Day 158 – Another day, another problem with my car caused by shady windshield harvesters. Sometimes in politics you have to bite your tongue and put your opinions aside.

Other times, you have the unique opportunity and position to fight for the common good, and something you feel passionate about.

This is one of those situations. Today, I’m going to tell you about windshield harvesters like Coast to Coast Auto and DNS. They’re the new breed of swindlers that are preying on South Carolinians through fraudulent windshield repair, and they’ve gotten even the wisest, craftiest politicos in the process. Yep, that’s me.

I told you about my butt being wet.

I told you about how the suckiness kept multiplying.

I told you about all the water pouring into my car and killing my horn and cruise control.

Now watch the latest development with my water-filled stereo:

This morning I woke up to a rainy day. Rainy days get me in a bad mood either way, but when I discovered my windshield leaking onto my radio, I was pissed.

My radio is destroyed. I have to have music to truly get in the zone and focus early in the morning- it’s killing my style.

These vultures pitched the best lines to me, and had me convinced my one little chip would turn ugly down the road. So I let them do their magic. Little did I know it was more in line with witchcraft.

Insurance fraud is a lucrative gig. While reports tell of the millions of dollars stolen by thieves who’ve been brought to justice, there are those who have made fraud a continual source of income and will continue to remain under the radar. These guys are good. Just ask my Land Rover. Thieves are finding new ways every day to defraud and otherwise harm consumers. The world of auto-glass repair is the newest avenue for this fraud.

They are aggressive, and their tactics have labeled this tribe of swindlers “windshield bullies” by the ways in which they use intimidation to market their wares. They are crooks, and have resorting to using even the most despicable tactics throughout the process- including breaking your windshield, and offering you a replacement as well as offering a sort of assurance that this new windshield would keep your old one from breaking. Protection, if you will, seems to run both in the world of The Sopranos, and in the world of these bullies as well.

These guys are the definitions of buyer beware. Complications don’t just arise from their tactical hustling, but in the product itself. These guys are looking to maximize profit, and these guys take advantage of zero deductible laws devised to improve public safety. They canvass neighborhoods preying on unsuspecting folks, and then file for the maximum allowed claim from the insurance company. Their schemes often involve fraudulent repair claims, mileage allotments (so they can be re-imbursed for the travel they didn’t do), as well as outright property damage. When they’ve beaten out your window 20 minutes earlier, you might be more willing to buy one and thank the Lord that they came to the rescue.

These bullies are becoming a bigger problem, and it’s on the rise- especially in S.C.

Don’t take the risk of being bullied by these thugs. They offer a sub-par hassle as a service and it shouldn’t be that way. Don’t fall victim to them. You’d only be fueling this sham of an industry. If you’re a South Carolinian, call the pros- it’s free with your insurance anyway.

- Wesley Donehue

Day 141 – Really trying to stay off the computer today so that I can spend some time with the family on Christmas Eve.  I just wanted to say Merry Christmas.  During all the gift giving, pause to give glory to the one who was born a man for the sole purpose of dying for you. He truly is the greatest wonder.

Day 135 – Last week we had the pleasure of having some “firsts” for Pub Politics. In the spirit of Christmas, Phil and Wesley challenged fans, viewers, friends and family to get together to raise money for the Carolina Children’s Home. We’re not going to brag about who’s winning at the moment, but let’s just say the partisan reflection of donations and the current partisan composition of government are eerily similar.

We’re still accepting donations, so keep them coming.

We also had the privilege of having Columbia’s Mayor Steve Benjamin on the show as well. This was the first time he’s made an appearance, and it was good for everyone involved. Steve’s a great guy, and we’re happy he came. It also alleviated fears that he might have about getting grilled in the city that never seems to have things in order. It was a great discussion, and we look forward to more in the future.
So if you haven’t checked out Pub Politics for this week, check out our newest episode here:

- Wesley

Day 59 – Every week my team at Donehue Direct is required to research a specific topic and write a blog post about it. This week they were tasked with discussing the F8 conference and the new changes Facebook is bringing.

I’m posting here on my Man Project because I believe the new Facebook has massive implications, not just for marketing, but for our personal lives too.

For years I’ve been complaining about the lack of a great service to track all the cool things we do. There is just no telling how many games Michael Rentiers and I have tailgated at together and it would be cool to have some way of looking back at all those games. Elizabeth and I are always traveling, yet we have no timeline to view all those trips.

Now we have it.

The new Facebook lets us scroll back through our lives. And I LOVE it!

Here’s that video of me and Trey I mentioned in the video:

Day 58 – Yesterday I got a call from a friend asking me why I share so much online. He said, “no one cares that your butt is wet.”

I disagree. Everyone should care that my butt is wet. First off, you should see what happens when you put off your problems for months, just hoping they go away. Secondly, you should know to avoid windshield scammers. If the title of my blog post got your attention, then I accomplished my mission.

I share because I want you to share. We all have things we can learn from one another. I want to know what gym and diet can take off the pounds. I want to know what restaurant has an amazing steak. I want to know if the latest Marvel comic movie is one worth watching in a theater or if I should wait until it hits DVD. I want to know what are the must visit spots in Beijing.

This morning I received the following email from one of my readers. It meant the world to me, so I’m sharing it with you:

Wesley,

I have been reading your man project postings and have enjoyed and learned from them. I bought the book “A Life Well Lived” based on your recommendation and suggested to my pastor at Edgefield First Baptist Church that he do a Bible study of Ecclesiastes. We started the Bible study last night and he recommended the Life Well Lived book to the participants. Thanks to you, we will be learning from Solomon’s teachings.

That right there is why I share.

Speaking of my butt being wet, I’ll give you one final update on the car. Progressive Insurance won’t take care of the windshield repair or the electrical damage. That sucks big time. They tried tracking down the windshield scammers and had no luck. Those harvesters have disappeared. It looks like I’m going to have to out-of-pocket this one. Learn from my mistake. Tell the gas station harassers to go away.

Day 55 – There is nothing worst than jealousy, except for pride and the complete lack of humility.

It is only because jealousy is a byproduct of pride that it can be worse. Pride creates jealousy, therefore it is always one step ahead.

Jealousy is the reason for all other sins, giving its creator pride the title of “the greatest sin.” As C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity “it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice.” Very true.

Lewis continues “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice…the vice I am talking of is Pride.”

Some would argue that I lack humility. I don’t see it, but then again, as Lewis writes, I probably wouldn’t admit it even if I did. Still, I don’t find myself overly successful therefore I have no reason to be prideful. Some things in this world make me very happy and when I find them, I share them in hopes that others can find happiness also. If I were prideful, I would want to house the happiness to myself so that I could look down upon everyone else. I don’t.

There are those that do… many of them. Those who want to be better than everyone else. And when they aren’t, they hate. They hate everyone who is doing better than themselves. They hate seeing other people more happy, or with more money, or more clients, or more anything. They want to be the best at everything, all the time.

When they aren’t, they toss stones. They talk smack. They do everything they can to tear you down.

This year I’m weeding them out of my life.

A few weeks back my buddy Matt Nichols posted this study on his Facebook walk stating that he was going to weed all the toxic people out of his life. I’ve decided to join him:

“They belittle and backbite and drive us batty with their soul-sucking behavior. Who are these hideous people? Our … um … friends, according to a joint survey conducted by TODAY.com and SELF magazine.

We asked our readers to come clean about these prickly — and at times, poisonous — relationships and got an earful from 18,000 women and 4,000 men.

In fact, 84 percent of women — and 75 percent of men — said they’d had a toxic friend at some point, with 1 in 3 survey takers fessing up to a toxic BFF.”

Let’s all get these toxic haters out of our lives. They just aren’t good for us. Hell, they aren’t even good for themselves.

Sure, many of our friends are haters, but it goes far beyond friendships into the professional realm. That’s where most of the hate is happening. And while you can choose whom you hang out with outside of your career, you still have to deal with these clowns in professional life.

Or do you?

I don’t think so. There are always those instances when you just won’t be able to avoid it, but for me, I’m done with it. I’m going to let the haters hate. And while I’d like to see them shed their pride and become happy at some point in their lives, for now I’m just going to go on living everyday to the fullest. I’ll let the Negative Nancys do their thing.

Day 54 – I’m on it this week. I’m tackling my problems.

I told you how my butt is wet.

I told you how problems just multiply if you don’t tackle them.

This week I’m rocking and rolling by knocking three of my biggest problems to the mat with a TKO. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I’m starting with the leaking. This crap is getting ridiculous.  To show you just how bad it is, I cut this quick video for you.

BEWARE WINDSHIELD SCAMMERS!

Also, tackle your problems quick before something like a leak turns into massive electrical problems.

Day 52 – Day Here I sit. At my desk. 8:30 pm.

It’s the time of the year again. We’re launching 4 websites and 1 splash page tonight. This is going to be fun.

I’ve had a little bit of a rough week. But as you know, I hate whining, so I’m going to move past the pity-party and tell you how it could have been avoided and how I will avoid it in the future.

My ear hurts like Hell. I have a nasty ear infection and tomorrow I’ll be checking in with an ENT doctor to figure out what’s up.

My car is flooded. Yes, the inside of it. My electrical system is fried. My horn, cruise control nor radio work.

The back door of my Land Rover is dented, the spare tire rack is now titled with the tire stuck on. I can’t even carry my bike around because of the damage to the back rack.

My ear hurts because I didn’t go to the doctor when I first noticed a problem. The car is flooded because I didn’t report back with the windshield harvesters when the car first started leaking. My back door is broken because I didn’t get it fixed when I was first hit.

I now have to go to a specialist because the ear infection has gotten so bad. The windshield harvesters are now out of business and I’m going to have to fork over at least $2,000 to fix the problem. Because the accident was over a year ago, State Farm won’t pay for the it and I’ll have to pay around $1,500 to fix the door.

All of these problems could have been avoided, but I was too busy to tackle them. I let them drag on and on and on. The ear has hurt for weeks. The car problems both happened over a year ago. I could have jumped on these issues but I didn’t. I let them continue sucking until the sucking multiplied. Now I have the “suckiness multiplier effect” to deal with.

Sucky things continue sucking and that sucking multiplies unless you do something about it. Don’t let your problems multiply. Tackle them quickly.

DAY 51 – They harass you at gas stations.

They won’t leave you alone.

You give in. They do a crappy job. And then they go out of business.

You’re stuck with a car you can’t drive in the rain, no cruise control and no radio.

STAY AWAY FROM WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT HARVESTERS!

Day 45 – Your life is going nowhere.

You’re stuck in a cubicle.

You’re back in school for yet another degree.

You’re broke, sitting on your couch and watching the sun rise and set.

Sounds like a good many of us right now. I wrote last week about the utterly boring and unexceptional way too many people are living their lives. Just yesterday a study was reported showing that 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty.

1 IN 6! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!??

I don’t care what the economists say. We are in a depression. People ARE depressed. Our nation is moving at a snail’s pace because we have no energy or motivation.

This isn’t a political problem.

It’s an attitude problem.

Yesterday I met with this rock star of a student who told me that he’s back in school because he doesn’t know what he wants to be.

I have a good friend who absolutely hates her government job and desperately wants out.

LISTEN TO ME – MAKE MOVES NOW!

Decide what to be.

Then go be it.

Stop going to school hoping that you’ll stumble across the perfect major and job. School isn’t going to make you happy. Go sit on the beach all day with a cooler full of beer and think “what’s my dream job” and “what will make my life awesome?” Then put up your beach chair and bocce ball set, get dressed and go meet with people.

If you’re sitting in some BS government job that you hate, make a move! Go meet with people. Start your own company. Beg for a chance. So what if you have to eat canned SPAM for a few weeks? Take on that short-term financial pain for some long term happiness.

I’m so sick of watching people mope around like everything sucks.

If everything sucks, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

We don’t have happiness cops running around town making sure every one is happy. No one is going to do it for you. You have to it for yourself.

Make moves people. Make moves now!

PS – Fairies don’t exist.

PPS – That means no one is going to sprinkle you with happiness dust while you’re sleeping tonight. You have to create your own happiness dust. The first ingredient is ACTION.