Social Endeavor

One of our clients asked me if he can conduct a people search of persons in a specific locality which are either bankrupt or are deep in debt. Curiousity got the better of me at that time, so instead of immediately answering in the affirmative, I first asked him why.

He smiled before answering my question. Maybe he thought that the person he hired to conduct background checks for him was too nosy. He told me candidly about his plan to put up a cooperative where residents/members could borrow money from it at very low interest rates. However, they would be required to patronize the products and services of the cooperative and its members.

I believe my client means well. I told him that we’ll try to help him in his endeavor. I even gave him the URL (http://recordssitereviews.com/recommends/webinvestigator/people) of the Web site which would allow him to look for people who are in debt. I hope that he succeeds in his planned social venture.

Bend it Like Beckham

Despite the fact that soccer has already been around for more than a century, it’s still a budding sport here in the United States. It’s the most popular sport in the world, but ironically, it’s one of the least known or played in America.

Fortunately, the last two FIFA World Cups and our own Major League Soccer are slowly capturing the hearts of many Americans. The word “football” is gradually being returned or referred to the sport to which it originally described. Many parks have already installed goal posts in their fields.

I bet you only know two or three football stars, and one of them is certainly David Beckham. If you’re a football fan and living in LA, you won’t have to travel all the way to Spain just to see the soccer legend bend the ball. I guess everybody knows by now that he’ll be playing in the MLS starting next season.

I hope that the league’s most expensive acquisition would provide a spark in the flickering future of soccer in the United States. I guess it already has. Reports say that LA Galaxy season tickets have already been sold out. David Beckham’s name has been the most searched or typed in any search engine on the Internet after the announcement of the deal was made. Soccer is indeed alive and kicking here in America!

Futile Search?

Summer is still several months away, but some of us in the office are already daydreaming of crossing the pacific for a tropical vacation.

Jane and her husband are planning to go to the Philippines. None of us have been there yet, but we’ve heard that the beaches there are excellent. Thailand is also on our list for the same reason. If you have no idea how breathtaking that country’s waters are, try watching Leonardo De Caprio’s “The Beach.” The movie was shot entirely in Phuket, Thailand.

We’re also thinking of hopping to Vietnam. Although there’s nothing much to see in that country, some of our acquaintances who have already been there said that many popular designer clothes and bags are made there and are sold at just a tenth of their $U.S. price.

There are Americans who go to Vietnam for a different reason, though. Many Vietnam War veterans still return to that country in search for fallen comrades who are reportedly still alive and living among the locals in the mountains. I don’t want to be skeptical, but I think the prospects of their people search in Vietnam are very slim.

Name Game

Child: Mom, why is my name Martha?
Mom: (Not really sure) Well, your name was kind of famous during the year that you
were born.

Child: Really? So who was I named after?
Mom: Uhmm…why don’t you just ask your dad, honey.

Hmmm something tells me that Martha would be getting the same answer from her dad :)

How many times have your child asked you that question already? Most parents have a ready answer, of course. However, if you forgot who your child was named after, then I suggest that you conduct a quick people search on the Internet for that person.

The procedure is quite simple, actually. All you have to do is type your child’s name in the search engine. It will then list the popular people bearing his name. If you named your child after an icon but forgot who he is, chances are that you’ll be able to see his name on the search results.

Varying Treatments

Are you familiar with the Devlin case? I’m sure you are. Everybody in America knows about it.

In case you haven’t read the papers lately or have dozed off early before the evening news could effectively occupy a regular and permanent fixture in your late night viewing habits or schedule, this case is about the abduction of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby by Michael Devlin.

Of course, we all know that both boys have already been found and rescued after conducting a frantic people search on them. Shawn Hornbeck’s ordeal was more tragic since he spent 4 years with Devlin.

It is not surprising then, that Hornbeck is getting more attention than Ben Ownby or Mitchell Hults, the one who gave the tip to the police. Ownby’s parents don’t seem to object to the imbalance. On the contrary, they even welcome a long respite from reporters.

A Long Text Message

One of the things that I would want to do before I die is write a novel. I made an overt act towards the realization of this dream a year ago, but I only ended up with 4 measly pages. I practically gave up on it after that brief and futile attempt.

Just recently, I came across a news article featuring a novel made mostly out of mobile phone text messages. I only read a few pages of it, but it was enough to whet my curiousity. A friend of mine said that he has a copy of the book. He’ll lend it to me next week after he finishes reading it.

I was meaning to do a people search on the author to know more about him, but I forgot his name. I guess it’s easy to search for his name, though. I’m sure I’ll hit the jackpot right away when I type in “text message novel” on Google or Yahoo!

Broadcast Yourself

Who would’ve thought that You Tube’s success would be phenomenal? Many were skeptical that it would survive for a month when it first launched. Needless to say, they were dead wrong.

People all over the world have poured millions of videos of themselves or of their friends. A good number of the entries are not that interesting. However, there are posts which could even merit a spot in primetime television. The cast of the videos are just your ordinary Joes and Janes, but that doesn’t mean that their lives or faces are not as interesting as Brad Pitt or Paris Hilton’s.

I won’t be surprised if a few Hollywood producers are browsing through You Tube’s collection for new talents. Even though the people behind the videos are not expecting any offers for their candid performance and have not posted any bio data form in their You Tube space, I’m sure Hollywood scouts could easily track them down through a simple people search on the Internet.

The Dreaded "P"

An old friend of mine from Connecticut recently visited New York along with his family. Many of our common friends didn’t know that he was here. I only chanced upon them at a convenience store near our village.

I jokingly asked him if he owed somebody here in New York. We have many common friends here in Manhattan, that’s why I was kind of surprised that he didn’t tell anybody that he was coming to town for a short vacation.

Eric really lost weight since the last time I saw him. I thought that he has been working out, but his wife told me that he’s on a very strict no-meat diet. They’re trying the “diet” approach for his psoriasis.

I guess the no-meat diet is working. His arms are already clear of red spots. I remember 5 years ago when he was too shy to come to a party because his psoriasis had flared up. There were very few medicine or remedies for his skin disease back then. I wasn’t into public records yet in 2002, but I already tried conducting a people search on the Internet for persons who are also suffering from the problem. I just thought that they might have an idea on how to effectively get rid of psoriasis.

Hope you had a good time here in New York, Eric :)

Keep Looking

I’m sure you’ve already heard the news about the amazing discovery/rescue of two kidnapped boys in Missouri.

Shawn Hornbeck has been declared missing since 2002. He was still 11 when he was kidnapped. He is now midway through his teenage life.

I’m not sure if his stepfather, Craig Akers, had already conceded defeat a few months or years after Hornbeck was declared missing. I’m sure that he had spent years conducting an extensive people search on his stepson, asking relatives and strangers if they’ve seen him or heard from him.

Many are wondering as to why Hornbeck was only found or discovered after 4 years of searching. Michael Devlin, the suspected kidnapper, did not exactly hide the boy from the public. In fact, his neighbors even thought that Hornbeck was his son.

I know that there are hundreds of cases like this that haven’t been solved yet. Let’s pray that the Hornbeck case would inspire authorities not to give up on their search for missing persons.

Extra Time

My business trip to Vancouver has been moved to the first week of February. I was quite disappointed when my boss told me the news. I put in extra hours last week just to compensate for the time that I’ll be losing next week because of the trip.

My Canadian counterpart will be delivering a report on people search, while I’m tasked to discuss about the new developments in online court record retrieval. Honestly, I haven’t finished my report yet. In fact, my Powerpoint presentation is still all messed up.

I hope that there will be an increased awareness in the availability of people search and court records retrieval services on the Internet after the meeting. Many people are still unaware that they could conduct a thorough people search without having to hire the services of a private investigator.

I hope that my trip won’t be moved to a later date again. My parents are planning a few activities in March. Skipping family gatherings is a mortal sin for my parents. My calendar for March really has to be clean then.

Getting the Facts Right

Some of the guys at my department had been lobbying for people search tasks during the past few days. Apparently, they’ve read my previous post where I said that searching for people over the Internet is one of the easiest, if not the most effortless assignment, that any staff in our department could have.

Jason gave me a playful punch on the arm when he told me that his new people search assignment robbed him a few snores. Jack even jokingly accused me of deceiving them in asking for people search duties.

First of all, I didn’t know that the guys at our department read my blog. Second, they’ve jumbled some of the details of the persons that they were looking for. Of course, the consequence of information mismanagement or inaccuracy in people search is quite disastrous. Both guys got conflicting matches.

I told them to make sure that the information that they have on each person is correct. Paul tried processing one file, and he finished it in just an hour.

As Easy As Watching Kobe Dunk

It’s been a while since I’ve done a people search for a client. The last one that I did was even a charity case since it was for a friend who wanted to know where his aunt was. They were planning to have a big family reunion on New Year’s Day and his parents asked him to call up as many relatives as possible.

I guess nobody needs to hire somebody to look for anyone nowadays. Online search services have made this task very easy. I surmise that private investigators are experiencing a client drought because of this. But, then again, maybe not. While many of our clients know how to conduct a people search or background check online, they don’t have the time to do so. Some don’t have the patience to go through the results, especially if the search program produces a number of matches.

I hope that I’ll get some people search tasks this year. It’s one of the easiest assignments in our department. I could even watch a Lakers game while doing it.

Starting Strong

Office absences are rampant during the first few days of the year, especially when the second or third day of the year falls on a Thursday or Friday. Our boss has already warned us about this. He jokingly said that he’ll immediately conduct a people search on each absentee and send them his post holiday greetings with a termination letter attached with it. Of course, everybody laughed, albeit uncomfortably.

My boss has effectively preempted my plan to fake a flu in order to take the rest of the week off. Well, that plan has been shelved even before he made the announcement since a client of ours called me up a few days ago and asked if we could discuss some things tomorrow over lunch.

I guess it’s not good to start the year slow. Some say that our activities or disposition on the first day of the year will dictate how we think and act for the rest of the year. If that’s true, then I’d better start in a very upbeat mood.