The D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy France took place on June 6, 1944. 10,000 allied forces died right there on that beach, many before they even got to shore. Germany lost 9,000 soldiers that day. Eisenhower literally risked everything on that one battle. If the US had lost that day, we would simply not live like we do today and many of us reading this blog would not have ever been born.

Tom Hanks starred in the movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in 1998, and we watched the movie the other day. The opening scenes are of the landing at Normandy. Even though it is a movie, the fact remains, that that was exactly how it happened.

The troops were loaded from the ships into these little flat bottom troop carrier boats with a gate that dropped down in the front. Men were standing shoulder to shoulder in full combat gear waiting for the carriers to reach the beach. When the carriers hit the sand, the gate would drop. The Germans had machine guns posts along the beach and would start firing as soon as the gate dropped on the boats. Many many young men died right there before they even got out of the boat. The water near the beach was reported to be crimson red from all the blood.

Why am I telling you this? Some people today have forgotten what price their grandparents and great grandparents paid so we could live in a free America. Back then there wasn’t internet sites to grumble, scream, cry and basically tell everyone what is wrong with America. These men just gave the last ounce of themselves so 81 years later their children’s children could read a blog post about that day.

9,387 of the young men that died that day never got to come home and are still buried in France. All those US families were not even able to have a hometown funeral for their sons and daughters. They gave the ultimate gift to us. Maybe before we lash out in anger to our fellow Americans, we could take a step back and realize what a privilege it is to live in America. KT

Remember 2021 and 2022 when inflation was screaming and the leaders in Washington kept telling us, “awwwh,, it is just transitory and won’t last long”. Remember that horse pud?

Well, all the intelligent people realized the lie and here we are a few years later. Have you seen a restaurant go down on their prices? Seen any homes go down in price? That’s right, there is none and the elevated inflationary pricing is here to stay.

A couple weeks ago I went into one of the quick serve restaurants where you can order a burrito or bowl and pick what you wanted in it. So, I got the bowl and worked the way down the line and got ready to pay for an $11 bowl. Apparently, I had ask for two toppings that cost extra and my bowl was now almost $17. The little peckerhead behind the counter sort of smiled at me because he knew and didn’t tell me. Well, I am not going there anymore.

Then last Sunday I went to a national sandwich shop and (like a doofus) pointed to and ordered the sub in the picture. I get up to the register and the little guy tells me it is a $20 sub. Well, like the little peckeheard in the first store, he sort of smiled at me like “gotcha”. Yes, you did, you got me alright big boy, but I am not ever going back again.

Something is wrong if I can eat at Long Horns, Outback’s, Olive Garden etc. cheaper than buying a sandwich. My point, I am going to need to find some other places to eat where I can walk out without a limp because a fork is sticking in my backside. ha

Being the biggest should not be the goal in business. If being the biggest was a guarantee of success, we would all be using IBM computers, driving GM cars, shopping at Sears, using Motorola cell phones, buying music CDs at the store, renting videos at Blockbuster, drinking Maxwell House coffee, and eating at Shoney’s.

All of these companies had one thing in common. They lost their market share because they thought they were too big to fail. They all just assumed their market dominance would last. New competition is something to be reckoned with and every company will face it. If you go back 30 years ago and pulled a list of the top 20 most valuable companies in the world and compared the list to the top 20 most valuable companies today, shocker – not one of the companies from 30 years is on the list today. Not one.

Corporate magic (what really works) doesn’t always transfer from generation to generation and decade to decade. Just look at Sears. In 1970 they had been the largest retailer in the world for 70 years counting. Sears accounted for 1% of the total GDP of the United States. Two out of every three American adults shopped at Sears at least five time a year and 25 million American families had a Sears credit card. They were unstoppable,,,,until they weren’t.

There are some things that should never change like the way you love your children  and worship your God, but in business you must always be watching the curve and make sure what you are selling and the way you are selling it, is something the market still wants.

What is my point? The point is that there are areas of our lives that should never change but if you are in business, you should always be looking up, be read up, and be aware of what is going on around you because it is always changing. KT

In the bible there is a well-known story of a giant named Goliath and a very young man named David. I won’t go into the whole story, but it is one of the greatest true story reads of all time.

Imagine two fierce enemies camped on each side of a valley waiting for the battle to start. The Philistines had a 9’9” giant named Goliath who walked down to the dividing line every morning and every evening for 40 days in a row taunting the army of the Israelites.

Again, the story would take 20 pages to do it justice, but that 40-day period is what I want to focus on in this blog.

In life, we all have giants. Things that hold us back from being who we were meant to be. People, situations, fears, circumstances and or challenges that hold us back. I have found that giants don’t just come one day, they come every day and taunt us into believing we are less than we really are.

The only way to beat the giant is to keep getting up and going forward. John Wayne said, “courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” That is what you have to do. Saddle up, put your hat on, strap on your boots, tighten your belt, poke out your chest and get ready to fight what ever giant steps in your way that day.

See, the giant knows if he can get you to doubt yourself and shy away from life, he has won and the people you were supposed to be the example for, didn’t have the example to follow. You let the giant scare you away from being who you were meant to be. KT

A couple weeks ago I wrote about all the Hollywood award shows and why they need 18 such shows to feel important. Over the past few weeks, they have rolled out Globe, Grammy, Tony, Emmy and last night was the Oscars.

Today, all the mainstream news outlets spent much of the news hour covering the Oscars, who won what and who was wearing what and then the thing that really tells you how out of touch Hollywood is, the Red-Carpet Walk. See, the Red-Carpet Walk is made for the actors to feel important, and desired and idolized. Having the people oohing and awing with flash bulbs going off is their way of feeling validated in life. Its not enough to just make a movie and ear a bunch of money, they need the respect that they feel the Red-Carpet Walk give them.

These award shows are without question, the most narcissistic productions available for American viewing pleasure. These actors will spend 10’s of thousands having dresses made to compete on the Red Carpet Walk and then prem, strut and style down the runway.

Lastly and then I will hush up. In all these award ceremonies, the movie that has the highest box office sales very rarely ever wins a prize. Case in point, last night’s Oscars. It is usually some b-budget, off market, movie that checks the social boxes of the judges. In all sports, the team or player that has the best score wins the game. Its simple, pure, and transparent. Why can’t the most popular movie (highest box office sales) win the award? Well, there you have it. My opinion of the “who cares” movement. Ha. I still say, give me a good Denzel Washington, Jason Statham, Matt Damon or Tom Cruise thriller, and we are good to go. KT