Bob Haywood, www.BobHaywood.com

You remember Dylan Klebold don't you? How about Tuesday, April 20, 1999? That was the date when he and his friend Eric went on the rampage at their Denver area high school and killed and wounded several students and then themselves.

I remember that tragedy. I was working with high school students at the time. Trying to help them process that event was...well let's just say...difficult.

In an act of courage, Dylan's mom finally breaks her silence to talk about what happened that day and how she and her husband have tried to cope with what their son did. I found the article interesting and yet not answering all of my questions. But can all the questions ever really be answered?

Regardless of how you feel about what happened, remember that there is much blame to go around. My question is if there is enough sympathy and understanding to accept the parents and to allow them the opportunity to grieve not only for their son, but for what he did.

I encourage you to read the article and to remember this...people make bad decisions at times. I think Dylan and Eric made terrible decisions based on an incredible amount of personal pain they were dealing with that they had no idea how to handle. And we must remember this also. We could have been those parents.

Here's the link to the article. Susan Klebold breaks her silence.

In regards to real estate, here's something to consider. How would someone ever sell the family home after such an event? Is it even sellable? I don't know if they ever sold it or if they still live there or if it was torn down (I don't think it was).

If they do live in their home, you can be sure that they either have the greatest neighbors on the planet...or their lives have been pretty tough.

For the most complete market reports in the greater Tulsa, Oklahoma and Owasso areas contact Bob Haywood of McGraw Realtors at 918-272-7272 or visit www.BobHaywood.com. Picture belongs to Bob Haywood and may not be used without permission.

Note about the picture - the fog lasted 10 minutes, until the sun popped out and burned it off.

I saw this on tv the other day and just about rolled! If you're from states like Oklahoma where the icy winters just tear up the roads, you will especially love this commercial by Geico.

Whoever the actess is that does the voice over is great! There's another great commercial out right now about visiting Louisville, KY. I can't find it on YouTube, but when I do, I'll post it too! Have a great day in the world of real estate!

Inspiration. The word conjures up all kinds of pictures in our mind, doesn't it?

You can be inspired by what someone says at a seminar or in a class you take.
You can be inspired by a song that just hits you right in your guy.
You can be inspired by a show you go to see or a concert.
You can be inspired by what you read in a book.
Many people find inspiration through their faith.
Others find inspiration in how they tackle the challenges of their career each day.

How and where do you find inspiration?

Think of inspiration as a source that gives you energy to do what needs to be done during the day. It gives you energy, creativity and the freshness you must have. And why is that?

Because each day you will be drained.

You know how it works. Selling real estate is demanding enough, but then there are those days when you bump into someone in traffic or at the store or on the phone or even in person who just drains you. Sadly, in the real estate world it often can be another Realtor or a client. Sometimes you just encounter a person who, for some reason or other just has the ability to leave you empty after they chew you up and spit you out.

These are the kind of people that Brian Buffini calls the "D" people of your database. They need to be DELETED immediately! And not only from your database, but from your life as well. That's because it only takes only one "D" type of person to drain you!

Have you ever noticed that? You can be having a great day and then you encounter that ONE "Ivan the Terrible" kind of person and suddenly, your just wiped out. You can have 5 good clients you are working with or five friends you are close to and then that one person comes into your life and they alone just suck the life out of you. All the good stuff you get out of the five relationships can just be flushed down the toilet in an instant by that one negative Nelly.

What do you do to recover?

We all have different methods for recovery after a bad "person" experience, but making sure you go back for inspiration from whatever your source is is one of the most important things to remember!

If you are religious, you understand how faith can help you dump your load of crud and come away refreshed and inspired again.

If you are creative, you understand how a picture or something you see in nature can just fill up your soul and restore your faith that all is right with the world in spite of Mr. or Mrs. You Know Who.

If you have found the essence of love within your relationship with the person you married, you know a source of inspiration that is amazing.

If you are blogger, I'm betting that some of those negative, life draining experiences find their way to AR. Of course, we know to change names, genders, places and other pertinent details to protect the innocent (ourselves), right?! Many of us find amazing support here in the Rain. Unfortunately though, there are some here who bring their negative energy with them. Their comments give them away.

So, what is your source for inspiration and how do you recover?

How do you recharge your life batteries?

If you're a long time agent, what is your secret for longevity?

Vacation? A certain book? Your spouse? Ice cream? Chocolate? Church? Politics? Your dog?

Is it one thing or maybe a combo meal assortment that keep you going?

Share you secret(s) for inspiration with us!

You do know about Google alerts, right? You ARE using them to know whenever someone is searching for you or for information about you on the internet, right? You're in the know about your properties and websites and the goings on on the internet about all things YOU, right?

If not, get your Google Alert set up TODAY!

Here's the why's and the how's...

First, you can set up a Google alert to notify you immediately or once a day on anything you want.

- For example, you can be alerted whenever someone searches for you by your name.
- You can be alerted whenever someone searches for your website.
- Want to know if someone is looking for your competitor? You can do that too!
- Do people search for your blogs? Set up a Google alert to see!
- How about your property listings by address? You can set that up too!

Secondly, setting up a Google alert is super easy to do!

The first step is to make sure you have a Google account. If you have GMail, then you have a Google account. If you don't have a Google account, it is super easy to set one up.

Step one - Google the words "Google Account"
Step two - click on the link that say's "Google Account" or just click here! When you get there, the webpage should look like this.

Step three - Click on Google Alerts

Step four - Set up your Google Alerts!

Type in your search terms - that's whatever search or words you want Google to watch for you, such as your name. Then choose the Type. This means everything on the web (comprehensive) or just blogs, news, video, groups, etc. For example, if you've posted a video on YouTube, a Google alert will tell you when someone searches for it or watches it. Next, pick how often to be notified. Your options are once a day, once a week or as it happens. I always choose as it happens because I want to be in the know!

Finally, put in whatever email address you want your alerts sent to. If you're using Microsoft Outlook and have all your emails forwarded, then you'll see these alerts pop in throughout the day or once a week right on your desktop.

To find out more about using Outlook in this way, click the following link:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1278207/simplifiy-your-life-with-microsoft-outlook-

Now, let me show you how to make your Google alerts effective and powerful!

Here's what your Google Account management screen should look like. You can see that I have lots of alerts set up. To see if an alert is actually finding anything, just click on it!

Here's the search results for my name with the "Blogs" type selected. You can see that this Google alert see's lot's of results!

But now let's look at one that isn't going to do anything for me. Here's a Google alert I have set up for one of my listings. It is just a search alert for the address with the type set to "Blogs". You can see that there are NO results that show up. That's not good!

But when I go back and adjust the alert to the address, city and state AND name of neighborhood, I suddenly have an effective search alert! Now, whenever someone searches for this home and any of these three results pop up, I will be notified!

So there you go! Remember, the power of Google search results come when you drill down and make your alerts specific to what you blogged about at Active Rain. Keywords are vital here. Connecting your Google Alert to your keyword tags will give you the information you are wanting to know.

And if you use a smart phone, you should be able to see your Google alerts pop in there via your emails. Now, you're really connected!

Congratulations on living a digital life!