no more "one-uppers"

"So you are tired? you have a broken finger? you got a ticket today? you were late waking up? your dog died? well, I only got 2 hours of sleep, have a broken leg and a broken back, got TWO tickets and my license revoked, missed the train because my alarm didn't go off, and all of my pets died this morning."

Whenever I mention that I am any of those things or countless other maladies, there is inevitably some douche bag that has to "one-up" my complaint. I assume in an effort to comfort me. But, how does your complaint make me feel better? When my wife says she doesn't feel well, I respond with words of comfort and see if there is something I can do to help. Not tell her why I am feeling much worse.

Where did people get the stupid idea that a person shares a discomfort so that you can perform a "one-up"? It was shared because they are looking for you to remedy or at the very least comfort said issue.

The difference is?

This morning I was starving, so I decided to spring for a breakfast burrito at a local place here in Down Town LA. When I asked for a breakfast burrito, the man stared at me blankly for a few minutes than said, "we don't have burritos." I pointed to one and said, "what is that then?" "a wrap, would you like a wrap?"

This is where I had to pause. "what is the difference?" I finally asked.

His answer, "one is a wrap and the other is a burrito."

Friggin' idiot...

Just GO!

Escalators were invented to speed up the flow of pedestrian traffic within high congestion areas, such as a mall. This is why the speed of an escalator is FASTER than the average person can go up a flight of stairs. On top of this, they are typically made wide enough that you can stand to one side and let others pass (unless you have one of the FREAKING irritating wheeled bags).

This means that escalators were not made to let your lazy butt sit there and impede the flow of traffic. You are effectively creating a bottleneck. Stop it. You are useless to our society. I know this, because you can't even walk up the escalator. A device that limits the number of steps you ACTUALLY have to use to get up to the next level of the building (attempting to improve efficiency). I know this, because without fail, you will be using a rolling bag (another device meant to improve efficiency), probably because you are too lazy to carry the briefcase yourself. I can make the statement that you don't contribute to our society in any meaningful way, because these two things show that you are so lackadaisical that you couldn't possibly perform any task assigned to you in an efficient manner.

I find my ire rising whenever I see your slow perambulations.

Natural consequence teaches better

Those that read this blog know that I am a Green person (when it is semi-convenient) and ride the train to LA from the OC every day for work. This gives me the opportunity to meet interesting, and sometimes scary people (think Sociopath). One of the interesting people, is a man that is closing in on retirement. He is one of the more cantankerous people I have ever met. He often feels that it is his job to monitor the behavior of all other train riders and correct their actions. An example is the young man that he called the Sheriff's office on, because he was riding his bike on the train platform. While not safe to ride his bike there, it is far more dangerous to him, than it is to anyone else. Or the example that inspires this post: he told me that I should not break the law...

I wasn't sure what he was referring to, so asked him to explain. He then in a rather patronizing way explained that he saw me cross the tracks when the gates were coming down, and that if I am an honest person I shouldn't do that because that is breaking the law. I opened my mouth to respond in a less than respectful manner... and stopped. He is right, in the strictest sense. So, instead I simply said: "you are right, I will work on that."

But this little incident brings up a point that has been rubbing me raw for awhile now. Why do we have these stupid laws? I can't cross the tracks when the gate is down? I think that should be up to me, because I saw the warning sign. I understand the risk. I am not taking anyone with me (meaning I am endangering only myself). I look both ways, assess the probability of injury or death, and make a choice. I obviously wasn't hit by a train.

I think it is good that we have signs. It is good to warn people that there is danger. But that is all we should be responsible for. Warning them. They are then responsible for what they choose to do. If I were to be hit by the train, then we would have to say, that I was foolish. Not that Metrolink is to blame, or the city, or the county. They did what they were supposed to do. They called attention to the danger.

The point of this barely intelligible rant is this: Natural consequences teach us better than a citation, or something of that sort. It would increase personal responsibility among society; something we need more of! More importantly, it would cull the stupid from the herd of humanity, which is never a bad thing.

Why people should get out of the market

I think it would be safe to say that I have been a negative person my whole life. Some people would say that I come by it rightly, those are the people who have met my father. But this life long pessimism is not why I think the market will drop even more in the 3rd and 4th quarter of this year. The following 10 reasons are why I am a Realist.

1. The Sub-Prime mess is still being dealt with, and the Alt-A and ARM mortgage mess is going to hit in a huge ugly wave of foreclosure in the next 6-12 months. (We could go on about this for awhile...)

2. Bond Default rates are very high, and are continuing to rise. (Defaulted bonds are the corporate way of saying I can't pay my mortgage).

3. The governments of almost every country are supporting poor fiscal responsibility and encouraging lazy people to continue in laziness (this doesn't stimulate an economy no matter what any politician says).

4. The fall season has historically (I know, I know, the past doesn't dictate the future) been the worst time for the Stock Market. Just about every recession we have ever had started in October or November, including this one.

5. The Short Sellers have covered their positions and shown less interest throughout July. This is a sign that the upward movement is uncalled for and will begin to falter.

6. Insiders for companies are selling their shares in droves, to the tune of 6 to 1 (seller to buyer). If the people that run the companies can see what is going on better than we can... then what do we see here?

7. While company profits have looked good this last quarter, this is largely due to cost cutting, not increased revenue. There is only so much you can cut... what will they cut next quarter?

8. Consumer Savings is going up (this isn't bad, it just means that people aren't spending, thus not 'stimulating' the economy).

9. Un-employment is still high. And if one were to do a little math on their own, you would find that the reported drop of 0.1% (down to 9.4%) was reported poorly by the media. The real unemployment rate is closer to 9.8% (a rise of 0.3%). This number also doesn't take into account the large number of underemployed people (people that have lost their job, but are currently working fewer hours or at less pay).

10. The Dollar is weakening, the Deficit is soaring, and Politicians think this is a good time to present a Health care overhaul that will increase the Deficit further, which will weaken the dollar more...

These things do not bode well for our financial future...

looking for a vacation

I am so tired. I want a vacation so badly. It isn't sleep that I want, I want to not have to worry about my next deadline. Procrastination is going to rear its head soon...

But there is hope for this intrepid banker! For I will return to the land of my education in less than 2 weeks. Therefore, College friends, family lend me your ears! ;) I am coming home... Momma, I'm coming home...

hijacked words

i will be very brief. I am more than slightly irritated by the overuse of certain words when politicians discuss profit. whether discussing Investment banks or Health Insurers, Ms. Pelosi is always calling the profits "obscene" or "immoral" (or both). Just because those words draw attention does not make them accurate. there is NOTHING inherently immoral or obscene about making a profit if you run a company. on top of that, when dealing with Health Care, people really ought to think before they speak. First, despite the problems with our health care system, America is STILL the pinnacle of medical care and treatment. there is no other place on the entire planet that you can receive BETTER care than here. Second, it is NOT the governments job to provide health care. period. if you want health care, go out and get it just like everyone else does you freaking slackers! there are no free lunches, even when people claim there are! suck it up and realize that someone is paying for it. and contrary to your lazy ass opinion, it is NOT a fair share to have someone else pay for it, just cause they can. what is your fair share? what have you contributed? If i bake a pie and use all my own time and ingredients that i purchased, what is your fair share of that pie? ZERO. you don't get any of my pie unless i SAY you do. if you want some of my pie, you can help make it. if you don't help, then SHOVE OFF, you lazy, sack of useless crap, thief.

ok. done.