You're Occupying My Precious Time

Listen to me people of Occupy Wall Street (as well as the rest of you who are "occupying" other cities): You're not changing anything! The only thing you're doing is occupying my precious time by making me listen to your blather as I walk by or wait for the bus!
Am I pissed about the state of America? YES! Am I pissed about the economy and the corporate greed? YES and YES!
But let's get something straight: your stupid hippie protests aren't going to accomplish shit. In fact, you don't even know what you're trying to accomplish!
Sure you say you want corporate greed to stop as you dress in your Levi's and talk on your iPhone. But guess what, you are the people fueling it!

As am I.

We buy these mass produced consumer goods because they are readily available and affordable. Now, you could go out and buy only locally made products and support only local businesses. People do it. It's not nearly as convenient and not quite as affordable (although you can get some great deals if you know where to look). But you can do it.

Pretty much everything in our lives are products of corporate greed and major corporations. Your car? Made by a major corporation that gives fuck all about you, but really does give a fuck about fucking you out of your money.
Yes I one too. In fact, I have two. So fuck you.

The clothes you're wearing? If they aren't a major name brand, the chances that they were made in the same factories by the same little sweatshop kids as the name brand stuff are probably pretty good. Anyone can get anything custom made by a factory in China. Just go to alibaba.com and open an account. You too can be a "local retailer of small batch made goods" by this weekend.
Obviously any sort of technology or electronic equipment are produced by those who posses corporate greed.

Face it, passive, organized protest never changed a fucking thing. People always look to Martin Luther King Jr. While he helped change a lot of things, he didn't do it alone. There were also forces such as Malcom X, the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground that affected much of, if not more change than Martin Luther King's uplifting "I have a goddamned dream" speeches.

And this bullshit protesting? That's all it is...a fucking pipe dream.
Do you really believe that some high powered executive is going to see you guys on the street and something will click in his psyche like "oh shit, they're right! I've been fucking people all these years to amass my riches. Fuck me, I'd better stop."
No! Those people are well aware of the situation, and they don't care. That's how they got to those positions!
Fuck! Are you people really that ignorant?

And fuck the President and the government in general. He doesn't care about you. None of the politicians do. Again, that's how they got there. They (the billionaires, the CEO's, the politicians) are all part of the same little corrupt group.
If you think you actually voted for or against Obama, you're kidding yourself. For years, it's been known that the electoral college system is just PR bullshit. You don't actually vote for anyone or anything. The recent Alaska Way viaduct improvement solution in Seattle was a perfect example.
The people of Seattle and King county didn't vote for the deep bore tunnel. The tunnel was/is the most expensive alternate solution to the viaduct, which is aging and structurally unsound due to the local earthquakes. However, the government failed to give us any opportunity to vote for another alternative. There were alternatives discussed and presented, but they all failed to make the ballot.
So, the vote wasn't so much for the tunnel as it was against doing nothing.
Those were our choices: tunnel, which has already been determined is going to go over the proposed budget, or do nothing and wait for the road to collapse.

Fuckers. Fuck the government.

My point is, sitting around in the rain singing "Kumbaya" isn't going to change anything. Again, it's all about the money and the power. As a single person, unless you are willing to pick up a gun (and you aren't, you've proved that by sitting in the rain singing aboriginal show tunes), you have very little power. Again, the argument is "I have the right to vote."
And you do.
But as we've seen, that don't mean shit.
Consider this: what if you don't vote? And you convince everyone else to not vote along with you?
If nobody votes, then they can't lie to us and say we voted for someone or something.

But that's idealistic thinking that is unrealistic.

AND SO ARE YOUR PROTESTS!!

Stop trying to turn the fucking world into what you think is right. Do what you can by affecting change on a personal level, then in your circle of family and friends. "Vote" with your checkbook.
Buy local. Avoid shopping at major retailers and stop buying goods produced by big factories.
It's not impossible, but I'll tell you right now, it's gonna be a real pain in the dick to do that and still be able to function in the modern world.

Stop trying to change the entire world to make everyone see your point of view. Because it will never happen. I for one, will never agree with everything you have to say. And the failure to change one is a failure to change everyone. Stop trying to create the ideal world.
It will never happen.
Instead, why not try to achieve some reasonable change for you and your family?

And stop occupying my precious time.

Minimum Wage is Not Living Wage

I hate liberals...and conservatives...anyone who only sees the side of the story they want to see. Thinking solely along the lines of leftest or right-wing is precisely why we can't resolve the simplest of issues in this country....well....that and politics is inherently corrupt.
The fact of the matter is that there are times when conservative thinking may help solve the problem, there are times when liberal thinking may help solve the problem, but most of the time it's a combination of the two that offers up the best solution. Yet people only look at whatever side they want to look at without stepping back to look at the whole picture. When an opposing view is presented, many people automatically go into defensive mode, shutting their ears and opening their mouths.

I recently got into a debate with a friend of mine, who is, by every definition is a bleeding heart liberal. We were talking about theories on bringing jobs back to the States and economic recovery and all that good stuff.
Her theory was that American companies that manufacture products overseas for the importation of those goods back into the U.S. should pay the foreign workers the U.S. minimum wage. The thought was that if we had to pay foreign workers the same that we have to pay American workers, then there would be no benefit for companies to send jobs overseas. Now, I've known this woman for 20 years and consider her to be a fairly intelligent individual, but unfortunately, she's dead wrong and here's why:


1) If American companies were willing to police themselves, we would never had experienced anything like the sub prime mortgage meltdown. While these companies are perfectly capable of policing themselves, pure greed will not allow them to. If American companies won't police themselves on American soil, how can we trust them to police their ways overseas?

Let's face it: large corporations exist for the sole purpose of making money.
That's it.
That's why they are structured the way they are. That is why they do what they do and that is why they rule the world, regardless of what country you're in. If you don't believe that statement, go to just about any country in the world and see how many people you can find that do not recognize logos for Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Pepsi, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Facebook, etc.

People start companies for 2 reasons: to run the show the way they want and/or to make money. It's usually a combination of the two, but in the end, it's the latter that will ultimately win out.

If you don't want to make money, and you want to be a nice fucking guy, you start a non-profit. But those make money too.
Don't kid yourself. The rappers of the world have their shit correct: it's all about the money and the power.

2) In the U.S., the minimum wage is not a living wage. Anyone who tells you that it is, is lying to you and you should punch them in the fucking face. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. That's $290 per week or $1160 per month....gross.....before taxes, insurance, medicare, social security, federal with holdings because you owe back child support.

Here in Seattle, the minimum wage is $8.67 an hour. That's $347 a week or $1388 per month. The average rent in Seattle has recently dropped to an all affordable $1023 per month, which is probably more than you're actually bringing home as a minimum wage employee. But, if you're making minimum wage, you're probably not paying average rent. You're probably living in a low rent neighborhood or possibly outside the city in the south Puget Sound area. It's hard, but you can probably find a place to rent for $500 a month if you looked, or shared an apartment with a roommate. That's about half of your gross monthly pay. Before taxes that pay for things you probably won't use and Social Security that you'll never see.
If you have a car, you'll need to fill it up with gas @ $4.00 or more a gallon in the Seattle area. Hopefully you'll have insurance, but after you gas 'er up, you might not have any money left. So let's say you ditch the car and opt for a transit pass. If you live in the city, this might be a viable option. If you live in an outlying area, one of these passes could run upwards of $300 a month.
Now you've already spent the majority of your gross income on a place to live and just getting to and from your minimum wage job. You still haven't fed or clothed yourself. You haven't taken a shower because you haven't paid for utilities...unless you're fortunate enough to find the rare building that rolls that into the rent. You can't call in sick or late because you don't have a phone because you didn't pay the bill. And let's hope you don't have any kids or a spouse or anyone else to take care of because, let's face it, you're fucked.

Now that $8.67 an hour is eight times more than many Chinese people currently make in entry-level jobs. Eight times. That's like making $72 an hour here in the Emerald City. Fuck. I wish I made $72 an hour! That's over $11,000 a month.
Which is precisely the problem. At $72 an hour, you'll probably find a pool of highly qualified, highly motivated applicants. At $9 an hour, you will find high school kids in search of their first job.
Now you run into training costs, quality control issues and costs, employee turnover rate costs and the list just keeps going.
Any way you slice it, in many cases it's still cheaper to outsource the labor overseas.

3) We have no business being the world police. I'm sure who elected us, but it sure as fuck wasn't me. We have our own problems here in the U.S.A. to contend with before we take on the problems of others. And that's another problem.
What we view as a "problem" or a "rights issue" or whatever in our culture is not necessary a problem or issue in another culture. Our perception upon the world as Americans is warped due to the media, due to the bleeding hearts and the ultra-conservative right wing.
All we have to do is look inward at our own individual "cultures" right here at home. You might not agree that firearms and the death penalty are OK, but I do. That doesn't make either view right per se, it just makes them different. You might believe in a Christian god or a Muslim god or a Buddhist god in your home. In my home, we do not. Again, not right or wrong. Just different.

What we need to do is do away with NAFTA and all this free trade bullshit and tax the shit out of foreign made goods. ALL of them, whether they are manufactured for U.S. or foreign owned companies should not matter. If we make foreign goods cost more than American goods, then people will be more inclined to buy American, to buy local. Thus, more money will circulate through the economy, and voila. Problem solved.
That's not to say that American companies will make good quality products, that's another issue.  But at least people will be buying American. Then we can begin to police our own companies on our own soil rather trying to chase down some overseas vendor that makes something for somebody who in turn sells it to an American company who then imports it and resells it to the American people.
If we hike up import tariffs, that would entice American companies to start making things here in America again.

That's why the Japanese have built facilities here in the states. It's cheaper for them to build their products over here rather than build them in Japan and ship them here. As it should be.

We also need to let American companies fail. Stop bailing out Chrysler and Bank of America. Let 'em fail.
One of the reasons we make such shitty products in this country is because we can. Because companies know that there will be a safety net, there is no motivation to be any better than the next guy or to strive for greatness. Historically, many companies failed. Nash, Hudson, Cord, Studebaker, Packard, Tucker, Marmon, Kaiser, LaSalle, and those are just the auto companies that failed in the 1940's!
Some will argue that letting these big corporations fail would just add to the already high unemployment numbers and bad economy. But I think it would drive companies to not fail. There are a finite number of executive positions out there, so if companies continued to fail, eventually the execs would also find themselves in the bread line with the rest of us.

The answer to the problem isn't to treat everyone fairly. The answer is to treat us better than everyone else. Pay people a decent wage for decent work. But also, be sure that the work is decent. Get rid of the union labor force. There may have been rationale to have a unionized unskilled force 75 years ago, but there is no longer. Unskilled workers should not get skilled worker pay.
Period.
Pay should be based on performance and merit and that should echo through the ranks of corporations all the way up.
Ditch the golden parachutes for the execs that continually fuck the American people. Kick them out of the airplane and see if they can fly.
Stop policing the goddamned world. It's not our job and we can't afford it at this point.

Let's stay focused on rebuilding the U.S. and not tearing down other countries.

Everyone Is An Asshole

I used to believe that most people were inherently good and would do the right thing.
Turns out I was wrong.

Most people are assholes. If you happen to be reading this in the workplace and if your workplace happens to be an office environment, look around. Look at the people who are on top or near the top.
How did they get there? Usually by stepping on people, stabbing people in the back, or just blatant lying. You'll also notice that the people who are actually good at their job (especially people who are really good) stay in the same position forever. They never move up.
It's because the assholes at the top know that they don't know what that person knows.

The saying "shit rolls downhill?" There's only shit because of people.
People shit.
People shit on other people.
Really shitty people shit on little people, kids and animals.

Fucking pieces of shit.

Watch the news sometime, or just click on MSNBC. You'll see stories of violence, police brutality and just plain injustice. These stories are usually bolstered by video taken by some asshole who will state "I wish somebody would have just helped the guy" or "nobody deserves to be treated that way."
But they never step in. They'd rather film it for YouTube on their fucking iPhones then actually try to help the situation.

The same thing can be said for American politics. People just stand here and complain in hopes that some other self aggrandizing asshole will step into office and change things.
I don't like hippies and I think peaceful protests are a waste of time, but hey, at least they were trying  to do something.

People are just rude, self righteous assholes. Period. There are good people in the world, but the majority are not.
Nope.
Most people would rather cut in line at the grocery store to save their precious 2 minutes while everyone behind them suffers. Most people would rather cut you off in traffic rather than wait the extra 5 seconds to exit the freeway safely.

Most people would rather shit on your then own up to their own mistakes or responsibilities.

I know you have at least 1 co-worker who would rather blame everyone else for everything that has gone wrong rather than own up to his or her own fuck ups. I know you have at least 1 co-worker who has someone else do everything for them, not so much because they aren't capable, but because they want someone to blame.

Unfortunately, it's those shit heads that move up the corporate ladder.
Which is why I can't stand corporate America, but let's face it, how many options do most of us realistically have?
Those same shit heads are the shit heads that steal other people's ideas and take credit for other people's hard work. They are the same shit heads that drive the giant SUV's with a dozen TV screens even though they have no kids and don't carpool.
They are the very same people who toss a used napkin toward the garbage can, thinking they are Larry Bird, and miss. Then they leave the napkin there rather than picking it up because "that's housekeeping's job."

Fuck you.

People continue to be self righteous assholes until you hit them. Either literally or in the pocketbook. Being that we're all adults here, I'll use the pocketbook example even though I'm definitely not  opposed to kicking someones teeth out in the middle of a busy intersection in downtown......in which case somebody would record it on their fucking iPhone and I would become the king internet YouTube bad guy bully.

The only time you ever see people even think about standing up and doing what they think is right is when somebody somewhere decides to raise the price on something. Especially when that something is taxes. Any time the government wants to raise taxes it's "holy shit! You just raised taxes and where the fuck did that money go? You said it was for the schools and I'm fucking Mormon and I have 12 kids so I'm concerned about the schools! You said it was for the schools and you bought a Lear jet!!"
  
"Yeah, well, we're sorry about that. Give us more money."
"Not until you fix the schools."
"Give us more money."
"What about the children?"

Yeah....what about the children of these self righteous assholes? Will they grow up to be assholes too?
Yes. Yes they will.
They will be just like their parents and sit idly by as the world turns until the world turns on them. Then they will bring everyone else into the mix and try to do good with whatever bullshit cause they set their sites on. They'll donate money to make the problem go away.....or to hire someone to deal with the problem.

After all, the world is round......much like an asshole.

Stop Lying to Your Children

I hate to bring that dose of reality to your life. But you will never be wealthy.
That's OK, neither will I.

That isn't to say you won't become "rich," however, the definition of "rich" is subjective. I'm probably rich when compared to some poor soul out there.

Take a look at your life. It probably isn't that much economically different than the lives of your parents or the lives of their parents. If you were born and raised middle class (whether it be lower, middle or upper), chances are you probably also turned out to be middle class. If you are in the 20-40 something age range, you probably also carry more debt than your parents did.

When I was a kid, I always thought that my parents were poor. As I became older, I realized that my parents weren't poor.
They were ludicrously fucking cheap.

There is something to be said for being frugal, but being cheap to the point where you won't even splurge every once in a while to enjoy life is just wrong.

They say you can't take it with you, so why not use some of it while you're here?
But I'm getting sidetracked.....

My reason for bringing up the harsh reality about the fact that you will never be President and you will never run elbows with Bill Gates or Warren Buffett at a fundraising luncheon is the simple fact that what they say really is true.
It takes money to make money.

If you don't believe me, try starting a successful business with no money. Take whatever you have in your pocket right now, write up a business plan and head straight to your nearest bank to apply for financing.
They'll laugh you right out of the place. I don't care how good your plan may be; how foolproof; how guaranteed to turn a profit starting immediately.
You can't get money without first having access to money.
Ironic isn't it?

Thus, those born into money, and to a lesser extent, those who have above average amounts of money can just continue making more money.

Those of us just getting by may be able to start a small business to bolster our current income or maybe even make enough to quit the day job.

But we will never be wealthy.

Now, I don't have kids. Probably never will.
But if I did, I would have to explain to them at some point that the world of finance and politics is corrupt, the news is scripted bullshit, Santa Claus does not exist, the Kennedys were drug dealing mafia assholes and you can still get pregnant even if you jump up and down afterward.

The American Dream, if it ever fully existed, is dead. The system is designed to keep the rich rich, the poor poor and the rest of us fighting to get by as we support the two extremes at either end of the bells curve.
Think about it.

Many laws and regulations are set into motion because of money.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, let's look at marijuana laws. Now, weed is perfectly legal. There are a few people in this country who receive this legal weed directly from the U.S. government. If you are willing to jump through the ridiculous hoops, and if you can somehow miraculously get the shit approved, you too can grow and sell your very own Alaskan Thunderfuck.
But the government rarely approves things like that. There are literally a million and one way for them to reject your application.
Why not just tax the shit out of you?

Because they make more money by throwing you in jail.
It's justification for hiring more cops, building more prisons, enacting more laws to restrict your freedom and your pocketbook.
If you go to prison for something stupid and petty like weed, you're still a felon when you get out.
Legally, prospective employers can't ask you why the fuck you were in prison, so for all they know, you killed someone and enjoyed their liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
And thus, you get stuck in the system. Maybe you need welfare and/or food stamp assistance because that fast food job you had to take just isn't cutting it.

The middle class pays for that.

El Presidente Dubya and his buddies opted for bank deregulation so that any cheesedick idiot could get  car loan, home loan, boat loan so that Dubya and his Roquefort-dicked buddies could make more money. More money by hiding interest charges and talking people into ARM loans they really couldn't afford. More money by freeing up credit people really should have to buy things they really can't afford.
And don't kid yourself. The economy has only crashed for me and you. The rich are becoming even richer in the "bad economic climate."
Oil and gas companies are gouging you not because they need to, but because they can. Banks are tacking on hidden fees and other surprises not wrapped up in shiny bows to fuck you out of your money and keep their own coffers full. Businesses are continually downsizing and operating on leaner structures in order to ensure that the profit margins continue to rise even though it means that thousands of Americans are currently without work.

The wealthy could change all of this.
But they won't.
I mean, the richest 400 Americans are all worth at least  $1 billion. I know people that are worth $1 or $2 million but I've never met anyone worth a billion! That's 1000 times richer than my richest acquaintances.
These billionaires pay, on average, about 18% in taxes.....which I think is probably an inflated bullshit number as well. I don't believe they even pay that. The ultra-rich and the wealthy have tax havens, and shelters and shell corporations to move that money around to avoid such taxes.
Oprah, Obama and Bill Gates don;t set up charities because they are wonderful god damned people. They do it to avoid having to pay taxes.
I'd do it too if I had enough money to hide.

While these assholes have more tricks than Penn and Teller, you and I fork over 30% or more of our hard earned income to support the fucks at either end of the scale. We pay into Social Security and Medicaid that we'll never see; welfare we'll hopefully never have to use; we pay premiums for home and car loans; we dole out bank and credit card fees because we can't seem to save enough for that all inevitable rainy day.
It's like that movie "Up" where the couple save up for their dream vacation to Paradise Falls, but shit always happens that depletes their savings. Then she dies, he's left to try and fend off the corporate assholes that want to turn his home into condos. He travels off in search of Paradise Falls and while en route meets his childhood hero who turns out to be a corrupt asshole.

That's some real shit!

I honestly believe that is why that movie was so popular. I think that deep down, we as middle-class Americans know that's exactly how life is going to play out.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that these assholes got to be where they are on their own.It takes an entire village  (albeit a large one with seemingly conflicting ideals) of fucking assholes to produce one little asshole like Mark Zuckerberg or Barack Obama.
Yes I said it. Yes I use Facebook and think it's a great product. But I don't think Zuckerberg is a genius and I didn't vote for Obama.
Now, I'm not saying that Zuckerberg is as big of a crook as people make him out to be either.

Mark Zuckerberg took someone else's idea and tweaked it. Nothing inherently wrong with that. Someone else took that idea to market in order to make it lucrative...not Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg is a programmer, not a businessman.

But any way you slice it, Zuckerberg was a Harvard student, as were Bill Gates, Teddy Roosevelt, Dubya, Obama,Costa Rican President  Jose Maria Figueres and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Normal kids don't attend Harvard unless Harvard gets something out of it. The same goes for Stanford, Yale, Notre Dame, Brown and any other high priced school you can think of.

While attending college at the prestigious Eastern Washington University campus, I met and fraternized with.....get this.....people like me!!
Holy fuck what a concept.
I was just an average guy middle class kid with average grades. Most of my friends were average middle class kids, although the grades varied. There were a few rich kids on campus, but there weren't any Vanderbilts or Waltons.

Had I been a wealthy kid who attended an ivy league school, I would have been able to befriend other wealthy kids with various business connections and thus create more wealth for myself and my family.
It takes money to make money.

Nobody creates a life by themselves.

My dad is an airline pilot. Had I wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a flyboy, it would have been relatively easy for me. My dad has an airplane that I could have practiced and built airtime in. He knows people at various flight schools and when the time came, he knows enough people in that industry that I probably could have gotten hired by a major airline.

I bet you don't have those connections.

And I don't have the connections that you have via your family/friend/professional networks. And none of us have Bill Gates or Barack Obama's connections.

Yet that is what is needed to become President, to become a billionaire, live the American dream.

So stop lying to the children and telling them anything is possible. Either that, or change the dream.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream......and they murdered him.

Madonna Is Not the Only Material Girl

My brother mentioned to me the other day that he is trying to find a way to give up such a materialistic lifestyle so he can semi-retire early. He wants to be able to afford semi-retirement, but he doesn't want to have to give up his way of living.

Not sure how you're going to get both, bro.

The simple fact of the matter is that, as Americans, we work a good majority of our lives for stuff. From the time most of us are teenagers until we are halfway in the box, we work simply to acquire stuff.

Some will argue, that no, we work to pay bills.
That's bullshit and not true.
You don't have to have bills. You could be homeless. You probably don't want to, but you could be...it is an option.

On the Duwamish waterway near Elliot Bay there is a man who lives in a tent right on the waterfront. He has a little bench in his "front yard" area so he can chill and watch the boats. He can fish and pick berries to his heart's content.

Kinda looks like he's got it made.
Meanwhile, I spend nearly $2000 a month for a similarly appointed apartment...except I can only see the water, I don't live right on  the water like he does.
I don't even have a yard!
Or fucking berries for that matter.

Anyway, my brother tells me that as Americans, we put too much emphasis on stuff and when you look back on your best memories, they rarely include stuff. Except for maybe the memory of buying your first home or car.
I think he made a good point, even though he drives a BMW and rides a custom Harley that costs more than many starter homes.
There's some fucking irony.

We do  put too much emphasis on stuff. Why do guys like expensive cars? Because girls like expensive cars....well.....maybe not so much the cars, but the fact that somewhere beneath that big body Mercedes, there is a large bank account to supply her with.........more stuff.

Nice stuff doesn't always have to be "expensive" stuff. I have a nice enough car, I think. It has leather interior, climate control, power everything and seats 4 comfortably. But it's 12 years old and has 135,000 miles on the clock. It's paid for and it's comfortable and dependable. Before I had this car, I drove a car that was nearly 30 years old. I liked that car. I could take it places and not have to worry if it was going to get scratched or if the doors were going to get dinged.

Would I like a new car or truck?
Sure.
But if I have a car payment, then that means I can't go snowboarding this winter.

I'd rather snowboard. I'll take 2 feet of fresh pow on a bluebird day over leather interior and a heated steering wheel any day.

People have stuff for competition.
Like the old saying from the 80's "He who dies with the most toys wins."
But not really. You're still dead you cocksucker. At that point, what do the toys matter?
Most people that buy said toys never play with them. They look at them and show them off to their friends who may not be able to afford the same toys.
Like the Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    

Cameron: The 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Less than 100 were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion.

Ferris: It is his fault he didn't lock the garage.

Cameron: Ferris, what are you talkin' about?

[Ferris eyes the car hungrily]

Cameron: Ferris, my father loves this car more than life itself.

Ferris: A man with priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile

Why do you need the big SUV to tote around your 1 or 2 kids? Because you can. Because you can say "hey fuckers look at me!! Loooook.......at.......meeeeeeeee!"
That's all. That's the only reason.

One could argue that I've never been in a position to afford stuff that nice so I really don't understand. After having nice stuff, you will never want to go back to not having nice stuff....at least that's what I'm told.

I could go into major debt like everyone else and have the nice cars and the overpriced Seattle mortgage payment. But then....I'd be just like everyone else.
When my friends call me to go snowboarding, rather than saying "fuck yeah, which mountain?"
I'd say "no....I can't afford to go. Got this car payment....."
I could put it on my credit card and yank all my money out of the bank and be completely broke. Then I'd have it all!
Then the bank would want me to pay up.
Then I'd be back to nothing.

The key to life and stuff, is, like many other things, moderation. Now, if having stuff and collecting stuff is your thing, great. Go for it. But don't bitch that you never get to do anything because you gotta pay for all your stuff.

I hate people who have stuff that never use it. Much again like the Ferrari in the movie. Drive the Ferrari. If you want something to look at, rent out some Playboy bunnies, stick 'em in a cage in the living room and let that be that.

Every year, I load up the car (sometimes multiple times) with stuff I no longer or never used and head to the nearest Goodwill donation station. Let someone else use the stuff I don't use. Yet every year, I never cease to amaze myself at how much useless shit I've amassed.

Every goddamn year!

I'm not much of the consumerist type. I buy a lot of bike parts and outdoor equipment, but that shit get used, broken, lost, what have you. I don't buy art for art's sake. What little art I do have is usually created by local artists you've never heard of because I think it's better than that mass produced shit or some shit like Picasso that people say is good, but I think is shit. I don't own all the new trendy gadgets. I don't even have a fuckin' iPod.
Know why?
Because I broke 3 iPods in a year a few years back and figured I don't need music with me all the time.
And I couldn't be happier.

Do you have any idea how much stuff you miss when wearing your iPod? The odd conversations you're privy to, the birds chirping, the kids screaming for asinine crap...and the parents who give in to said crap.

The world is an awesome place. Don't tune it out with headphones.

Yes, we have too much stuff. Nobody wants to downsize or lose their stuff. But really people, it's just stuff. Downsizing or trying to move away from being the typical consumerist American is tough.

It's like breaking a drug addiction.

But I think once most people try it, they end up liking it. You will have to change the way you do things, see things and your general modus operandi.

I don't think people realize how much of life they miss in today's technological world. I spend all fucking in front of a computer at work. I spend much of my evening on a computer as well doing shit like writing this goddamn fucking blog that nobody reads or editing videos of my latest idiotic cycling adventure.
I always wonder how much of life did I miss while fucking around with technology? Did I miss a big party on the beach? Did I miss friends that I haven't seen in years that just happened to be in town for a concert? Did my neighbors have a BBQ on the roof?

I don't know. And I'll never know.
But I do know this: stuff is just stuff. You can get more stuff at any time if you want more stuff. The stuff will always be there. Between China and South America, there is an infinite supply of consumerism stuff to buy. I should know, I'm in procurement. I get paid to......buy stuff!

But life is for living, and you only get one shot. You can't go down to Target and get more life...unless you want the cereal, which is good shit!
Life is finite.
How long it lasts is unknown.
You might have 20,000 days of life left. Or you might only have today left.

So why not put down the fuckin' stuff and go live your life?

Big Gay Al's Big Gay Rights

Apparently the ACLU is trying to drum up money for whatever long and drawn out cause they are going after next. There was an Asian man (I'll touch on the reason for mentioning his ethnicity in a minute) at the grocery store armed with a clipboard and and blue ACLU vest trying to sign up members.

While I think the ACLU is fighting for some worthy causes, they also take stances that I don't agree with. Thus, I'm not donating $10 a month that may be used to fight against my own system of beliefs.
Period.

In fact, I rarely donate money to anything. If it's a worthwhile cause, then I'll donate my time. This way, I know exactly what I contributed to what and how much. Plus, I don't have any money to donate because the fucking government took it all.

In any case, the Asian man in the blue vest approaches me and asks if I'm a supporter of gay rights.

I told him no.

He looked shocked. This is, after all, West Seattle, possibly one of the most progressive areas in one of the most progressive cities in the country. Nobody but nobody doesn't support gay rights in this part of town!

I went on to explain that I am a supporter of rights and why should I have to be gay to have rights?

Doesn't everybody have rights? And if not, isn't THAT what you should be fighting for?

Fuck "gay rights" or "women's rights" or "people who don't right on red!" Fuck that!

Everyone should have the same goddamn rights.

Do I believe that gay people should have the right to marry?
Sure! Why not? It benefits the economy, and in times like this, we need all the help we can get.
It's a known fact that gay couples, on average, make more than heterosexual couple. Thus, they pay more taxes and gay people like to spend fucking money.

At least, my gay friends like to spend money. A lot of money.

If nothing else, the first publicized, televised gay divorce will make for one train wreck of a Jerry Springer episode!

I support rights. Rights for everyone. Not special rights. You shouldn't get to go to school for free based on the color of your skin or because your parents are from another country....or because you are from another country.Or because you enjoy having a man-bear sexual partner.
No.
That's bullshit.
The playing field should be level.
For everyone.

People should be judged based on their actions, not their skin color, sexual preference or religious beliefs...or lack thereof.

I know, work, associate and befriend people of all backgrounds. I have right-wing Bible reading straight white WASP friends. I have a friend who is a black Cuban homosexual. One of my close friends and former room mate is a lesbian with more tattoos and piercings than Kat Von D.
I have friends that are rich, poor, plumbers, electricians, custom car builders, line cooks, real estate agents, non profit organizers, businessmen and women, firefighters, and even lawyers.

Each one of them is different as each one of them should be and has the right to be.
If you want to go to church and believe in whatever god it is you think is real, then that should be your right. But it is also my right to believe in a different god....or no god at all.

I believe in free speech and free will. The laws and the government should leave people the fuck alone so long as they aren't hurting anyone or infringing on someone else's rights.

I also believe that if groups such as the ACLU would stop pushing for special rights for certain groups that many people would change their thinking.

Every time you ask about gay rights, women's rights, Black people's rights, those labels spark some sort of image in people's heads. Everyone is prejudiced against someone or something to some extent.
Those of you who are not are fucking liars.
Do I support gay rights?
The answer is no.

Do I support rights?
Why yes, yes I do.

Back to the Asian ACLU guy. It should be mentioned, that I am of mixed ethnic heritage. My father is half Japanese, my mother Portuguese. The guy could have just as easily asked me if I supported Asian rights.

But he didn't.
He asked if I supported gay rights.
Does that mean he thought I was gay?
Maybe.
If that's the case, then he was making a judgement call (and a bad one I might add) on who he thought I was.
He could have asked me about civil rights or equal rights or women's rights.
But he didn't.
He judged me in what he thought in his mind, was an accurate assumption. And we all know what they say about assuming. It means there's no ass for u or me at this frat party.

His assumption about me and who I am, whether correct or incorrect, just proved my thought on the hypocrisy of groups like the ACLU and the inconsistency of their message.

That is why I'll give them a fucking dime.
I'd rather donate to the KKK. At least they are honest and up front about what they stand for.

You Are Fat, Not Hadicapped

People like this guy piss me off. I have friends that are actually handicapped due to illness, injury and/or birth defect. They didn't ask to have missing limbs or to walk with canes or crutches. Yet, they aren't suing anyone because they can't reach the fucking Cheerios at Safeway.

No.

They usually do this: "Hey dude, can you do me a favor and grab the fucking Cheerios? Thanks!"

Yet these fat fuckers waddle through life blaming everyone and asking for a hand out because they eat at goddamn White Castle every day. They get handicapped placards for their Fatman mobiles. They use the old people power scooter at the grocery store....which isn't even rated for a half a ton. They blame the food companies for making them fat. They blame their employers for discriminating against them.

The list just goes on and on...

I'll admit it. I'm definitely a few pounds heavier than I should be. But you know whose fault that is?

MINE!

Obama Bin Laden didn't come over to my apartment last night and declare a jihad against my waistline and force me to eat those new Oreos that are regular Oreo on one side and golden Oreo on the other.

Nope.

I sat down and turned on the TV and poured myself a glass of milk and ate the fucking cookies.
Me. I did it.
I also ate the pulled pork sandwich at the lunch meeting. I could have had a salad, but I didn't.

I was also a pack a day smoker for more than a decade. So, I guess if I get cancer I can sue Camel.
Everyone else does. They claim they didn't know Camels cause cancer and Big Macs give you heart attacks.

BULLSHIT!!!

People just don't want to take responsibility for the fact that they are fat, nicotine and Vicodin addicted assholes. They just don't.

I once worked for a guy that weighed 400 lbs. No shit.
When I would ride my bike into work he'd always comment that "you'd never see my fat ass on a pedal bike. That's too much work."

And that sir, is precisely why you tip the scales at nearly a quarter ton.

My theory is that it's laziness. It's hard to work all day then go home and prepare a healthy meal. It's easier to get Drive Thru gourmet.
It's hard to go to the gym or go jogging or ride a bike. It's easier to point a Jimmy Dean sausage finger at the world and blame everyone else for your problems.
It's hard to look in the mirror and admit to yourself that you're a big, fat, lazy fuck of a person. It's easier to get a lawyer and sue Burger King for making delicious and addictive treats.

There's nothing wrong with being fat. If you're OK with it, I'm OK with it. But don't go around expecting people to help you because you "handicapped" yourself. That's akin to cutting your own leg off with a chainsaw on purpose then expecting sympathy.

NO motherfucker. YOU did it! YOU cut your leg off. Now hop like a pogo stick, shit head!

Some claim "food addiction." Now I don't know if this is a real condition or not. But let's say it is. Then get help, just like a drug addict or alcoholic. Alcoholics know they can't drink safely, so they stay the fuck out of the bar!
Stay the fuck out of the buffet, and you'll probably be OK.

And stop trying to bullshit people by telling them you like being 100 lbs overweight. Give you curves. Oh bullshit! Nobody likes shopping at the Big and Tall because they are big but not tall.

They oughta start a fucking store called the Short N Fat. I know there have been times when I could have shopped there. That was, until I put down the bacon burger.

Maybe I can get one of those handicapped things for my car because I'm mentally unstable.

HEY! IT'S A HANDICAP!

I might explode on an innocent person on my way through the parking lot. Better get me closer to the door to limit exposure.