Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Just some random dithering.
This will be a short post because I want to go to sleep. For someone with sleeping problems and small children sleep can be very precious.
Firstly, thank you to all of ya'll. Knowing that people read this is rather neat. Some of them being in other countries is just as neat. I assume that the readers in other countries are seeing it for the first time because of some randomization algorithm, I'm okay with that.
What would my readers like to see more of? More political or business things? Some fiction or songs? The fiction and songs are still works in progress.
I was kibitzing with my brother about school. I want to go back and take some marketing classes unfortunately I don't want to spend time learning about radio, tv or print ads. I think that would be the focus of most college classes. I said that I like the nontraditional marketing ideas.
We were talking about credit cards for Harley Davidson of all things. I mentioned how they used to have a store credit card and I though they should have two levels, leather and chrome. I was thinking just the look but my brother said "No, use real leather or chrome and put the magnetic strip on the back and you're good".
Hmm.
Put a hole in the chrome card in the shape of a hex wrench that will fit the standard nuts on a Harley, put a bottle opener on it.
Let's see what else could be done with it. Make it a pocket survival kit for bikers, every time someone pulls it out someone else will see it. And ask about it.
How much is that advertising worth?
Firstly, thank you to all of ya'll. Knowing that people read this is rather neat. Some of them being in other countries is just as neat. I assume that the readers in other countries are seeing it for the first time because of some randomization algorithm, I'm okay with that.
What would my readers like to see more of? More political or business things? Some fiction or songs? The fiction and songs are still works in progress.
I was kibitzing with my brother about school. I want to go back and take some marketing classes unfortunately I don't want to spend time learning about radio, tv or print ads. I think that would be the focus of most college classes. I said that I like the nontraditional marketing ideas.
We were talking about credit cards for Harley Davidson of all things. I mentioned how they used to have a store credit card and I though they should have two levels, leather and chrome. I was thinking just the look but my brother said "No, use real leather or chrome and put the magnetic strip on the back and you're good".
Hmm.
Put a hole in the chrome card in the shape of a hex wrench that will fit the standard nuts on a Harley, put a bottle opener on it.
Let's see what else could be done with it. Make it a pocket survival kit for bikers, every time someone pulls it out someone else will see it. And ask about it.
How much is that advertising worth?
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
On zealots and zealotry in the other blog.
Other post time, be the first on your block to read it here.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Intent.
I'm reading a book called "Freakonomics". It's...different. An economist wrote it (with a journalist's help) about the correlation of certain things. Cheating teachers, why drug dealers live with their mom, cheating sumo wrestlers, and about parenting.
The parenting part is interesting because he spends I don't know how many pages (it's a rather dry read with some interesting bits) saying that what school a kid goes to, participation in Head Start, being read to and various other factors don't really affect how well a kid does in school.
It really boils down to this: Do the parents make an effort to be a part of the kids life and try to make it better? If so then all is good, within reason.
So if the parent tries to be a good parent and does research, implements research, is involved with the kid, and actually expects the kid to work and try then their is a good chance that the kid will pass with decent grades, graduate high school, and not be involved with drugs/crime/pregnancy.
My parents would have said "They paid him how much to do this research?" "Are you sure?" "Everyone knows that." "Dummy". My mother would have said the last comment. Don't make her mad.
Some parts of the book (sumo and drug dealers) made great sense as long as you didn't get too bogged down in the data mining and analysis. The parenting part made me laugh though.
My children go to a good (charter) school now and I think they would do well in a not so good school. But, of course, I want any little edge I can get for my children. Wouldn't all parents?
The parenting part is interesting because he spends I don't know how many pages (it's a rather dry read with some interesting bits) saying that what school a kid goes to, participation in Head Start, being read to and various other factors don't really affect how well a kid does in school.
It really boils down to this: Do the parents make an effort to be a part of the kids life and try to make it better? If so then all is good, within reason.
So if the parent tries to be a good parent and does research, implements research, is involved with the kid, and actually expects the kid to work and try then their is a good chance that the kid will pass with decent grades, graduate high school, and not be involved with drugs/crime/pregnancy.
My parents would have said "They paid him how much to do this research?" "Are you sure?" "Everyone knows that." "Dummy". My mother would have said the last comment. Don't make her mad.
Some parts of the book (sumo and drug dealers) made great sense as long as you didn't get too bogged down in the data mining and analysis. The parenting part made me laugh though.
My children go to a good (charter) school now and I think they would do well in a not so good school. But, of course, I want any little edge I can get for my children. Wouldn't all parents?
Just some rambling and a story.
I'm tired. This is going to be a simple post. As my faithful reader will know, I want to be a writer. It would be nice to be a self-supporting writer, but really I would be pretty happy with a few published pieces. This is a children's story that I wrote a few years ago.
The Self Rescuing Princess.
The Princess was not your normal, typical everyday princess. She liked dresses, horses, the color pink and ballerinas.
The Princess could not always wear dresses, ride horses or practice her dancing. She had to work, even princesses have to work. She could wear pink but it would get covered up and real dirty real quick. She had to feed the animals, muck out the stables, pick fruits and vegetables from the garden, and fix things. When she was finished whatever she wore would be various shades of yucky and very stinky. That is why she did not wear pink.
One day the Princess decided this was too much work. She wanted to be rescued. Everyday after her work was done instead of practicing her dancing or riding a horse she built a tower.
Then one day it was finished. She went to the top and waited for her prince to rescue her.
The prince never showed.
Even though the Princess did not do her work it still needed to be done. The stables needed to be cleaned, the garden was overrun with weeds and worst of all, no one rode or fed the horses. The horses were very sad and hungry.
From high up in her tower the Princess saw the dirty stables, the overrun garden, and the sad horses. She had to fix things but she could not leave her tower until she was rescued.
The Princess did the only thing she could think of.
She rescued herself.
She tied her sheets together and climbed down her tower. The Princess had work to do. She fed the horses, mucked out their stables and pulled all of the weeds from the garden.
When she was done she put on her prettiest pink dress, practiced her dancing and rode her horses.
The Princess thought about how happy her horses were from what she did and how happy she was and realized she did not need a prince to rescue her, because she is
A
Self
Rescuing
Princess.
Yes, I've sent this out to various agents and the silence is deafening. I'm still trying though. I wrote this because one of my daughters said how she is waiting for a prince to rescue her. Nope. My daughters will be able to rescue themselves.
The Self Rescuing Princess.
The Princess was not your normal, typical everyday princess. She liked dresses, horses, the color pink and ballerinas.
The Princess could not always wear dresses, ride horses or practice her dancing. She had to work, even princesses have to work. She could wear pink but it would get covered up and real dirty real quick. She had to feed the animals, muck out the stables, pick fruits and vegetables from the garden, and fix things. When she was finished whatever she wore would be various shades of yucky and very stinky. That is why she did not wear pink.
One day the Princess decided this was too much work. She wanted to be rescued. Everyday after her work was done instead of practicing her dancing or riding a horse she built a tower.
Then one day it was finished. She went to the top and waited for her prince to rescue her.
The prince never showed.
Even though the Princess did not do her work it still needed to be done. The stables needed to be cleaned, the garden was overrun with weeds and worst of all, no one rode or fed the horses. The horses were very sad and hungry.
From high up in her tower the Princess saw the dirty stables, the overrun garden, and the sad horses. She had to fix things but she could not leave her tower until she was rescued.
The Princess did the only thing she could think of.
She rescued herself.
She tied her sheets together and climbed down her tower. The Princess had work to do. She fed the horses, mucked out their stables and pulled all of the weeds from the garden.
When she was done she put on her prettiest pink dress, practiced her dancing and rode her horses.
The Princess thought about how happy her horses were from what she did and how happy she was and realized she did not need a prince to rescue her, because she is
A
Self
Rescuing
Princess.
Yes, I've sent this out to various agents and the silence is deafening. I'm still trying though. I wrote this because one of my daughters said how she is waiting for a prince to rescue her. Nope. My daughters will be able to rescue themselves.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
History.
My post about recycling yesterday made me think about the past and the future. Over a decade ago I was trying to remember the name of the presidents before Washington. During the Articles of Confederation, you remember that don't you?
I went through a crazy period trying to find this guys name. At the time my life consisted of work and going to bookstores. Whenever I went into a used bookstore I would look at the history books trying to find this guys name. I was getting a little frantic about history just disappearing. Around the same time I was hearing about people saying that the Holocaust never happened.
The Holocaust was in the 1930's to the 40's, I was looking into this in the late 90's. In about six decades people were in denial and telling others the same. In 1781 we had a president that wasn't Washington. In a little over two centuries it was difficult to find information about the Articles of Confederation and nearly impossible to find this guys name.
Interesting.
Once I FINALLY found the information I was bragging to a buddy about how I FINALLY did it. In telling him this I mentioned how it kind of scared me how the Holocaust could be near impossible to find in a history book in a couple of centuries. Then I explained my theory of how it could vanish from our collective mind and our history books.
I understand that many legends and fables are based on fact, but those are also talking about eons of time not TWO HUNDRED YEARS. Could we lose a HUGE lesson because we don't consider it that important? This theory depressed my buddy. It still scares me, people can tell you numerous stats for their favorite sports team but not who their elected representative is. How about their kids school teacher? Are we forgetting history because we don't care? Are we doomed to repeat it? If so, how many will die this time? And who will it be?
From 1781-1782 John Hanson was the President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
I went through a crazy period trying to find this guys name. At the time my life consisted of work and going to bookstores. Whenever I went into a used bookstore I would look at the history books trying to find this guys name. I was getting a little frantic about history just disappearing. Around the same time I was hearing about people saying that the Holocaust never happened.
The Holocaust was in the 1930's to the 40's, I was looking into this in the late 90's. In about six decades people were in denial and telling others the same. In 1781 we had a president that wasn't Washington. In a little over two centuries it was difficult to find information about the Articles of Confederation and nearly impossible to find this guys name.
Interesting.
Once I FINALLY found the information I was bragging to a buddy about how I FINALLY did it. In telling him this I mentioned how it kind of scared me how the Holocaust could be near impossible to find in a history book in a couple of centuries. Then I explained my theory of how it could vanish from our collective mind and our history books.
I understand that many legends and fables are based on fact, but those are also talking about eons of time not TWO HUNDRED YEARS. Could we lose a HUGE lesson because we don't consider it that important? This theory depressed my buddy. It still scares me, people can tell you numerous stats for their favorite sports team but not who their elected representative is. How about their kids school teacher? Are we forgetting history because we don't care? Are we doomed to repeat it? If so, how many will die this time? And who will it be?
From 1781-1782 John Hanson was the President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Those near useless little plastic bags. Other site time.
It's other blog time today. It's about those near useless little plastic bags.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Kermit Gosnell and abortion.
I'm going to do this post a little differently. I'll put it on both of my blogs because it is my random thoughts and should be on my Business and/or Politics blog. With this I did the research and couldn't write the post. The disgust I have towards this person wouldn't let me.
FYI, I'm pro-choice but personally against it. I believe that if a person is old enough to have sex then they are old enough to carry the child to term and bear said child (if the mother would not survive the pregnancy/childbirth then I would not have a problem with them having an abortion). If the person believes that they shouldn't care for the child then put the kid up for adoption, I'm okay with that. If the person wants to abort the child, I'm not okay with that, but it's not my body so I can't really say what you can or cannot do. Pregnancy caused by rape or incest is a special case; if a woman can carry that child, great. If not (and I couldn't ask anyone to carry a child to full term in that situation) then I wouldn't think less of them for getting an abortion.
Someone getting an abortion because they think that an abortion is another form of birth control is not an okay thing in my book. Getting a late term abortion, still not okay. Ask a woman that's thought about getting an abortion, Did you know within a month if you were going to keep this kid or not. From what I've been told, they all knew.
I'm not going to talk about what Mr. Gosnell did or link to any news reports (good luck finding some, they are buried). He disgusts me, I'm an atheist and I hope there is a hell just for him.
People say that women need the chance of an abortion because kids are expensive and the child would diminish their economic freedom. Fair enough, if you want to use that argument then shouldn't we use other economic arguments?
Condoms are about 97% effective and cheaper than an abortion or raising a child. Some would say that 97% isn't enough, fine. I'm not going to tell someone to do abstinence, but they could do other activities. Oral or anal is 100% effective to prevent childbirth. If you want to have sex the traditional way but you don't want the risk of pregnancy, deal with it. It's not possible unless you get a vasectomy (not 100%) or various tubal surgeries (still not 100%).
This cavalier attitude we as a nation have towards abortion might be manifesting itself in other ways. People don't seem to look to the future and plan. Some people say that they live paycheck to paycheck, I say that people are living moment to moment. They don't look to the future and wonder or plan and they don't look to the past and wonder what should be repeated or not.
If we don't do something about this culture that only cares about flash and form then we will follow the lead of Rome. The only way anyone will know about us is when some kid reads about us in a boring history book. I want better for our country, our species and our world.
FYI, I'm pro-choice but personally against it. I believe that if a person is old enough to have sex then they are old enough to carry the child to term and bear said child (if the mother would not survive the pregnancy/childbirth then I would not have a problem with them having an abortion). If the person believes that they shouldn't care for the child then put the kid up for adoption, I'm okay with that. If the person wants to abort the child, I'm not okay with that, but it's not my body so I can't really say what you can or cannot do. Pregnancy caused by rape or incest is a special case; if a woman can carry that child, great. If not (and I couldn't ask anyone to carry a child to full term in that situation) then I wouldn't think less of them for getting an abortion.
Someone getting an abortion because they think that an abortion is another form of birth control is not an okay thing in my book. Getting a late term abortion, still not okay. Ask a woman that's thought about getting an abortion, Did you know within a month if you were going to keep this kid or not. From what I've been told, they all knew.
I'm not going to talk about what Mr. Gosnell did or link to any news reports (good luck finding some, they are buried). He disgusts me, I'm an atheist and I hope there is a hell just for him.
People say that women need the chance of an abortion because kids are expensive and the child would diminish their economic freedom. Fair enough, if you want to use that argument then shouldn't we use other economic arguments?
Condoms are about 97% effective and cheaper than an abortion or raising a child. Some would say that 97% isn't enough, fine. I'm not going to tell someone to do abstinence, but they could do other activities. Oral or anal is 100% effective to prevent childbirth. If you want to have sex the traditional way but you don't want the risk of pregnancy, deal with it. It's not possible unless you get a vasectomy (not 100%) or various tubal surgeries (still not 100%).
This cavalier attitude we as a nation have towards abortion might be manifesting itself in other ways. People don't seem to look to the future and plan. Some people say that they live paycheck to paycheck, I say that people are living moment to moment. They don't look to the future and wonder or plan and they don't look to the past and wonder what should be repeated or not.
If we don't do something about this culture that only cares about flash and form then we will follow the lead of Rome. The only way anyone will know about us is when some kid reads about us in a boring history book. I want better for our country, our species and our world.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Other post time about CPS.
I wrote a post about CPS yesterday, I posted today on my other blog a more political post about it. Check it out here.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
CPS Sucks.
My wife and I wanted to help our foster child. We were just in over our heads.
In trying to find a treatment center for her we were told that she's not a risk to herself or others and she's not pregnant or doing drugs, therefore: Go Away. We spent hours on the phone trying to find a facility, nada.
We had a referral from the school and from her counselor but nope, she's not a risk. Go Away. The cps agent said that the case is closed so they can't do anything. Their supervisor said the same thing: Go Away. The child abuse hotline suggested a lawyer and another group. The other group she mentioned is the one that recommended that I call the child abuse hotline. They didn't say Go Away, they just had me go in circles. One group (CPS) suggested dropping her off at the fire station. How many films and tv shows had that scene in it? How well did they work out?
The question is: Is she playing a scam on us? or is she emotionally stunted? Either way the professionals can handle it better than us. Don't think we're pros here. I call her a foster child but in reality she's not. The CPS case worker was going to bring her to a homeless shelter and drop her off, we stepped in and let her have a spare bedroom. No sweat, for almost two months. Then the not so good stuff started happening.
In the time we've been together we've all grown attached to her. That's the worst part of sending her away, she's part of the family. My greatest fear is that all she hears from us is: Go Away. Hopefully, when she's older, she'll know why we did this and will find it in her heart to forgive us.
Love you, kid.
In trying to find a treatment center for her we were told that she's not a risk to herself or others and she's not pregnant or doing drugs, therefore: Go Away. We spent hours on the phone trying to find a facility, nada.
We had a referral from the school and from her counselor but nope, she's not a risk. Go Away. The cps agent said that the case is closed so they can't do anything. Their supervisor said the same thing: Go Away. The child abuse hotline suggested a lawyer and another group. The other group she mentioned is the one that recommended that I call the child abuse hotline. They didn't say Go Away, they just had me go in circles. One group (CPS) suggested dropping her off at the fire station. How many films and tv shows had that scene in it? How well did they work out?
The question is: Is she playing a scam on us? or is she emotionally stunted? Either way the professionals can handle it better than us. Don't think we're pros here. I call her a foster child but in reality she's not. The CPS case worker was going to bring her to a homeless shelter and drop her off, we stepped in and let her have a spare bedroom. No sweat, for almost two months. Then the not so good stuff started happening.
In the time we've been together we've all grown attached to her. That's the worst part of sending her away, she's part of the family. My greatest fear is that all she hears from us is: Go Away. Hopefully, when she's older, she'll know why we did this and will find it in her heart to forgive us.
Love you, kid.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
A loss.
We had a foster child. The key word being had.
At my parents business they would get calls from the local homeless shelter asking if any of their homeless people could get a job. Sometimes my parents would need some help so they would hire someone. Some of the people wanted a job and wanted to work, some didn't. Most of the people they hired from the shelter didn't. After awhile they stopped hiring people from the shelter because why should you hire someone and spend time and money training them if they weren't going stick around longer than a week or two.
I'm starting to understand their frustration.
In the clubs, I worked with quite a few people that you think just weren't raised right. In a business environment you have some tools that a parent doesn't. At work if you don't work you don't get paid, no money equals no food. A parent can't stop feeding their children. The other major difference is that in a home situation you should have more time and a more receptive person, hopefully.
We tried. We really did. Then she started doing the things that she used to do. Drugs, theft and fighting. We were talking to counselors and psychologists asking what we should do to get her on the straight and narrow. We explained her background and our background and skills. Three mental health professionals said she is out of our league. Two of them suggested a residential treatment center with 24 hour surveillance. These places are called level 6 lock-downs. I have no idea what that means except, privacy is nonexistent. I have experience with drug issues and sexual abuse issues (it's amazing what you learn in a topless bar) and she didn't show any of them. I won't describe the issues I did notice because that could be normal for a teenage girl, plus those things I don't know anywhere near as much about.
After dinner we went to the park, as the little ones are getting ready for bed two officers knock on the door. A stolen iPhone was pinged to our house. Really? We finally found the phone, but this stepped up our time line to find her a new home. She has run away from home before, we had hoped that it would be different living with us. We can't take that risk, she needs help NOW.
We tried to help someone and they didn't want to be helped. It still seems like we failed her, but what else could we have done?
At my parents business they would get calls from the local homeless shelter asking if any of their homeless people could get a job. Sometimes my parents would need some help so they would hire someone. Some of the people wanted a job and wanted to work, some didn't. Most of the people they hired from the shelter didn't. After awhile they stopped hiring people from the shelter because why should you hire someone and spend time and money training them if they weren't going stick around longer than a week or two.
I'm starting to understand their frustration.
In the clubs, I worked with quite a few people that you think just weren't raised right. In a business environment you have some tools that a parent doesn't. At work if you don't work you don't get paid, no money equals no food. A parent can't stop feeding their children. The other major difference is that in a home situation you should have more time and a more receptive person, hopefully.
We tried. We really did. Then she started doing the things that she used to do. Drugs, theft and fighting. We were talking to counselors and psychologists asking what we should do to get her on the straight and narrow. We explained her background and our background and skills. Three mental health professionals said she is out of our league. Two of them suggested a residential treatment center with 24 hour surveillance. These places are called level 6 lock-downs. I have no idea what that means except, privacy is nonexistent. I have experience with drug issues and sexual abuse issues (it's amazing what you learn in a topless bar) and she didn't show any of them. I won't describe the issues I did notice because that could be normal for a teenage girl, plus those things I don't know anywhere near as much about.
After dinner we went to the park, as the little ones are getting ready for bed two officers knock on the door. A stolen iPhone was pinged to our house. Really? We finally found the phone, but this stepped up our time line to find her a new home. She has run away from home before, we had hoped that it would be different living with us. We can't take that risk, she needs help NOW.
We tried to help someone and they didn't want to be helped. It still seems like we failed her, but what else could we have done?
Even it up with memories of my Father.
It's been a rough couple of days. I've been reading about Kermit Gosnell and trying to repress it as soon as I can. That blog will be later. Some issues at home, so I'm going to do a lighter post.
My father used to buy and sell Indian artifacts; jewelry, leather work, kachinas (see an explanation here), and whatever else he thought could sell. He would go to the reservations and buy the product then go up to Yankee land (New York state) to sell it. One time he was in Buffalo, NY and the city official noticed that he a pistol with him. Then, as well as now, firearms were a major no-no. This gentleman also sees a buffalo head bolo tie (look here) and mentions that he could probably get a state issued permit for the pistol, if only he could afford that buffalo bolo tie. Trade a piece of jewelry (that I can get more of) for a permit and avoid maybe going to jail. In my father's own words: "I ain't no dummy." When the official came back the next day with the permit, before he left (wearing a very nice bolo) he mentioned how it would be terrible to see another one of these ties on anyone else. Still better than going to jail.
When we forced my father to retire he got a little bored at home and planted a garden. Enter my wife, she wanted a garden in our backyard but was too cheap to rent a tiller, so she started researching other types of gardening. She settled on aquaponics (see here). When my father started researching this he went a little crazy. Next thing I know he's getting a permit from the city to build a greenhouse. A 20'x25' greenhouse. It had four tanks for fish, a dozen grow beds, and a rainwater tank to top it off with. He had a tomato plant in that thing that was 10' tall. Two other tomato plants that were over 9' tall and a group of four bush bean plants that were throwing beans like crazy. The spinach and herbs grew like you wouldn't believe. The Swiss chard was annoying because I don't like it. When you went through the door you almost had to fight your way through the foliage. He was so proud of that.
My father HATED guineas. He hated them so much that when his mother told him to go out and kill a guinea for dinner that night, he killed the whole flock. Her response was pretty simple: "Clean them all."
One year I had a dancer crashing on my couch and I knew she didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. I told my father that she didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving and could I bring her to the family dinner. Without any hesitation at all he replied with "I would think less of you if didn't".
My father always believed in all of his children. I mentioned once how I wouldn't mind getting into politics and his reaction was "Do it". Everyone else said "You work in a topless bar, you'll never get votes." He would probably yell at me for not going for it.
My father used to buy and sell Indian artifacts; jewelry, leather work, kachinas (see an explanation here), and whatever else he thought could sell. He would go to the reservations and buy the product then go up to Yankee land (New York state) to sell it. One time he was in Buffalo, NY and the city official noticed that he a pistol with him. Then, as well as now, firearms were a major no-no. This gentleman also sees a buffalo head bolo tie (look here) and mentions that he could probably get a state issued permit for the pistol, if only he could afford that buffalo bolo tie. Trade a piece of jewelry (that I can get more of) for a permit and avoid maybe going to jail. In my father's own words: "I ain't no dummy." When the official came back the next day with the permit, before he left (wearing a very nice bolo) he mentioned how it would be terrible to see another one of these ties on anyone else. Still better than going to jail.
When we forced my father to retire he got a little bored at home and planted a garden. Enter my wife, she wanted a garden in our backyard but was too cheap to rent a tiller, so she started researching other types of gardening. She settled on aquaponics (see here). When my father started researching this he went a little crazy. Next thing I know he's getting a permit from the city to build a greenhouse. A 20'x25' greenhouse. It had four tanks for fish, a dozen grow beds, and a rainwater tank to top it off with. He had a tomato plant in that thing that was 10' tall. Two other tomato plants that were over 9' tall and a group of four bush bean plants that were throwing beans like crazy. The spinach and herbs grew like you wouldn't believe. The Swiss chard was annoying because I don't like it. When you went through the door you almost had to fight your way through the foliage. He was so proud of that.
My father HATED guineas. He hated them so much that when his mother told him to go out and kill a guinea for dinner that night, he killed the whole flock. Her response was pretty simple: "Clean them all."
One year I had a dancer crashing on my couch and I knew she didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. I told my father that she didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving and could I bring her to the family dinner. Without any hesitation at all he replied with "I would think less of you if didn't".
My father always believed in all of his children. I mentioned once how I wouldn't mind getting into politics and his reaction was "Do it". Everyone else said "You work in a topless bar, you'll never get votes." He would probably yell at me for not going for it.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Regret.
I spend a lot of my id wondering what I'll write for my blog. I'll hear some snippet of news and think; Yepper, I'll write about that. I was going to write about Kermit Gosnell and abortion, but then I had a talk with my daughter about regret. Now I can't stop thinking about regret and the choices we make and how sometimes we pay for them for years or even decades.
I'm a rather introspective person and I was raised Catholic so I always remember the actions I've done that might have caused others harm. I do believe my parents raised me right so I try not to repeat these harmful actions. As I tell people; I'm not a nice person, I just try to be.
I met a lady almost 30 years ago and still consider her a friend. If she knocked on the door at o'dark thirty and said she and her family needed a place to crash I would say "You didn't even need to ask". She has probably saved me some hassles because I would wonder: What would Julie think? Would Julie approve? If I thought the answer was a no I rethought the idea. In my late teens I was rather self-destructive (I wasn't suicidal, just not acting in my best interests at times). In a bad phase I wrote Julie a letter and pissed her off. She hasn't spoken to me since. Here it is decades later and I finally found her on Facebook. I sent her a letter, she never responded. I understand if she thought I'm not a different person and she doesn't want me in her life, I really do. However, I regret not being able to say: "Hey Julie, this is my wife and these are my wonderful children". I regret not being courageous enough to contact her earlier. I regret that my wife won't know her and my children won't know her child(ren). I regret sending that first letter.
Sometimes my regret isn't because I did anything wrong but because I couldn't do enough. When I worked in the clubs a friend of mine asked for a favor. He knew a dancer that needed a job and he wondered if I would hire her. I asked what club does she work at, any tattoos that say racial stuff, why is she leaving the club she's at, and where does she rank on a 1-10 scale. All of his answers were good enough, so I said to tell her when to come in and what to bring. She showed up on time (unusual for dancers) with everything needed plus professionalism (very unusual). She was awesome; I liked her because she came in on time and did her job without drama, the dj liked her because she said to play whatever you think will make me money and she tipped him when she came in, the housemom liked her because she tipped her when she came in, the dancers liked her because she was a clean dancer (and she wasn't a threat), and the waitstaff liked her because she sold champagne and the server got the commission. One of the managers I worked with thought we should get rid of her because our club needed all 9's and 10's. He even thought that 6 ladies on a shift that were all perfect would be better for the business than 20 women ranging from 6-10. I disagreed, unfortunately my boss thought we should give the less is more idea a try. Even though it was their idea that we should fire this lady it was apparently my job to fire her. I hated that, it was about 10 years ago and I can still see her face when I told her.
I have faith that her life was better after I fired her and yes, I regret that I couldn't do more for her.
I'm a rather introspective person and I was raised Catholic so I always remember the actions I've done that might have caused others harm. I do believe my parents raised me right so I try not to repeat these harmful actions. As I tell people; I'm not a nice person, I just try to be.
I met a lady almost 30 years ago and still consider her a friend. If she knocked on the door at o'dark thirty and said she and her family needed a place to crash I would say "You didn't even need to ask". She has probably saved me some hassles because I would wonder: What would Julie think? Would Julie approve? If I thought the answer was a no I rethought the idea. In my late teens I was rather self-destructive (I wasn't suicidal, just not acting in my best interests at times). In a bad phase I wrote Julie a letter and pissed her off. She hasn't spoken to me since. Here it is decades later and I finally found her on Facebook. I sent her a letter, she never responded. I understand if she thought I'm not a different person and she doesn't want me in her life, I really do. However, I regret not being able to say: "Hey Julie, this is my wife and these are my wonderful children". I regret not being courageous enough to contact her earlier. I regret that my wife won't know her and my children won't know her child(ren). I regret sending that first letter.
Sometimes my regret isn't because I did anything wrong but because I couldn't do enough. When I worked in the clubs a friend of mine asked for a favor. He knew a dancer that needed a job and he wondered if I would hire her. I asked what club does she work at, any tattoos that say racial stuff, why is she leaving the club she's at, and where does she rank on a 1-10 scale. All of his answers were good enough, so I said to tell her when to come in and what to bring. She showed up on time (unusual for dancers) with everything needed plus professionalism (very unusual). She was awesome; I liked her because she came in on time and did her job without drama, the dj liked her because she said to play whatever you think will make me money and she tipped him when she came in, the housemom liked her because she tipped her when she came in, the dancers liked her because she was a clean dancer (and she wasn't a threat), and the waitstaff liked her because she sold champagne and the server got the commission. One of the managers I worked with thought we should get rid of her because our club needed all 9's and 10's. He even thought that 6 ladies on a shift that were all perfect would be better for the business than 20 women ranging from 6-10. I disagreed, unfortunately my boss thought we should give the less is more idea a try. Even though it was their idea that we should fire this lady it was apparently my job to fire her. I hated that, it was about 10 years ago and I can still see her face when I told her.
I have faith that her life was better after I fired her and yes, I regret that I couldn't do more for her.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
School standards.
My teen showed us a paper from school recently. She had used abbreviations (real and text) in this essay and the teacher was okay with it. WHAT THE HELL?
She used "ppl" as an abbreviation for people. Correct or incorrect is not the question, the question is why abbreviate in the first place? Obviously, some abbreviations are okay (misc. for miscellaneous is a prime example). Why are the teachers allowing this?
My teen wanted to wear headphones or earplugs when taking some standardized test. The school was okay with this. Why is the school allowing this?
My concern is with the future. If my child is writing a doctoral thesis or application and she abbreviates words that aren't commonly abbreviated how does she look? Especially to a competitor that writes properly? Many business give out personality and aptitude tests to applicants, will they allow you to wear earplugs? If you want to be a librarian, maybe. Pretty much everyone else will think that if you can't handle this test then you probably can't handle the job.
By catering to every little whim are we really helping these kids? In the business world, these people will be ignored and they will be shocked that businesses aren't catering to them.
She used "ppl" as an abbreviation for people. Correct or incorrect is not the question, the question is why abbreviate in the first place? Obviously, some abbreviations are okay (misc. for miscellaneous is a prime example). Why are the teachers allowing this?
My teen wanted to wear headphones or earplugs when taking some standardized test. The school was okay with this. Why is the school allowing this?
My concern is with the future. If my child is writing a doctoral thesis or application and she abbreviates words that aren't commonly abbreviated how does she look? Especially to a competitor that writes properly? Many business give out personality and aptitude tests to applicants, will they allow you to wear earplugs? If you want to be a librarian, maybe. Pretty much everyone else will think that if you can't handle this test then you probably can't handle the job.
By catering to every little whim are we really helping these kids? In the business world, these people will be ignored and they will be shocked that businesses aren't catering to them.
A lighter post and thanks.
I must say thank you to all those people (not really that many, but more than I expected) that read my blog. On the dashboard of this site is a stats page, it tells me the number of visits, it even goes so far as to tell me the operating system and browser. And for the unexpectedly neat part; it tells me what country the viewers are from. The majority of viewers (readers?) are from the US and I'm getting some people from Germany and Russia even one person from Romania. My wife is German and Russian, I took Russian in high school because I always had an interest in Russian history and I like Soviet bloc firearms. It's like karmic how full circle it is. Or something like that.
I was talking to a brother today and he was talking about how we have various sports halls of fame, the rock and roll and the country music hall of fame, and who knows how many other halls of fame.
We don't have a comedy hall of fame. He was saying how if he had the money he would open one. Hmm, idea for the blog tonight.
My first thought is that would be fun. After he left I was thinking how sports is very temporary even music genres is temporary. Comedy genres are temporary, but throughout time people have been eating, surviving, thriving, and laughing at you when you hurt yourself.
You can probably find numerous books written about the health benefits of laughter, theologians use it for the soul to heal. (I'm an atheist and I believe in the soul, my belief is more about the conscience, beliefs, morals, and ethics instead of religious though.) Humor and laughing is very important to the human condition. Some scientists believe that comedy is what separates sentient from non-sentient thought.
During the US depression some of the highest paid actors were comic actors. We were having some problems and a good laugh is always a good thing. In other countries was there a booming comedy business during times of distress? I don't know, but if you're having a bad day would you want to watch "M" or the Three Stooges?
Laughing at someone can be cruel or it can be a form of friendship. A stranger does something dumb, and if you laugh at them it's cruel; a friend does the same thing and you're calling them an idiot and laughing with them.
I like the idea of a Comedy Hall of Fame. Will it happen? I don't know, I just know that I like a good comedy.
I was talking to a brother today and he was talking about how we have various sports halls of fame, the rock and roll and the country music hall of fame, and who knows how many other halls of fame.
We don't have a comedy hall of fame. He was saying how if he had the money he would open one. Hmm, idea for the blog tonight.
My first thought is that would be fun. After he left I was thinking how sports is very temporary even music genres is temporary. Comedy genres are temporary, but throughout time people have been eating, surviving, thriving, and laughing at you when you hurt yourself.
You can probably find numerous books written about the health benefits of laughter, theologians use it for the soul to heal. (I'm an atheist and I believe in the soul, my belief is more about the conscience, beliefs, morals, and ethics instead of religious though.) Humor and laughing is very important to the human condition. Some scientists believe that comedy is what separates sentient from non-sentient thought.
During the US depression some of the highest paid actors were comic actors. We were having some problems and a good laugh is always a good thing. In other countries was there a booming comedy business during times of distress? I don't know, but if you're having a bad day would you want to watch "M" or the Three Stooges?
Laughing at someone can be cruel or it can be a form of friendship. A stranger does something dumb, and if you laugh at them it's cruel; a friend does the same thing and you're calling them an idiot and laughing with them.
I like the idea of a Comedy Hall of Fame. Will it happen? I don't know, I just know that I like a good comedy.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A post on my other post. About micromanagers.
I needed to do a more serious post again. Check it out at http://bpravingvoices.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-view-on-micromanagers.html
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
More thoughts of my mother.
One of my minions decided that today she needed to scream or be in my arms or both. I'm tired but I'm trying to write something everyday so this will be quick.
Mosquitoes love me, I picked up that little genetic tic from my mother. They would pester my mother so much that one time she killed one and put it on a post-it note. Of course the note had a message on it: Let this be a lesson to the rest of you.
She would get greeting cards and cut them up into boxes. Picture a box a little bit smaller than a greeting card, the top was the lid the back was the bottom. She was getting really good at this and then her mother sent her a birthday card. My mother cut it, folded it, and then sent it back to her mother. Evidently, my grandmother thought that wasn't a very nice thing to do.
My mother was angry when I got my first job in a topless bar (waiting tables at LaBare), she eventually stopped giving me grief about working there.
I'm an atheist but I was raised Roman Catholic because of my Roman Catholic Italian mother. She took so much joy in telling me that her grandchildren were little angels come down from heaven, especially when said angel was being a little devil. I know more about the bible than your typical person so I mentioned that Satan was an angel also. She put on her MOM face and let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not to speak of her grandchildren in that way.
I remember getting home from work some night in the wee hours and my mother is awake and their is blood on her face. All I could think of was: Great, mom killed dad. She actually had a bloody nose caused by her asthma. Dad actually said that if he ever hit her he probably just wouldn't wake up the next morning. I don't think my father was afraid of her but he didn't want to anger her needlessly.
My mother was a big believer in creative punishments, when I was about 14 I did something wrong and was caught. I figured it didn't mean much, the punishment would probably be a grounding and I had to stay in my room during it. Nope. She actually told me that it was useless to ground me because I had books to read. Her punishment was $20. I had to give it to her. I was 14, I had a job, in the summer I had two jobs; I was 14 and $20 was a lot of money. I resolved to not get caught again because the punishment was so high.
For the longest time I thought that the BR abbreviation on the oven was for burn. That's how my mother cooked, get home at 5:30, throw something in the oven and put it on burn. Years later I found out it meant broil.
When I first started working at the hotel we had meatloaf on the lunch buffet. I called her and told her there is something on the buffet that we call meatloaf but it can't be; it's juicy, not burned or overcooked, you can taste the beef, and I don't think they put anything in to stretch the meat. She laughed and offered to come up and teach our chef how to make meatloaf.
My parents used to do auctions. At one auction I was driving my mother crazy. She gave me some busywork to do; take this cash, sit under the table, and write down on this paper how much money there is. I was about nine or ten, I counted over $10,000, I just remember a sheet of legal paper with numbers all over it. That would have been an Indian jewelry auction. My father would do charity auctions in his later years and my mother would always keep track of how much he sold, just so he could brag about how much he helped the charity or nonprofit make.
Some people try to be a velvet glove on a fist of iron. Not my mother, she was the not too fancy cotton glove over the fist of don't make me get angry with you.
Mosquitoes love me, I picked up that little genetic tic from my mother. They would pester my mother so much that one time she killed one and put it on a post-it note. Of course the note had a message on it: Let this be a lesson to the rest of you.
She would get greeting cards and cut them up into boxes. Picture a box a little bit smaller than a greeting card, the top was the lid the back was the bottom. She was getting really good at this and then her mother sent her a birthday card. My mother cut it, folded it, and then sent it back to her mother. Evidently, my grandmother thought that wasn't a very nice thing to do.
My mother was angry when I got my first job in a topless bar (waiting tables at LaBare), she eventually stopped giving me grief about working there.
I'm an atheist but I was raised Roman Catholic because of my Roman Catholic Italian mother. She took so much joy in telling me that her grandchildren were little angels come down from heaven, especially when said angel was being a little devil. I know more about the bible than your typical person so I mentioned that Satan was an angel also. She put on her MOM face and let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not to speak of her grandchildren in that way.
I remember getting home from work some night in the wee hours and my mother is awake and their is blood on her face. All I could think of was: Great, mom killed dad. She actually had a bloody nose caused by her asthma. Dad actually said that if he ever hit her he probably just wouldn't wake up the next morning. I don't think my father was afraid of her but he didn't want to anger her needlessly.
My mother was a big believer in creative punishments, when I was about 14 I did something wrong and was caught. I figured it didn't mean much, the punishment would probably be a grounding and I had to stay in my room during it. Nope. She actually told me that it was useless to ground me because I had books to read. Her punishment was $20. I had to give it to her. I was 14, I had a job, in the summer I had two jobs; I was 14 and $20 was a lot of money. I resolved to not get caught again because the punishment was so high.
For the longest time I thought that the BR abbreviation on the oven was for burn. That's how my mother cooked, get home at 5:30, throw something in the oven and put it on burn. Years later I found out it meant broil.
When I first started working at the hotel we had meatloaf on the lunch buffet. I called her and told her there is something on the buffet that we call meatloaf but it can't be; it's juicy, not burned or overcooked, you can taste the beef, and I don't think they put anything in to stretch the meat. She laughed and offered to come up and teach our chef how to make meatloaf.
My parents used to do auctions. At one auction I was driving my mother crazy. She gave me some busywork to do; take this cash, sit under the table, and write down on this paper how much money there is. I was about nine or ten, I counted over $10,000, I just remember a sheet of legal paper with numbers all over it. That would have been an Indian jewelry auction. My father would do charity auctions in his later years and my mother would always keep track of how much he sold, just so he could brag about how much he helped the charity or nonprofit make.
Some people try to be a velvet glove on a fist of iron. Not my mother, she was the not too fancy cotton glove over the fist of don't make me get angry with you.
Monday, April 8, 2013
What children learn.
I read something about Bill Cosby (I reprinted it below) recently and it made me think about a few things. By the way, I didn't like the Cosby show (the family was too perfect) and we won't even talk about Leonard Part 6, loved Fat Albert though. He's talking about how kids are learning bad habits from their parents and since I'm a parent I wondered what my kids may be learning from me.
I grew up in the furniture business, two of my siblings are in it now, so when one of my children mentioned that the dining room chairs had rabbit ears I was rather proud, my brother was proud and I know my parents would have been happy. That's good, will there be bad things they learn from us? I don't swear much but I do call people crackheads if they do something stupid. The same kid said that about someone; I need to stop doing that.
I don't know much about Paris Hilton, but I bet she knows more about business and wealth than the majority of people in the nation just because she grew up in a family that was talking about it. See what I mean? When my kids are teens will they punk out their friends for not thinking that the 9th amendment is the most awesome? We don't mean to teach them that but will it pervade their impressionable little minds? I have restaurant experience out the wazoo so when I cook dinner I plate it up, my wife puts the stuff on the table and you help yourself. What will our minions do? I dress more formally while my wife is more of a tank top and jeans kind of person; one kid is a tomboy, one is a girly girl and we haven't figured out the other two.
This I think is the hardest part of being a parent. The stuff that you don't mean to teach them but they learn anyway. Hitler may be the best example, his mother was Jewish and apparently his father beat her. Did that start him on his pogrom? I like that theory better than he was just some really cold, ruthless, calculating son of a bitch.
How many people have done some illegal/immoral/vile act and the parents are freaking out because their child couldn't do that? Or was the parent thinking: "What did I do wrong in raising my child so they thought this was okay?" That whole takes a village theme is interesting, if your child does something bad how do you know it wasn't some other villager?
Doesn't matter, if your child does something great then the credit goes to the kid. If they do something wrong the blame goes to them also. However, a (good) parent is always wondering if they could have done something better.
BILL HAS GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN...
They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.
$500 sneakers for what?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2?
Where were you when he was 12?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?
And where is the father? Or who is his father?
People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from??
We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .....
I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.
I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! !
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ......... And all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players who cannot read.
We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.
Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..
We cannot blame the white people any longer.'
~Dr.. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.
WELL SAID, BILL
It's NOT about color...
It's about behavior!!!
I grew up in the furniture business, two of my siblings are in it now, so when one of my children mentioned that the dining room chairs had rabbit ears I was rather proud, my brother was proud and I know my parents would have been happy. That's good, will there be bad things they learn from us? I don't swear much but I do call people crackheads if they do something stupid. The same kid said that about someone; I need to stop doing that.
I don't know much about Paris Hilton, but I bet she knows more about business and wealth than the majority of people in the nation just because she grew up in a family that was talking about it. See what I mean? When my kids are teens will they punk out their friends for not thinking that the 9th amendment is the most awesome? We don't mean to teach them that but will it pervade their impressionable little minds? I have restaurant experience out the wazoo so when I cook dinner I plate it up, my wife puts the stuff on the table and you help yourself. What will our minions do? I dress more formally while my wife is more of a tank top and jeans kind of person; one kid is a tomboy, one is a girly girl and we haven't figured out the other two.
This I think is the hardest part of being a parent. The stuff that you don't mean to teach them but they learn anyway. Hitler may be the best example, his mother was Jewish and apparently his father beat her. Did that start him on his pogrom? I like that theory better than he was just some really cold, ruthless, calculating son of a bitch.
How many people have done some illegal/immoral/vile act and the parents are freaking out because their child couldn't do that? Or was the parent thinking: "What did I do wrong in raising my child so they thought this was okay?" That whole takes a village theme is interesting, if your child does something bad how do you know it wasn't some other villager?
Doesn't matter, if your child does something great then the credit goes to the kid. If they do something wrong the blame goes to them also. However, a (good) parent is always wondering if they could have done something better.
BILL HAS GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN...
They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.
$500 sneakers for what?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2?
Where were you when he was 12?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?
And where is the father? Or who is his father?
People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from??
We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .....
I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.
I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! !
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ......... And all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players who cannot read.
We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.
Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..
We cannot blame the white people any longer.'
~Dr.. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.
WELL SAID, BILL
It's NOT about color...
It's about behavior!!!
Other blog time. The customer is always right. Really?
I have a new post on my other blog: http://bpravingvoices.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-customer-is-always-right-really.html
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Thoughts of my mother.
Just had to make it even and write about my mother today. She was mean, the power behind the throne and don't make her mad.
She was a bit odd at times. LLoyd Bentsen was this Texan that was the Secretary of the Treasury (early '90's), when the first notes came out with his signature my mother sent out $1 bills with a letter saying what it was and who the signer is. None of the relatives in New York sent a letter or called to say thank you. So when the $20's came out she sent another letter saying that she was going to send them but since nobody cared about the ones she didn't bother sending out the bigger notes.
My brother Bryan is mentally retarded and you know that saying about getting between a female bear and her cub? Some salesman was at the shop selling something and then he made a joke with a short bus in it. Another salesman told us that this guy was afraid of her, my mother still bought his product but only because their was no other dealer. Keep in mind that my mother was under 5' tall and not in the best shape.
They used to get homeless people coming up to the shop and begging for money. My mother wouldn't give them money but she would offer them cash if they swept up the place. Some did and some didn't.
When I was twelve my mother told me I could work at their shop for $0.50/hour or I could work at the shop for free (minimum wage was $3.35/hour at the time). I took the check, and she took taxes out. I also found out that child labor laws don't apply to your family in the family business.
I was in high school and didn't have to work some Saturday morning, so I stayed up late the night before and read a book. No problem. I go to bed about 4ish and she wakes me up at 7ish asking me if I knew what the most common surname is. I mumbled Chang (I don't know why I knew that) and without saying a word she got up and left my room. I went back to sleep. Her choir leader would give out trivia questions for fun and my mother took pride in getting all of them right. The Chang one was giving her major problems though and then when she finally had the answer I already knew it. Apparently, she was a bit annoyed that I knew it, so the next group of questions she had came to me first.
On Sundays she would count the money for her church. All of the bills that were folded into an origami design she would buy and reverse engineer in order to learn how they did it. I used to be a barback (bartender's helper) in a topless bar and would get a lot of $2 bills. She would buy them from me and save them or sell them to her money collecting friends or go to the grocery store and buy $50 worth of groceries and pay for them with 2's. The cashier asked her where did you get all of those 2's? With a smirk my mother said "Wouldn't you like to know".
I do wonder what she would think of this blog.
She was a bit odd at times. LLoyd Bentsen was this Texan that was the Secretary of the Treasury (early '90's), when the first notes came out with his signature my mother sent out $1 bills with a letter saying what it was and who the signer is. None of the relatives in New York sent a letter or called to say thank you. So when the $20's came out she sent another letter saying that she was going to send them but since nobody cared about the ones she didn't bother sending out the bigger notes.
My brother Bryan is mentally retarded and you know that saying about getting between a female bear and her cub? Some salesman was at the shop selling something and then he made a joke with a short bus in it. Another salesman told us that this guy was afraid of her, my mother still bought his product but only because their was no other dealer. Keep in mind that my mother was under 5' tall and not in the best shape.
They used to get homeless people coming up to the shop and begging for money. My mother wouldn't give them money but she would offer them cash if they swept up the place. Some did and some didn't.
When I was twelve my mother told me I could work at their shop for $0.50/hour or I could work at the shop for free (minimum wage was $3.35/hour at the time). I took the check, and she took taxes out. I also found out that child labor laws don't apply to your family in the family business.
I was in high school and didn't have to work some Saturday morning, so I stayed up late the night before and read a book. No problem. I go to bed about 4ish and she wakes me up at 7ish asking me if I knew what the most common surname is. I mumbled Chang (I don't know why I knew that) and without saying a word she got up and left my room. I went back to sleep. Her choir leader would give out trivia questions for fun and my mother took pride in getting all of them right. The Chang one was giving her major problems though and then when she finally had the answer I already knew it. Apparently, she was a bit annoyed that I knew it, so the next group of questions she had came to me first.
On Sundays she would count the money for her church. All of the bills that were folded into an origami design she would buy and reverse engineer in order to learn how they did it. I used to be a barback (bartender's helper) in a topless bar and would get a lot of $2 bills. She would buy them from me and save them or sell them to her money collecting friends or go to the grocery store and buy $50 worth of groceries and pay for them with 2's. The cashier asked her where did you get all of those 2's? With a smirk my mother said "Wouldn't you like to know".
I do wonder what she would think of this blog.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Thoughts of my father.
I'm doing my best to post every day and get into bed at a reasonable hour. 50% isn't that bad. Since it's late I'm going to do a simple story.
My father died about two years ago and I still miss him. When I was finally caught up with my bills and was flush again I took my father out to eat. Luckily, the rest of the family was out of town.
Since I invited him I believed I should pay. I did and while I was counting out the ones (I was a bartender at the time) he told me a story about a friend of his.
This friend was telling my father that he put his daughter through school and supported her while she was in school. She was some kind of medical person that gives you anesthesia while in surgery. My father couldn't remember the fancy name so that's what he called it. After she graduated and got a job she invited her father out to dinner. During dinner she told her father how she was making about $250,000 a year. She had already gotten a few paychecks and loved having a job and responsibilities. At the end of the meal the waiter put the check in the middle of the table and the daughter (who was making more in her first year than her father did in who knows how many years) pushed the check closer to her father. The father paid the check and told all of his friends at the golf course how the meal and the check went.
My father was so tickled that I paid the check and I wasn't making anywhere near that much. He proceeded to tell all of his friends at the golf course. Of course he had to tell his buddy with the daughter. Apparently, he and his friend both told people the story of their children and restaurant tabs.
I do wonder if the daughter ever heard the story.
My father died about two years ago and I still miss him. When I was finally caught up with my bills and was flush again I took my father out to eat. Luckily, the rest of the family was out of town.
Since I invited him I believed I should pay. I did and while I was counting out the ones (I was a bartender at the time) he told me a story about a friend of his.
This friend was telling my father that he put his daughter through school and supported her while she was in school. She was some kind of medical person that gives you anesthesia while in surgery. My father couldn't remember the fancy name so that's what he called it. After she graduated and got a job she invited her father out to dinner. During dinner she told her father how she was making about $250,000 a year. She had already gotten a few paychecks and loved having a job and responsibilities. At the end of the meal the waiter put the check in the middle of the table and the daughter (who was making more in her first year than her father did in who knows how many years) pushed the check closer to her father. The father paid the check and told all of his friends at the golf course how the meal and the check went.
My father was so tickled that I paid the check and I wasn't making anywhere near that much. He proceeded to tell all of his friends at the golf course. Of course he had to tell his buddy with the daughter. Apparently, he and his friend both told people the story of their children and restaurant tabs.
I do wonder if the daughter ever heard the story.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Pride.
I'm trying to write on my other blog more often. You can find it here: http://bpravingvoices.blogspot.com/
It's about Pride at work.
It's about Pride at work.
Tipping a server.
New post on my other blog which you can find here: http://bpravingvoices.blogspot.com/
This post is about tipping in restaurants.
This post is about tipping in restaurants.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Junk food antibodies.
I used to eat junk food all the time. I ate so much Jack in the Box that I got a discount and when they saw me drive up they started my order. Not so much now.
My wife tries to eat healthy and the best way for her to eat healthy is for me to do the same thing. I've been eating healthy for long enough that I had a fast food cheeseburger (it was SO good) and it tore me up. That's when I realized that our bodies create junk food antibodies.
Basic science class teaches us that I need a vaccine for my body to create antibodies. Obviously the best vaccine is junk food. Therefore I make a point of eating a little junk food every few days.
My wife is out of town and I just didn't feel like cooking tonight. Fried chicken it is. My tummy is already grumbling, the ice cream for dessert isn't helping but it was so good.
I know, you're wondering why I ate the fast food if it upsets me now. I could have had a couple of legs and been done, but no. My wife doesn't like fried chicken (she's from California) so I don't eat it if she's around but when she's not around I must eat more.
It's really all the fault of my wife (she's from California, remember).
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
A post to go with the rudeness in our society.
In my earlier post I wrote of rudeness when hiding behind the computer. Now I'll write about the more physical rudeness.
I hear a lot people say "punch you/him/her/them in the throat" or some other expression. At first it was a bit odd speaking of hitting someone in a place that could kill them. This expression was normally said after the "punchee" said something rude.
Let me get this straight, you said something rude so I'm going to threaten you with physical violence. Maybe the "punchee" needs to be hit and they will stop the rudeness. Maybe the puncher needs to get a grip, if you make a threat and don't follow through with it you look like an idiot. Maybe the puncher shouldn't say a thing.
I know, I know; not acting like the fool. What am I thinking? Next I'll ask politicians to tell the truth, men to call women when they say they will and for gangster rap singers to treat their mothers they way they say they treat their girlfriends. Or ho's, depending on the song.
I hear a lot people say "punch you/him/her/them in the throat" or some other expression. At first it was a bit odd speaking of hitting someone in a place that could kill them. This expression was normally said after the "punchee" said something rude.
Let me get this straight, you said something rude so I'm going to threaten you with physical violence. Maybe the "punchee" needs to be hit and they will stop the rudeness. Maybe the puncher needs to get a grip, if you make a threat and don't follow through with it you look like an idiot. Maybe the puncher shouldn't say a thing.
I know, I know; not acting like the fool. What am I thinking? Next I'll ask politicians to tell the truth, men to call women when they say they will and for gangster rap singers to treat their mothers they way they say they treat their girlfriends. Or ho's, depending on the song.
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