Great post Martin.

I am happy to say that I have been directly responsible for infusing about $40 million (not my money, but hey) into the economy in the last couple of weeks.

Lot's of folks were thankful for it.

I neglected to mention that Bill_G and Chris Kavanaugh will be getting some aloha.

A bunch of you have helped Doug and the ETS Foundation.

That's cheerful to me.

If we look for negative stuff, I guarantee negative stuff will be found. Same is true for positive stuff, but usually people don't look too hard for that.

But then again, I am pretty simple. Seeing a drop of rain dangling on a thorn in the middle of a rain storm cheers me up.

Digging up a little gold from the mine of dated posts.

As a home builder, I have built everything from a 3 bed 2 bath 2 car in 1900 square feet, to one that just finished that was almost 32,000 square feet + 7 car garage, motor coach storage and 2 horse barns. Throughout all of the homes, everyone wants it to have an amazing kitchen.

You would be shocked at all the service calls I have had in the last six to ten months for strange smells in ovens. Some of these homes had been occupied for almost a year remember. The cause?

New ovens have a very thin protectant on the steel and dust that is inside. In ten months time they hadn't cooked. Times get hard and out comes the Betty Crocker cook book. Thank goodness these folks don't live close enough to me to hear me laughing at them now.

The news industry peddles gloom-disaster-doom. Many bloggers, too.

Turn off the Evening Bad News with Katie Couric-Brian Williams-Charlie Gibson now and then and you'll feel better.

I have a certified therapy dog and we visit pediatric oncology. Amidst their struggle with cancer, these children and their families take time out to smile and laugh when my big tail-wagging furball (a Samoyed) saunters into their hospital room and jumps up on the bed. The world's problems fall away at those times.

Seeing them find such joy in a visiting dog has given me perspective in my comparatively trivial problems and is a poignant reminder to be happy for every day, every loved one, every friend, my neighbors (most of them) and to stop defining success and happiness by possessions and resume.

Good news: despite yesterday's dismal employment number (500,000 jobs lost in November),over 93% of the workforce is still working. While the news industry harps on that job loss number being the highest since 1974 and compares other figures to the deep early 1980s recession, few articles mention that the size of the American workforce has increased 50% since 1982.

Good news: The vast majority of Americans -- 90% -- either own their homes outright or are making their mortgages. And homes are becoming affordable again for those who sat out the housing insanity and saved money for a 10-20% down payment.

2009 is going to be tough for many. Businesses are anticipating that and getting leaner. People are hunkering down, building their savings. As they should. As they always should have. The economy will always have periods of recessions -- sometimes deep ones. Housing markets will rise again, and they will fall again. Gas prices will go down, up, and down again. They always have, they will for the next 100 years.

Good news: a couple generations is learning these facts and won't soon forget them.

Good news: unlike the Depression years, we go into this down economy with a safety net -- such as unemployment insurance for workers and FDIC for bank deposits. THAT IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION. The government is not standing by in 2008 to wait for banks to fail en masse -- as happened in the early 1930s.

Good news: despite the election results, we are unlikely to resort to the extremely self-destructive 1930 tactic of retreating into protectionism and shutting our nation's doors to trade. Research Smoot-Hawley, we won't go there again.

I'm worried about the near future, but optimistic.

And my dog is clamoring for a belly rub, so I must go.

Cheers!

A more traditional good news story (full story at the link below):

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20081206/Secret.Santa/


Secret Santas in 3 states spread cheer, $100 bills

ST. LOUIS — At a suburban Goodwill store on Friday, Theresa Settles selected a large, black comforter to warm her family until she can raise the money to turn the gas heat back on. A petite woman approached, her face obscured by dark sunglasses and a wrapped winter scarf, and handed Settles two $100 bills stamped with the words "secret Santa." "The only condition," she said, "is that you do something nice for someone. Pass it on."

"I will," Settles said, the only words she could get out of her mouth.

The secret Santa was a protege of Kansas City's undercover gift giver, Larry Stewart, who died of cancer nearly two years ago. Stewart roamed city streets each December doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they might need a lift.
[/b]


SOCIETY OF SECRET SANTAS:

http://secretsantaworld.net/

The Society of Secret Santas is an anonymous group of individuals throughout the world, performing random acts of kindness to those less fortunate.

Using their own financial resources and without a tax deduction, these leaders share their wealth with those in need. They give from their hearts remaining forever anonymous.

Every Christmas, Secret Santa "sleigh rides" light up a community with love, joy and faith in mankind.

Those touched often include the homeless or the working poor with barely enough resources for daily life. From laundromats and thrift stores to street corners and bus depots, Secret Santas and their loyal Elves find and give to those least expecting.

Today, in an unsettled world the Society of Secret Santas serves as an example that random acts of kindness bridge all social and economic barriers.

I tuned in partway through this radio segment on NPR over the weekend so I'm not sure what I missed, but what I heard still put a smile on my face and restored some of my faith in "business" amidst all this bad news of millions being laid off.

A family-owned ball bearing factory near Chicago has about 200 employees. Apparently they are all like a big family. Then, one day, the employees hear the news that the company has been sold. They're shocked. "Oh, no...are we all getting laid off?" There's a big meeting where the acquisition is announced. A Swedish company bought them out, and has agreed to keep all of them! And not only that, every person also got an envelope (sounds like being a guest on Oprah). Inside, was a check for a very large amount of money, which varies with your salary and length of service with the company. One guy on the segment said he's getting $100,000--and still keeps his job! Another woman says that this check is helping her get her home out of foreclosure.

The owners are giving 20% of what they made on the sale back to their employees, which comes out to $6.6 million. Wow, that's really great. Anonymous, hands off investors and shareholders don't make great companies, great management and great employees make great companies, so it's nice to hear about employees getting something, too.

I haven't gone back and listened to the whole thing, but I think the show I heard is here.

Smoke Alarms . . . . Don't even go there.
Every homeowner gets a "walk-thru" that contains what I call Homeowner 101. One of the biggest items are the smokies. You know, don't paint 'em and change the 9v back-up battery when you change the clocks. About 70% of the new owners call me within a year of move in complaining of an odd beeping sound. Folks just don't listen!

Problem for me isn't "what's that beeping". It's "Which one is beeping" at a frequency that I can hear well but can't tell direction. It's a similar frequency to the one they use for hearing tests. I could tell they if I heard it but not which ear.

Feel good...oh yeah. (warning, a little long)
On the weekend before Thanksgiving, my Scouts and adult leaders helped pack 600 care packages for soldiers stationed overseas during the holidays this year. We have been doing this for the past 3 years about every 3 months, in conjunction with Cape Cod Cares For The Troops. The packages are just now starting to arrive in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know because we've started to get letters and emails back from this batch of packages. Here are some examples of notes that we've received over the past year, I think this makes the boys, and the adults feel pretty good:

"I would like to thank you on behalf of the 332 Expeditionary Fuels Management Flight. We received your package today, and we are very grateful for your support and kindness. It’s always good to get a little piece of home while over here. You folks are the ones making the real difference back home, helping out in the community and supporting us over here. I wish all of you the best of luck and thank you again."
----
"I was on a tour in Kuwait last year that went from September through January 08. Needless to say, I missed all the holidays here at home. But where I was stationed, we received a lot of packages from all over the country. But one really hit home when the package(s) from your troop arrived.
So I took it upon myself to have a US flag flown over Iraq and additionally have a certificate that I wanted to present your troop to thank all of them for their wonderful support of our troops overseas.
Unfortunately I will not be here, so I am asking that TSgt (XXXXXXXXXX) present it on my behalf. BTW he is also an Eagle Scout and was also deployed the same time I was. He was in Iraq
I hope that you will accept this small token of my (our) appreciation for your support."
----
"I am extending a heartfelt thank you to you and your troops for bringing us the Christmas spirit so many miles away from home. My Soldiers and I appreciate what you and Troop 53 have done to show your appreciation to us for doing what we do to keep America safe.
You all can go to sleep and be assured that we are watching over your safety. We are Detachment 1, A CO 22D Chemical Battalion based at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland and pride ourselves on the fact that there are still people back home who will always care. The Soldiers of the detachment, and I, are grateful for what you sent us. Presently we have as much as we need and are asking for nothing more than to keep us in your prayers until we return home in the spring of next year. Again we thank you and wish you and your families a Happy Holiday. There is no need to worry because we are standing guard."
----
"Thank you so much. My name is XXXXXXXXX. I am a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. I'm from Hyannis, and I've been in the Marine Corps since February 2006. I left out of San Diego on a Navy ship and sailed around for two months before getting to Iraq. I can't say exactly where, but I am 'over there.' I just figured I would give you a little information on myself to open this letter. I got a package today from all of you. I want to say it was the best suprise I could have asked for. I haven't gotten any mail in a while (not because nobody loves me or anything, i just tell mom and dad not to send any because otherwise they would send a million), and this package truly brightened up my day. I work from midnight to noon 7 days a week, and I came in from a hard 12 hours work to see this package waiting for me. My face lit up as I picked through all of the goodies. A lot of my friends and fellow Marines around me got to share in the feast you gave me. We will snack happy for days! The hygiene gear and snacks were great, but the best part were the letters. I got little notes from many people I didn't know existed, and it really means so much! All we see on the news is how much everyone hates the war. We usually think they means they are against us, also, but you have proven us wrong. It is because of great American citizens like you that we win this war. Sure I am here doing the work, but if I didn't have the reassurance of the cause from people like you it would mean nothing. Our hearts wouldn't be in it, and the outcome would not be the same. So truly, I thank all of you for you love, support, and prayers. Keep doing what you are doing, and we promise to keep you safe.
Semper Fidelis
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When we get letters like these, it reminds me how much better it feels to give than receive. This is a time of the year to work at that. We watched a classic on TV the other night... and I still love the part when Linus goes up to Charlie Brown after reciting a passage from Luke and says: "That's what Christmas is about Charlie Brown"