My Dad and I were talking about how extremely cold it has been the past few days in Massachusetts, and we also reminisced about when we were growing up and how hard my Dad used to work us tad poles (kids). Looking back on it now, it always seemed the chores were 100X harder then they were.

Blizzard of ‘78…

One story I love to tease my dad about is the catastrophic and historic nor’easter (a.k.a.  blizzard) of 1978 which delivered over 27″ of snow to our region in 33 hours. The blizzard raged on for a day and was unable to move over our coastline and out to see was because a strong Canadian high pressure area kept in in place.
The cool thing about the Blizzard of ‘78 was that were out of school for over a week, the real  bad news was that we had to shovel snow…for days… I kid you not!

Winter Olympics…

I would look forward to the wintertime, because there was plenty of time to play our version of the Winter Olympics games, like  ice hockey on Pratts Pond, going ice fishing and building the largest snowmen in the world, sledding behind the power lines on our red, plastic sleds pretending to be on toboggan runs and, don’t tell anyone this, but we’d also throw snowballs at cars from our secret little hiding spot underneath the bridge on Rte 140.  These were some of the wintertime festivities I looked forward to every winter.
I loved being outside and having fun, but one thing I didn’t like about growing up in the North East during the wintertime was snow shoveling.

Snow Shoveling…

I felt as though that I was drafted into my Dad’s hard-core labor camp for the winter…shoveling (when I say shoveling, my Dad wanted to see nothing but black asphalt!), chopping ice, sanding, scraping, knocking icicles off the edge of the roof, etc.  Actually, I was drafted into his hard-core labor camp for good.  He had all-year-round chores he had me do that’d work me to a nub!
My Dad did have a good sense of humor though.  One year I got a large box for Christmas.  I couldn’t wait to open it.  I thought I finally got the hockey stick, puck and skates I wanted (so I could trade up from the stick, stone and rubber boats I was using.) I tore that package open to find a bright-orange snow shovel, with my name written in permanent black marker down the handle, and a new set of green, rubber snow boots lined on the inside with fake fur!  I can still remember the smile on my Dad’s face when I opened that gift…we still laugh about it to this day!
Now my parent’s driveway is about 40 yards long.  Every time it would snow, I would look outside and cringe knowing that my Dad had a bright-orange snow shovel with my name on it!
Come to think of it, the leave rake that my Dad had for me was also bright-orange and had my name on it!  Go figure.

The Hurt Locker…

I still remember the burning sensation in my arms and the pain shooting straight up my back from shoveling with that bright orange snow shovel, after hours and hours of manual labor in the friggin’ freezing cold and that uncomfortable feeling of sweating profusely on the inside, and freezing cold on the outside.
After I’d finish, I’d crawl back into the house and remove my gloves…this was almost impossible to do because my hands were frozen stiff in the shape of the shovel handle.
Note:  alarm dealers – home automation dudes – locksmiths – low voltage installers – private guard services -  security integrators…anyone  who makes money by manual “SHOVELING” will  learn to HATE their business.
The only way that my little, red, frozen hands would return to a normal state was after I’d place them around my favorite Red Sox mug which, bless my Mom’s heart, she’d fill with SWISS MISS hot chocolate and promptly hand me when I came in the door.  it would take 2-3 cups of piping hot SWISS MISS to thaw out my mitts!
Even back then, I knew there was a faster, easier way to remove the snow then the old-fashioned, manual way of little-old-me breaking my arms and back with my bright-orange snow shovel.
So I said to my Pa, “Dad, why can’t you just buy a snow blower like Mr Flynn? (who was our next door neighbor.)”  Mr. Flynn was the neighbor who had all the tools to get any job done faster and easier.  I watched him year-round, with envy, at all his snow-removal, leaf-removal, grass-mowing machines that I wished were in our tool shed!

Snow Blower…

Back to the blizzard of ‘78…the bus ride home from school usually took about 45 minutes, but during the storm, it took just over four hours, in complete white-out condition, to make it home. Thank God the bus driver got us all home safe.  Many people got stuck in their cars on roads and highways and died.
I knew I was screwed when I got home, though.  My Dad would harness me up like a plow horse and send me outside with my orange snow shovel to dig out the back 40.
I was outside frantically shoveling away in snow drifts that were 6-8 feet in our driveway, when all of a sudden I hear the roar of a snowblower and look up to see Mr. Flynn smiling and waving at the end of our driveway with his bright red shiny new snow blower.  I was overjoyed…to say the least!
Holy Sh*t, in 20 minutes he’d plowed out our whole driveway; a job that would have manually taken me up to four days to complete, was done in 20 minutes!
This was my first major awakening that ultimately ingrained in my thinking that manual labor sucked.
How far you go in life and how fast you get there as an alarm dealer – home automation dude – locksmith – low voltage installer – private guard service -  security integrator – is not linked to how smart you are … How many hours you work your ass off… How hard you work or how much you sacrifice… Success  is not a merit-badge earned through suffering and drinking Maalox. So get that out of your head right now!
Your success depends on the quality of your tools in your toolbox…
You don’t have to be smarter, tougher, better looking, or a more agile salesperson with a full of head of hair and pearly white teeth.
Shoot, I was younger, tougher and more energetic then my neighbor, Mr. Flynn, by some 40 years.
But he had a much better tool…
The question is what – what “tool” can revolutionize your life – like show shoveling vs. snow blower?
I have created that tool – the Smokin’ Security Newsletter.

And for those of you who missed my birthday mailing, here’s my offer for you again!…
Since January was the month of my birth, I’m taking the liberty to extend my birthday offer into Feburary. Why you might ask?  Cuz I own this world-wide security marketing, money-making publication and I want to make sure that you take advantage of this offer that other security dealers and low voltage installers, in over 8 countries, have taken me up on.  So here it is again my birthday special…