160103 Gambling

While I was with my in-laws, I learned a new card game that used a special deck and puns. Off hand, I can't tell you what the name is nor what it is like. I don't even remember all the rules! If I can, I'll post a picture of it. Right this instant, that game seems to be a symbol for my life. From childhood, I have played card games. A deck of cards is inexpensive entertainment and can teach a child many of the rules of math and arithmetic. I am sure that my math skills are related to all that early practice. My father lead many of the games, because when he was a young adult, he had earned extra money from cards and pool. My mother also had an aptitude for cards. They started playing cards with my siblings and I as soon as we could hold the cards in our hands without dropping them. I could not imagine a household without several decks of cards until I was married. My ex did not play cards, but it seems that our younger daughter inherited my skill with them.

My sister-in-law and her adult daughter were excited about this game and my daughter and I wanted to play. I asked for clarification of the rules. Suddenly the way to win was clear, so I planned my coup and easily won. No one wants to play me in cards anymore. No one wants to play me in backgammon, either. During one backgammon game, my opponent told me that with my skills, I should go to Vegas. Once in a bar, I did meet a gambler who enticed me into a game. After I won, he told me that he had never seen anyone throw the dice like I did, and then admonished me for not betting more. I really didn't like risking MY money like that. The gambler owed me money he didn't have and failed to pay. The act of gambling left a bad taste in my mouth, and the creepy, slimy company didn't help. My dad doesn't say much about his gambling days, but I know that he now has a very low opinion of the profession.

Why do I consider this card game to be a symbol for my life? I am very good at some things. I am not average. I can be phenomenal, but sometimes the associated costs become too high. I am an excellent worker, but I'm not good with people. I won't lie, even about the little things. I show exceptional talent for pissing off customers, especially when I'm trying to be nice. Today, the only jobs available seem to be service related, because all my technical skills are out of date. I rejected more schooling, because I don't have the money and don't qualify for grants and scholarships. (I checked all I could find.) My age and physical limitations narrow the already narrow field. I didn't reject even retail. Employers rejected me. Did I get an unacceptable score on their repetitive personality tests that take an hour to complete? Was I the wrong ethnicity? Did I wear mismatched clothing? It's a good thing that I own my own dwelling and that my needs are few, because I refuse to apply for government assistance.

Sometimes, I really wish that life were as easy as a mathematical equation -- or a card game.

140220 Time for Thoughts; Time for Life

I haven't done much writing lately. My thoughts about a year ago were to make this a platform for selling oils. Many of my friends and acquaintances were making an income from selling Young Living Oils, so I thought it was the answer to supporting my children.

Not so much.

I am not a salesman. I miss opportunities. It is hard enough for me to speak to people in general, much less to convince them that they must spend money on something, even if it helps them. The United States of America has too rich a history of snake oil salesmen, charlatans, and cheaters so that and everyone here thinks that everything is bad. Classic wisdom says it best:

Luke 6:41  
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

Americans seem to think that contention shows wisdom. Every time one person says something is good, three more compete in finding the worst clause or word or appearance that shows that 'good' is 'evil'. For example, some enterprising young man found a way to seal devastating battlefield wounds in seconds. It worked far better than anything currently used and had widespread applications for car accidents and other disasters where people bled profusely. The very first comment on the article I read condemned the practice because it 'might' cause an allergic reaction in a minority of people. Let's crush ALL innovation, because someone might be hurt! Let the majority die; it's so better than discomfort!

I, more than most, recognize that some people have life-threatening allergies. I have my own, but when the choice is dying or dealing with the allergic reaction, I'll take my chances! A 50-50 chance of living through an allergic reaction is far better than 20% or 0% from bleeding out! Oh, wait! That's math! No one does math anymore! That's how Obamacare got passed. The emotional desire for universal health care beat out the reality of the number crunching that so few did. Now, all the predictions of the mathletes are coming to pass, and those who relied on emotion are even more emotional.

Organizing my time can be an emotional decision as well, but rational thinking is required. I have resisted taking a full time job, because Agent needs school, my health has been questionable, and I have no plans to buy any kind of health insurance. Like my educational choices, my medical choices are sanctioned by neither the American Medical Association, nor the government. By removing myself from their standards, however, my health has improved to the point that I can now pursue employment. This means, that I shall have no more time for online activities. My Internet contract ends March 20th. Support for XP ends April 8th. I have yet to find a new service, but did start experimenting with Windows 7.

This is fair warning. My writing can hardly suffer more than it has. If I don't get that full time job, of course I'll find a way to get online! I love my friends. If I disappear, however, work will be why.

130406 Intelligent Thinking

Not everyone is the same. This is good. It takes diverse talent to achieve ‘most anything, and no one person can know everything. Sometimes, I get so used to ‘dumbing down’ my speech so that others can understand me, than people think I’m dumb. When my thoughts move so quickly that my words trip over themselves, the same thing happens. Now that my children have reached a reasonable age, it gives me great pleasure to talk at length on certain topics that make other people’s heads spin. The elder and I discuss politics, while the younger and I discuss physics. It is glorious.

I have a cousin who ‘knows everything’ and lives in Liberal La-la Land. He fails to acknowledge that I might know a thing or two that he doesn’t. He and I studied quite different subjects in college. My majors centered in science and math, while he had a liberal arts education. “Liberal” used to mean generous, but in the US today, it means following a certain code that bypasses thinking and depends on feel-good assumptions. Facts and figures get thrown out the window when they don’t fit the litany. I know, because I have old BOOKS and don’t depend on the Internet for my information. I want to be the epitome of the former, but consider myself to be the opposite of the later definition.

My failure is that I expect people to think logically. It seems to be a lost art. I have altered my opinions and given ground when someone can show me why something is true, because I use my brain. One example is minimum wage. I used to like minimum wage, because it gave me a standard. Then, I took Economics 101 and saw how supply and demand affected the cost of goods and services. Minimum wage leads to unemployment. Which is better? Low wages, or NO wages? My younger daughter would get a job, but no one will hire her unskilled self at $7.25 per hour. Also, a superfluity of laws dictate what young people can and can’t do.

My cousin simply says that minimum wage has to be raised, because no one can live off of it. That may be true, but who takes those low paying, unskilled jobs? Not the heads of households, (except in extremely rare, but much publicized sob stories.) People used to find roommates to share expenses, but there are restrictive laws about this, too. In 1976, my very first job paid minimum wage. A year later, my second job paid twice minimum wage, because by then, I had gained skills. A mere four years later, my income exceeded the national average. That doesn’t seem possible today. Who will take a chance on a nobody? Bosses can’t even fire people anymore.

Today, I’m not working because I don’t want to work. Well, I don’t want to work if it means unrelenting pain from standing or stooping all day. Those are the most abundant jobs available, and I could work tomorrow at one of them. Instead, I signed up with Manpower, a great organization for people with certain skills, but they have no current assignments for me. In a sense, I am practicing some of those skills here today by typing. I like this kind of work, and it usually pays slightly above minimum wage. Employers, however, have become a little more skeptical about hiring unknowns. God can do anything. Now that I’ve made a decision, He will act. :)