"Only the man who does not need it is fit to inherit wealth -- the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him."
"The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of Joy. Then all things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach, not an acheivement, but a reminder of shame."
"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will. One of us will win, but both of us will profit."
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
My Challenges
Challenge #1: Get a job with hours during the day time.
Work initially was a mundane evening of ctrl-c and ctrl-v's. They hired a lot of people with real estate experience; however, maybe only 2-3 who actually know how to use excel to any degree beyond "=sum(xxx:xxx)". So for the first week, we were delegated tasks of transcribing account numbers from BPOs (aka, faux-appraisals) and pasting it onto an excel spreadsheet. It was stupid easy...any idiot could do it. In fact, I was somewhat insulted by the work, but any work is good right now, so I copied and pasted.
Until tonight, my job didn't revolve around anything more than copy and pasting. I dare say it was my evening to shine.
Anyhow, I won't go into detail. I translated numbers and my supervisor was happy with me. He mentioned he'd be passing along more of that kind of work to me as it comes along. Perhaps this will translate to a day shift job, but only God knows.
Challenge #2: Meet more people with common interests.
To be honest (as opposed to being normally deceiving? ha), I find it hard to meet people who are still naive enough to cling onto large ambitions. I'm getting older and the 2am business pacts that were formed on the curb of 4th/6th street no longer transpire. Many of my friends are just trying to enjoy life and the novelties they can afford.
It's all about the new electronic blah, the new Xbox blah, the new i-blah and the new i-blah blah 2. It's consumerism run-amok. If it's not consumerism, it's the continual worship of football. I've never really been into sports. Sure I enjoy watching a big game, but let's just say the only reason I browse espn.com is so I have something to say when I have nothing else to say. Sports is the biggest common denominator among guys, and honestly, I'd rather play Counterstrike, than watch the Mavs game. There. I said it.
I want to meet people I can talk 'shop' with, in the same way the rest of my compatriots can talk about fantasy football.
Challenge #3: Pass the Discipline Act of 2009.
My laptop once had the deliberate organization of a Zen garden. Everything had a place and everything was in harmony. Nowadays, it looks like Hiroshima. Defragging estimates push the 4 hour mark.
I'm declaring a holocaust of body fat. After gorging myself on BBQ and Chinese food upon returning stateside, I've put on about 9 pounds... and it aint muscle. I have a pooch that shivers on my metal belt buckle. I can either cheat by wear slimming black clothes like skinny asian girls, or I can practice what I preach and go to the gym.
Work initially was a mundane evening of ctrl-c and ctrl-v's. They hired a lot of people with real estate experience; however, maybe only 2-3 who actually know how to use excel to any degree beyond "=sum(xxx:xxx)". So for the first week, we were delegated tasks of transcribing account numbers from BPOs (aka, faux-appraisals) and pasting it onto an excel spreadsheet. It was stupid easy...any idiot could do it. In fact, I was somewhat insulted by the work, but any work is good right now, so I copied and pasted.
Until tonight, my job didn't revolve around anything more than copy and pasting. I dare say it was my evening to shine.
Anyhow, I won't go into detail. I translated numbers and my supervisor was happy with me. He mentioned he'd be passing along more of that kind of work to me as it comes along. Perhaps this will translate to a day shift job, but only God knows.
Challenge #2: Meet more people with common interests.
To be honest (as opposed to being normally deceiving? ha), I find it hard to meet people who are still naive enough to cling onto large ambitions. I'm getting older and the 2am business pacts that were formed on the curb of 4th/6th street no longer transpire. Many of my friends are just trying to enjoy life and the novelties they can afford.
It's all about the new electronic blah, the new Xbox blah, the new i-blah and the new i-blah blah 2. It's consumerism run-amok. If it's not consumerism, it's the continual worship of football. I've never really been into sports. Sure I enjoy watching a big game, but let's just say the only reason I browse espn.com is so I have something to say when I have nothing else to say. Sports is the biggest common denominator among guys, and honestly, I'd rather play Counterstrike, than watch the Mavs game. There. I said it.
I want to meet people I can talk 'shop' with, in the same way the rest of my compatriots can talk about fantasy football.
Challenge #3: Pass the Discipline Act of 2009.
My laptop once had the deliberate organization of a Zen garden. Everything had a place and everything was in harmony. Nowadays, it looks like Hiroshima. Defragging estimates push the 4 hour mark.
I'm declaring a holocaust of body fat. After gorging myself on BBQ and Chinese food upon returning stateside, I've put on about 9 pounds... and it aint muscle. I have a pooch that shivers on my metal belt buckle. I can either cheat by wear slimming black clothes like skinny asian girls, or I can practice what I preach and go to the gym.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Three More Interesting Facts
1) Over 40% of healthcare providers today are non-profit.
(Source: Non-profit Healthcare)
2) Health care providers cannot transfer policies across states due to government legislation.(Source: WSJ)
3) Health care insurance companies make profit margins of 3.3%
(Source: Seeking Alpha)
Why aren't the Tea Parties talking about these things? Instead they are intent on regurgitating annoying Glenn Beck. Anyway, these three facts tell us 3 important things.
1) The additional promotion of more non-profit cooperatives won't really improve competition by driving down costs. Non-profits already own a significant portion of the market share. Why?
Medicare pays on average 10% below the cost of the actual service. Since the hospital has to get that money somewhere to avoid going bankrupt, prices go up for those with private insurance.
Secondly, Americans are really unhealthy, and our obesity and overweight numbers are rising.
2) Government legislation that restricts insurance companies from working between states should end, otherwise we will continue to have 50 health care cartels that own their own inefficient monopolies. If Obama wants to encourage competition, let the insurance companies compete nationally. And btw-- the cross-state restriction is a leftist policy made by states who want to mandate lower costs.
3) At such a low profit margin, the industry really isn't making that much. For every $1.03 of service they provide, they get 3 pennies after all business expenses are paid.
(Source: Non-profit Healthcare)
2) Health care providers cannot transfer policies across states due to government legislation.(Source: WSJ)
3) Health care insurance companies make profit margins of 3.3%
(Source: Seeking Alpha)
Why aren't the Tea Parties talking about these things? Instead they are intent on regurgitating annoying Glenn Beck. Anyway, these three facts tell us 3 important things.
1) The additional promotion of more non-profit cooperatives won't really improve competition by driving down costs. Non-profits already own a significant portion of the market share. Why?
Medicare pays on average 10% below the cost of the actual service. Since the hospital has to get that money somewhere to avoid going bankrupt, prices go up for those with private insurance.
Secondly, Americans are really unhealthy, and our obesity and overweight numbers are rising.
2) Government legislation that restricts insurance companies from working between states should end, otherwise we will continue to have 50 health care cartels that own their own inefficient monopolies. If Obama wants to encourage competition, let the insurance companies compete nationally. And btw-- the cross-state restriction is a leftist policy made by states who want to mandate lower costs.
3) At such a low profit margin, the industry really isn't making that much. For every $1.03 of service they provide, they get 3 pennies after all business expenses are paid.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hired Limbo
So after 2.5 weeks of annoyance... I've got a job. It's nothing glamorous. I'll be a part-time portfolio analyst for Bank of America as they staff up to drop all their toxic real estate assets. I'll be paid by the hour (taking a pay cut) and the hours are shit (Mon-Sat. 4:30pm-10pm). After all taxes and social justice handouts are deducted, I'll probably make the same as a person taking unemployment insurance each week.
This really makes me wonder if the unemployment insurance is such a good idea. Why am I working when I could be collecting unemployment? Why am I contributing to the economy while somebody out there is vegging about trying to 'find him/her self'? In my job search, I've found tons of jobs out there, but I think we don't apply for a lot of the jobs due to pride. I was ready to apply for a temping position to just get a little bit of cashflow coming in, until this job application came through.
Anyway, I'm coming down my soapbox. I still don't have a start date which is annoying. My friend told me that he had to wait a month after acceptance to begin working. Until then, I'll be applying to more jobs, attending more job fairs, and improving the knowledge base of my craft.
This really makes me wonder if the unemployment insurance is such a good idea. Why am I working when I could be collecting unemployment? Why am I contributing to the economy while somebody out there is vegging about trying to 'find him/her self'? In my job search, I've found tons of jobs out there, but I think we don't apply for a lot of the jobs due to pride. I was ready to apply for a temping position to just get a little bit of cashflow coming in, until this job application came through.
Anyway, I'm coming down my soapbox. I still don't have a start date which is annoying. My friend told me that he had to wait a month after acceptance to begin working. Until then, I'll be applying to more jobs, attending more job fairs, and improving the knowledge base of my craft.
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