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It has been a long, long time since I last posted here and I hope to be back sooner to post again.

This time of year is a good one for reflection and I have taken some time over the past week to think about what I am most thankful for as I move past the halfway point of my 53rd year in this world.  This list may not hit them all, but I think it will get the top 5 to 10 items that bring me the most joy and peace.

I would encourage you to take the time to reflect and think about what you are most thankful for.  I know I take so much for granted and it is high time I gave thanks:

1. I am thankful to live in a country where  I can worship freely and be an active member of the Christian community.
2. I have the most wonderful wife and two awesome sons.  They are the joy of my life and I cannot fathom them being any better or more rewarding to me than they are.
3. My life has been immeasurably blessed by my in-laws.  My parents died right after I married my wife and my father in law and mother in law have been so supportive and loving to me for as long as I can remember.
4. I am blessed beyond measure to be able to earn a good living in a business that I have started.  So much of my success comes from relationships and friendships I have acquired over the years and that is a blessing also.
5. I have relatively good health and am  able to come and go as I please in most situations.

I could add many others to this list, but these are the top 5 that I give thanks for everyday.

What is your list of the top 5 things you are thankful for?  Are you giving thanks for the many blessings you have?

Take time to reflect and say thank you to those who are making a difference.  You will be glad you did.

Almost 20% of UK consumers will use mobile handsets to make purchases over the Christmas period, research suggests, with retailers becoming increasingly mobile-ready.

via 1 in 5 to shop via mobile this Christmas – Brand Republic News.

Having done research in the mobile market earlier this year I am not surprised by this information.

I will be interested to see how this compares with retail shopping in the USA.  Our mobile penetration still lags most of the world.

In its first report on the use of “geosocial” or location-based services, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project finds that 4% of online adults use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location with friends and to find others who are nearby. On any given day, 1% of internet users are using these services.

Location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla use internet-connected mobile devices’ geolocation capabilities to let users notify others of their locations by “checking in” to that location. Location-based services often run on stand-alone software applications, or “apps,” on most major GPS-enabled smartphones or other devices.

via 4% of online Americans use location-based services | Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

This is an interesting survey and it makes me wonder how Geosocial services will advance and change in the coming months and years.

In an era when privacy is a huge issue it seems that Geosocial services are heading in the opposite direction.  I predict that Geosocial services will migrate to the staffing world in the USA in a big way sometime soon and will dictate who gets a call and who does not based on ease of access to a certain locale.

Be nice to the tech folks who keep your company’s computers safe.

Microsoft Tuesday issued its largest ever batch of security patches — essential fixes for a record 49 security holes. What’s more, Oracle this week published its quarterly security update pushing out patches 81 vulnerabilities in a wide array Oracle and Sun Microsystem software. (Oracle recently acquired Sun.)

via Microsoft issues patches for a record 49 security holes – USATODAY.com.

IT is not comforting to know that this is the “status quo” for the software industry.

IF automakers issued as many recalls as software companies issued patches we would have more wealthy trial lawyers and fewer rich software executives.

After unloading on Delta  LG and Whirlpool  this week I wanted to let you know that Delta  is paying attention in the Social world, most noticeably on Twitter.   I received a message from a Delta  representative on Thursday and a call today.  I call that progress and I wanted to give them credit for checking in.

No word yet from LG.  Whirlpool seems to be close to helping me resolve my issues with their washer, but I may lose weight if I don’t get this LG refrigerator handle fixed soon.

Here is a photo of that fine craftsmanship:

I’ll keep you appraised as this saga continues to roll out.

I did find an interesting article on the Web about LG appliance issues and you can read more at this link or at this link. The story is about a 2 year old LG refrigerator and a 3 week old LG dishwasher and the challenges the owners had in dealing with LG.  Here is another long list of complaints about LG bottom-freezer refrigerators.  Several of the issues sound familiar to me.

I also appreciate the many comments I received and I look forward to even more.