I am very very grateful to Microsoft and it’s founders for all of their contributions to the Seattle and, for that matter, world community. I admire the purpose and efforts of the Gates Foundation.  Thanks Bill.

But when I purchased a suite of Vista powered machines for my business – I gotta tell you it broke my spirit. Seemed I was always frustrated, worried and having to maintain and baby-sit the computers. Uh – they are s’posed to babysit me.

So…with some sense of guilt…I have converted to Apple, or should I say ‘returned” – since I was first introduced to computers vis-a-vis an Apple Mac IIC.  External floppy drive. You get the picture.

Bill, ou’re giving your money away and I so admire you for that.  I only contributed a small amount to your huge pile – now I’m helping out the next foundation build its wealth.  ~blm

This show airs on Seattle PBS station KCTS on Thursday, October 15, at 10:00 p.m.

Ed Freeman, Medal of Honor Winner

You’re a 19-year-old kid. You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away and you’ll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn’t seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He’s not Medi-Vac, so it’s not his job, but he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.

He’s coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out, through the gunfire to the doc tors and nurses.

And he kept coming back, 13 more times, and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, June 25th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise , ID.   May God rest his soul.

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Thanks and a tip o’the hat to Terry  ‘Way Down in Alabama’ for sending this in. ~blm

Throughout my business career I’ve attended countless receptions, convention events and parties. Many were good, most were mediocre, and a couple were great.  The great ones, and I mean REALLY great ones  – were managed by my friend, Linda Sahlin.

She’s recently opened her own event business and I can’t say enough good things about her to recommend you consider her for your event.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a small intimate event for your family, a business event for the fat cats, a charity event on a budget or one of those massive public events.  Linda can help you make it the best. ~blm

Sahlin Productions