What Can We Learn From A Kelpie?

 

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM A KELPIE?
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 25, 2026

According to ChatGPT: A well-trained sheepdog can typically control 50–100 sheep by itself, and sometimes considerably more.

For large flocks, an experienced Border Collie, or a Kelpie (an Australian version of the Sheep Dog or Border Collie) may work several hundred sheep, especially in open pasture. That is worth repeating, ONE dog for SEVERAL HUNDRED SHEEP. For exceptionally large groups—500 to 1,000+ sheep—shepherds commonly use two or more dogs WORKING TOGETHER!

Why would I ever write a Nugget for the Noggin about an Australian Dog that most people would be unable to identify? I am SO glad you asked. Let me tell you.

Before I do, understand that it was NOT that many years ago, you could never get me to talk to anyone about political issues; I just did not care, and I said that every chance I got. That was then, this is now! Unlike today’s youth, I KNOW WHAT COMMUNISM IS! I KNOW WHAT MARXISM IS! More importantly, I KNOW WHAT CAPITALISM IS! I ALSO KNOW THE DAMAGE AND DEATHS CAUSED BY BOTH MARXISM AND COMMUNISM! I believe that today’s youth have not a clue to the damage and death caused by countries ruled by Marxist or Communist leaders if it was not taught in our schools. We certainly do not see it taught through documentaries on our television sets. If they were shown on our televisions, how many children would watch a documentary about historical events? In fact, the destruction and death created on 9/11 is not broadcast on television except on the anniversary each year. I doubt that it is taught as well. How else can you explain away that the very man elected to be the Mayor of New York City has the same beliefs of the men who “supposedly” flew the planes into the Twin Towers. In just twenty-five years, it appears that the people of New York City, at least the people who voted in the last Mayor’s election, did not seem to care or worse, did not even make the relationship between the two. Given the choice I would choose CAPITALISM, EVERY TIME!

That is NOT the case for so many American citizens in 2026 if what we see and hear on our television sets and on our electronic devices is true, which it is. People are going to vote for Democrat Socialists (DSA) in the mid-term elections in 2026. A vote for a DSA candidate IS a vote for Communism, Socialism, or some combination of the two. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT HAPPEN. Since you are reading this and have gotten this far, I am assuming that you do not as well.

Let us get into the weeds! I had never heard of Operation Mockingbird before the 1990s. That is when I read the book titled The Naked Communist, which is when everything changed for me. I could no longer sit idly by and say nothing about the significant changes I saw happening throughout America. I began to see them very differently than most Americans did. The changes I saw did not originate from the grass roots, meaning that they just grew on their own. No, the changes I saw happening were farmed! By farming, I mean people, real people, planted seeds, watered them, fertilized them, made sure they received plenty of sunshine and weather conducive to help them grow strong and sturdy.  While the seeds were growing, most people, like me but certainly not you, just did not care. I did not want to talk about them. Politics to me was a dirty word. The Naked Communist changed all of that!

If you owned one hundred sheep and needed to move them about your property, how would you go about it? You would purchase a Kelpie or the more popular Sheep Dog. I chose a Kelpie for this Nugget hoping that just the unusual word would be enough to trigger your interest enough for you to read this Nugget as compared to using a Sheep Dog.  You buy the Kelpie; it is well trained. If it is not well trained, you ensure it gets the training it needs. You then decide that 100 sheep is insufficient, so you buy 100 more. You discover that the ONE Kelpie is having a tough time controlling the sheep you have so you purchase a second Kelpie and then it becomes case of rinse and repeat. The more sheep you add to your herd, the more Kelpies you purchase.

I was going to add a brief explanation of Operation Mockingbird or provide you with a link where you could check for yourself, but I realized that most people would not click on the link and the term would be lost and never explained. Therefore, here is the ChatGPT explanation of Operation Mockingbird, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND UNDERST AND HOW EASY IT HAS BEEN TO CONVERT CLEAR THINKING INDIVIDUIALS INTO THE SHEEP WE HAVE BECOME.

From ChatGPT, words in parenthesis are my words: “Operation Mockingbird is a name commonly used for the CIA’s Cold War-era relationships with journalists and news organizations. The basic idea is real, but the popular version often combines several different CIA activities under one label.

During the early Cold War, the CIA considered newspapers, magazines, radio, publishing houses, and individual journalists (and television) useful for intelligence and for influencing opinion abroad. The Senate’s Church Committee, which investigated intelligence abuses in 1975–76, documented secret CIA relationships with members of the American media. Contemporary accounts of the committee’s findings reported that 50 American journalists had covert relationships with the CIA, ranging from freelancers and foreign correspondents to people associated with publishing organizations.

Those relationships were not all the same. Some journalists supplied information they encountered overseas; some provided cover or assistance to intelligence officers; and CIA covert-action programs also planted or encouraged propaganda abroad (the word propaganda is a kind way of telling LIES). Material placed in foreign media could sometimes make its way back into American reporting. This is the historical basis for the broader claim that the CIA sought to use media as an instrument in the Cold War. (Since the information, propaganda, came from a foreign newspaper, it must be true, right! It is like the exercise we all did as kids. One kid would tell a story and say pass it on. Each time it was passed on, it was embellished and by the time it got to the last kid in line, the story was completely different.)

There is an important distinction concerning the name “Mockingbird.” Declassified CIA records definitely identify Project MOCKINGBIRD, but that particular operation was a 1963 surveillance operation, not the name in those records for the entire CIA-media network. The CIA secretly wiretapped two Washington-based syndicated journalists, Robert S. Allen and Paul Scott, from March 12 to June 15, 1963, because they were publishing classified information. The CIA's own historical account confirms this.

The much broader meaning of “Operation Mockingbird”—a coordinated CIA program for influencing the press—is associated heavily with later writers and journalists. In 1977, investigative journalist Carl Bernstein reported that hundreds of American journalists had performed services for the CIA over the preceding decades. Author Deborah Davis subsequently used “Operation Mockingbird” to describe an extensive CIA-media influence network. Historians continue to debate whether there was actually one centrally organized program formally called Operation Mockingbird matching that popular description.

What is not seriously disputed is the underlying conduct: the CIA maintained covert relationships with journalists and media-related people during the Cold War. The controversy became substantial enough that in February 1976 CIA Director George H. W. Bush announced a new policy prohibiting the CIA from entering into paid or contractual relationships with accredited American news correspondents, while still allowing journalists voluntarily to provide information. (Like so many government activities, the simple statement that something has stopped does not mean it has really stopped. Many people, me included, believe that the program still exists to this day.)”

If you only watch ONE mainstream news outlet, there would be nothing to compare their broadcast to, and you would accept what you have been watching as being the truth. But…if you watched more than one mainstream outlet, you would think that you might get a different story on the same subject matter, that is what I thought! What I discovered was that it did not matter which outlet I watched, I not only got related stories, BUT I ALSO GOT EXACTLY THE SAME STORY ON EVERY CHANNEL USING THE SAME WORDS, PHRASES AND LANGUAGE. I EVEN NOTICED THAT THEY ALL HAD ALMOST IDENTICAL BODY LANGUAGE WHEN DISCUSSING THE SAME STORIES NO MATTER WHICH CHANNEL I WATCHED! That is impossible UNLESS…all the stations received their news articles from the SAME PLACE!

Our supposedly unbiased mainstream news media has become our Kelpies! We all watch on different channels but come away with the same story and beliefs. That is precisely how we all began to wear medical masks and stood no closer than six feet to everyone. That is how members of a junior high school band would sit in plastic bubbles and play instruments to prevent the spread of a disease that we were all taught was real and dangerous to everyone, young and old. We all watched in disbelief how some experts and non-experts spoke out against the disease and they were all cancelled. We saw doctors whose medical licenses were being threatened by the government if they did not follow the guidelines put forth by our government and REENFORCED on every news broadcast by the mainstream media. No one was permitted to speak out against these policies or procedures and feared for their own freedom from penalties for speaking out. The exclamation mark on this practice was visible when you saw the exact same practices occurring in every city around the world. The message had to be coordinated by someone to get that result!

How did something like that happen? We all became SHEEP. The government working closely with the media and our televisions became the Kelpies who not only watched over us, but they also controlled our every movement. If we failed to obey, we would be denied medical care, some lost their jobs. The penalties were severe! What did we all do? Like the sheep being corralled by Kelpies, we did what we were directed to do, and we went were we were told to go, and we dared NOT to speak out against all of this guidance given under the guise of being protected.

There is one word that EVERYONE should understand and that word is FEED! They call it “the news FEED” for a reason. A second word that everyone should understand is “programming.”  People understand that computers are programmed to cause them to react as we want them to react. Television news and television programming work on the same principle. We are being fed the subconscious messages that the people who wield power and who want us all to hear and believe the same things. That way WE become PROGRAMMED to react the way those in power want us all to react. To most people 2 + 2 = 4. To a much smaller handful 2+2 is 44. These are the people who think “outside the box” that frighten the people in power the most because they see through the organized programming and they ask questions. They do their own research. They find their own answers or find enough information to seriously question the programming they see and hear on their television sets. That is who I have become. Where do you stand?

We have all been programmed to believe certain events in our history occurred just as we have been told that they did. During my lifetime, the BIG ones have been Vietnam, the murders of JFK, RFK, MLK but especially JFK. We believed that Iraq had and used Weapons of Mass Destruction, 9/11, COVID and now election integrity. I am only guessing but if you did your own study by asking people you know about these events, you would get the same or remarkably similar explanations from each one; the stories would not vary. That is effective programming of the mind! As an example, we were all told that we HAD to fight in Vietnam because the North Vietnamese attacked two U. S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. We were told that we could not permit that to happen, so we entered the war. Thousands upon thousands of people on both sides were killed and many more wounded for life all based upon an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin that did not happen. But we believed it did.

The next time you watch the news, watch it as an observer would. What was said? Was it 100% the news or did the statements include news AND the commentators’ OPINIONS? You will discover as I did, there are about as many OPINIONS broadcast as there is NEWS. Then if you go further in your observation, switch channels and try to find a news outlet covering the same story and listen to the words and phrases used. YOU WILL FIND THEM, if you pay close attention.

Today’s news is fraught with examples of INSTANT PROTESTERS blocking traffic, abusing law enforcement officers, and using some of the foulest language. If you look closely, they are all wearing the same type of clothing with the same messages and same professionally prepared signage. These protests were not grass roots; they were well organized and well-funded. The protesters have become the sheep, and the organizers and money people have become the Kelpies controlling them.

If you have not figured it out, WE ALL HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED!

Simple Steps to avoid being brainwashed:

1.      Learn to pay attention to everything.

2.      Question everything, you hear or see.

3.      Trust no one in the media.

4.      Realize that politicians lie.

5.      Just because someone else does something does not mean you have to do the same things. This is particularly true in the world of fashion, fads and social media.

You might find the following WEBSITES interesting. If the links do not work, copy and paste them to your browser:

45 Communist USA objectives described in the book The Naked Communist, a 3-minute video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofB4hbFvhis

 

Operation Mockingbird:  https://allthatsinteresting.com/operation-mockingbird

 

The Art of Brainwashing:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-chemistry/201803/the-art-brainwashing

How the Gulf of Tonkin incident Sparked the Vietnam War:  https://allthatsinteresting.com/gulf-of-tonkin

Closing Gifts (Applies to anyone in sales)

 

CLOSING GIFTS
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 24, 2026

BACKGROUND: I retired from the real estate business in 2012 after 33 years in the business. One question that continually surfaced was “closing gifts” for customers. Do you engage in the practice or not? If you engage, how much do you spend? Do you know how much the Internal Revenue Service permits you to deduct on your income tax return identified as closing gifts to customers? Obviously, I have been out of the business for over 13 years and things change but I was shocked to discover that the IRS has NOT changed the amount for at least that length of time even though the cost of everything has gone up and not down. 

To be honest, it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to purchase a closing gift worth less than the IRS limit of $25.00 that has the desired meaning for giving such a gift to your customers. According to ChatGPT, here is a summary of the IRS rules extracts in September of 2026:

“The IRS generally allows you to deduct up to $25 per customer, per tax year for business gifts.

For example, if you are a real estate agent and give a customer a $100 gift basket at closing, you can generally deduct only $25 of its cost.

The $25 limit applies to the total gifts you give the same customer during the year, not to each individual gift.

There are two useful exceptions:

·         Packaging and shipping: Gift wrapping, engraving, and shipping may be deductible in addition to the $25 if they do not increase the gift's value.

·         Promotional gifts: Items costing $4 or less, permanently displaying your business name and widely distributed, generally don't count toward the $25 limit.

Keep receipts and records of the recipient, date, and business purpose.”

What can you give to a customer that would serve the purpose of keeping you and the service you provide ever present in their mind. Here are some negative things about closing gifts that I have observed over the years.

Flowers – they typically die quickly.

Plants – some succeed and some do not. If the customers eventually plant them in the ground, they remain with the house even after the customer may have sold it and therefore would serve no future purpose to keep your name ever present in their mind. If the plant dies that would be a negative reminder.

Meals. You can get a delicious meal, or you can get a bad meal. Customers may temporarily remember a delicious meal but for how long. I can assure you that they will remember a bad meal and whoever gave it to them for an extraordinarily long time. Meals have no shelf-life after the customers eat them.

Where am I going with this Nugget? Do I believe in closing gifts or not? I do believe in not only using closing gifts but also giving gifts of thanks in general. Why are closing gifts and gifts in general important for your business?

I will answer the last question first. They are NOT important to you and your business IF the closing gift turns out to be a bad gift OR the gift has no shelf life. By “shelf life” I mean, will the gift be around long enough to remind the customer of you and your service the next time the need arises? For most closing gifts the answer is no, they will not. If that is the case for the gifts you give, you may want to consider saving your money or changing your gift. As to the importance, you want the closing gift to have a shelf life with a positive memory and more importantly, whenever the customer sees it, the gift reminds them of you, the service you provide and how professionally you provided the service. Using real estate sales as an example, you want your gift to broadcast the message, “When YOU think of REAL ESTATE, you think of (insert your name)! If you currently give a closing gift, does the gift serve that purpose? If not, you need to rethink what you are doing and how you can do it better.

I would not write this Nugget if I did not think I had a better idea for people in sales to use and I do. Why? Because I know that it worked for me. First, you MUST eliminate the restrictions that the Internal Revenue Service has placed on you regarding the amount you can deduct as a business expense on your tax return. That restriction will significantly hamper your goal of helping the customer to remember you and the service you provided to them. Take whatever deduction you can and move on! Having someone remembering YOU and the SERVICE that YOU provide is far more important and is PRICELESS!

What checked the biggest box for me was giving people something that most people would want to keep and if they kept it, it would serve my desired purpose, being remembered! I purchased a box of note cards, the kind you would or should be using to write personal notes to probable customers and people you do business with. The cards I purchased had a pen and ink drawing of famous landmark type buildings located in the town I served, Slidell, Louisiana. By most city standards, Slidell would be a small town but even a small town with several memorable and iconic buildings.

I worked out an arrangement with a local art/frame store where they would mount three of the cards onto a colorful background, (I chose a simple solid blue felt like background) and then the store would frame them and cover them with glass. On the back of each creation, the store applied the brown paper that you see on all artwork like the one created for my customers. It was a beautifully finished product if I may say so myself. But…I was not done. I authored a poem, an original poem that I unfortunately have lost. The poem told the story about making a house a home (there is a difference). The premise was that a “house” just sits there until you insert a family and then it becomes a home where memories are created. I would take a Sharpie pen and copy the poem in my own handwriting on the back of each picture and then sign it.

Now, as the infamous radio announcer Paul Harvey would say at the end of each broadcast, “And now for the rest of the story!”

This is what happened and I swear as unbelievable as it may sound, it is just as I describe it. I do not recall any customer who received one of these works of art, never being extremely thankful for the gift. I have personally been in the homes that I had sold to customers who received the gift and it was still hanging on the walls within their home that they bought thirty or even forty years ago. They have told me that every time they notice it, they think of our sale together. That IS PRICELESS!

You can believe what I am about to tell you or not, that is your choice. I received a call from a woman who I had given one of these frames to and this is what she told me over the phone. “I was looking at the three cards, and I remembered that you wrote something on the back. I remembered that it was a nice thought when you gave it to me, but I had forgotten about it until this past week. I took the frame down to read what you had written, and it made me cry because it struck an emotional chord. I cried a lot and (as she said, here it comes) the tears dropped down on the back of the frame sitting on my lap and the ink ran and ruined what you had written. Can you send me a copy of the poem?”  That happened just as I had explained it. The actual words may have been different, but the message is the same. After all, this happened over thirty years ago so please do not fault me for not remembering the exact words she said. Due to a major computer crash, I lost the original poem I had written.

How much did the frames and cards cost? Great question. I think I may have spent $15 to as much as $25.00 on the box of cards but I do not remember how many cards were in the box. I did not consider the cost to be excessive. As I stated, I worked out an arrangement with the art store that they would get repeat business from me every time I closed a sale and they could put the name of their company and contact information on the back so it was a form of advertising for them and a business deduction for them as well. I do not remember the price we settled on but I remember it was less than $100 for each piece. It was more like $75.00. Keep in mind, I could deduct $25.00 on my income tax so that may the difference in the real cost to me was more like $50.00. Was spending $50.00 worth giving a customer something they would keep for life and that every time they saw it, they would think of me? Is a Giraffe afraid of ceiling fans!

If you could find something like the cards that I had discovered, you could do something similar. You could also save money by framing just ONE of the cards and making the item smaller and therefore much easier for the customer to find a place to hang it.

What did the finished product look like? This is one of the pieces the frame/art store made for me, and it still hangs on my wall as well.

I AM NOT ALONE!

I AM NOT ALONE (Thank God!);
IMAGINE THAT!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 8, 2026

I recently posted the following on a Facebook group page, “What’s Going on In Slidell”, thinking I was doing local restaurants a favor. Judging by some of the comments that were posted in response, you would think I was wrong and that I was complaining and/or bitching. 

“PUBLIC SERVICE REQUEST: Has anyone noticed that when you eat out, the portions on almost every plate have grown larger. Maybe it is my age, but I do not eat as much as I once did and the size of the plates actually "turn me off" rather than make me want to come back. If you look around, you don't see many people who are trim and healthy looking, you see a lot of obese people. The movement of the federal government is to Make America Healthy Again and eating better food and less food is one way to do that. Restaurants have a children's menu, why not a menu for people who prefer to eat less food or at least a senior menu? I was guilty. I have lost over 40 pounds over the past couple of years and all I did was choose to eat less food, and eat less sugar, nothing else has changed.” 

Most of the comments suggested that I request a to go box or bag and take the food home to be eaten later as if I did not understand that I could do that. 

AMERICA IS OBESE!  PERIOD!  END OF STATEMENT!  I have seen reports that a HUGE majority of young men and women could not physically qualify to serve in the military because of their weight.  One only need to observe to see that a great many Americans are overweight! 

Apparently, the following analogy needs to be said.  A gasoline engine requires gasoline to run.  The human body requires food to just stay alive. The gasoline and the food serve the same purpose, it keeps something running. You would not put 20 gallons of gas into a gas tank that only holds 17 gallons yet that is exactly what most people, certainly not you, do their bodies.  They put more food in than they burn off as calories which are required to keep from putting on excess pounds. 

As people grow older, some, if not most, become less active. I know this because I am now 81 years old as I write this.  I do not smoke; I rarely drink alcohol. I once was a runner that ran up to 10 miles at a time, and I played a lot of sports. I kept active until recently by maintaining the yard at our home. A permanently damaged knee, a broken back and age now keep me from doing any of these activities. It is simple math, if you do not burn off calories, you must reduce your consumption of food, or you will become overweight if not obese in your retired years. For the record, I have lost over 40 pounds over the past 2 years.  For the most part that is because I eat less and am careful to reduce the number of things I eat that contain a lot of sugar. 

My post was never intended to be a complaint or a bitch as some suggested. I was merely suggesting that local restaurants do what Middendorf’s of Slidell, LA has done; they offer a senior portion of many of their menu options. 

Habits are hard to break!  My parents taught us in the 1950s to eat everything on our plates.  It was not unusual to be told that there are starving children all over the world and it is our responsibility to eat what is in front of us on our plates. Obviously, that was an overstatement, but when you are taught lessons as a child, those lessons do NOT magically disappear from your unconscious mind, so you clean your plate well into your adulthood. “A happy plate is a clean plate!”  

Because of some health issues, my doctor has explained that your plate should be divided into types of food in relationship to “carbs” and sizes to help regulate your weight AND your blood sugar readings. Over the past several years, I have attempted to do that, and the result has been better blood sugar readings and the loss of 40 pounds; pounds that I put on despite a lot of running, sports and physical activities. I simply was NOT burning off more calories than I was taking in! One doctor joked about the best diet in the world was the “push away” diet plan.  He explained that simply pushing away from the table when you are full is a good plan. 

When I was young and healthy, I did not pay much attention to what or HOW MUCH I ate, and my weight was proof of that statement.  Keep in mind what I said, I do not smoke, I drink very little alcohol, in fact the only alcohol I drink is an occasional draft beer when we eat out. Plus, I was very active. Despite this routine, I managed to have a blocked artery that required open heart surgery.  I developed Type 2 Diabetes, I do not know why or how, but I did.  As I look around, it is impossible not to see grossly overweight people and my only thought is that if they do NOT have heart and blood sugar issues, it is only a matter of time. 

To say I was shocked that people would find fault with my post would be an understatement!  I was in the sales business for over thirty-three years.  The one thing I fully understood was that the customer was always right, even when they were wrong.  When I go to a restaurant, I am a customer.  I was simply stating a fact as to what THIS customer was thinking and would like to see happen as I looked down upon a plate of food that I could not possibly eat in one setting.  Many comments suggested that I eat at home and believe me, I have considered it.  I also have considered that taking my wife out for a night out is more important.  Call me selfish, I would like to have both a night out with my wife and a plate that did not runneth over with food I would never eat. 

I made the post without asking CharGPT if I might be the only person who thought like this.  I later did ask the question and the following is the answer.  In short, I am NOT alone (as many of the response posts would suggest).  I attribute most of the comments to people who are not nearly as old as I am so there is no way they could put themselves in my shoes BEFORE they made such critical comments implying I am too stupid to realize I could take the excess food home.  Dah!  

FROM CHATGPT: NOTE: Sections of the answer emboldened by me were also underlined for emphasis.

Yes, but with an important qualification: I could not find a large U.S. national survey that asks seniors the exact question, “Would you like restaurants to offer a senior-sized portion?” There is, however, fairly good research supporting the idea that many older adults prefer smaller portions and would benefit from having them offered.

One particularly relevant study interviewed older adults about their eating habits. Participants repeatedly described having smaller appetites, wanting smaller meals, disliking food waste, and sometimes ordering children's portions because regular restaurant portions were too large. The researchers specifically recommended that food-service businesses routinely offer smaller portions and noted that these could correspond to “senior menus.”

There is also quantitative evidence that older people actually eat smaller portions. One population study found that for 109 of 126 foods—86%—older adults consumed smaller portions than younger adults.

Restaurant research supports the concept as well. A CDC-published study of restaurant owners found that some restaurants already offered multiple portion sizes, with senior menus specifically cited as an established example of smaller portions. Owners said the reasons included giving customers more choice and allowing lower prices.

And a particularly interesting 2026 restaurant study compared customers ordering meals of 700 calories or less with customers ordering regular portions. The people choosing the smaller portions tended to be older. They consumed substantially fewer calories, reported essentially the same fullness, and most said they would order the smaller portions again.

What we can—and cannot—say

I would not claim something like “75% of seniors want senior menus,” because I haven't found a credible national study establishing a percentage like that.

But there is defensible evidence for saying:

Research indicates that older adults generally consume smaller portions, commonly report reduced appetites and concerns about wasting oversized servings, and can be well served by restaurants offering smaller, lower-priced portions.

There's an interesting business idea hiding in your question, too: rather than a stereotypical “Senior Menu,” restaurants could put a symbol next to entrées indicating “Smaller Portion Available — Reduced Price.” Seniors get what they want without being restricted to a separate menu, and anyone with a smaller appetite could order it.

Conclusion: The conclusion should be obvious.  Restaurants should either include a “senior menu”, mark their existing menus that “senior portions are available.”  Business Rule #2: The Customer is ALWAYS right, even when they are wrong!  What is Business Rule #1 you ask?  Never piss off a potential paying customer, EVER!

The Measure of a Woman

 

Yvette Catoire Sehon

THE MEASURE OF A WOMAN
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 1, 2026

 Measure of a Woman

 Not – how did she die?

But – how did she live?

Not – what did she gain?

But – what did she give?

These are the units

To measure the worth

Of a woman as a woman

Regardless of birth.

 

Not – what was her station?

But – had she a heart?

And how did she play

Her God-given part?

Was she ever ready

With a word of good cheer,

To bring back a smile

To banish a tear?

 

Not – what was her church?

Nor – what was her creed?

But – had she befriended,

Those really in need?

Not – what did the sketch

In the newspaper say?

But – how many were sorry

When she passed away?

 Author unknown

 

Yesterday I received a text message from a number I did not recognize. The message was not signed. It simply said it was a tragedy and gave me a first name. I recognized the name because it was a name you seldom ever heard. Since no one signed their name to the message and I did not recognize the number, I thought it might have been addressed to the wrong person and ignored it. 

Facebook posts began to appear announcing that a REALTOR was found dead. That is where the confusion began. As a former Real Estate Broker, my immediate thought went to foul play. At one point in my real estate career, I was responsible for 105 agents. The one subject that kept me up at night was Agent Safety. We have all seen the horrible aftereffects of a home showing gone wrong with the prospective buyer killing or seriously injuring the agent, usually a woman agent.  It bothered me so much that I brought in a former FBI agent who did a presentation to our team on real estate agent safety. His presentation was magnificent!  

Twenty plus hours after the initial text message, the truth of what happened eventually surfaced but during those 20 plus hours all sorts of comments and “opinions” were posted.  No one really knew for sure what happened, but it appears foul play was NOT involved. 

I had a requirement to go to the Post Office and on the way home I stopped at a real estate office owned by one of my previous agents. I could tell by the look on her face when I entered the office she was torn between being happy to see me and sad at some news, she may have just heard. It was the news she heard that I thought we all would eventually hear and yes, the deceased agent was one of my agents long before I retired in 2012. 

On my way home, I played the car radio with my playlist a little bit louder. Okay, a lot louder!  I  was saddened to remember the good times we all had together in my former agency that included the deceased agent. My mind raced through 20-plus years of history recalling various sales, seminars, classes, conventions, and office parties; it was a different time for sure! 

The most important emotion I experienced on learning of her death is in the last two lines of the poem above:  

But – how many were sorry
When she passed away? 

I am definitely sorry!  Unfortunately, too many people will focus on the first line of that poem: 

Not – how did she die? 

For me, I truly am saddened that she passed away. I am also saddened that since I retired in 2012, I failed to stay connected with her as much as I should have. Failing to maintain contact is on me. As usual, there is “life lesson” involved, no one knows what is happening in another person’s life unless you talk to them and they talk to you. She needed someone to talk to, someone who would listen without judgement. Someone who cares what happens next. Someone who would speak with caution as to what they say to her when she was most vulnerable. Who is that someone in your life? To whom are YOU that someone for? You can be competitive and you can at the same time be friends; you tell me which relationship is the most valuable? 

It is time for good thoughts.  Mahatma Gandhi has it right! 

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.  
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." 

Become that person with the positive attitude that others may seek out during their time of need.  Eventually we all enter that period in our lives when we cannot do it by ourselves! 

Rest in peace Buddy!

All I Know About Open Houses 2007/2026

 

All I Know About Open Houses
Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, 2/22/2007

TAKE NOTE, the original Nugget was written in 2007.  Due to a recent incident in our area I thought it would be good to post it again in 2026.  

“Open Houses” do not work the old pro said to the new agent. “They are just a waste of time!”

There is some truth that statement if you conduct your open houses like 80% or more of the industry does. The 80/20 principle is alive and well in everything we do but especially in conducting open houses. If you want to achieve what 80% of the industry achieves, then do what the 80% do. If, on the other hand, you want to make open houses work for you, then find out what the 20% do that do 80% of the production and then do what they do. 

What have I learned about conducting open houses? The most important thing is that if no one knows you are holding a home open, no one will come. Imagine that. You must tell people you are holding a home(s) open for them to show up. It is NOT a case of “build it and they will come” as Kevin Costner was told in Field of Dreams. If you do not promote your open house, imagining people attending will be a dream. 

The location of a home being selected for an Open House is critical. If you are holding a very rural country style property open, you should expect a low turnout only because of its location and the fact that there are fewer buyers interested in rural properties. But even these can be fruitful if you plan. 

The question you need to ask is “Why am I considering holding a home open?”  Appeasing the seller is not a valid reason to conduct an open house. Meeting prospects is. You can do nothing to promote your open house and still meet a prospect or two by accident. You can meet more probable buyers and sellers by creating an open house plan and then working the plan. If you feel you need to appease your owners by holding an open house, you failed to teach them during the listing presentation. You are either in favor of holding homes open or you are not. It has been my experience that a lot of agents choose not to hold open houses because they had a bad experience in the past or were taught to believe they do not work. 

I can tell you from experience that they do work if your objective is to meet people and put them into your database. If you think you are going to sell the home you are holding open, the odds are not in your favor. Personally, I liked to hold open houses because it put me in touch with a lot of people who will eventually sell their present home. Any time you can get face-to-face with a probable buyer or seller you are in a win-win situation. 

PROMOTION: 

How will you promote the event? Here are some suggestions: 

·     Most MLS systems can list the open house on the service; do so.

·     Most web pages can post upcoming open houses; do so.

·     Most newspapers have special sections to promote open houses; use them.

·     Promote the open house within your own office.

·   Check to see which agents have recently shown the property and send them an email announcing that the home will be open.

·    Notifying the neighbors is a must. If you are holding the home open on a Sunday, walk the neighborhood with door hangers and flyers. Knock on at least twenty doors to the right, twenty to the left and forty across the street (figuratively speaking). Be prepared to spend a couple of hours knocking on doors. When someone is home, introduce yourself, hand them an open house flyer and personally invite them to your open house. Get their name if possible and make sure you do two things:  (1) write them a handwritten thank you note for taking the time to talk with you; and, (2) enter them into your database and start your 8x8 touch program that leads to your 33 touch program.  If no one is home, use the door hanger to invite the owners to your open house.

·  An often overlooked is notifying your personal sphere of influence that you are holding a home open. Let your sphere know what you do and how often you do it. And do not forget to ask them for a referral when you do.

·   Consider hiring someone to pass out flyers at a local shopping center.

·    If there are bulletin boards in area stores, post your open house flyer.

·   If there is a subdivision newsletter, ask to include your scheduled open house on the next distribution and schedule your subdivision open houses around the distribution of their newsletters to take advantage of the timing. 

THE IN-HOUSE PLAN: 

What are you going to do in the house on the big day? Here are some suggestions: 

• Arrange with the owners still live in the home, arrange for them to vacate the home for the duration of the open house. You want visitors to be able to discuss the home freely with you which they will not if the owners are still present.
• Arrange with the owners to secure valuables, medication and firearms and ensure that they are completely out of site.
• Instruct the owners that if anyone shows up and knocks on the door BEFORE you arrive and BEFORE the scheduled open house time NOT TO LET THEM IN. Recommend that they return when you are present. This is for the owner’s safety because someone who desires to case the property with the intent of stealing or doing harm may use the excuse that they are “early” to gain access – not a good thing to let happen. If they are serious buyers, they will return.
• Instruct the owners that the home needs to look its best. Things need to put away. Pets should be removed whenever possible. Not all people like pets and you do not want the prospects to be discouraged due to an overactive puppy or cat.
• Open all drapes and blinds and let the sunshine in.
• Turn on all lights – make the home look as bright as possible.
• Consider baking something that makes the home smell good like an apple turnover. Buyers tend to “name” the homes they have seen like “the home with the broken window,” “the home with the pet smell,” “the home with the great landscaping,” or “the home that smelled like fresh baked apple pie.”  You want them to leave with a favorable memory.
• Are you going to have refreshments? If so, what? You do not want to make a mess in the home so keep the refreshments simple and easy to dispense. You do not want to become a chef and have all your time taken up with fixing plates for prospects. Clear whatever you are going to do with the owners.
• If you use a Home Book, make sure it prominently displayed.
• Consider using acrylic brochure boxes to professionally display your property flyers and personal brochures.
• Have your notebook computer or the owner’s computer ON and logged into the MLS so you can easily demonstrate to prospects the available properties in the area as well any sold properties that would put your property in “good light” with the prospects.
• If you have a notebook and you have a program like Formulator that has the forms needed to write a purchase agreement, you will look most professional when someone shows interest and wants to write an offer.
• Have an adequate supply of business cards.
• Decide in advance what you are prepared to give to visitors to your open house: 

1. Buyer Orientation Booklet
2. Seller Orientation Booklet, remember most buyers are also sellers
3. Staging your home for success booklet
4. The new Keller Williams First Time Homebuyers Book
5. Selling Your Own Home instructional booklet

Note:  It would be wise to have only samples available and instruct the visitors that you can provide them with copies by mail – gives you a reason to obtain names, addresses, and phone numbers. 

SAFETY: 

• For YOUR safety, unlock all exit doors and know where they are.
• Create a sign, laminate it, and put a cord through it so you can hang it on the front door that reads, “Please be patient, I am showing the property and will return in just a few minutes.”  Then when you are showing the property, lock the front door to keep people out until you are ready for them. There are thieves that wait for you to be busy with real buyer prospects, and then let themselves in and tell you, “That’s okay, I’ll just look around here in the living room while you are showing the house.” Then when you leave the area, they make themselves at home. This procedure is especially true if you are a woman holding a home open.
• If you ever feel uncomfortable with a visitor to the home, make sure you stay between the visitor and an unlocked exit door.
• Always keep your cell phone very handy, just in case.
• If you feel uncomfortable with a visitor, act as if you are answering a call and talk as if you are talking to someone while at the same time dialing the office. Make sure your office number is on your speed dial.
• Notify the neighbors that you are going to be holding the home open and the hours you will be doing so.  Gives you the opportunity to add new people to your database.
• Women are strongly encouraged to team up for open houses. Ask newer agents to accompany you and explain why – there is safety in numbers plus you can use the opportunity to conduct some mentoring for the new folks in the office.
• Park your car on the street when possible and not in the driveway. You want the space available for your customers and more importantly, you do not want to be blocked in just in case you need to get away from the area quickly.
• There is a “game” that criminals play at open houses that you need to be aware of. They either work in teams or they wait for a real prospect to visit your open house. As soon as the prospects enter the home, they pull up in front and go in. By the time this occurs, you are busy showing the first prospects around the home. The second prospect (criminal) then goes through drawers and cabinets while you are busy with the other customer. Be careful, the people we allow into our open houses are unqualified and we know little about them. Trust them but not too much. 

GREETING VISITORS

Know what you are going to say to your visitors BEFORE they arrive at your open house. What exactly will you say? I would suggest that you officially welcome them to your seller’s home. “Welcome to 123 Maple Street (remember people tend to remember things when they can also ‘hear’ what is said). Please make yourself at home.”  Notice that I did not say to give the visitors your name. Chances are they have other things on their mind, so they are not going to remember it anyway. Besides, you should have your name tag on and most people can read.

• Do not shove a flyer or your business card in the customers face or hand. In fact, do not give them anything. You want to maintain eye contact and if you give them anything that requires reading, they will keep their heads bowed and their eyes on the paper instead of you. Giving a visitor a flyer, card and/or brochure should be the LAST thing you do when they are leaving the property not the FIRST.
• Hopefully, you will have a Sign-In sheet for visitors to sign. Tell them that the Seller has asked the visitors sign in on arrival and give their honest opinions upon their departure so they can make any necessary changes or adjustments to the property. On the bottom of the Sign-n sheet it is highly recommended that you include a Do Not Call disclaimer indicating that if they sign in, they are giving you permission to follow-up with them. Important note, people do not like to be the first to do something so it is highly recommended that you enter a name and a comment on the sign-in sheet so visitors will see that someone else has already signed the sheet and hopefully they will be less reluctant to do the same.
• Suggest that they make themselves at home. You may also suggest where they might want to start their tour. What you should NOT do is to try to sell the home to the visitors before you engage them in rapport building. How do you do that, you ask a lot of questions. The questions can qualify them as buyers, as sellers or as just lookers. Here are some questions that generate additional information for you to use:

 

1. Where are you from? If they are local, it quite possible they are neighbors and they may be thinking of selling. These could be great leads for listings. If they are from out of town, chances are they are great buyer prospects.
2. The first question could lead to other questions regarding transferring into the area. Where do they work, etc.
3. Are you working with an agent? This is a question required by the Realtors Code of Ethics. What do you say if they say yes? You have two choices; suggest that they contact their agent if they like the property. You can also ask, do you have a Buyer’s Agency Agreement with the agent? If they say yes, you may want to further ask, do you mean a Buyer’s Agency Agreement or the Agency Disclosure required by the State? If they have a Buyer’s Agency Agreement, recommend that they contact and work with their agent. If it is only a Buyer’s Agency Disclosure, it is up to you if you want to pursue working with them. Remember in either case, you owe it to your Sellers to get the home sold therefore do not lose sight of your objective. If the visitor IS working with another agent and they show interest in the home, call the agent, and let him or her know that their customer is there and interested.
4. Have you been looking long? What is long? Anything over a week or two should be long. A good agent would have already found them what they are looking for. If they have been looking for a long time you either have perpetual lookers, or they just have not found a good agent to help them – their search for a good agent is over!
5. What price range are you looking for?
6. Will you be paying cash or have you been pre-qualified by a mortgage lender?

 

During the tour of the home, you should ask questions more than provide information. If the visitors are not talking about the property, you may want to ask them how they feel about the living room, the den, the master bedroom, etc. Ask them how it compares to their present home. 

Remember your primary objective is to get their names, address and telephone numbers and email addresses if possible. 

At some point when you determine that the visitors are buyers, you want to explain how you can enter their names and email addresses into a computer that will notify them immediately when a new listing is placed on the market that meets their specific needs and wants.  It is automatic and quick – they may be the very first person to know that their next dream home has just gone up for sale. 

• Do you own your present home? Do you need to sell before you can buy your next home? Remember, a lot of visitors to open houses are first sellers. You want to list their home if possible. If they are from out of the area, you want to refer them to another agent and earn a referral fee in doing so.
• Would it be Okay if I stay connected with you? This is also their approval to call them even if they are on the Do Not Call List. 

HANDLING OBJECTIONS: 

As the visitors go through the home, hopefully they are talking and you are taking notes. If it becomes obvious that they are interested but have concerns, this is where you must go to work. Qualify the objection. Let us take for example that the visitors feel the master bedroom closet is too small. First you must define what “small” is. Ask them to describe their present master bedroom and closet space. Then ask them, “Mr. & Mrs. Prospect, if it were not for the closet size, would this home meet your needs?”  If they say yes, you know the closet size is the real issue. If they say no, there are other issues you must uncover. If their answer was yes, is there a way to overcome the size of the closet? For example, if there are other closets in the home, it may not be ideal, but the homeowners can put their winter clothes in another closet during the summer and vice versa. It may also be possible to install a piece of furniture that can accommodate their clothing. 

You are at the same time looking for feedback to provide your sellers. If there are enough negative comments, it may be ammunition for a price reduction or minor repairs to bring the home up to expectations such a painting over an unpopular color. 

The longer a prospect stays in the home, the higher the odds are that they are interested. One of the best signals is “lurking.”  Lerking occurs when the prospect simply spends an unusual amount of time in one area of the home like the kitchen, den, or patio. What are they thinking? Are they placing furniture or do they see themselves enjoying the home and its amenities? 

THE CLOSING 

Eventually every prospect will want to leave your open house. This is when you want to direct them to the kitchen area or the area where you have your refreshments and all your materials on display. Offer them the cookies, milk, coffee, or sodas and ask them to complete the sign in sheet with comments for the Seller. Remind them that if THEY were the Sellers, THEY would want to know what other people thought of their home, wouldn’t they? 

As they are getting ready to leave, this is when you want to give them a copy of the property flyer (hopefully in color), your business card, and your personal brochure. 

LEAVING THE PROPERTY 

You should sure all doors and windows are locked. Lights are off. Stove/oven is off if used. Make sure the home is as the Sellers left it. Leave the Sellers a handwritten note thanking them for the opportunity and that you will call them either later that evening or tomorrow with follow-up on the event. 

Make sure the home is secure and if there is a security system, make sure to rearm it. Before you leave, check the yard sign and the brochure box to make sure there are ample flyers still in the box if applicable. 

FOLLOW-UP 

Upon return to the office, go to www.SearchBug.com and enter in the names and addresses and phone numbers of your visitors to validate the information they provided.  However, just because they may not appear on the sight, do not give up on them. The first thing you want to do is write each visitor a handwritten thank you note thanking them for stopping by. Make sure you include a return address to validate the information they provided. If it is false, it will be returned to you. 

Enter the visitors into your database and start your 8x8 program, followed by your 33-touch program as described in Gary Keller’s book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. If you agreed to put their email address into the computer program, do so and do it immediately so you can contact them to let them know it was done and they should now expect to be contacted automatically by the service when a new listing appears on the market that matches their needs. 

OPEN HOUSES CAN WORK PROVIDED YOU WORK YOUR OPEN HOUSES!