloha to all!

I'm home, enjoying the company of men that I've known for more than 40 years, some of whom are pushing 90 years of gathering the foundation of wisdom! As with all of us, they have very disparrat experiences so after 70 to 90 years, we talk story -- a melding of those experiences that allow us to grow ever deeper respect for oneanothther  and those that have travelled similar paths. Individually, we are as unique as the next wave in the sea but collectively we are a simple millpond that have experienced the ebb & flow of another load of logs. It is the difference between the millpond and sea itself that best describes us. We are the same and yet so different. And it is because of these differences and similarities that we can define our present by the stories we. Tell, the story telling of aging men, each of whom has insisted on forging his own path, his own values and his personal goals. Today we talk story about the stories we made in days long gone but never of the foolishness involved in looking too far forward. And the friendship grows as the acceptance of each other as we are is acknowledged by all. With this, I'm adjourning to enjoy the sunset of another perfect day in paradise!

This will be nothing new to most folks but, what the heck! I have  enjoyed the good fortune of working at one level or another with far too many entrepreneurs to count. Frankly, the best were those who had failed a few times but had learned from each failure and employed the lessons learned in those failures. I can tell you that nearly all over estimated revenue in the early going, even more missed on the selling costs and the real failures were those that didn't throw themselves into the sales and marketing aspects of the business. Oh of course the product has to be developed and produced but you cannot win with inadequate sales so  bury yourselves in marketing activities and then produce the product to meet the customer needs. If you'll do that and not waste money nor fear hard work, then your small business has a chance of caring for you over the long haul.
Simple as this all might seem, I'll bet that over half the failing businesses that I've advised forgot these simple truths long enough to drown in fear and self pity when just a little focused effort could have gotten them over the hump! Simple as that, as is much of life! So go enjoy the fruits of a labor well invested.
Aloha!

Tests came up all roses - no new cancer anywhere!! Ah ha! The old fart can rest easy And doctor's orders were to go play in the sun! So I think it is time to move Hawaii from back to front burner!
Aloha

Here I sit, nearly 24 hours since my most recent CTscan. From experience, I know that the longer I wait for a call from the doctor with the results of either the ct scan or the MRI, the less likely the outcome is likely to be bad news. That said, the stress of not knowing while the pain continues leaves me ever more stressed about that outcome. Oh well, buck up, be a man, and all the other cliches that fail to relieve the pain. That said, I remain confident that the news will be good and my time has yet to come. I have always been a late bloomer so there is no reason for that to change now. I just need to relax, forget about the past and all aspects of the future other than the joy of seeing my kids again soon - the greatest pleasure of my life!
Aloha & peace to all! Just me