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For over 24 years the US Navy asked me as a condition of my employment to piss in a bottle on demand.  This happened on weekends, afternoons, getting off airplanes and a host of other scenarios, designed to catch drug users when they least expected it.  If I where to count I would say that I pissed in a bottle with direct observation of me doing so, well over 100 times in that 24 year career. I did so willingly and knew that drug use was strictly forbidden, and that utilization of any illicit non-prescribed drugs would result in my removal from the Navy with a discharge that would make getting a job very difficult.  I remain drug free having never smoked, snorted, shot up or whatever other terms they use for 47 years and would piss on demand again if need be.

So it literally pisses me off, that the teachers that teach my kids how to read, write, and hopefully get a decent education have blatantly refused through their union to participate in random drug testing. Why is it that nearly ever employer in this country can have drug testing in their workplace but a state paid teacher is given a pass when it comes to a drug test.

These drug test are effective in finding drug users /abusers who then can be referred to treatment and removed from our children’s classrooms.  The state of Hawaii, the Governor, the ACLU and teachers should simply be ashamed of themselves.

We demand a drug free zone in out schools, yet we have no way of policing the teachers that would rightly so investigate a student thought to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Hawaii is well known for being very liberal in nature but I am simply ashamed at what has transpired, especially being the unions initially agreed to the testing as part of a contract negotiation. Let’s remove all of the provisions in that same contract and start over.

Teachers are often like Police Officers, they protect their own. Bad teachers are often simply transferred from school to school but yet rarely fired. Teachers should lead by example and proclaim in their classrooms I am drug free and I have the paperwork to prove it. Students respect teachers that lead by example and drug testing should be part of all educational settings.

I began working on the Cochrane Family blog again tonight after a very long time of not doing anything with it. Having a bit of a hard time finding a theme for it but it will only take me a little while to get something going. I will be adding a huge number of pictures as well. I feel pretty guilty for not doing anything with the site in over yikes 5 years.

Todd…

Today is a sad day, but one that we have known for a week or more that my grandfather Urias Boyd age 99 was close to going home. This evening at about 7pm EST the lord called him home. He is now in a better place. His passing was a peaceful one at home in his sleep.

Very few people my age still have Grandparents. I am very thankful that I have three still living. My father’s parents are still living and my mom’s mother is still with us.

I will post a full bibliography and the video I captured earlier this year as he talked about his life. I am thankful to have those tapes to be able to pass on to my kids and future generations within our family.

I am sure he has scored himself a package of RedMan chewing tobacco and him and that my dad is showing him around heaven.

After 300 Plus homes and several false alarms I think we have found what both my wife and I consider to be an acceptable home. All I can say is thank goodness the hard part is over.

The house needs no work, we are pretty sure no termites and it will make a perfect place to entertain guest and not have to run the A/C 24/7 as it is at one of the highest points in Honolulu and is a corner single level home with 1600 square feet of space and I am pretty excited about moving.

Getting through escrow will be the fun part, the sooner the better

Well my Navy career is winding down, I have my papers in and am waiting for the formal approval to come back. I spent some time in NYC last week meeting with some media buyers to help drive the business of RawVoice along.

I am still busting out a degree and have 5 classes left which makes it nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Overall I guess life is pretty good. My mom is doing ok and my niece is on the mend from the accident that took my dad from us.

It is a truly a miracle that she is still alive. My grandparents on my moms side are not 98 and 96 respectfully and when I was home last week I set them down in front of a camera and recorded some family history starting in 1907 and getting through the mid 1950’s.

Those tapes are worth their weight in gold. Lots of interesting things going on almost to many to blog and some business stuff that I am pretty excited about as well.

We have decided to wait a while and hope that the housing prices here in Hawaii cool a little bit. A $4000.00 a month mortgage payment is so over the top I cannot even imagine writing the check for that amount each month.

I have neglected this space way to long but it is time to update it more often.

Shoko and I have been actively looking for a home here in Hawaii for about a month, and I will be honest with you. The situation here is absolutely out of control.

I have walked into absolute dumps that would be worth more burned to the ground listed for $650,000. I have walked into Town Homes that have less than 1100 square feet with three bedrooms for $600,000 with a monthly maintenance fee of $600.00. I have seen homes that were priced at a good value but in a school district that ranked at the absolute bottom of the scale.

I have walked through beautiful sub-divisions with model homes to die for that are listed at $550,000 yet the test drive to get to the main highway from the location averaged a hour plus an additional 45 minute commute. The distance travelled in one hour was less than 3 miles. Not to mention those homes are in another crappy school district.

Not to mention a Job market that absolutely does not support at estimated $4000.00 a month mortgage payment. Bankers are more than happy to finance you a home where they know you will be spending as much as 60% of your base salary on a mortgage payments.

Heck we have not even talked about Electric, Water, Sewer and Garbage. I’ll be honest with you, this is a housing market that is completely out of control and for the life of me I do not see how people are able to afford these type of mortgage payments based upon the economy.

So here I sit making a significant salary and completely demoralised that we are finding it near impossible in buying a home at our self imposed cap. Something has to give because if a guy like me that has significant resources is scared of the housing market then I cannot even imagine what others are thinking.

The state simply has to get off their ass and do something because as much as I love Hawaii the shitty schools and crazy home prices is making me look eastward and making me consider packing my suitcase and getting the hell out of of here.

In the past 24 months I have consulted with over 500 podcasters and more than 20 corporations. Many times these services were done over the phone, and nearly a dozen times people have flown out to Hawaii to spend a weekend to consult on a strategy for a new show or idea.

I have not advertised these services in the past as they have come primarily through referals, but now that I am ramping up to go full time in the space. I thought it was time to advertise publicly that I am available. While not usually necessary I am also available to travel worldwide.

Feel free to contact me if you are in need of expert help in getting your project off the ground or back on track. [email protected]

Show 200 was to be a celebration of technology instead I have decided to talk about, and celebrate my father who was killed in an auto accident two weeks ago. The regular show will be back next Tuesday. I made a decision to share with all of you my families experiences over the past two weeks. I thank you for your indulgence in this podcast.

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Photos of Accident
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