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It’s amazing how someone like Bernard Madoff stole all that money from people and non-profit organizations without federal regulators seeing what was going on. Isn’t this stuff regulated?

Yesterday, he received 150 years in jail. The guy is 71 years old. What is 150 years? Death in prison? According to the Wall Street Journal, Madoff can get out of jail for good behavior after 127 years. The articles continues by saying that the Bureau of Prisons has not decided where Madoff will go — to a high or low security prison. (If he serves in a low security prison, that would be a crime in itself.)

While he was sentenced, no one from his family stood by him. After sentencing, his wife spoke to the media saying “I feel betrayed and confused, The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years.” (Hmmm…. Where did she think all that money came from?)

The victims had an opportunity to address him, but still what good did that do if they lost all their money?

My parents were a victim of a ponzi scheme about 10 years ago. It was the most horrific time! They lost everything! The financial advisor is now serving a prison sentence and will probably be out of jail soon. My parents had to sell their home and many of their assets to get by.

Since that happened to my parents, I know how devastating it is. My heart goes out to the victims. It is horrible to trust someone and then have that trust betrayed! I also feel bad for all those financial advisors out there. You have a lot of work to do now. It’s bad “eggs” like Madoff to spoil a profession!

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Every year around this time, Lido Beach hosts a free concert and fireworks. When the fireworks started, my son and his cousin, Jeffrey decided to walk over to Lido Blvd to get a good view.

When they got to the middle school, the heard someone say, “get the dog, get the dog….” So they ran after a stray dog trapped him and took him back to my house. As they were walking back to the house, they called the number on the dog’s collar.

No one answered, so they brought the dog home.

Meanwhile, I had a house full of people for my daughter’s graduation party.

When I turned around, I saw my son with a dog wearing a bright vest and at first, I thought it was a guide dog but it was a life vest. “What is this and where did you find him?” I asked.

“It’s a girl Mom,” said my son. “And we called it’s owners but they aren’t home. Hopefully they will call us…”

“Why is the dog wearing a life vest?” I asked.

“I bet the dog was on a boat,” my sister-in-law, Rebecca said.

The boys called the number on the tag multiple times. We noticed that the dog was from East Williston.

“Do you want to take the dog home with you?” I asked Rebecca, knowing that she lives very close.

“If that’s what I need to do,” she said.

Everyone was paying the dog so much attention, we nearly forgot about the party. The good news, the owner called us and wasn’t too far away. Apparently, his boat was docked at Point Lookout and when the dog heard the fireworks, she jumped overboard into the ocean, swam to shore and ran eight miles from Pt Lookout to the middle school.

“This is my first dog,” the owner said to me. “She’s still young, only three and I think of her like my child.” Then he turned and looked at the two boys, ” It means so much to me that you boys took such good care of Tawny” and he handed them a token reward. “I will never forget what you have done for me.”

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When I see people who are happy in their jobs, it makes me feel good. The other day, my postal worker walked into our office smiling and singing. “I love coming to your office,” she said.

When security guards, bus drivers, waiters, airline pilots and even car rental specialists love their jobs, you know it. And when they don’t, they have a terrible attitude.

I really think that the people at HJMT love their job. I know I do. It feels good to work with people who love what they do. There is so much energy and excitement! When you spend most of your life at a job, you really should love it, especially since there is limited time everywhere else….

Let me know your thoughts…

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Yesterday, I took the day off from work to run around with my daughter to get ready for her High School Prom. She had a manicure/pedicure, got her hair done and by the time it was all over, it was time to go to Pre-prom at her friend’s house.

Pre-prom was nuts! Parents were like the paparazzi. There were 18 kids altogether for the Hummer limo, 9 couples. Every where these kids turned, parents were following them taking photos. (I know I took at least 100 photos with two cameras in my hands.) It was certainly a site to see.

My son tried to get into every photo. Why? Because he’s a “little brother” and he likes to do those things. Half of the photos I took, you will see his little head appear. (It’s like Waldo in the game “Where’s Waldo?”)

When the hummer limo came, it got worse. All the parents and grandparents ran to the front of the house to take photos. We practically stopped traffic! My son jumped in the limo and for a little while I actually thought he was going to go with the older kids to the prom. But he didn’t.

My mother in law looked at me as my daughter got into the limo and she said, “this reminds me of when you had your prom and everyone was at my house getting into the limo!”

In a small way, it was like having the prom a second time around…

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I’m not a big country western fan. I like to listen to Madonna, Green Day, The Ramone’s, Coldplay and the list goes on and on…. I love to listen to music in my car, at work and when I’m relaxing at home.

After a long day at work about a month or so ago, my husband announced that he bought Kenny Chesney tickets for Jones Beach.

“Why? Who is he?” was my response.

Well, last night, we attended the Kenny Chesney concert and you know what? It wasn’t half bad. It was actually pretty good! I can’t tell you what songs he sang, because I have no idea. But I can tell you that the crowd loved him! Every seat was taken and everyone stood and danced.

Since we were with my parents (my mom is confined to a scooter), the staff at Jones Beach bumped us up to the first row. I never had such good seats in my life. I kept thinking — if it was only someone I loved… In any event, it was a good concert and I’m glad I went…