Taking For Granted

The meaning of FREEDOM

the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

and,

absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.

and,

the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

Hot Tub Aggravations

I purchased a Hot Springs (6 persons) Prodigy Hot Tub about 13 years ago and over the years have spent about $5,000 in repairs...  mainly pump(s) and motor (s) which is about $385 each year and $32 each month which relates to about a dollar a day...  plus, chemicals...   and, from the very beginning, I talked with other experienced hot tub owners who educated me in the fact that household bleach is all you need to use and the amount they recommended was 1 cup each week.

A container of bleach (121 ounces) is $4.23 and will last for 15 weeks, so 4 containers will last a year which is another $17/year in maintenance costs for a hot tub...  relatively inexpensive...

I use the hot tub for the most part 2-3 times a week, given the right set of conditions, throughout the entire year regardless of how hot or cold it might be.  However, I was sick for 6 weeks, so it was two months before I was able to us it again.  That has only happened once or twice during my 13 years of ownership.

HOWEVER,  if your hot tub water starts to turn green, then there are only 2 culprits.
Algae
Copper in the water

In either case, the only solution is LABOR INTENSIVE which is:

• drain all the water out
• scrub and scrub the insides with bleach
• scrub and scrub the underside of the cover with bleach
• clean the filters with a water/bleach solution
• refill

Tonight, when I went down to the hot tub, I discovered my water was light green...

PISSER...

Looking

COLLEGE SPORTS 2020/2021

TRADITIONALLY, Professional Sports Teams draw on College Sports Players who are seniors as the pool of potential applicants for their new recruits.  These Professional Sports Teams to which I refer are in the following areas:  Football, Basketball, and Baseball.

2020/2021 Season Average Salary:

• NBA --  $6.2 million
• MLB --  $4.4 million
• NFL --   $2.1 million

Unless you are mentally challenged, you can easily see that becoming a Professional Athlete is financially rewarding...

UNFORTUNATELY,

the corona virus pandemic released on the rest of the world by CHINA is putting a dent, if not ruining the potential future fortunes of college seniors this year because many colleges and universities are either CANCELLING or postponing athletics for the 2020/2021 season.

However, there is a ray of sunshine, many of our Southern Colleges and Universities ARE NOT CANCELLING their seasons because the number of COVID-19 cases is lower in the South than it is in the North.

A week ago,
Midway through August, six of the 10 FBS conferences plan to move forward with having a 2020 

fall season: SEC, Big 12, ACC, AAC, Sun Belt and Conference USA. While four of their brethren 

sideline themselves, the six leagues aren't out of the woods yet.

IS THIS FAIR TO

THOSE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY SENIORS WHO ARE NOT PLAYING?

KOMIC KORNER KARTOONS

If You Don't Have Anything Better To DO...

Weekend Analysis

I have heard that HINDSIGHT is always the best but unfortunately is the hardest to predict and the inability to predict astounds the economists who believe and perceive our world revolves around a supply and demand curve...

How silly...

and then...  China release the Corona Virus Pandemic and the world, our limited universe, GRINDS to a halt.

GO FIGURE

Who will win the 2020 Election?
TRUMP?
BIDEN?

And, in actuality, who cares?

Wall Street cares
Families care
Entrepreneurs care


PEOPLE...   it really does not matter at all...  because all the outcomes will relatively be the same except for our perceived quality of life that has been destroyed by COVID-19.

If taxes are raised...  people in general will survive and a few will benefit

If Medicare for all happens...  people will still get sick and people will still get cured

If the Green New Deal happens...  by the time it really kicks into gear most of us who voted for it will be dead and buried

Neither Democrats nor Republicans can slow down growth!

Being an American nowadays is a function solely of GREED...

Free Education is a by product of GREED
Medicare for all is a by product of GREED
Socialism is a by product of GREED
Capitalism fuels the fires of GREED
Political re-elections are spawned by GREED
Increasing the minimum wage anticipates GREED

The USA is a society of...      GREED     GREED     GREED

and, this is precisely why it does not matter who wins the 2020 Presidential Election because GREED will always prevail in the US of A...

THIS and THAT

Growing Older?

All Creatures Great and Small

Cannot Sleep

After 28 straight days of getting antibiotics infused into my body three times a day, my body was loaded down with fatigue making it easy for me to take a nap in the afternoon for a couple of hours and easily go back to sleep at 7 pm only to be awakened at 11 pm for an infusion but by 11:45 pm I was fast asleep again...  it was easy...

It has been over a week since I stopped receiving antibiotic infusions and gradually my fatigue has slip slid away and as that takes place my ability to fall asleep quickly has also gradually stopped.  Tonight, I spent some time in the hot tub to relax me for sleep since I had not been able to use it for over a month, but instead of putting me to sleep, I am wide awake, feeling like I need no sleep at all for the moment.

What better to do with my sleeplessness than to get on my JOURNAL BLOG and write about it...  I had wanted to write about the DNC but I just don't have the energy to face that bullshit right now...  who knows about anything...  especially politicians?

It would appear that the only person who really cares about me is me and my wife...  at least, those are the only two on which I can count...

Look out for yourselves.
Don't expect the Government to look after you because they will let you down.
Governments only care about what's good for them, not the governed.

What's Missing???

Watching the Democratic National Convention

TAKEAWAYS:

All speakers spent most of their time NOT TELLING THE VIEWERS what the Democratic Party was going to do for them after electing Joe Biden as President BUT how BAD DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN AS PRESIDENT...

All speakers did not express anything about the DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLATFORM nor did they discuss if they were a moderate party, a progressive party, a socialist party, or a Green New Deal party...

All speakers did not express anything about how they were going to help the American People by doing anything other than what Trump has already been doing, except RAISE EVERYONE'S TAXES.

MESSAGE:  TRUMP IS EVIL BIDEN IS GOOD

Here is what I believe most Americans want:

LOWER TAXES

HIGHER WAGES

LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS

ECONOMIC GROWTH

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT

LAW AND ORDER

If I am correct in my assessment do you think the Democrats or the Republicans will provide that for you...  That answer should be expressed on ELECTION DAY.

Am I Here For You?

On the Rise

Quality of Life

The Democrats want a society where not just the wealthy have a QUALITY OF LIFE...   so, let's look at what this could possibly mean and/or entail...

The national median family income for the United States for FY 2020 is $78,500, an increase of 

almost four percent over the national median family income in FY 2019.  Apr 1, 2020    Source:  huduser.com

Average Income of a Professional Athlete  $2.6-8.3 Million/year

Average Income of a member of Congress   $174,000/year

Average Income of an Airline Pilot   $137,000/year

Average Family Income $78,500        TAXES:  $17, 270

$6542/month

$1,510/week

$38/hr

Average Individual Income  $33,706       TAXES:  $7,415

$2,808/month

$648/week

$16/hr

Average tax rate   22%

Average Cost of Living (family) --  $4,000/month

As you can see, Family income is well above the average cost of living, meaning that if you are a family, you have a pretty good quality of life, but not as good as a Pilot, or a member of Congress, or a Professional Athlete.

We can also extrapolate based upon the data that the average family is not going to have the same quality of life as a MILLIONAIRE or a BILLIONAIRE...

AND... no matter want our Federal Government legislates, it will NEVER BE ABLE to able to equalize the gap between those that are wealthy and those that are not wealthy.

LOGICALLY:  Increased taxes will not eliminate that wealth gap...

Now, if you look at the average Individual Income (before taxes) you will notice that it averages out to $16/hour which is very close to the $15/hour minimum wage that the DEMOCRATS are wanting.  Even if they get what they want, it WILL NOT CHANGE the wealth gap.

So, when the DEMOCRATS make the claim that they want ALL AMERICANS to enjoy the quality of life that they wealthy enjoy...  THEY OBVIOUSLY MUST KNOW that this equality will never happen.

Some people will earn more money and will have more than they previously had...  but, every time I got a wage increase, my taxes also increased, my healthcare monthly premiums also increased, and the cost of living also increased...  so, my raise was somewhat negated.

ONE MUST RECEIVE A LARGE JUMP IN SALARY in order to get above the normal increases that are associated with all increases.

• Basic College Education will not always provide this jump
• A Graduate Degree may not always provide this jump unless one relocates to another State
• Experience may not always provide this jump

ANOTHER QUESTION:
What would employers do when faced with a minimum wage increase of $15/hour?

1. Would they layoff workers
2. Would they increase prices
3. Would they not expand operations
4. Would they move overseas
5. Would they relocate to other States

Raising the Minimum Wage

This is one of the biggest controversies currently being debated and fought over in the United States...  and, on the surface it makes since for our federal government to force businesses to pay a minimum wage, but on the other hand, it offends some people that our federal government is forcing business to do what should come naturally.

However...  raising the minimum wage will benefit some but it will not benefit all...  and that is the biggest consequence that law makers refuse to deal with.

Some businesses operate with a small profit margin, unlike other businesses, and raising the minimum wage, would force them to lay off workers to keep their costs under control or raise prices which might put them in a position where they loose business.

Let's suppose that I wanted to open up a coffee shop and was confronted with a minimum wage increase by our federal government. 

What potential employees MUST UNDERSTAND is that just because I started a business does not mean that I started that business so that I could hire you.  On the contrary, I opened that business for one reason and one reason only, TO MAKE MONEY.  If I hire you, it is because I think you can help me make money.  If I do not think that then I WILL NOT HIRE YOU.

Many of my college students when I was teaching believed that business was out there and doing business specifically to hire workers...  and, that is not true...  they are out there to MAKE A PROFIT.

But, if I started this coffee shop and needed workers under these circumstances then this is what I would do...

First of all, I would look at raising prices which would force me to look at my competition to analyze their prices.  Second, I would reduce the amount of people that I initially wanted to hire, knowing I would have to pay them more than originally planned.  Third, I would alter who I hired, thinking that if I was being forced to pay more, then I would look for a more mature person and quite possibly someone who has been unemployed for a while.

While my hiring techniques and practices represent a small employer, they are basically the same for a large employer.  A large employer will typically have a fixed amount of money set aside for employees.  With a higher minimum wage, less employees will be hired.  It is nothing personal, it is just business.

And, if I have to pay more due to minimum wage, then I am going to expect more from those employees.  I will be more selective with whom I hire. 

INTERMISSION X