I think we need a laugh today

 

Scary encounter

 The youngest called in a panic very early this morning. A couple of what he called meth-heads tried to break into his apartment this morning -- while he was asleep right there on the couch! They tried the door and finding it locked tried to come in the window. He'd heard them break into the empty apartment next door, so was awake. He said his dog slept through it all.

While he was on the phone with me talking himself down from the adrenaline rush he heard them come back next door again. I told him to call 911 pronto. 

I offered to see if he wanted me to check the river where I lost my guns in a canoeing accident and bring him a pistol, but he declined. He has his trusty Louisville Slugger. 

Poor kid can't catch a break. They've broken into his car twice in the last few months and now they have tried to come in the windows of his apartment. He's scared and he is sick of it. 

Indianapolis has become a blue city shit hole. There, I said it. 

Edit. He called the police at the time (around 5 am) as of 10 am they still haven't arrived 

It is true

 Watching the grass seed sprout that I planted in a bare spot interests me more than the World Cup. 

Frankly, I'm not too invested in the bare spot.

They cannot be this stupid

 It is a beautiful Saturday here in Mudsock. We are heading off this afternoon to have a beer or two, smoke some fine stogies, and hangout poolside with our best and longest friends. It is good to know people with nice stuff. 

Given the positive vibes I am feeling I really don't want to delve into politics.  But here we go. It must take a special kind of stupid to not understand anything at all about wealth and assets. For goodness sake I have neither and trust me, I've made more stupid financial decisions than most. 

But the politicians and lefties screaming and crying about Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire are beyond the pale. "Millionaires" Elizabeth Warren  and Bernie Sanders should (and do) know better. 

Musk doesn't have piles of money in some giant vault. He doesn't ski down slopes of gold coins like some modern Scrooge McDuck. His wealth (like Jeff Bezos) is tied up in stock he holds in his companies. Musk cannot just write a check to pay for daycare for everyone. 

If Musk sold all of his stock, the value of his companies would collapse and he would have far less wealth. 

Look, there are lots of farmers in my part of the country who are "worth" millions. They have to get loans to buy farm equipment. A couple of bad years could ruin them. Their wealth is in land. Musk's is in stock and assets. And no he doesn't pay taxes on those assets because they are really just pieces of paper, not worth anything until they are sold. 

Let me put it this way, if you own a house, it is worth a certain amount. Is that value of your house in your checking account? No, your house only generates cash if you sell it. 

If your panties are in a wad over SpaceX going public and selling stock, then you are more economically illiterate than your average Democrate Socialist, and that's saying something.

Now I'm going to go choose some cigars and pack a cooler.

Though I try how can I carry on?

 

Once more we step into the 1970s

On the news

 Many reports claim black families feel like they need to have a talk with their sons after the Karmelo Anthony guilty verdict. They should. White, brown, and purple parents need to have the talk too.

Murdering someone because they pushed you in an incident you provoked is not a proper response. 

There, it is easy, and it has nothing to do with race. 

Boo Hoo Scott Pelley.

I've been reading about the histronics from fired journalist Scott Pelley. Things may be different inside a newsroom (I doubt it), but the reported insuborination would get 99.999% of workers fired on the spot. When the boss says to do something, you might respectfully offer an alternative and then you go and do exactly what you are told to do. 

Here is an example. I'd been in sales a good while. I was respected in my industry and considered an expert in a specific application. I was appointed a new boss to oversee my activities. He knew nothing about the industry. 

He went on a series of sales calls with me and my largest customer was first on the list.  We had discussed before the meeting the topics and agenda before we went in. I thought the visit went well. After we got back in the car he asked me how I thought it went. I told him it was a productive meeting. He agreed with me and then asked if I ever created a script and read from it during a sales call. 

With great restraint I did not laugh in his face. "Did I miss somthing we should have discussed?" 

"No."

"Did I not express myself clearly?"

"No, you were great. I was just bothered that you did not bring notes or take notes during the meeting." 

"I learned in college that if I concentrated on note taking I wasn't listening, so I have learned to work that way. I usually make extensive notes after the meeting or later that day." I explained.

"I always read from a script." 

I thought the idea was ridiculous,  my customers would laugh me out of the place. Do you know what I did? After we got to the hotel and before the next day's customer visit I wrote out a script and laid it out on the table during our meeting and pretended to glance at it occasionally during our next sales call. I wrote down random notes during the meeting.

I never did it again unless he was with me because a script is for telemarketers and morons. But he was the boss and my mom didn't raise an idiot. I was convinced his did though.

What I DID NOT do was tell him he was ruining my reputation, he was an idiot, that he was unqualified to be my boss. I did not go off on a rant about the stupidity of the management that put him in charge. That would have gotten me fired. Instead i started looking for another job.

Scott Pelley did those things. He was fired and rightly so. 

On Philosophy

 As I poured a bowl of cereal this morning I had a three decade flashback to me telling my son "You can't just eat the Charms, you have  to eat the Luckies too." 

Much older me realizes this sentiment pretty much sums up life.