2011 Means A Blue Christmas Without Two Old Friends,

I really had not intended on doing another blog on my son’s triathlon successes but he competed and did well in the recent Arizona Ironman held at Tempe, Arizona. Scott finished first overall in the age group competition over 2,400 other triathletes.  His time was 9 Hours and 1 second.  We tease him he should not have stopped so many times in the porta potty and he would have been under 9 hours.   Also congratulations to his wife Mary, who had a great race and finished high in her age group category.  You can read more about all this if you check his link on the side bar. Also hail to the Green Bay Packer's now America's team. I've been a  Packer fan since I was a kid.

Like any year this is been a year highs and lows. My wife and I celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary in June. We had a fairly successful summer in business.  I published my first novel on Kindle and actually am selling some copies of it and I’m having continued success with my niche business book” Everything You Wanted to Know about the Food Concession Biz.” That particular book never ceases to amaze me as it continues to be the top bestseller in its category on eBay.

My wife and I were able to go on some great trips this past year spending time in Florida and the Caribbean. We also had some sorrow losing two dear uncles to old age and losing our beloved Miniature Schnauzer, Hans and his Scottish Terrier brother, Kosmo to cancer within a short period of time. That brings us to the highlight of the year, actually two highlights. First and foremost, our daughter Amy got married and we welcome Amy’s husband, our new son, Travis into the family. Secondly, we welcome the new arrival of a Scottish Terrier puppy, named Eli.

It was just 17 days ago that we came home to find our 11-year-old Scottie, Kosmo very sick. The next day we got the bad news. Testing showed he was already in an advanced stage of several different types of cancer and the end was near. I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit my wife and I were very torn up over the situation, especially since we had lost our schnauzer, Hans, about 12 weeks before this.

 We had been enjoying 40 years of marriage and 40 years living with dogs. Our children have been long gone and we both realized the thought of a completely empty house was unbearable. We contacted the breeder that we had gotten our first Scotty from and discovered she was retiring and had one 12 week old puppy from her last litter that she had not found a home for.  The next day I went to meet with her and I brought home baby puppy, Eli.  A few days later we put our Kosmo to rest.  He went that fast.

It’s been a few years since we’ve had a puppy around the house and to say the least the tyke is entertaining. He’s actually been one of the better puppies we’ve ever had and I am wondering if it is not a characteristic of the Scottish Terrier, a little gentleman.  My wife and I bred and showed dogs for many years. Our home was shared with numerous old English Sheepdogs, a Beagle, an Irish Water Spaniel, Otter hound’s, Maltese, Miniature Schnauzers and now Eli, our third Scottish terrier. The Scotties’ certainly have a reserved, regal bearing and are absolutely loyal & fearless. 

Housebreaking is been going very well, perhaps or the pup being chemically be persuaded and aided by” puppy pads.” Certainly having a new puppy has taken the sting out of our loss with the other canine family members passing away so recently, but it will never completely heal the loss of the faithful companions we have been privileged to have had as a part of our family over the years.

I believe having a pet is especially beneficial when raising one’s children. My son and daughter came to know what it was like to be responsible for the welfare and safety of living things by taking care of our pets.  They also came to know and understand the unconditional love and loyalty the animals had for them that came with caring and feeding them. My children in return responded by loving their animals back. These turned out to be very real lessons in life that has carried through into their adult lives.

Having carefully watched and studied the animals that I have come in contact throughout my lifetime has provided me with valuable insights about behavior and much of that experience can oftentimes be applied to human situations.    It’s a privilege to be owned by special pet and I’m glad Eli is training me to take care of him in the manner that he deserves and desires.  Kosmo and Hans, it will be a blue Christmas without you two.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Ironman World Championsip 2011 Dream Believe Achieve

When I became a father I had no idea what to expect.  Now 32 years later I know.  I have 2 great adult kids and I still don’t know what to expect.  Well, in a way I do.  Based on what they have achieved I know they tend to over achieve and are winners.  My daughter has had a big year and while I would love to brag about her we will save that for another day.  This blog belongs to her brother. Scott

32 years ago my son Scott was born 7 weeks early and by the grace of God grew into a strong healthy kid and challenged us in every way a child can. He and his sister became water rats at the local YMCA (YMCA OF Austin,Mn) and they joined the age group swimming team.

He was a good student and a competitive athlete in high school (Austin,MN) driven by his sports, mostly swimming.  He did well and went on to swim in college (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point) and improved a great deal.  We as parents followed him all over the country, (for two of those college years we also followed his sister and her college swimming team) investing a lot of time and money in support of them.

There were times he won and times he did not, but he never quit and a defeat made him try harder to do better the next time. He was fiercely competitive.  

He met his wife Mary in college.  She was swimmer at UWSP as well and through her. he began to enjoy biking and running and then all too soon he was out of school, no more swimming, full time job and he married his college sweetheart and they settled into married life and their careers.

His desire to compete still burned and he started to run and then suddenly he did a couple marathons with some success.  His wife, Mary competed as well and it proved to be a great activity and common bond for them. Then 2003 he did his first triathlon.   He was hooked. 2 years later he completely flipped out in his father’s opinion (this author) and did his first Ironman, competing in Ironman, Wisconsin. 

An Ironman is 2.4 miles swim, 112 miles bike and 26.2 miles run, for a total of 140.6 miles of grueling mind over matter competition.  Just finishing is a victory for most.  Not for my son Scott.  After each race, he wanted to improve.

Jump a head a few years and he had some amazing races and high finishes, including Ironman Arizona 2007 where he finished 24^thout of 2,000 qualifying for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii that year.

The whole family was at Kona to cheer our guy on and he did not have a good day, suffering a disappointing finish over an hour slower than he was capable of but he did finish.  He discovered that the Kona course was tougher than he thought.  How tough?  Many did not finish not as high temperature of 130 degrees on the bike and run through and lava fields took its toll.  I also found out that most runners feet blister completely when they run a marathon. Oh MY!

As a parent spectating at an Ironman, you ask, are they nuts?  Truth watching is both boring and so exciting becasue my kid in this this race scares the hell out of me.  You see very little of your athlete due to the logistics of the course and there is a fear that only a parent or a spouse can have for their athlete doing this near impossible feat,  They could drop dead and die!   So naturally when they are behind schedule and you’re waiting for them to pass by or show-up on computer at a check point, dads tend to get concerned. They go nuts with worry!

After 2007, the next two years for Scott and his sport had its up and downs and he missed his goal for qualifying for a return trip to World Championship by 1 placement.  2009 came had been filled hopes but ended with an injury that required surgery and a long stint on crutches.  There was a possibility that his running days were over.  2010 started out with rehab and hard work and the reward was Scott finished 23rd at Ironman Wisconsin 2010 with his best ever Ironman time of 9 hours 36 Minutes 6 seconds, a personal record and qualifying for The Ironan  World Championship in 2011. (I should point out there are only 6 Ironman 140.6 mile races in North America every year.)

So that brings us too yesterday.  After training 25 to 30 hours a week for months, working a job and spending time with family, Scott was again in Hawaii looking for personal redemption competing with 2,000 of the top triathletes at the World Championship at Ironman Kona.  Back in 2007his finish time was a disappointing 10:51.30, 730 out of 1,836 finishers.

This time dad and mom were back home thousands of miles and 5 time zones away. We had all been together at his sister’s wedding,  just 7 days before in Arkansas. Sunday bright an early Scott in and his wife fly black to Milwaukee, pack his bike and turned around and flew across the Pacifi to Hawaii for the Ironman World Championship, that Monday Morning, and finalized his traing for the race on Saturday.
  
Saturday, 7AM Scott and 1910 of the World's best Ironman competitors swam acorss the bay at Kona and the race was on.   His swim split of 2.4 miles came up on the Ironman website, he was 2 minutes slower that 2007…HMMM.  Twitter said there was a good chop on the Bay at Kona.

  Then came the first bike split, he was flying though the Big Island's lava fields.  After 112 miles searing heat he averaged 22 plus MPH.  That performance put him well ahead of his 2007 pace.

Now into the home stretch, a punishing 24.4 mile marathon.  This is the point where parents and spouses worry. Kona’s marathon is hot through semi-arid conditions back into high humidity along the ocean. Temperature’s on the pavement was 135 degrees.  His first 2 splits came up at 5.0 and 10.2 miles. He was running7:17 and 7:29 per mile average.  That was good, in fact it was great, and he was way ahead of 2007,

Then came the final check point and we saw he had hit the wall. His pace had dropped to a disappointing 9.03 for that 7 mile split.  While it was obvious he was way ahead of his 2007 performance, hopes for a personal record seemed to be gone.  That pace and the fact that I feared he might be really dogging it ment in my mind he likely would get slower and that would put him well above his goal, time wise.  He would likely miss and fall 20 or more minutes short of his personal record.

 I as his father, some 5,000 miles away, was certain he didn’t have any gas left in the tank. I had been to Kona and had seen that last 9 miles and it was hard punishing run and would be hot. Twitter Tweets reported the surface temp a mile from the finish was 134 degrees.

To make things worse our computer stream was acting up and it looked like we would not be able to get the finish line feed.   Worse yet my fears were mounting that maybe he would not finish. Would he cramp up?  Humans, in my opinion, were not made to do something like Ironman races so concerns for Scott started to rise.    I computed a finish time of 9 hours 54 minutes.  While that would be a great improvement over the previous attempt, (If he could finish) it would a disappointment for Scott. I texted my fears and the projected finish time to my brother, 300 miles away in Milwaukee. He replied, “He’ll be fine”.   The clocked ticked, and we had no decent computer feed of the finish.  They had 20 minutes to get their crap together, I thought.   My cell rang, it was my brother.  “He just finished”.

How could he?  He should have been at least 20 minutes or more away from the finish line according to my calculations.  Well, so much for my math.

He had indeed finished and in the process set a personal record for any Ironman he had competed in with a time of 9 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds, besting his old record and finishing  214 out of 1,911, competing against the best Ironman Triathletes in the world. 

Somewhere he had amazingly reached down and really put it all out running that last 9 miles at a 7 minute 59 second clip.  We had many years ago adopted in our fmily of Dream, Believe, Achive.  It was on a swimming poster put out by USAS Swimming. Sott ahd made it happen and we were so happy for him. 

When he called me later he said, he really had to dig down, "Man the run was really hard, but I got it back, felt good and went for it."

 The result he had a personal best acheivement to be proud of in the toughest competition in the world.  He had dreamed of it, bleieved he would get it and he achieved it.

 As your dad I say this to you. Yes, there were others who were faster and finished higher, but Scott you are truly an elite World Class Ironman Triathlete.  Who’d a thunk a preemie baby would grow up to be what you are. Well, I  always had hopes but it never crossed my mind at the time you would and Ironman Elite Athlete. and I am not sure I thought it would be possible a few years ago but you made it happen.  You had a dream.  You excel at achieving and more in all you do, as does your sister. I and  your Mom are proud.  So what's next?

It's back on your head, coffee break is over as Ironman Arizona is 5 weeks away on Nov 20.  No rest for you, your already back in training today, blistered feet and all and the its back to work with your job.

Check out www.scottbowe.com and see what kind of training and mind set a serious triathlete has to follow.  It will amaze you.  There is also link at the top of my blog to his website.   

For Scott's comments on his race 2011 Ironman World Championship

From complete Ironman 2011 World Championship Information check out   http://kona.ironmanlive.com/#tracking

DREAM! BELIEVE ! ACHIEVE!  Cross The Finish Line 

Scott Bowe; you are an Ironman!

Big Week

We have a big week.  Writing will have to take a back seat.  The baby of the family (age) is getting married and every one is in a tither. She also is getting married 500 miles away so...road trip and off we go to the Ozarks for a Mountain top wedding.

Our novel on Amazon, A Game of Death: The Interstate Murders is selling well and our business niche Food Concession how to book on eBay continues to amaze us with steady sales. We have other works gathering dust getting a going over and hope they will be on-line in the near future.  So I hope you will be ready for some small town Midwestern humor when "Notes From the White House On The Prairie" is released in the near future.  Its new life for those works that the big boy publishers rejected.

Soon we will be blogging  about some of our memories and experiences in the broadcasting business and as well as my own  former garage band rock legend days. We will walk down memory lane with some folks we have rubbed shoulders with in the broadcasting and entertainment business and plan on making that regular feature.  If you never heard of Rob & The Rest you will.

I wrote about a local gal here in Austin, MN in my last blog, Amanda Hocking who has become a writing superstar/self publisher on Kindle.  She now has been name to  a top 100 list in the publishing business. 26 years old and she was making $18,000 a year. Now she is making thousands a week. Just Google her and see what a phenom she is  This self-publishing business is really coming of age and folks like Amanda are going places.  eBooks are here to stay.

So we will keep it short and hope you will come by soon. We have some great  stories that will be told on these pages.

Also hoping for a Trifecta this weekend with big wins by  Milwaukee Brewers, Wisconsin Badgers and The Green Bay Packers

ROB BOWE'S From My Church Pew: Ya Gotta Promote!

ROB BOWE'S From My Church Pew: Ya Gotta Promote!: Someone complained in a chat room I visited about it how tough it is getting to be to get a sale on the Internet. Well if your a writer, ...

Ya Gotta Promote!

Someone complained in a chat room I visited about it how tough it is getting to be to get a sale on the Internet. Well if your a writer, you know what it is like to get mailboxes full of reject letters, and other baloney...and then suddenly 15 years ago the self publishing business started to emerge. So I dabbled in it. I have also dabbled selling a variety of items including some of my works on eBay, Amazon, my own website for years and success comes only from perseverance and promoting what you have for sale.  Then along came Kindle, Nook, Ipads, Androids, Smartphones and the like. Of late, I published a novel on Kindle. A Game of Death: The Interstate Murders. 

 It takes time to get things going on eBay, your own site or Amazon whether it’s Kindle, merchandise, used books, new books or other store items   I have had Amazon store items and that took a year to get those widgets to see in decent numbers, but now my listings are selling.  I didn't have much luck but then I started to do on Amazon what I did on eBay. Promote .Why? I guess its part of the old simple concept  you gotta blow your own horn sometimes to get noticed.  So I promote wherever and whenever I can, especially on the Internet.

 I also wrote a niche business book on food concessions, Everything You wanted to know about the Food Concession business which I sell currently only on eBay and currently formatting for Kindle. It’s a $20 item but in 3 years it has sold 3,000+ copies. Do the math. The reason it sold is it filled niche and I promoted it.  I had spent 20 plus years in broadcast production,  promotion, advertising and now, some of that experience has paid off for me.  I promoted that book using what I learned.

Now on the other hand as I mentioned I have put one of my murder thriller novels on Kindle ( My first on Kindle) and I am getting some sales, slow but sure, and its growing but we know we need to promote it and get our name out there and so we are utilizing social media.

I bought John Locke's Kindle ditty How I sold 1 Million e-books in 5 months , a simple but fascinating story detailing how he became a top-selling author on Kindle. I am using some of his game plan and have incorporated it with my business plan.  Time consuming yes, but you must promote yourself and your wares. Other wise what you have to sell will not move off the shelf.  Obviously,   I would never have sold $60,000 in books on the web through a non-book store site if I did not promote.  I also will not sell $60,000 worth of books through Amazon if I don’t promote.

I also really have to promote lower priced Kindle books to get that kind of paycheck and I intend to do it. So here is where social media enters.   Currently we are making our selves known on the Amazon boards, utilizing Facebook and Twitter and what’s great is we are making new friends and reconnecting with others

Twitter fascinates me, because I can see the phenomenon that it is but I also see the value of following the timelines, for trends and attitudes among a lot of  potential customers in niche areas that I would not have thought  of trying to sell too..   Now the Trick will be to emulate and try to capture as well cash in on the successful methods others are using.  The other benefit is when you promote others, they will promote you in return.

 In some ways, that is hard to comprehend or even explain, but the bottom line is either the light bulb goes on in your head and you get it or you don’t  So keep trying to figure it out and research, but every tweet has the potential to earn you some money.  So be confident in what you write, in what you sell, be fair, and promote what you sell.

Then occasionally if not often rework your copy and promotion techniques and “damn the torpedo's, full speed ahead.”

A couple other notes on promotion, I  live in the same small city as another Kindle Star*, up and coming writer Amanda Hocking.  This gal is just a young writer, in her mid-twenties, who has built herself into a star, by promoting herself and now some of the big publishers are starting to take notice. 

I also learned a long time ago to look for the freebie advertising, but use it wisely.  I use press releases a lot back when I was a TV promotion director.  Follow a professional type format and send them out, some get picked up and some don’t, but any one that does is worth the stamp it was sent with and with email, now many of us use that medium to advance.  I sent a email press release out recently and a Chamber of Commerce in a City of 100,000 put it right on their new letters front page front page as I am well know at their local festival for the food I vend.  They sent that all over the country and I sold a few books because of that, both on eBay and Amazon.  They even put a color picture of my novel’s cover on the front page of that newsletter. That was neat and was well worth it.

And how about my favorite Green Bay Packers…they have promotion down to a T.  The Packers have a heritage of many super stars, NFL and Super Bowl trophies and now Aaron Rogers and teammates just won a big one over New Orleans plus last year’s Super Bowl trophy.   Talk about promotion! Not to mention a waiting list of 87,000 loyal fans  for season tickets.  Wonder what the Minnesota Vikings have on their season ticket waiting list? 

Well, I wrote a ditty that is pretty much what the last paragraph is on twitter and guess what?  The Vikings ticket office is now among my followers on twitter.  I guess they want to sell me some tickets…for the Green Bay game.

So good luck and let me promote one last thing 

 You might give me a try:

  Cheap price Good read

A Game Of Death: The Interstate Murders

 

G'day
Robbo

My big Week! Three Dog Night My Family, Florida, My Team Wins!

Well, I had a big week. Two Three Dog Night concerts, one at the legendary Surf Ballroom (The last venue Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Big Bopper played at before their plane went down) and the other at The Crystal Grande Concert Hall in Wisconsin Dells, great shows and chance to see for few friends.  By the way Three Dog Night has anew song Called "Prayer For the Chidlren" A heart felt poignant how stopper!  Check it out at Prayer For The Children

 Then it was on to Milwaukee to see my son and his family, followed by a visit to brother and his family, then a stop on the way home to see my sister.  It was a 700 mile round trip and power visiting at its best.  Then I was off for some R & R and the beach in Jacksonville, Fl.  Even going to try and write...something?

The trip got off to a less than sterling start when I discovered, after we checked into the hotel we park and fly out of, that I had left my prescriptions sitting on the bathroom sink back home.  So at 10 PM we were on the road back home to fetch them, instead of relaxing in our hotel room. So after a 200 miles roundtrip, followed by 2 hours sleep and up early to catch the early bird flight to JAX.

Welcome to Jacksonville.  Nice airport and getting our rental car was a breeze so we headed to the beach   We had a great meal at the Sun Dog  Grill & Bar at Jacksonville Beach,  Then it was off to the city fishing pier to watch the surfers ride the waves that Hurricane Katia was stirring up 400 miles east and creating great surfing conditions . Definitely cool to watch the boarders ride that wild surf...

Before we left on this road trip my son and my brother ganged up on me during my visit mentioned previously and gave me royal hell over my need to get in shape!  Seems my formerly large   brother, (who has lost 60 lbs and is now a lanky fairly fit fellow) and my Tri-athlete son (who did a 70 mile bike ride that day) failed to recognize the fact that I actually had lost a whole 7 lbs over summer and had committed to myself to get off the duff and get the rear in gear.

So I started out my day (today) in Jax today with a long walk…I also discovered what happens in a state with no income tax and counts hanging chads.  I was so few other unique things I have not seen in the upper Midwest where I live...

1. No sidewalks or curb and gutter in most residential areas.  Also no one in this part of Jacksonville mows there lawns in the residential areas or does yard work.   A for rent sign said $2,000 for what appeared to be an average 1 story 3 bedroom house.  The lack of yard work (in what appears to be a pretty fair residential neighborhood) was a far cry from the Melbourne, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa/St. Pete, Sarasota areas I have visited and even other parts of JAX.
2. In the business area where my hotel is, the side walk is only on one side of the street.  The side across the street from my hotel.  You have to walk a block in weeds along the road to get to the intersection to cross to that sidewalk. 
3. The street that runs along the side of the hotel would not make a good alley back home, narrow, no curb, no sidewalk and it is in fact is a busy a two way public city street.

.

School buses are all over and they are all doing 45 to 50 MPH ion areas with 25 MPH speed limits.  Elementary kids are on their way to school around 7:45 Am, but I see the high school students waiting for buses and walking to school at 9:15 Am., so I am guessing they don’t start until?  A bit different than what we would normally see in the northlands.

4. Jax public works recently put in street bridge over a stream in this neighborhood and there was in fact a new sidewalk for a block before and a block after the bridge on one side of the street.  At the bridge, there was no sidewalk on the side that connected to the sidewalk on the other side of the bridge...   Now, there was a sidewalk across the bridge that connected to nothing.  Go figure! Who approved that project?  Definitely a fubar/snafu.

5. Then there was a Native American Operated Reservation tobacco shop, on a major street, with a big sign that said “All brands $28.50”.  Wow! Almost made me want to start smoking again! Right now in Minnesota the price of a carton is about $58.00. Oh, the place had a drive-thru

We spent the evening glued to the motel TV and slept like a log after our Green Bay Packers outlasted the New Orleans Saints.  What a shoot out. 

After the lights were turned off, I lay in bed and it crossed my mind this southern big city was not too bad, but as I lay there I reflected why I live out in the country surrounded by soybean and corn fields.  The first I thought that popped into my mind was, I can walk to my mail box in my underwear and no one would care…or see me.  Can't wait to get back home and make a mad dash to the mailbox!

OH yeah, tweet me on twttier @robsfamous   Follow me and I'll follow you

 My New Book Game of Death: The Interstate Murders  

Church, Beer, Politics and the Green Bay Packers.

I spent a lot of time in church as a kid, sitting on a hard wooden church pew, listening and processing.  We prayed for and about everything good and everybody, but never the Green Bay Packers…they sucked in those days. Occasionally, the sermon theme could get a bit convoluted and confusing to a young boy as myself.   

I remember one sermon in particular.  The pastor proclaimed that the per capita consumption of beer in Wisconsin for every man, woman and child was 20 gallons per year.  He stated that equaled 4,000,000 gallons or about 125,000 barrels. (Wisconsin must have had about 2,000,000 people in those days based on those figures.)  The state taxed every barrel (32 gallons) a $1 and made money, as did the breweries and the bars so the guilt trip was laid and he reasoned people should dig deeper when the collection plate came around.  Of course, all of this got me distracted as I tried to listen and do that math in my head to see if he was correct. As I analyzed this I found

1. We had been to a wedding dance the night before, the same wedding dance everybody in that small country church had been at and the beer was free.  It flowed freely. 

2. I was 10 and only had an occasional schluck(German word of small sip) from a dad's very occasional bottle of beer. So now the question of condemnation to hell was tugging at my young mind as our pastor spoke on.

3. We had a big church picnic a few weeks earlier and beer had been for sale at that event
 
Almost everyone in church that day was of good old German Lutheran stock and they all knew where this was leading, the old annual put your beer money in the collection plate sermon.

 Later, we had Sunday dinner at my grandparent’s house and the subject of the sermon came up. My dad put in his two cents worth saying basically, “beer and church just don’t mix, that kind of subject in a sermon is not going to get you to open up your wallet and doesn’t make me want to put more money in the collection plate, especially on what I make!” 

My grandfather chimed in,” Ach ya, without beer, our ancestors would have died from all the bad water. Na ya that subject in church is not good.  Don’t we have beer at the church picnic to raise money?  It’s like politics, keep those things out of the pulpit.”

Too which my uncle Arnold added, “Amen!  Boy’s go down in the basement and get some beer for after dinner.”

What struck me was that my grandfather saw this as “Keep it out of the pulpit”.

I took that to heart and today believe like he did.   The separation of church and state as our founders put forth is a freedom that guarantees religious beliefs as one see fit.  Politics doesn’t belong in church.   

So as we approach the 2012 elections, let freedom ring and lets keep the subject of politics out of the pulpit.  Prayers for the Green Bay Packers are just fine as far as I am concerned.

Something Special from Famous Rob

My New Novel on Amazon A Game of Death: The Interstate Murders