- January 31, 2018 -

I'll never forget this moment.

I was at Pittsburgh National Golf Club (formerly Deer Run)...16th hole, par 3.

I teed off...overshot the green.

Chipped out of the rough...and saved par. Woohoo!

Ended up getting a 79 on a par 72 course.

And...there was NO ONE watching me LOL

No audience for Artie at all that day! Bummer...

If you know me at all...you know I love golf! I don't play as much as I want to right now because my focus is on building our wholesale properties business while Cheryl oversees Barron Marketing.

But when my mortgage biz was running on all cylinders, I [...]

- January 30, 2018 -

My Old English Sheepdog Rosy goes to the office with me every day...rides in the car with me to all my appointments...she's a real looker 🙂

But she's getting up there in years so it takes a little longer to get her in and out of the car these days...but that's ok. She's my girl!

I had a full morning of appointments and hadn't consumed my normal gallon of caffeine...so Rosy and I decided a Starbucks break was in order between appointments.

People always complain that their coffee is overpriced...but Starbucks is constantly packed!

Sure...it starts with an excellent product, [...]

- January 29, 2018 -

Legend has it that the Premanti brothers forgot to buy plates and forks when they opened their first restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall, near the Pittsburgh docks during the Great Depression of the '30's.

So-o-o when the hungry dock workers arrived to eat, the brothers piled the food between two slices of bread and served full-meal sandwiches.

After awhile, diners liked everything “smooshed” together and the rest is history.

The "Almost Famous" sandwich was born.

See...we're not just famous for the Terrible Towel and Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood 🙂

So here's how you make this monstrosity...and it has to be in this order:

- January 26, 2018 -

Folks, I've got to warn you...I'm a bit cranky today.

I'll be straight-up honest with you. This soldier is god-awful weary.

Yeah, yeah...I must think I'm still 25 or something and can keep chuggin' along on an empty tank LOL

When I was a young buck at the first brokerage firm that hired me, I worked from the office 6 days and 4 nights a week.

Month after month...

In those days, there wasn't security in place like brokerages have today so I came and went as I pleased...working the phone whenever I could get a hold of my prospects and [...]

- January 25, 2018 -

Numbers don't lie.

One of my good buddies was in deep debt.

Not a few thousand...I mean some real serious numbers staring him in the face.

A combination of living beyond his means, making some bad investments, and not having a savings plan had resulted in huge credit card debt.

He was behind on his mortgage payments and in danger of losing their home.

He and his wife were totally overwhelmed and stressed out.

I'm a numbers guy. And I wanted to help.

And so I crunched numbers. For several hours, I ran amortization schedules.

If they just followed the plan I put together [...]

- January 24, 2018 -

I heard a story the other day...and it was too good to not pass on.

A colleague of ours, Dan Bussius, and his wife often go to their favorite sushi bar.

One night they found themselves sitting next to the owner at the sushi bar. After a few minutes, the owner said to Dan, "I see you in here often. Why do you come here?"

It struck Dan as kind of an odd question but he politely answered, "We come because the service is good - but mostly because the fish here is fresher than any other sushi restaurant [...]

- January 23, 2018 -

FedEx guys seriously have one of the most interesting jobs ever.

They know everything people order...how often they order it...when they pause and take a break from whatever they're ordering.

Kinda creepy if you think about it.

Sort of like garbage men but in reverse...I know, my mind works in strange ways.

Sort of like how Infusionsoft can tell you who is opening your emails.

Who is clicking on email links...and which links get the most clicks.

And how long it's been since a lead has been MIA...hasn't opened an email, clicked a link, submitted a form, made a purchase. Nada, zip.

So [...]

- January 22, 2018 -

I am a very, very happy man today!

The only thing better than the Eagles having secured a trip to the Super Bowl...was hearing Steeler legend Terry Bradshaw lead the stadium in singing "Fly Eagles Fly."

I'm sure a lot of my neighbors here in Pittsburgh were crying in their beer...but not this Philly boy! Not last night!

And where other than Philadelphia do fired-up fans grease light poles with Crisco and drive a dune buggy up the Rocky steps?

That's how it looks when you show up loud and proud, people.

That's the kind of fire in our belly we [...]

- January 19, 2018 -

So we all know that Kroger, Wallmart, CVS along with most retail stores rely on loss leaders.

I mean, think about it...when was the last time you ran to the grocery store for a dozen eggs or a half gallon of milk and that's all you left with?

No, no, no...if we dudes are doing the shopping and not our wives, we grab more stuff on our way out. Salami and good provolone, not the cheap stuff.

And oh my god, that's my favorite mustard!

...and that deli bread with the olive chunks? Gotta have me some of that!

Heck...I'm getting [...]

- January 18, 2018 -

Have you ever thought about how obsessively time-oriented we are?

Most of us live by our watches and calendars. Our phones are synced to our calendars. And our cars are synced to our phones.

Before Cheryl's dad passed away in November, his phone was his only real source of connection to his friends, employees, and out-of-town family.

In the last months of his battle with cancer, he wasn't able to go much beyond the couch and then a hospital bed in his home. But his iPhone was always within reach.

One day when all he got was a black screen [...]