Sayings, questions and a point of view

Here's a few sayings, ?s & POVs I felt like sharing:
People and groups are measured by the challenges they overcome given the resources available to them.
In the workplace, a pat on the back is only a few centimeters from a kick in the pants.
Love is a matter of chemistry, and sex is a matter of physics.
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
A shortcut is the LONGEST distance between 2 points!
Murphy (the author of the last 4 sayings) was an optimist.
Jackie Kennedy's quote:  If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much
"CAN'T FIGHT THE SEETHER!" Nina Gordon/Veruca Salt from the song "Seether" from album American Thighs. 

Can you judge a person solely by their career?  Is it a major part of their identity?
Today, did you thank someone today if they did you a favor? Have you had a few favors done for you lately?
What does your best friend really think about you??
I am making some important decisions during this past week.  I have more important decisions to make.........will I be happy with those decisions or will I regret them????

I can't stand a certain baleful, odious word that cropped up after 2012. I say "after 2012" because I worked in downtown Loop area of Chicago up to Valentine's Day, 2012.  Then I worked on my own.... launching a small eBay business, temping, doing independent contractor work for various people....Then in September, 2013 I was hired again to work at a law firm where I stayed for about 2 years.  I started hearing this damdable word a lot.   It sounds like a swear word.  In fact, there's something about how people abuse this word that makes it worse than swearing because it reeks of presumption, it oozes and sits there in your ear as you hear how patronizing it sounds! ! !

About a month ago, I told someone at a company that I was finished with a job.  He said, "Perfect."
How the hell could he presume my job was perfect after a mere fraction of a second? How?
Now, I did well and was complemented by others for what I did.  But it wasn't literally perfect!!

Why not say "great," "fine," or "all right?" I even love if someone reacts with "OK" rather than that grossly, sickly overused word PERFECT!
There are things that are perfect.  Obviously, God is perfect.  The Holy Trinity is perfect.  Heaven will be perfect, I believe.  There have been and will be perfect meals or a perfect cup of coffee or tea with  the right kind and amount of cream for coffee and sugar for tea.
There might be a perfect meal or a perfect letter written......A letter where the writer does an outstanding job of conveying points to the recipient of the letter.
You have to give some thought to what is really perfect.  When something really is perfect, then I don't mind it being used!   I didn't dislike the word before I heard it misused so much after 2013.  I don't dislike the word perfect in its inherent nature.
The overuse of perfect is a sign that it looks like subjectivity is trumping and reigning over objectivity.  You see it over and over again in society.  How a news channel or a politician has a point of view, and you damn well better believe in it....too often they pronounce with precious little to no evidence.
I will NOT tell you this blog is perfect!

OH WOW ! A STOCK TIP!!

Now, you know I don't know it all.
I've never claimed omniscience; in fact, most of What Happened to Vince is about struggle!
Yet, I want to pass along some good financial advice. I'm feeling pretty happy.....found out some good news at work.  More importantly, I've given this topic a lot of thought!

If you would like to invest in a stock invest in Alliant Energy.  Here is a firsthand account of what happened to me. In 2013, I inherited $17,000 worth of Alliant stock.  By 2015, my stock value doubled to $34,000.  The stock doubled.

The stock's 3 letters are LNT

Am I a certified, trained stock advisor?  NO
Has there been times when Alliant Energy stock goes down?  Yes, but it retains and appreciates  its value over time, the long term from the 5 years I've had the stock.
Could what happened to Alliant Energy stock back in 2013 to 2015 happen to you?  I don't know.
Here is the homepage - https://www.alliantenergy.com/
Think for yourself, I'm giving advice as a layman. If you think I have a good idea, go to
https://www.alliantenergy.com/PartneringwithAlliantEnergy/Shareowners

NOT TRUE!

THE old saying that:
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you STRONGER!

Well...........that simply isn't true!

blast from the past!! 8 years ago Porcupine

This morning I wished I were a porcupine. That’s the kind of chaos and disorder that’s created when someone in your home makes a dumb decision. Shock and stunned surprise turns into anger turns to desperation.
1. Maribeth bought a purebred dog for $200. Now, juxtapose that event with the fact that we live in a two-bedroom condo. When you live in a condo, your front and back yard is not just yours but also all of your neighbors, and we are in a condo complex with 27 other condo buildings and house around 300 people. Looking back at it, I wonder if I could have prevented it. I doubt it. I knew a week ahead of time that we were going to get a dog. If I had gotten really really upset and let Maribeth know it was completely unacceptable to get a dog, what would have happened? Could I have prevented it?
There was one other problem. Our condo complex has by laws that says “NO PETS”. Getting a goldfish or even a bird is no big deal b/c it doesn’t effect your neighbors. After all, how dirty and how loud can a goldfish get? So when it comes to pets that are in a small place inside a condo, there’s no big deal and is somewhat common. THAT DOESN’T APPLY TO DOGS. Dogs bark. Dogs shit and piss, and when they do, you really really want them to do it outside. But outside is not just your property but your neighbors property too. You think they like having dogshit in their yard??
But according to Maribeth, that was also no problem. The condo was soon passing a by law allowing pets. It would happen as soon as the next meeting. “How can that be?” I wondered. You have to change by laws by all owners voting, not in a single meeting. But then our office manager and chairperson of the condo board likes to pass things quickly so maybe Maribeth was right.
She made it sound easy. The dog was already house trained. It was a puppy, and a puppy will have accidents, but that would be the exception to the rule. She would have her own area where she would eat and sleep. Having this dog as a pet was going to be this smart, thought-out plan.
The puppy, it was already named Mini, made a good 1st impression. It has very short hair so there’s no concerns whatsoever about shedding. It was smart, good looking dog. Yet, I was disabused of the idea of this being a well-managed affair about 2 days later. The kids came home and were responsible insofar as they had taken it out 2 or 3 times in the space of 6 hours. The dog still managed to shit in our condo twice and pee several times too. Mini followed a pattern where when Maribeth was at work things were worse than when Maribeth was at home with the dog. The difference wasn’t that Maribeth takes the dog outside, and the kids don’t. The kids have been pretty responsible about this, and they really want to make this work. The difference is that Maribeth will mop up the floor, dispose of wetted papers quicker than they do. The difference is the house smells worse when I come home from work and Maribeth is still working. I’m trying to make this work, too! Maribeth was surprised that I would take the dog out to “go to the bathroom”. Really?? You think I want the dog to shit and piss in our condo? You think I want our condo to smell like a urinal? Yes, I take the dog out on a daily basis. I get upset with the dog, but you can hardly blame the dog. Mini is just being an animal.
Meanwhile, we soon found out that Maribeth was absolutely wrong on the whole condo situation. The by laws are not going to be changed to allow pets for at least a few months. And the by laws would only be changed through a concerted effort were well over 60% of the owners approved of dogs. Not all of them do. We were reported by 4 different neighbors to my friend who is a chairperson on the board. She emailed me with a note saying, “please tell me you don’t have a dog.” I adopted the excuse that Maribeth came up with which is the following: the dog isn’t really ours, it’s Maribeth’s dad’s dog. Unfortunately, her dad, being 82 yrs. old, has gotten very sick and can’t take care of the dog. The excuse worked and has been working for about a month. I still feel really embarassed when I take the dog out. We are so blatantly violating the by laws! Everytime the dog barks and can be heard, everytime she prances around the condo complex, I just want to crawl away someplace and not be seen by anyone. It’s an embarassment.
We started out with the dog sleeping in the space that we reserved it. Is she sleeping there anymore? FUCK NO! Now, I've been forced to compromising and allowing the dog to sleep on the living room couch. But the dog's goal is to sleep in a bed, and the dog sometimes succeeds! It so pisses me off. I am not used to living, breathing, eating and sleeping 24 hours under the same roof as a dog. Never had to put up with this in the 46 yrs. I been on Planet Earth. The point is that Maribeth loves her dog and loves sleeping with it. This only happens once a week or so, but it’s bad enough.
This brings me back to the very first sentence of this blog. This morning was one of those unfortunate times when Maribeth, dog & I were in the same bed. I had watched TV late and didn’t get into bed until early morning, and for some reason, it didn’t feel quite right to kick the dog out of bed when she had been there most of the night. So, I got into bed. From left to right it was me, Maribeth and dog. I had a decent amount of room, struggled to find enough pillows and tried to sleep. Pretty soon, Maribeth was crowding me and pushing me to the very margin of the bed. I pushed a little, but it left me fantasizing. If had a thumtack where she was pushing maybe she wouldn’t push so hard. But then she was pushing all across my body and realized I would need a lot of thumb tacks. At that point, I fantasized about being a porcupine. Then I got out of bed and realized that Maribeth was giving the dog more room than she was giving me.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE! IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE! This morning, she was happy that the dog peed on our 3rd floor balcony. I told her that was absolutely unacceptable, we have a neighbor on the 2nd floor, and we are not going to have dog pee dripping onto her balcony. A co-worker is in the middle of an apartment fight over that very same issue!! We spent years cultivating what is a very good relationship with our neighbor. Her son and our son are best friends. We are going to piss all that away on our stupid dog?? She told me she was tired of mopping the floor on a daily basis because of the dog.
No kidding? If she had a backyard, we wouldn’t have this damn problem. Her dad’s actual dog has a backyard. Instead of peeing where she is and stinking up the whole house, she pees outside and makes the lawn greener with the nitrogen in her pee.
Maribeth doesn’t consider that. Our daughter, Brianna asked for a dog. She also asked for a cat. Now, sitting here kicking myself and wishing we had gotten a cat. If we did, there would have been no way we would have gotten a dog. So, Brianna really wanted a dog. She was supposed to act like an adult, a parent. She was supposed to say "no" if our kids, specifically, Brianna, made an unreasonable request. She was supposed to be a responsible parent. & she caved in and let her have this dog. But really, Maribeth wanted the dog too. Because she was friends with the person she bought the dog from. (Sal, Baby SAL!!!!!!!!!!)
What reasonable adult gets a dog and that dog has no backyard no place to run around outside. We aren't talking about a little Pomeranian or some dog under 5 pounds. We are talking about a puppy that is well over 20 pounds full of energy. & it is cooped up in a condo. WHAT THE HELL???!!!!!
Partners who make stupid decisions......I guess I should consider myself lucky that Maribeth isn’t one of those types who runs off with a 20something hairdresser. & I think I finally convinced her this morning not to let the dog pee on the balcony.
You know, it’s sad. Because Maribeth and I work together much better than the way we used to. We have moments where we embarrass ourselves by getting so angry at each other. At that point, the kids are more sensible than we are and let us know how stupid we are acting. But the bottom line is we are more financially stable, our kids are happier with 2 parents under the same roof (as opposed to when we were separated), the bills are paid and we function better. Why did she have to make things worse with this damn dog?

Good news for QualityService44 !

We received our first sale on eCrater.  This is a huge victory!  Like Bonanza, eCrater gives QualityService44 a lower commission fee to pay. So, the buyer doesn't pay as much and I don't have to pay as much of a commission fee.  You get the same product for a lower price. 

When I think about it, I think that I need to work harder on my social media.  Our success has come from the fact that advertising on Facebook has paid off.  The profit I make has greatly exceeded the amount I pay to Facebook !  However, I need to develop my website at Pinterest and Quora as my UPS friend, Donyel Billings, has as a wedding photographer.  

There's a lot of work, and I need to stop doing the hobby that my fiance and my counselor said I should do more of.  They think that I am too much the killjoy and spend too much time working.  I don't (when you look at the pure numbers).  I'm doing better.  2017 was an improvement over 2016 & 2015, but with Sinal Cleaners having a bit of hiatus until beginning of May, it's still hard to be prosperous.  

Another reason Reactionaries don't value life !

Last week, I wrote about how there are certain knuckle-dragging, reactionary Republicans that claim moral superiority to Democrats all the while they don't give a damn if Americans who want, need health insurance, can't get health insurance. They feel that way even when Americans died from lack of health insurance! 

The tragedy in Florida is another reason (a better Reason) why reactionary Republicans who only base their vote on a politician's  pro-life stance have an extremely hollow argument! 

Sure we care about the helpless fetus and unborn who dies at the hands of the terrible so-called Dr. who commits an abortion.  But we don't care and don't want any type of legislation that would limit to the slightest degree guns.  NOT EVEN ASSAULT WEAPONS!

Now here is where I have contempt for Republicans claiming moral superiority over Democrats.  Republicans and other "gun-nuts" forget about the Assault Weapons Ban passed in September, 1994.  There was a law passed under the Clinton Administration that barred assault weapons.  NRA and their supports and cretin cohort would have the populace, particularly citizens of the South, believing that if they were to ban assault weapons, THEN the US will pass weapons on handguns, rifles and possibly even BB guns.

Did that happen after 1994? NO
After the Assault Weapons Ban, was there any effort by the majority of Congress to even ban an average handgun?  No, again.
So while the NRA has the South and morons who choose to vote for pro-gun, anti-restriction-of-guns legislators, we keep winding up with tragedies in schools, in malls and at concerts like the ones in Las Vegas last fall.  President Obama called the morning after the Sandy Hook gun tragedy the "worst day of my presidency."
INDEED!
A majority of Americans want a ban on assault weapons but this timid Congress led by Speaker of the House "shame of Janesville" Paul Ryan won't pass a restriction on Assault Weapons Ban.
Wow............just let the killings continue all in the name of American Exceptionalism, rights of people w/ guns and just conveniently ignore the fact that Canada and Western Europe doesn't deal with tragedies with the regularity that American citizens DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
& those people still wonder why I'm the "family liberal". 

Good clarity, strong points

Approaching closer the wedding brings nice clarity.  This has occurred in the events that happened since the start of 2018. 

• Was almost killed the 1st Sunday in January.  I went through a tollbooth/I-Pass lane w/ a turn leaving it and hit black ice.  Within a second, I did 3 complete circles (a 1080, they discuss those at the winter Olympics).  Going from 50 mph and skidding into the left median I came to a complete stop before hitting the massive concrete barrier.  
• Working at a good place since January makes me realize what fucking assholes the lawyers were that I used to work for.  I work for a man who is forthright, who says there is "no drama",  then there is no drama from him (compared to the asshole who said that last year).
• Uber is a wonderful thing. I learned what an excellent driver I've been for nearly 40 years by driving in snowstorms in N. Illinois and doing just fine.  A couple weeks I made nearly $500 as well as over $100 in bonuses.
• I learned how much my dear fiance', Pat McCurdy, loves Paul Simon as she is going to spill a princely sum near my birthday to see his farewell tour at the United Center.  

I explained to my fiance that one of my flaws is being indecisive almost (but not quite) to a Hamlet like degree.  My depression has lifted as we prepare wedding plans.  She knows that.  We are saving money b/c I am having the wedding reception in a small condo clubhouse seating 50 or less people.  We are probably inviting less........who knows? 

Only 20 - 30 people from my side of the family and at least 30 people on her side of the family.  Well, maybe it won't be so difficult to decide who to invite from my side of the family.  Anyone who gives reactionary opinions or makes an attempt to defend that asshole Donald Trump or that "shame of Janesville" Paul Ryan doesn't have to come to the wedding.  

As I have been outnumbered in family arguments about politics in Wisconsin, they are going to know in no uncertain terms that they are in the bluest of blue counties - Cook County, IL, and they, not I,  will be the ones outnumbered on matters of politics.  But let's hope politics don't come up at the wedding.  

I mean after all, I have been on the most respectful of behavior at Thanksgiving gatherings and have brought up politics nary a time.  My brothers, sisters, in laws .........they are all good people.  I love being with them.  We had a great time for the Thanksgiving in 2017 at my older brother's place, my older brother's place in 2015 and my sister's place in 2014.  When one of my inlaws' brothers shot his big mouth off about liberals in 2014, I just smiled and was silent.  

However, there will be no silent politeness at my reception when it occurs next year.  They will be reminded about how our outstanding Pope thinks that tax cuts for the rich, "trickle down economics" as he called it (and was popularized under Pres. Reagan) is so much economic crap that leads to deficit spending.  It's better to be as economists point out a tax and spend Democrat than a borrow and spend reactionary.  At least Democrats lower the deficit and don't pay as much in deficit interest rates as Republicans do!

Remember that godawful Vice President known as DICK Cheney?  He was quoted as saying, "Reagan proved that budget deficits don't matter."
AS a horseshit historian, he conveniently left out the fact that the Clinton administration raised taxes for the rich up to the 30something percent with nary a Republican vote in Congress.  & who was the only administration to pay and cut into the national debt..........that would be the Clinton administration.
What the economy like when DICK Cheney left the White House in a wheelchair (couldn't happen to a nicer asshole!)   on Jan 20, 2009?  Come on you conservatives............come on you reactionaries try and see if you can get your self-righteous, sanctimonious brain upright and tell me what the economy was like on Jan 20, 2009.

Oh yeah, we had the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  What was the economy like on Jan. 19, 2017?  Unemployment down, stocks much higher than 2009, GDP in 2009 was at ___; GDP  at $18.624 trillion in 2016.  Police brutality was addressed more strongly than before with the Black Lives Matter movement which I agree with.

Republicans love to talk about a subject I happen to agree with them on......abortion. But they conveniently forget about an important youngster whose mother DIED because she didn't have health care.  They conveniently forget that people die and died even more prior to March, 2010 (when Affordable Care Act was signed) because they couldn't get health care insurance.  There were approximately 20,000 deaths.  Approximately. 
I state that a mother, particularly single mothers lives are just as valuable as the sad victim of an abortion, the unborn child.  You would have to be an insufferably IGNORANT to not know how important how vital any parent has been that died due to lack of health insurance.  Now, there are fewer people who are uninsured.  Of course, if Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have anything to say about it the number of uninsured will likely be greater on Jan 20, 2021 than it was on Jan 19, 2017. 
Seeing Speaker Ryan announce that he just didn't have enough votes last year to repeal the Affordable Care Act was one of the happiest moments I had in 2017.  Really.   Hearing him in his frustration (and is self-righteousness suddenly departing him) in his press conference was absolutely FUN TO  listen to.
--------------
At any rate, I will be able to solve the little dilemma of inviting 20-30 family members at my wedding and reception.  I have no problem squeezing them into our little clubhouse alongside my liberal future in laws who I love dearly.  & if they have the temerity and lack of manners (unlike me when I didn't speak of politics at past family gatherings), they will be in for a very rude awakening at the reception when they will be getting disabused of a younger brother with his sons and daughters and with his in laws explaining to them that they are mistaken reactionaries at a liberal wedding & reception!  
This is ONE TIME I WILL NOT BE OUTNUMBERED! ! !

You know, Republicans wouldn't be so awful, if they didn't run up such odious deficits.  As statesmen and economists both note,  tax cuts do not grow the economy.  It didn't happen with Reagan and it didn't happen with George W. Bush!!  Did the Clinton tax hikes help the longest era of prosperity? Don't believe me.........believe former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan (A REPUBLICAN, mind you!!!!!!!!!) who said that the tax hikes on the RICH did, in fact, foster the prosperity that occurred from 1992-2001.
Try telling me that Obama tax hikes on the RICH hurt the economy!  Really try it!
I will be armed with a lot of statistics from the best economists to show you how stupid your argument is.
There's a sinister plan that makes me hate Republican policies more as I grow older.  I hated greed when I was a kid and I loathe it far more as an older AARP adult.
The Republicans want a deficit so high that one of the few things the federal government can spend money on is money for the Pentagon.   They will argue, as they have done so many times in the past, that they don't have enough money (BECAUSE OF DEFICITS) SO they must cut at the social net.

Yeah sure, make the rich more rich by giving them big tax cuts.  Yeah sure, do it and cut the social net to help poor.  Right?  They are the assholes who declare and execute class warfare.  Again, even our venerable Pope Francis I ridicules "trickle down economics". If you don't believe me Google it!  Really!