Hey everyone. The community re-brand is done. Check out the About Page and grab your permission slip from the classroom and sign it.

Welcome home! The first thing you need to do is to create a post under the Introductions category. Tell us who you are, what you do, and the reason you decided to join the community. How can we be of help to you and what can you offer others as a means of helping them. Then find at least three posts that catch your attention and like them, Leave a comment to let them know what you liked, agreed or disagreed with. Start a conversation. When others like your comment, you earn points that help you level up in the community. There will be courses and bonuses you will be able unlock as you level up. The more people see you and know about you, the more they'll be able to support you. It will also garner more trust for you which in turn bring you business if you are offering something of value. Self-promotion is okay and encouraged. Just don't be a taker and not give anythinbg back. It will become obvious quickly and people will avoid you, and you don't want that. If you have any questions, post them in the General Discussion or you can DM @Rasheed Hooda here. Kick off your shoes and make yourself at home. Oh, one more thing. Have fun, will ya?

I have decided to return to my real self when it comes to naming this community. I'm working on the details and the required changes to reflect the new name. Stay tuned...

It's not about getting drunk or drowning your sorrows. it's about finding your joy in life. Starting tomorrow I will be holding a happy hour at 11:00 a.m. Central Time (US & Can) every Wednesday. The link is in the calendar. Every week we'll choose a topic and have conversations about it. I know it's kind of last minute but what would you like to talk about tomorrow? Today's call has been postponed. See the attached video for explanation @Christina Brady @Katinka van Kan @Tarek Badr @Aslam Khatri @Rena Nicole @Uzair Khan @Eileen MacDonell @Angel Conway @Arthor Pendragon @Lisa Black @Guy Bandy @Jon Cooke @Georgiana D @Leigh Ann Hello @Joshua Tennefrancia @Tommy Kenyon @Mitchell Allen @Adam Streuer @Stefan Bösebeck @Val Vosburg @Zachary Wilson @Zor Zen Den

This is a "chapter" from my book, Life: It's a Trip. I worked in restaurants for many, many years, and my favorite part was being a waiter. Being a waiter allowed me the flexibility of scheduling that I didn’t have when I worked as a manager. And I enjoyed the fact that for the most part, I controlled my income by taking care of my customers. Let me share two stories from when I worked at Steak and Ale to illustrate my point. One night, as I was going about my shift taking care of my customers, one customer surprised me with the question, “Did you use to work at Atchafalaya’s?” “Yes”, I said. “That was three years ago.” “That’s right”, he said. “And you waited on us one time. That was the best service I had ever received. From now on, I am going to ask for you every time I come here.” I thanked him for the compliment and for remembering me. He took care of me very well that day. About a week later, I got a phone call at home from the restaurant manager. He told me that some guy called and said he was bringing in some business clients the next day and wanted me to wait on them. The manager told him that it was my day off and I wouldn’t be in, but he will have the best waiter take care of him. The man said, “No. Will you please call Rasheed and see if he can come in to wait on me, and call me back?” I knew who it was. I went in, worked for an hour off the clock to take care of my customer and made $50.00. That was in 1996. When I said I controlled my income, for the most part, incidents like this were a part of it. The other part is the fact that when your customers are asking for you, the management tends to give you the best stations to work and make sure that you are making enough money to stick around. There is another aspect of it, as well. You become the best waiter, the one that is assigned to special customers. One night, the manager took me aside and told me, “A couple is coming in at seven o’clock and it is the lady’s birthday tomorrow, but the gentleman has to be out of town, so he wants to surprise her. I have set up a table in the back room for them. They want to be left alone but have a memorable experience. Take care of it.”