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Charlie Traffas
Charlie Traffas has been involved in marketing, media, publishing and insurance for more than 40 years. In addition to being a fully-licensed life, health, property and casualty agent, he is also President and Owner of Chart Marketing, Inc. (CMI). CMI operates and markets several different products and services that help B2B and B2C businesses throughout the country create customers...profitably. You may contact Charlie by phone at (316) 721-9200, by e-mail at ctraffas@chartmarketing.com, or you may visit at www.chartmarketing.com.
What's New
2007-12-01 10:04:00
The New Year, Diner’s and patches
Answer: I received all of these questions the first few days of December...some several times. I thought, you know what?...I’ll just make my answers be my column for the January issue. So here I am. What’s coming in 2008? I really don’t know what all you mean, but I will tell you what’s happening with us and what I see happening “out there.” First, with us. This year we will begin our 8th year of publishing The Q & A Times. We’re kind of proud of that. In that time, we have had more than 300 writers provide us with hundreds of answers to questions about every topic from (like Ol’ Mike Oatman used to say) “hair nets to hip boots.” Each month we continue to receive questions in the mail, emails and over the phone questions from not just here in Wichita, but all over. That is most rewarding. I remember asking the late Kerry Gray, former President of Associated Advertising, when I was doing my due diligence for this publication in the year 2000, whether or not he thought a publication that was totally Q & A would ever be accepted and successful. He said, “Charlie, we live in a world that is demanding information. We have more available now (that was 8 years ago) than we’ve ever had in the history of the world, yet people can’t get enough. Your publication will provide a most unique, non-commercial presentation of information. How can it NOT be successful?” That’s about all I needed to hear back then. Thank you Kerry. You helped a lot of people “breathe easier” throughout your life. That is a great legacy. Thank yous are in order too to our writers, advertisers and more than anything, to each and every one of you readers. What else is coming? I hope the best for all, but I fear personal agendas are changing the world in a way we’ve never seen before. There is more “what’s in it for me” today in most every situation, than there has ever been. Things the majority of our forefathers would have never contemplated are every day occurrences. Take God out of the schools, off our money and out of society. Failure to support our troops who are in harm’s way. I suppose there have always been a few “crazies”, but now, it numbers the millions. Openly calling our President a liar and a traitor. Candidates for public office and those in public office, making vicious, personal attacks on their opponents and anyone holding an opposing view. The press, both left and right, so tainted in their views and presentations...it is almost impossible to get the facts without a “spin”, so each person can make his or her own decisions. Whatever happened to, “Criticize the action, not the person”? What ever happened to an open, respectful discussion of the issues? When I hear and read these things and observe some folks’ actions, I often ask myself, “If this person knew he/she had but 5 minutes to live, and following the five minutes, judgment and an eternity of bliss or torment awaited him/her...is that really how he/she would spend that last five minutes?” I ask this because I ask myself this same question as I do things...which I promise you...are not those of a saint. Spending more time thinking about death, judgment and eternity, does cause me to consider more than I ever used to. Maybe others should try it. I probably just “inflamed” several people. Don’t worry. Send me your comments, pro or con, and I will run them next month, in this exact space...not hidden somewhere in the back of the publication. When is the new Diner’s Magazine coming out? The new issue will be in the mail to subscribers by the time you are reading this article. Diner’s Magazine is now a semi-annual publication, with more than $800 worth of $10 or more off coupons in the back, from a host of some of the finest dining establishments in the city. This issue features more restaurants than ever: Black Angus Grille, Cibola, Granite City, Kobe Steakhouse, La Mesa, Legends, Margarita’s, Monterrey, Old Town Martini, Palomino Grill, Piztros, Players, Red Beans Bayou Grill, Red Robin, Italian Garden, Scotch & Sirloin and Sweet Basil. Diner’s Magazine is sponsored by The Wichita Eagle and published by Chart Marketing, Inc., who is also the publisher of this publication, The Q & A Times. One can view the new issue in its entirety on line at www.dinersmagazine.com. You can purchase a single issue copy at Wichita Area Kwik Shops, Homeland Stores and Leeker’s Family Foods’ locations for $9.95 each, or you can purchase an annual subscription on-line for $17.95, which includes two semi-annual issues ($1,600 worth of $10 off coupons); or a two-year subscription for $29.95 ($3,200 worth of $10 off coupons). Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Diner’s Magazine, is now...with each issue...more than $24,000,000 worth of discounts off food from some of Wichita’s favorite and finest dining establishments, are being released every 6 months in the market. This has never happened in the history of any market, that we know of. There are only a limited number of Diner’s Magazines printed. When you can get as much or more as 100 to 1 return on your money, you probably ought to check it out and get yours before they’re all gone. Finally, one of the most gratifying questions one can be asked is (in my opinion), “How much weight have you lost?”. Of course, it has to be sincere. Well, that’s what I was asked in early December, and continue to be asked. And, since a long enough period of time has expired since I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing, I feel I can tell you with quite a bit of confidence that it might help you too. In November of 2005, a good friend of mine, Ed Martin (who also writes for this publication), called me and said I might be interested in something he found. I said, “Ed, is this one of the multi-level things?” He said, “Yes, it could be, but don’t worry about that. I just want you to try something.” I asked, “What is it?” He said, “Well, you know you have always told me that if I ever find something that will really help you lose weight and you don’t have to worry about keeping it off to call you.” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, I think I’ve found it.” Long story shorter...by the next day he was in my office with some patches. We read about them on a web site. The strategy behind these patches is that the center of them are filled with an assortment of natural ingredients that when put against the human body, the body temperature causes them to react with each other, and provide a steady stimulus throughout the day to certain points on the body where you place them, in the same way as does acupuncture, only without the needles and hassle. Nothing enters the body...nothing...ever! This stimulus does a host of things that results in gaining more energy, stamina and endurance, with a side benefit of telling the body when to burn calories, carbohydrates and fat. Anyway, that’s the way I understood it. So I don’t violate too terribly our own criteria of all answers in this publication being from a non-commercial posture, let me just tell you these patches are about the size of a half dollar. They are self adhesive, like a band aid (is that now a generic term?). In any event, there are two patches one wears. One is brown and one is white. You are supposed to wear them from morning to night. You wear them every other day. You peel off the backing and put the brown one about two to three inches below your left clavicle and you put the right one just below your right clavicle. These are two of the eight acupuncture points on your body that you can use. Like I stated, in 2005 they were being marketed as energy patches. Pro golfers, football players, fighters, and many other sports’ figures were using them as a way to improve their endurance and stamina. But Ed told me that a side benefit many were experiencing was weight loss. The following reminds me of “Larry, the Cable Guy.” I thought, “Sure, what’ll they come up with next? I’m not going to put some stupid circle band aids on my body and hope to lose weight!” So, the next morning I put on my first set. I’ve been wearing them ever since. Being a believer that more is always better, I wear them for three days, off a day, then three days, then off a day, etc. What happened? I lost 17 pounds by New Year’s Day, 2006...that was during the holidays and less than 50 days after I began wearing the patches. I never changed anything insofar as eating, drinking or exercise (which is very close to none). I ate and drank what I wanted, as much as I wanted, when I wanted. I just quit thinking about food and drink altogether. I think I had more energy, but I’m not sure. Leroy Goodknight, a good friend of mine and fellow member at Rolling Hills, says I began hitting the golf ball further. I’m not sure about that. But, ever since that time, which has now been over two years, I have maintained that initial weight loss. Sometimes I ask myself, “I wonder how much I could lose if I really watched what I ate and drank?” For a few days I will watch and I will drop another four to five pounds. Then I think, “Gosh, this is like a faucet. I can turn it on and off. I don’t have to worry any longer. If I get out of bounds, it’s controllable.” I have to tell you, I don’t know how much I could lose. I’ve never tried it. I’m happy being right where I am now, even though I should lose perhaps another 20 pounds. I think I know I could, if I wanted to...and that’s a great feeling. Now they have a patch out that controls the appetite. It just attacks a different area of the brain through the same process of stimulation of certain points on the body. The strategy behind these patches is based upon nanotechnology. This type of “programming” is in all kinds of things now. I’ve tried this new patch while still wearing the other patches. You have several different spots on your body that this patch can be used. After trying all of them, mine works best about four fingers below my right kneecap. For me, this patch is one I can wear or not wear, depending upon what I’m trying to do. For instance, I put one on Thanksgiving morning. It worked. Not that I still didn’t probably overeat, but I overate because I always overeat on Thanksgiving. I just didn’t overeat as much. Aren’t I a mess? Well, I could tell you more, but then it would sound like I’m trying to sell you something. I really am not. It’s just that I’ve been on every diet that has ever been invented. I’ve gone up and down like a yo yo. I’ve experienced everything you can ever experience with every one of them. Dieting is painful...I don’t care what anyone says. It’s painful for me to think about. When someone says “diet”, I get a pain between my left eye and my left temple. When someone tells me about a new diet, I don’t listen. These patches are not a diet, but if you diet, they work all the better. You don’t have to exercise, but if you exercise, they work all the better. I don’t do either. The best way I can describe them is that it’s modern day technology mixed with technology that is more than 3,000 years old. It’s completely natural. Nothing goes into the body. It works for me...and the way I hear it, it’s working for all kinds of folks. Have a terrific year!
 
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