I’m looking at this blog and I’m thinking it’s time for a clean slate. Either I let the domain go, or I wipe this site clean and start with something fresh. Or I could integrate something new into the entire setup.
Decisions. Decisions.
I’m going to look around and see what I can setup. Maybe an e-commerce storefront. Or not.
We’ll see.
I’m not an economist, but I don’t think we’re getting out of this long, dark, tunnel yet. Frankly, I feel that with October all economic indicators will sink again.
What are some economists saying? Double-dip recession. We are telling ourselves that a depression isn’t possible, but I think that the discomfort felt by the shrinking middle-class hasn’t reached critical mass. It certainly will never touch the atrophied sympathetic emotions politicians claim to possess.
I don’t like doom and gloom forecasts, but I feel like we are staring into the eye of the hurricane, thinking that the worst is over. I doubt it. This country spent the last 20-30 plus years binging on credit. The solution was always more credit: funny money that doesn’t exist. If the government was run by responsible people, we wouldn’t have the deficits we have now. We wouldn’t have useless, wasteful, non-essential, and budget busting endless wars.
Our government should be more concerned with building and fixing our bridges, roads, highways and transit systems as opposed to “rebuilding” countries that will stupidly blow themselves up five minutes after the ribbon cutting ceremony.
It’s a waste of our resources.
It’s sad to see this country sink so low, and none of the people that are “re-elected” are making it any better. But the people who “vote” for them are happy with their lot in life. I suspect that a number of these lifetime politicians get by with voter fraud. If there were honest audits for every election in this country, I’d feel secure in the quality of our politicians, but I feel it’s dirty from top to bottom. And not much will change.
As for voting this November. Pffft. Unless there are local issues to consider, I’m not wasting my time.
I take too long to think about things, but that’s the nature of how I work it out.
I was going to head into the medical field, like nursing, medical research, or clinical trials, but I realized I cannot stand the smell of sick people. I know that sounds offensive, but my olfactory senses are off the charts. I can smell when people are not well. I once had to pick up my Mother from the hospital, and the smell of the place nearly made me gag. I wanted to turn around and leave. I ended up breathing through my mouth.
I am still fascinated by medical news. I follow the theories of causation behind high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. It’s interesting to read and watch clips on YouTube as doctors hash out studies and stats on their beliefs that the causes are a result of: lack of exercise, high fructose corn syrup, refined carbohydrates, too much fat, not enough good fats, too much red meat, genetics, and so on. I’ve discovered that dairy and grains (especially breads) do not agree with me. I’ve mostly cut them out of my diet and I’ve not only lost weight, I don’t have indigestion problems anymore.
I will stick with the technical field as my publishing company grows, and I will continue to explore other ventures. Therefore, I’ve decided to master C# (C sharp), refresh my knowledge of Javascript, Visual Studio, Adobe Flash / Photoshop / Dreamweaver, and the other tools. I will also have to get acquainted with all of Microsoft’s latest tools, which can be heaven and hell.
My biggest complaint with this field is that everyone wants you to be extremely proficient with ALL of these languages and tools, but more than half the time, they really don’t need you to use them on the job. They prefer to draw you into all day meetings. No one seems to understand that programmers need time to think. But then again, most companies have morons in charge – so why expect anything different?
America is a country that is mostly, if not only, about money.
If you do not heed this lesson, you will greatly suffer the consequences.
There is no emotional or spiritual purity in poverty. It’s a fool’s bet.
Education alone does not create access to money. It may point you in the right direction, but only if a person is savvy enough not to be overburdened with debts in pursuit of an education. Graduation alone does not guarantee a well paying position. The key to financial prosperity is that one must be mentally and socially adroit at exploiting advantageous opportunities. The price for failure is a precipitous drop to the bottom rung. And the way this country is today, it’s quite feasible there will be never be a second chance at redemption. That is the loss of the American dream.
Now, I’ve never had an American dream. I still don’t know what to do with myself when I grow up. I follow career paths based on suitability with my personality, work habits, potential financial reward, and educational preparation.
One of my personal flaws is that I spend a well of time deliberating things when it would be best to flip a coin.
I don’t suffer from magical thinking. I’m someone who believes in Murphy’s Law: the worse that can go wrong, will go wrong. I used to be an optimistic person, but that worked well when I was imbued with sense of direction and limitless energy.
Nothing much interests me these days: not the news, not current events, not the financial markets, not what the fed will decide, and certainly not politics. It doesn’t edify me to follow these pursuits.
After all these years, I still don’t have something I could pursue passionately and be financially satisfied with. I have finally realized I never will, and I am at peace with that knowledge.
I will have to accept the second and third best lukewarm options. Yet, I don’t want to be required to be passionate about the mundane, the uninteresting, yet financially rewarding endeavors I select.
Sometimes you cannot have it all, and you just have to make do.
I think the hardest aspects of a business are deciding whether to answer a need, such as food, shelter and clothing, or creating a want for something people don’t necessarily need bottled water (if you already have clean, filtered tap water), gym membership, nail salons and the like. Now, people will say the gym and nail salon have some beneficial qualitites that could improve someone’s life, but they are not necessities.
Our needs are rather basic. Food, shelter, clothes, companionship (with or without sex) and mental / physical stimulation. We need friction to survive. Life without stress is worse than one with a wee bit too much stress. Extremes are not good for us.
Most of today’s businesses look to create a want to drive an increase in sales. We are bombarded with ads that will show us humor or humiliation for not selecting their product. A company has to look for enough resources to drive the demand for their product be it TV, radio, Internet social media, and print media.
I believe companies that make a dent into Internet social media, when they launch a successful campaign, have several things going for them: media connections (TV exposure), money, much much money, and reporters eager to pretend that their “news story” is not a PR campaign. For an individual to pierce this wall they have to be incredibly savvy in exposing their material, have lots of energy, patience, and an ability to follow through with their initial message or offering.
Follow-up is key.
I think the second most important aspect of a business in getting this message across to generate a want, which may fulfill a need, is to have the infrastructure in place to answer the demand. If people want your product or service, there better be the means to answer this demand.
I like money. I am unabashed about my appreciation for it. However, I lack the stereotypical cutthroat ruthless drive for it. Some people feel it’s necessary to step on others and damage people to make a living. I don’t feel that’s required.
Business-like should mean honest, respectful, reliable, and professional, not a grudge match that belongs in kindergarten or grade school. I also don’t mean one should work for free (unless you are volunteering out of a spirit of giving), or be exploited, but people should be fairly compensated for their time and effort.
Money brings up the ugly, dangerous, and scary in people. I often wonder if they understand what it is and the actual purpose of it. It’s a tool. It’s legal tender. It’s the satisfaction for the cost of goods and services. Not the root of happiness or evil.
My motto is to work hard, be masterful about it, and be as highly compensated as possible.
Nothing is free. The moment anyone spends time doing something somewhere, energy is being consumed / expended, which is cost. Time is passing and someone is using their brains to make, create, or contemplate, which is also cost.
On occasion, even as I work full time, I have always sought out extra income: be it part-time, or something I’m selling on the web, or in classified ads. What I’m mystified by are the reactions of some people once they see or guess the nature of my background – be it employment or education.
Their reactions have the air of: Don’t you make enough? What are you doing here?
I wonder why they feel entitled to have that kind of arrogance towards anyone WILLING and able to WORK. Years ago, I had one chick tell me she hopes my social experiment was successful. I just smiled at her. Money is money. I didn’t consider the job beneath me. That strange disappointment was on her.
I’ve worked since I was 10 years old. Even while I was in college working part time, I earned extra money typing up documents for people. Whenever there was an opportunity to make more, I grabbed it.
What’s different today is the opportunity for residual income has increased exponentially. There are so many opportunities via the web that time is the only handicap. These opportunities must be researched, tried, and constantly tinkered with, but once one is successful or satisfied with the outcome, there are only more opportunities to try.
I’m slow about it, but I think I’m finally catching up with my expectations.
This is the latest in self-improvement material, along with the latest exercise routine called XP90 or is it P90X? The naming convention makes me think of a video game, or the latest microprocessor chip.
Law of Attraction
I’ve watched a few clips on YouTube about this. From my understanding, this all started with a movie called The Secret and Oprah getting a hold of it. I always know when there’s a new craze going around (like the Acai berry), she might have had something to do with it. I’m sure it was a popular underground trend, but when she gets ahold of it – it joins the mainstream madness cycle.
I’m reading some of the books dealing with this phenomenon. Since I’ve gone through my share of “self-help” books, I’d say it is no different from the offerings by Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Norman Vincent Peale or Horatio Alger. I’m sure books like this have existed since the Victorian Era, if not before.
Outside of thinking positively, which is a great idea, I don’t get the popularity of the books. I agree it’s best to ignore negativity, pessimism, and work on controlling your thoughts. I don’t read, listen, or follow the news anymore. My Dad asked me how that was possible. It’s quite easy: I don’t have a TV. I don’t surf the Internet for news: I don’t even read the one line news blurbs. I don’t read newspapers. The radio station I listen to doesn’t talk, they only play music. Bless them.
Outside of the weather, I don’t care about what’s going on.
P90X
Not a video game, although it’d make an interesting one for the Nintendo wii. It’s an exercise routine. Looking at this the first thing I thought of was the routine for the (hot!) cast of the movie 300. They did these extreme workouts to bulk up in 6 weeks plus. I like to take my time, and sore muscles lack appeal. However, I wouldn’t mind incorporating some of these exercises as long as I avoid my knees.
I watched the P90X infomercial at my health club (the only TV I do see regularly). I found it interesting. I was impressed by the big people who lose weight the fastest. Almost always men. You know why. Hint: muscles. Later, I looked at clips on YouTube about this product. I ignored most of the actors and actresses. Unless the person started out really big, color me skeptical. I did seem one woman who was really big come down in size. She was part of an affiliated program, and that convinced me the routine works.
It’s basically a combination of exercises focusing on intense weightlifting mixed with cardio with the goal being to exercise to the point of breathless collapse. Sounds like fun.
I’m all about alternatively weightlifting, treadmill walking / running and biking, but I will start a mixed cardio and weights routine later, borrowing from P90X.
And the most important message I get from Law of Attraction and P90X is: self-control and discipline. Without them, nothing gets done.
I’ve discovered that I’m lazy, but I’m not bothered by it. I haven’t always been lazy, but lately nothing matters to me. It’s a strange mindset to find myself in. It’s unusual. When something needed to get done, I’d get it done. Now-a-days, if I’ve decided nothing has any urgency, I’m doing nothing about it.
I used to treat everything with a sense of urgency, either now, or never.
I’m partially fed up with the list of must-dos. I’ve been must-do all of my life. I’m bored by it. Frankly, I’ve decided to rewrite my rules and handle things my way. If it means I will be swimming upstream against the tide, then so-be-it. I think I’m done with the must-dos.
I’m especially annoyed by the constant advice of “following your passion.” I’ve got news for people, a passion has to stay a hobby, because they rarely pay the bills. If a person is something of a famous avant-garde, they can do whatever they want. Wow, I am so jealous of them.
My goals are rather mundane.
They are so mundane, I have to write them down daily, otherwise, I could easily pursue something else to occupy my time. I still have the wandering attention span of a child.
Man, I am so annoyed. There’s a lesson to be learned in trying to do everything myself. One doesn’t always save money that way. There’s no additional benefit to it either. I’m sucking my teeth in aggravation. It gets worse every time I make a fix. It’s like I never see how much I am screwing it up. It’s scary.
I’m almost ready to throw my hands up in frustration, but I cannot.
Testimonials are important. It has the same value as an actor or athelete endorsing a product s/he never used or ever will use. But we buy the soap, the crapsh*t product, anyway, right?
Considering how much gets outsourced: What’s to stop this trend from becoming a provider of job references? They do everything else – from scheduling our personal affairs to an assistant calling people on our behalf. Why would it be impossible to claim being an independent arm of a foreign entity? Corporations love foreign enterprises and who knows who anybody is anywhere? No matter what people think LinkedIn and Facebook wont help.
I love these articles by HR “Experts” who caution people – in this desperate economy – not to phony baloney up the resume. Sort of like how the ex-CEO of Tyco, Dennis Kozlowski, never actually graduated from the college(s) he claimed to have attended? I’m not talking about his purported crimes. I’m talking about the fact that a number of CEOs, like him, are running companies with phony baloney resumes.
They got where they were based on fabulous job references. They had the right connections, which were so solid no one ever gave their bogus backgrounds a serious look-see. Now, when guys like this commit these offenses the twits in the media go chirping about how honesty will set you free.
No, it doesn’t. Not in this society. Certainly not in this world. The best liars get elected, hired, and promoted. They win the day.
This crappola about honesty is that it keeps people in low wage jobs with little prospect of moving up. Corporate America is not about a job well done. I will rephrase that: one cannot be a workhouse, and expect any good to come of it, unless you have dedicated suck-up sycophantic cheerleaders telling everyone how fantastic you are at the job, whether it is the truth or not.
That’s why I say, if that is all a reference is good for: Why not hire a bunch of good actors, get the kind of background created like in that entertaining show, Leverage, go forth, and move up the Corporate America ladder? One of the things I’ve always noticed about head honchos, in most organizations starting from mid-level directors on up, is how good they are at stealing the ideas of others, taking credit for their work, claiming how hard they work and always, always networking (chatting up their cheerleaders) as to how they are the greatest thing since slice bread.
And it bloody well works. All the damn time.
I don’t hate them. I am envious. I wish I was a successful psychopath* on the job too.
CHARISMATIC PSYCHOPATHS are charming, attractive liars. They are usually gifted at some talent or another, and they use it to their advantage in manipulating others. They are usually fast-talkers, and possess an almost demonic ability to persuade others out of everything they own, even their lives. Leaders of religious sects or cults, for example, might be psychopaths if they lead their followers to their deaths. This subtype often comes to believe in their own fictions. They are irresistible.
Definition lifted from: cassiopaea.com
A news story a couple of weeks ago caught my eye. A man knocked “his” house down in order to prevent the bank(s) from foreclosing on it.
The news media treated this story as though the man did something extraordinary. The news made it seem as though the “home owner” won an epic battle with the bank.
Sorry. That’s not the case at all. I’m not sure what people understand about mortgages, but here’s the fact of the matter. The house belongs to the bank until the mortgage is paid off. Unless the owner has the deed the only thing that man did was destroy the bank’s property. What people forget is the house is the collateral against the loan, a.k.a – the mortgage.
We are all renters with the bank until the deed is in our name and the mortgage loan is paid off.
That gentleman made a bad situation worse. He went from having collateral – the house – to give back to the bank for non-payment of the loan to owing the entire balance, since he destroyed the only bargaining chip he had.