I'll never forget when we were in the market for our first house back in the early 1990's. I'll never forget the condescending attitude by our broker, banker, and the housing tract developer when we modestly scraped together a few thousand bucks for a down payment.
What???? Is that ALL??????? Cash poor Americans. Won't your parents front you a few thousand more?
That was what we heard over and over again.
Sorry, but neither one of us came from money. We both worked full-time jobs and I was also a student with a kid in diapers. We were trying to better ourselves. No government handouts. No whining to charity. No parental subsidies. I remember when applying to financial loans for my college education how I had to answer over and over again that I had been living on my own for quite some time and my parents were not contributing ONE DIME for my education. It was all on me. Again, I was asked over and over how much my parents were contributing. Nobody believed me at first when I said I was receiving zero financial
support from my parents. They raised their eyebrows, tilted their heads, and asked over and
over again if I understood the question. I got sick of saying of saying I was receiving NOTHING and my parents could not claim me as a dependent on their taxes. yup. I'm an anomaly.
What they didn't see was my sheer determination and the stellar credit I had established at a young age. Sure, I had not no fancy titles, schools, or whatever to promote my cause. The perfect credit score total assets weren't much, but what we had was ROCK SOLID.
This is not a pity party for myself. It's a reminder for those who are going to school on a quasi-subsidy from their parents or the government how lucky they are. Any assistance they are receiving is a god send. The rest of us plebes were too rich (and too white and/or dumb) to receive grants and are just enough above the poverty level where we didn't not qualify for anything. Giving away scholarships to young moms three steps away from poverty just wasn't sexy. I was not the athlete nor the scholar. I was just trying to better my life and that of my young family. There would be no feel good news story and film at 11:00 nor the associated press and publicly investing in me. Ignored. Completely on my own.
Because of my credit the bank took a chance on us. Now, years later, because of my continued relationship with the bank I moved my work accounts to the bank that took the chance on me. The bank now has more than 5 million in cash I parked with them. I'll never forgot the chance they took on me. I repaid the kindness investing excess cash with them.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Explosives and Shots
.....I had a weird dream last night. It was eerily realistic. I was at a popular bar and restaurant. This place has a lot of patio seating outside where patrons can take in people watching and whatever else. It also has two levels inside with typical pub games on the upper level.
In my dream I was seated toward the back on the inside on the first level and was looking out across the restaurant toward the front door where I could see diners on the patio. All of a sudden I heard an explosion with a flash of light. The shrapnel and blood shattered through the front door and windows of the restaurant. We all ducked under our tables and I could hear screaming coming from patrons on the upper level as they heard the explosion but could not see what was happening. They were panicked.
There was anther explosion and water started dripping from the ceiling. We all knew we were trapped inside and the ceiling was about to collapse on us. We could not get out and knew that we were going to die.
That is why, my dear friends, I wake up exhausted. Sweet dreams????? I so wish.
In my dream I was seated toward the back on the inside on the first level and was looking out across the restaurant toward the front door where I could see diners on the patio. All of a sudden I heard an explosion with a flash of light. The shrapnel and blood shattered through the front door and windows of the restaurant. We all ducked under our tables and I could hear screaming coming from patrons on the upper level as they heard the explosion but could not see what was happening. They were panicked.
There was anther explosion and water started dripping from the ceiling. We all knew we were trapped inside and the ceiling was about to collapse on us. We could not get out and knew that we were going to die.
That is why, my dear friends, I wake up exhausted. Sweet dreams????? I so wish.
Monday, May 29, 2017
"revealing" party
...i need something light to bitch about today. It's been rather demanding and draining for Quiet Rage lately. Sigh. I need a vacation. A real vacation. Anyway.......
I've noticed a trend with expectant parents as of late. The concept of a baby shower, where your female friends gather to give gifts to the first-time mom the necessities of a nursery, have been converted into co-ed borderline beer bash BBQ's complete with pink or blue colored fireworks, military fly-overs with colored emissions, and other over the top demonstrations that announce the sex of the baby -- complete with a parade down main street.
These parties usually include sonograms blown up into poster size wall coverings of the fetus's private parts to display the obvious. Wow. Poor kid isn't even born and adults are photographing its genitals for the entire world to obsess over. I can wait until after the birth to find out and all I need is a verbal "it's a boy". And no, I don't care to see videos of the birth no matter how life changing the magical event of the process was for you. Trust me.
The generation that is now becoming parents are obsessing over the assigning and labeling the sex of their unborn children. This is the same generation that prides itself on LGBTQ (keep inserting letters as I can't keep track). Someday, when the kid gets old enough to see pictures and videos of the "revealing" party, I predict *resentment* when the kid "comes out" as identifying with the opposite of the assigned sex with all the expected gender roles that were assigned by well-meaning parents.
The irony is not lost on me......and i can't make this stuff up, people.
I've noticed a trend with expectant parents as of late. The concept of a baby shower, where your female friends gather to give gifts to the first-time mom the necessities of a nursery, have been converted into co-ed borderline beer bash BBQ's complete with pink or blue colored fireworks, military fly-overs with colored emissions, and other over the top demonstrations that announce the sex of the baby -- complete with a parade down main street.
These parties usually include sonograms blown up into poster size wall coverings of the fetus's private parts to display the obvious. Wow. Poor kid isn't even born and adults are photographing its genitals for the entire world to obsess over. I can wait until after the birth to find out and all I need is a verbal "it's a boy". And no, I don't care to see videos of the birth no matter how life changing the magical event of the process was for you. Trust me.
The generation that is now becoming parents are obsessing over the assigning and labeling the sex of their unborn children. This is the same generation that prides itself on LGBTQ (keep inserting letters as I can't keep track). Someday, when the kid gets old enough to see pictures and videos of the "revealing" party, I predict *resentment* when the kid "comes out" as identifying with the opposite of the assigned sex with all the expected gender roles that were assigned by well-meaning parents.
The irony is not lost on me......and i can't make this stuff up, people.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Manchester Terrorist Attack
I'm sick to my stomach over this one, people. It hits close to home. Granted, home for me is in Sonoma County, but what happened REALLY hits close to home. My beloved friends in the area are OK, but I'm still rattled about the incident.
OK....so some sick jerk decides to suicide bomb a bunch of joyful teens and young adults at a concert. The teens only motive for the evening was to go out and enjoy some music and fun. Sick-O decides to spatter blood and brains in the name of a fundamental religious idealism. I hate to name it as that only propels their need for us to fear them and gives them credibility.
This attack happened under our collective watch.
Remind me again as to what the vetting process is for radical nut jobs? Oh, I guess we should leave Trump in charge as he seems to be an authority on the matter as he fired FBI director Comey and can spot them a mile away. Not.
ISIS hits below the belt. Always. We need to distinguish ISIS from Muslims. Good luck in figuring that one out. We could start with all males between the ages of 10-75. Good luck with that, too.
One thing I can say about Muslims is that they treat women like complete shit. Why we want to embrace that is like saying we want to embrace slavery because it's "the tradition and culture." I can tell you stories about Muslims working for Cal Trans and how they withhold payment for work performed by contractors until the female project managers from the private enterprises managing the jobs "perform" for them.
I can't make this stuff up, people. I call a spade a spade.
OK....so some sick jerk decides to suicide bomb a bunch of joyful teens and young adults at a concert. The teens only motive for the evening was to go out and enjoy some music and fun. Sick-O decides to spatter blood and brains in the name of a fundamental religious idealism. I hate to name it as that only propels their need for us to fear them and gives them credibility.
This attack happened under our collective watch.
Remind me again as to what the vetting process is for radical nut jobs? Oh, I guess we should leave Trump in charge as he seems to be an authority on the matter as he fired FBI director Comey and can spot them a mile away. Not.
ISIS hits below the belt. Always. We need to distinguish ISIS from Muslims. Good luck in figuring that one out. We could start with all males between the ages of 10-75. Good luck with that, too.
One thing I can say about Muslims is that they treat women like complete shit. Why we want to embrace that is like saying we want to embrace slavery because it's "the tradition and culture." I can tell you stories about Muslims working for Cal Trans and how they withhold payment for work performed by contractors until the female project managers from the private enterprises managing the jobs "perform" for them.
I can't make this stuff up, people. I call a spade a spade.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Water and Electricity
Pay attention, people. Water (potable, that is) and electricity will be the hot commodities of the future. Right now we as humans are scrambling to figure out how to reverse the horrible damage we've done to the environment. We are acting, but not quite thinking it through.
Everything is being converted to electricity and away from fossil fuels. While we have some solar power and wind power creating electricity, water will be in high demand for creating energy.
We have a problem. The demand on our grid systems can't keep pace with the ever increasing demand for electricity. We are trying to install micro-grids that can create, capture, and store alternative energy for later use. However, the main problem is the existing grid system. Think of the micro grids as having a super healthy heart to produce quality blood, but the arteries and veins that deliver and distribute the blood are deteriorating and clogged.
Yes, I'm oversimplifying but our ever increasing dependency on electricity will need attention. The other problem is that the 'green energy' things we produce leave a polluting foot print that is sometimes worse than had we not tried 'green energy.' Solar panels use hazardous materials during manufacturing, as do electric cars and their batteries (and disposal thereof), the materials to make wind turbines, and whatnot.
I don't claim to have the answers. I don't claim to have ANY answers. All I know is that the middle east and economies that depend on oil as their economic anchor are about to loose it. No wonder the middle east is all agitated and restless. Their livelihood is disappearing. Oh well, in a few years the middle east will be uninhabitable due to global warming, so no wondering they are all fleeing.
Everything is being converted to electricity and away from fossil fuels. While we have some solar power and wind power creating electricity, water will be in high demand for creating energy.
We have a problem. The demand on our grid systems can't keep pace with the ever increasing demand for electricity. We are trying to install micro-grids that can create, capture, and store alternative energy for later use. However, the main problem is the existing grid system. Think of the micro grids as having a super healthy heart to produce quality blood, but the arteries and veins that deliver and distribute the blood are deteriorating and clogged.
Yes, I'm oversimplifying but our ever increasing dependency on electricity will need attention. The other problem is that the 'green energy' things we produce leave a polluting foot print that is sometimes worse than had we not tried 'green energy.' Solar panels use hazardous materials during manufacturing, as do electric cars and their batteries (and disposal thereof), the materials to make wind turbines, and whatnot.
I don't claim to have the answers. I don't claim to have ANY answers. All I know is that the middle east and economies that depend on oil as their economic anchor are about to loose it. No wonder the middle east is all agitated and restless. Their livelihood is disappearing. Oh well, in a few years the middle east will be uninhabitable due to global warming, so no wondering they are all fleeing.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
From Riches to Rags
There's a guy I work with who seemed to have it all growing up. He went to a prestigious private school, lived in a huge mansion of a house with the right zip code, and had all the trappings of wealth. I worked with his father before working with him so I know this family very well.
The father was an exceedingly hard worker. He earned what he had. Good for him. He taught his son the same work ethic. Together the father and son built a company that was profitable. There were two sisters, but neither worked in the business and the mother lived a very cushy life of doing art and socializing at the country club.
The father was blunt in conversation. You never had to guess what he was thinking. God Bless him. The son is a GREAT guy who is funny, hard working, and honest. They were quite the duo.
About 20 years ago the son decides to get married. Hmmmmmm. I was skeptical when I was told the "how did you two meet" story back then. The bride-to-be worked at a bank. She saw how much money he had in his account and called him up for a date. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she was a gold digger. Whatever. Who am I to judge relationships? They both seemed happy and I kept my opinion of her to myself.
The years roll by. The son and his bride have two kids. She lives the princess lifestyle of leisure while he works his fingers to the bone. The father sets up a trust in the 1990's for the son to inherit the business as the son was the one who worked to build it up.
The father dies. The sisters contest the trust. Long story short the son gets raped financially. Tough times. The bride can't take a change in her cushy lifestyle and kicks out the son. She went psycho on him.
Long story short, the son worked his $%^ off to build a company that was pulled out from under his feet. A divorce is in the works and bride cleaned out all the bank accounts.
Fast forward to this morning.
I had an issue that I needed to talk to the son about. I called him on his cell phone. When he answered he was on the beach in Santa Cruz with his new puppy. I could tell he had been drinking and this is at 9:00 AM. He's lost everything and I feel so badly for him. He's now living in a warehouse and going to start over from scratch. I truly wish him success as he really is a good guy. I hope he finds a woman who is not a gold digger and dumps him at the first sign of financial difficulties. My dating advice for him? If the teller at the bank calls you up for a date after taking notice of the balance in the account RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The father was an exceedingly hard worker. He earned what he had. Good for him. He taught his son the same work ethic. Together the father and son built a company that was profitable. There were two sisters, but neither worked in the business and the mother lived a very cushy life of doing art and socializing at the country club.
The father was blunt in conversation. You never had to guess what he was thinking. God Bless him. The son is a GREAT guy who is funny, hard working, and honest. They were quite the duo.
About 20 years ago the son decides to get married. Hmmmmmm. I was skeptical when I was told the "how did you two meet" story back then. The bride-to-be worked at a bank. She saw how much money he had in his account and called him up for a date. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she was a gold digger. Whatever. Who am I to judge relationships? They both seemed happy and I kept my opinion of her to myself.
The years roll by. The son and his bride have two kids. She lives the princess lifestyle of leisure while he works his fingers to the bone. The father sets up a trust in the 1990's for the son to inherit the business as the son was the one who worked to build it up.
The father dies. The sisters contest the trust. Long story short the son gets raped financially. Tough times. The bride can't take a change in her cushy lifestyle and kicks out the son. She went psycho on him.
Long story short, the son worked his $%^ off to build a company that was pulled out from under his feet. A divorce is in the works and bride cleaned out all the bank accounts.
Fast forward to this morning.
I had an issue that I needed to talk to the son about. I called him on his cell phone. When he answered he was on the beach in Santa Cruz with his new puppy. I could tell he had been drinking and this is at 9:00 AM. He's lost everything and I feel so badly for him. He's now living in a warehouse and going to start over from scratch. I truly wish him success as he really is a good guy. I hope he finds a woman who is not a gold digger and dumps him at the first sign of financial difficulties. My dating advice for him? If the teller at the bank calls you up for a date after taking notice of the balance in the account RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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