My book and a retirement fund

I enjoy listening to the adventures of my friends. The fellow I mentioned in the last posting had many stories to tell about walking trails and losing weight and learning to use his new found slimmer, more muscular and way more energetic body in ways he had not dared to dream of only a year ago. Now his plans are filled with hope like I'd never seen before in him. An excellent, inspiring conversation! I wish him well on his journey. Before he left he turned the conversation towards what was going on in my life with a few questions and he did some listening of his own. He is a good listener and I suppose I'm pretty good at talking too because he laughed a lot. I autographed a copy of my book: "Joe's Story: The Book of a Lifetime" he purchased and we said our good byes til another day. I figured I wouldn't see him again for a while. I figured wrong. He read "Joe's Story" all in one day and stopped by this morning to tell me how much he enjoyed it as well as an idea he had for me. I listened with interest to his advice. I got down right inspired again and thanked him when he left for parts unknown. It's pretty cool when someone goes out of their way to help you.

His idea was this: Start doing everything I can to get "Joe's Story" out there and in the hands of book readers as soon as possible. "It's a terrific story" he said. The wisdom in the book would help hundreds of everyday people by validating them in so many ways. By getting the book sold and helping others I would add to my own sense of having done good by writing the story. The side benefit, in his opinion was that I'd finally do something about a retirement fund like he did.

I can say without hesitation that his words made my day. I am also going to do some serious thinking about promoting "Joe's Story".I could use a few bucks in the, as yet non existent retirement fund.

Um, er, by the way. Are you looking for a good book to read? I can help you out there.

Personal adventure

A friend stopped by yesterday that I haven't seen in over a year. He's been on a sort of personal adventure, "renewing himself", he says. He and his wife split up a couple years ago after 43 years of marriage and 3 kids. She felt they had just grown in different directions and had nothing in common anymore. He was devastated, he loved her. Lost and not sure of himself, he decided to quit his job and go looking for whoever he was. The kids are grown, he's been frugal enough to be financially independent if he doesn't go crazy and figured he had nothing left to lose. Off he went in his van to see what he could see. When he left he weighed 304 pounds and used a walker most of the time. Holy Cow! Not any more. He went on a high protein eating regimen along with reducing his calorie intake too. His plan was to walk as far as he could each and every day. As the weight dropped, he walked more and more. Eventually he took on parts of a trail on the West coast over the winter and then came back to the East side and did parts of the Appalachian trail before returning to Michigan. He tips the scale at around 195 pounds, give or take a pound or two now, he says. Looks great and sounds great too. A different person in so many ways. He says his wife is paying some attention to him for some reason, they went on a "date" even! A continuing story there I guess. It was good to see him. Reminded me of back in the day when I lost 90 pounds in a very short time. I managed to gain about 30 of that back but that's a whole nother story too.

He sent me a link to a news story he had seen and in his opinion, the video says it all when it comes to the results and the lady in the video obtained.
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/womans-time-lapsed-weight-loss-video-goes-viral-135734803--abc-news-health.html?vp=1

I found it interesting. You may too. Have a good day!

Syria

What a time in history to be President. We are still reeling from a catastrophic war in Iraq, ongoing war in Afghanistan, seemingly unstoppable tide if illegal aliens, economic instability, carnage amongst drug infested neighborhoods and a myriad of other problems. Now, there is Syria, another country thousands of miles away, suffering through an almost inhuman carnage of their own. The President, when speaking about the political divide, civil war and senseless loss of human life going on there, drew a line in the sand and said that if chemical warfare was used we would step in and do our best to stop it. A daring statement. A few days ago hundreds of people, mostly women and children were killed. Two things are being investigated, was it in fact chemicals or gas? And who did it? One thing is sure, almost every other country in the world has declined to go along with us in any type of military response. It looks like if we do respond, we'll be going it alone. Will that result in a reduction of killing of innocent people or will it bring on even more retaliation to their own people and more importantly, beyond their borders and around the world. Iraq is still after so many years involved in a civil war and people are being murdered every day. So far, not much was settled in that war. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. Some say the stability and modernization brought on by Saddam Hussein was far better even if he did kill the guys he didn't like and make stupid threats.

The president is going to make a decision for us. Just as he has done so many times before as well as  his predecessors. There doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. Where does this get us? According to news reports, most people in Arab countries don't like or trust us so much do they? Normal for us isn't necessarily normal for them. We have a Judeo-Christian set of morals. Al Quida and other similar groups find our desire to be fair in all things as a weakness. They kill us as well as their own people without conscience. Is any intervention from us, further taxing our already slim resources, going to accomplish anything constructive? Personally, I do wonder where the Arab groups and countries stand on Syria and the murder of innocent people. They, so far really haven't said anything or offered any real solutions or help military or diplomatic. I wonder if they know more than we do concerning the mind set of that region.

Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, We've been there. I do pray for a correct answer to this. I do pray the president looks at all the consequences involved here. I know I certainly don't know what the solution is but too swift a move often leads to more loss of lives. I pray that doesn't happen.

Minimum wage

One confusing aspect of governmental controls that is a bit crazy to me is the imposition of a minimum wage. Personally, I feel that those people that work should receive a fair compensation for their labor. Anyone withholding wages from a worker to keep exorbitant profits for themselves should be prosecuted in a court of law. A minimum wage to me however, is counterproductive in many ways.

#1- Minimum wage, as dictated by government, does not take into consideration market, demand, costs or any other conditions regarding any particular business and the profitability to remain operational.
#2- Minimum wage, as dictated by government controls, removes the competitive nature of international commerce and manufacturing. Countries without minimum wage produce and manufacture cheaper than we can. Fair or not, that is a fact.
#3- With far less jobs available due to the competition in non regulated countries, right here in the United States, far more people are on government assistance. Government assistance is funded (supposed to be anyway) by income taxes of working people thereby reducing their take home pay.
#4- The higher the minimum wage, the less competitive our products and services, the less competitive these things are, the less companies there are, the less companies there are, the less people are employed at any wage, the less people employed, the more people on government assistance. The more people on government assistance, the more taxes needed to pay for the assistance. With less people working, the higher taxes they pay so minimum wage or not, their take home pay is taken away by excess taxes.
#5- With more and more people losing their jobs because we cannot compete with other countries, more and more people are buying the imported products from other countries because they are way cheaper. Resulting in a reverse cash flow from the united States to the other cheaper countries draining our cash resources so fewer and fewer companies remain open. Creating a downward spiral in our economy.
#6- In my opinion, wages too high to compete=fewer people employed=more people on assistance=higher taxes=fewer people to pay those taxes=an overall lower wage and our currency becomes worthless. So, what did the minimum wage dictated by government to increase our standard of living actually accomplish?

Oh, wait a second. Am I talking about the United States or is it Greece? I forget sometimes. I'm probably just a bit tired, need coffee. Have a good day.

It don't work that way no more

Having lived during many decades I've experienced innumerable changes in the way we live. Most of the things that have changed, although exciting and adventurous and practical at the time, simply wouldn't work today. We are far more educated, worldly, and "mature". Grabbing onto a slow moving car rear bumper, in the middle of the winter and being pulled a full two miles on ice and through drifts before letting go and rolling to a stop, laughing until my stomach hurt is probably something I would never want my grandkids to do. I'm way to smart for that now. Seemed good at the time though, all us kids did it. Walking back and forth to work through the streets of downtown Detroit in the middle of the night was necessary and interesting back in 1964 (although I did get robbed at gunpoint twice by the same guy, I survived). I certainly wouldn't do that now. I guess maybe I'm a scaredy cat. Working two full time jobs every day, one in Detroit and the other in Grand Rapids, catching what sleep I could on the train ride back and forth between the two. Rather fun then but I value my sleep too much now. Meeting people from all over town by dialing my own number on the telephone to get a busy signal and speaking to total strangers in between the beeps. Too many perverts out there now. Cruising up and down the street on Friday and Saturday nights until the sun rose right alongside hundreds of other teenagers playing loud radios and yelling at one another and having an occasional drag race at the red lights. Are you kidding me? Wouldn't want to try that now would you?

Nope! None of that stuff would work anymore. I sure did like it then though. I kind of feel sorry for anyone that hasn't.

The dark side of the moon

Movies are readily available without leaving one's living room via cable, Internet DVD or even the old video cassette. New offerings are moving to most media faster than ever too. I haven't been in a movie theater in many years. That's fine with me, the popcorn and candy are way too expensive and sometimes the crowds are more than I care to handle. I do miss the big screen though, some movies just aren't the same on a TV screen. But my thoughts are directed more at content than size or appearance for now.

The movies I watched in my younger days were rather simplistic and immature by most of today's standards I've been told. Predictable plots, too mushy, mushy, too bland, not enough truth regarding reality of human nature, not enough sex, not enough back stabbing, too many bad guys getting caught by too many goody, goody, all too perfect cops. Catering too much to the good side of people makes movies too wishy, washy. Today, and for decades now, movies tend to cater to any and all perverse, mean, just plain deplorable side any human being ever possessed. All this disgusting stuff is touted to be for our own good because we need to face the truth about ourselves according to the know-it-alls in charge of Hollywood or wherever movies are made today. Granted, many movies are fast paced, visually stimulating, and otherwise entertaining, but so often, even in PG and PG13 rated offerings, we are caught off guard by totally unnecessary and deplorable crude language, sexual situations and abnormal behavior, just for the sake of "entertainment". And we are told, this behavior is what people are really like and enjoy. Regular movie goers are being told what they are like, pandering if you will to our dark side. I guess I am hard pressed to describe this any better. I guess also that it is working. As the degree of moral corruption in movies becomes the norm, the degree of moral corruption in overall society follows suit. Bad is better. Lies are accepted as truth for the sake of cinematic "purity" and entertainment license sees no boundaries. My question is then: Why is it that so many G and PG rated movies receive a larger audience?

I just read a review of the truthfulness of a new movie, "The Butler", supposed to familiarize us with the plight of the butler who served so many presidents in the white house. I guess it was way to boring to tell a true story. According to the article, the greater part of it is fabrication. That's too bad, I thought it would be great to learn about someone so successful in spite of the social hurdles. Now I find it may be a good story but that's all. I think I'll just read the book. I don't need another story shoving some producer's agenda down my throat.

I kind of like seeing the better side of us human folks and our fight to do what's right. That helps me be a better person.

Personal appearance is a challange sometimes

Sometimes I wonder about my powers of observation when it comes to myself and my appearance. All my life has been spent in an occupation which requires me to help other people with how their vehicle looks. It's all about appearance. This means that I have to see any defect, soil, scratch, stain or hair out of place. If I do my job, the customer will be happy. Frankly, I am very good at what I do and some people come from as far away as Tennessee and Florida to have me work on their rides. That's all well and good but when it comes to seeing any of those things in my physical appearance, it seems I simply don't have an eye for it. Picky as I am, I just can't get it all together sometimes.

Walking out of church last Sunday, a fellow church goer asked me if I knew that there was part of a candy bar stuck to the seat end of my pants. How embarrassing! I went to the grocery store on the Saturday before and the cashier at the front counter caught my attention to tell me that they couldn't allow me in the store without a shirt on. I had been gardening, enjoying the sunshine, thought of something I needed and forgot all about putting on a shirt. How embarrassing!

Standing in line at the gas station on Monday afternoon a guy behind me touched my shoulder to catch my attention and whispered my underwear was pulled up over my shirt in the rear. How Embarrassing! Here I sit, as I am typing this after just noticing I had two different types of socks on. At least they are the same color. How embarrassing!

I'm thinking I need me a personal assistant. Lay out my clothes, make sure they match, (I've been known to mix stripes and plaids, yellows and reds) Make sure they are clean, and make sure the elastic is tucked in. I'm so busy thinking about everyone else I can't see my own self. How embarrassing!