News from Afghanistan - My Dad Always a Target

I woke up to 2 missed phone calls this morning from an unavailable number. This usually translates to my Dad calling from Afghanistan via Skype.

My wife asked me to check my email, maybe he had sent a message.

I checked my email to find 4 pictures attached to a message stating he had been attacked, again, only this time he actually was hurt,

"This morning I was attacked and busted up pretty good. I believe my left hand is broken, my head sustained a heavy blow and is severely bruised, I will be flying to Dubai tomorrow morning. My right hand oh but very sore See attached "

All I can do is sigh, there is nothing I can do except pray for his safety. Nothing I say or do will convince him to stop working in war zones. I used to think that this was my fault. He once told me he wanted to work overseas because I served in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on the ground during the invasion. He said he was so proud of me he wanted to give back as well. I was there for 6 months. He has been in two different war zones for a total of 6 years now.

Now, I realize that it isn't my fault that he is STILL there, it is the money. If the money were offered to be a project manager somewhere safer and it was comparable to what he was making now, I am 100% positive he would take it immediately.

Well, here are the pictures, and I will try to move on and stay positive. Lord knows I cannot afford to be depressed, I have a Non Profit to start, and still need to maintain good sales numbers at my job in order to pay bills for my family.

Prayers would be wonderful!

Decisions

I have decided to go forward with another idea in conjunction with my Non-profit Organization.

I will be blogging and video-blogging my adventure as it happens. The adventure will be creating and running a non-profit organization.

I will be using twitter, facebook, and blogger.com to release my postings and talk about my events.

I have to convince my wife to video tape me for the video-blogging, but I think she will enjoy the time using the very nice digital video camera I gave her.

Joshua Brunhoff
Family Man
Asheville, NC, USA

People are so Jaded.

I call people about Fire Safety programs.

When people answer I tell them who I represent. I can't get the word FIRE FIGHTER out of my mouth and they are poor mouthing and hangning up.

Has capitalism ruined how people feel about their public servants? These programs help save lives in their LOCAL community, their very own zip codes.

Is it greed? I served in the Marine Corps for 4 years and was awarded a Combat Action Ribbon while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I remember the day I came home to North Carolina. I went to McDonalds to eat some Fast Food. Something I had not had in 6 months and sorely missed having access to.

There was this lady in front of me at the counter. She was complaining about her burger being made incorrectly. She wasn't being very nice to the young lady who was taking her complaints and working the register.

I turned the lady around and said, "Ma'am did she make your buger?" She said, "No, But..." and I interrupted her. I said, "Ma'am, are you perfect?" She immediately said, "No, but..." and I interrupted her again. I said, "Neither is she, and the person who made your burger isn't perfect either. Now, I understand how frustrating it is to get bad service. I just came from a place where people had no water, food, electricity, plumbing, or even certainty of a safe place to sleep at night. I have been craving American Fast Food for 6 months. The way to handle this situation correctly is this way:".

I took the sandwich from her hand and placed it on the counter. I asked the young lady to get the guy who made the hamburger. He came out and I asked him politely to please make a new hamburger without the ketchup and he did so immediately. And even smiled when he gave the new burger to the lady.

She was very embarrassed but I think I made a life long impression. Or at least I hope I did. I wish that I could make these impressions on everyone I meet. But, unfortunately, my courage level isn't that high every day, nor is my patience that low.

Joshua Brunhoff
Family Man

Video Games

My name is Joshua Brunhoff. I live in Asheville, North Carolina. Sometimes you get the feeling that you can accomplish anything. Sometimes you get the exact opposite feelings.

I play a lot of video games to relax.

I used to be an avid smoker. I smoked over a pack a day.

I put them down in December of 2010.

Most people know that this was an amazing achievement. But smokers always ask me, "What did you do to quit?"

I tell them I used the patches from wal-mart. The generic ones. I followed the directions to the letter.

But, in reality they only helped control the cravings. I quit because I wanted to, truly, wanted to quit. I had lots of motivation. But that motivation wasn't in a box.

The best advice I can give about quitting smoking is finding a vice that is healthier, like my addiction to First Person Shooter video games, like Call of Duty. Then wait for that moment when you are smoking and you go, "YUK." this stuff is nasty. And throw them out. Go to wal-mart and pick up the equate nicotine patches and follow the instructions. Good luck. Its tough, But If I can do it. Then you can do it.

Joshua Brunhoff
Family Man.

Questions I have to ask to achieve my goals.

To Whom it may concern:

My name is Joshua Brunhoff, I am a successful gem stone dealer who lives in the greater Asheville area of North Carolina in the USA. In order to achieve my goals I realize that I must investigate the paths to take. Investigation requires that I ask questions.

Here are a list of questions I came up with today to help me understand how to accomplish my goals in a fast and timely manner:

1. How do I achieve financial success and economic independence and freedom?

2. What steps can I take right now to move towards that goal?

3. What can I do to have everyone I talk to always tell me "Yes"?

4. How can I become the best listener on the planet?

5. What can I do to help every child in my area gain access to the internet in their home?

6. What do I need to do to be able to provide anything my family wants at any given time?

7. What can I do to have people want to be around me? How can I help those people achieve success?

8. What do I need to do to be able to make $1000.00 in one week?

9. What steps do I need to take to make $4000.00 in one month?

10. What patterns do I need to set in order to make $40,000.00 in one year?


Asking these questions will help me figure out what to do in order to achieve my goals.

Goals from todays thoughts.

To Whom it may concern:

My name is Joshua Brunhoff. I live in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, in the USA. I know now that I am not perfect, nor will I ever be perfect. I have decided that I have some goals that I would like to accomplish. I would like to accomplish all of these goals this year, this month even. I am confident that all these goals are achievable. Here is a short list:

1. I want to achieve Financial Success and Economic Independence/Freedom.

2. I want people to be around me because I am successful. I want to help others become successful.

3. I want to make $1000.00 in one week.

4. I want to make $4000.00 in one month.

5. I want to make $40,000.00 in one year.

6. I want everyone to always tell me, "Yes".

7. I want to become the best listener on the planet.

8. I want to help every child in my local area achieve access to the internet at their homes, regardless of their income or level in society.

9. I want to be able to provide my wife and kids with everything they want and need at any given time they ask.

Thanks for your time.

Joshua Brunhoff
Family Man.