Category: blogs

Musk, Anti-Semite? I don’t think so.

Not that Elon needs defending from a sci-fi author. The odds of him hating Jews and supporting Hamas are non-existent.

Much like other politicians, whoever the media disagrees with, they can take snippets of conversations and turn them into something they are not.

Let’s look at Twitter itself. Bots worldwide incite hate not only in the US but universally. Most probably, those bots originate in China, North Korea, or any host of countries that hate the US. There are people in the US who put forth hate speech as tweets, among other things, to piss off people who support Trump or…to play to the egos of those who hate Trump.

Elon, like Trump, is outspoken.

Before getting upset, use common sense and understand the full context of his actions.

In order to control the democratic process, it is necessary to divide the herd, the tribes, the masses and keep them distracted with stupid shit.

People are too ready to be pissed at something and be a victim. That is a fact and is problematic for your future.

Why would you give someone with an agenda that power over you?

If, for example, I say something like…Just because you eat bread and it comes out brown does not make you a toaster; what if you want to identify as a toaster?

It’s a free country. Try pop tarts!

My point is the media, either by proxy for the Uber rich or pure narcissism in need of ratings or clicks, is going well above the pale to piss people off.

Specific segments of the population are easily provoked. Those include people with limited critical thinking skills.

Circling back to the Elon tweet, ‘Hey, he tweeted it, the story is worth clicks. Let him defend it.’

Much like Trump, I guarantee that if you could meet them one on one and put all your biases aside after a brief visit, you would most probably like them. You would discover that the liberal press has tainted your View of the world.

My question for the critical thinkers out there is this. Why is the media or whoever controls them so afraid of Trump and or Elon? Whoever the media is attacking is someone you should probably look at their deeds and not what the propagandist wants you to hear.

The case in point is this. Where there is smoke, there’s fire. Yes, it’s a cliché, but the Bidens are not just involved in a mere scandal; instead, there is an abundance of evidence pointing towards a catastrophic nuclear disaster, yet the media seems preoccupied with irrelevant topics regarding a tweet.

Either focus on the candidate’s actions and not their tweets or identify as a lemming. The media seems hellbent on the destruction of the world.

If you download the RadioGarden app and listen to news from different countries, you will immediately see that conservatives everywhere are under attack.

Why?

Conservatives believe the government works for you the people, Liberals believe that you are too stupid to control your futures so they must do it for you. Do you remember being a deplorable or perhaps you remember the reference of being a smelly Walmart shopper?

When they discover how to control the votes, not precisely to voters, they will not need or care about you at all.

How will they control the voters?

By making you just educated enough to be a useful idiot.

By destroying history, so you will repeat it.

By using your emotions against you.

By playing you against those who have critical thinking skills and are aware that knowledge is power.

The Jews of WWII had a little more on the ball, so someone labeled them as the oppressors and the people who turned their back when they were being slaughtered as the oppressed. ‘Good they had it coming!’

They knew and did nothing.

That same scenario is playing out today and around the globe. It’s sad, really.

The litmus test is this. Are you better off now than you were four years ago? The media is telling you that you are. Americans are over a trillion dollars in credit card debt, and yet the liberal media is telling you how great things are.

Do you believe the media or your bank statements? It seems to me that those fat cat bankers with a trillion dollars of credit card debt at 30% interest might have a say in what the feds do with the interest rates. What do you think?

Do you really believe that someone with the IQ that Musk has would engage in Anti-Semitic behavior?

Again, ask yourself…Why is the media trying to destroy him?

I know, do you?

-Best

Behavior vs Addiction

I promised I would write about addiction in another blog post. Matt Walsh, who I agree with most of the time, dismisses food addiction as addiction. I disagree with him, and here is why.

Matt confuses behavior with addiction. Matt dismisses brain chemistry as addiction.

I will argue that behavior can be a precursor to addiction.

Years ago, someone informed me that once I tried cocaine, I would become addicted. I took their word at face value. In the back of my mind, I wondered, how is that possible?

When Matt argued against addiction, I wondered how people become addicted to self-injury?

Let’s look at a few non-drug-related addictions.

Gambling.
Video games
Pornography
Workaholism
Kleptomania
Pyromania
Compulsive buying disorder
Hoarding
Food Addiction
Social Media
Sex

These (and many more) start as behavioral issues.

Matt touches on this when he speaks about the brain reward system. I will also argue it was at this point that those issues that turned me from an agnostic to a believer in intelligent design. (GOD)

Whether constructive or destructive, those things that bring you glee become habits. Habits can turn into addictions in this way. When you first experience pleasure from any of those activities, the ‘high’ from dopamine released is a type of euphoria.

Repeated activities become less intense, thus forcing the perpetuation of those activities to a greater degree to achieve the same level of excitement or pleasure.

So, Matt and others. This is how someone can become addicted to just about anything.

Circling back to the cocaine dilemma… This drug is incredibly addictive because it dramatically stimulates the reward system more than online shopping. Like all addictions, the brain becomes accustomed to the reward, requiring more intensity or more of the chemical to achieve the same results.

In short, the brain is a drug store with molecules like cannabis.

Runners often feel a state of euphoria due to endocannabinoids. We know this as a runner’s high. These molecules act on your endocannabinoid system, which is affected by THC.

Exercising and practicing extreme cardio can release chemicals in your brain that make you addicted to the same euphoria. I know a man who is running a 50-mile marathon. He has been a runner for years, up to fifty miles. Think about it.

-Best

If you want more from author Scott Taylor, check out his book, ‘Earth’s Last Hope.’

Thanks in advance!

The Lies We Come to Believe (Climate Change)

‘Lie often enough, and people will believe it.’ -Goebbels

The world is headed down a treacherous path led by a few who have more money than sense.

In this article, I intend to debunk the myth of climate change. Why? Climate change is used as a cudgel to affect change in the way we think, act, and behave as a society. Those with zero regard for a carbon footprint affect our habits as humans. As they fly their private jets around the globe, spreading their lies, they do it to scare the uninformed into compliance with self-regulation.

The hard truth of climate change is this: it’s not what they tell you.

As a science fiction writer, I must understand science better than my average audience. If I, for instance, make up a device that will toss my intrepid crew of a spacecraft forward or backward in time, the science behind it must at least be theoretically conceivable.

Following a two-thirds rule, more than half of my postulations on a given topic must be based on physics, that is at least possible. In short, I think outside the box.

Unlike Chicken Little, I want to know all the facts when we talk about climate change. Having debated scientists on different topics and later proved correct, I have a handle on Climate Change.

When the Mars Rover detected Climate Change on Mars while a New York Congresswoman complained about cow farts, I decided to investigate the facts. Obviously, cow farts on Earth were not responsible for methane releases on Mars.

It didn’t take long to figure out that the climate change on Mars and changes on other planets were created by the Sun.

Suppose you understand that the Sun goes through an 11-year cycle. In that case, you can bet that anything it does that causes solar storms, plasma ejections, and so forth will affect the planets. That’s the first fact we don’t hear about from the Politicians, as it does not fit the narrative. There is zero money to be made by the truth of the Sun’s menses.

Aside from some colorful atmospheric disturbances and possible power grid fluctuations, what else might a solar storm cause?

Imagine the burner on your stove had part of one of the elements burned out. Instead of high, maybe it was only capable of medium heat. Suppose there is a sunspot (solar storm) where a large hole in the Sun’s surface is not generating energy (heat). Don’t you suppose you might have some cooler-than-normal weather?

Let’s take this to the other extreme.

When you are in a cold room with a fireplace blazing away, where do you gravitate when you step into the house from the cold?

Why?

The closer you get to the fire, the warmer you get, yes?

It is a known (documented) fact that our Sun does not just stay in one place. The Sun is perturbed or moved from dead center, 3.4 million miles, by a planet in our solar system.

Jupiter and the Sun tug on each other. You might have heard astronomers mention a wobble in some distant sun. They cannot see the planet in question, but because of the wobble of the distant star, they are sure that there is a planet in orbit of said star tugging on it.

Back in our solar system, if Jupiter is on the opposite side of the solar system than the Earth, where do you suppose the Sun is?

You’re getting the point if you said 3.4 million miles further away from the Earth.

Back to our fireplace analogy, if you stand at the far end of a gymnasium where you can see the fireplace, how much heat from the fire do you suppose you might feel?

Conversely, if you are close to the fireplace, how long would it take to lose the gloves, jacket and sweater and sit a spell basking in the fire?

Another dimension to this puzzle is the angle of the Sun’s rays and how they strike the Earth.

Think about this: If the mere angle of the Earth (tilt) gives us seasons on either hemisphere, how much greater of a change to the climate is 3.4 million miles?

For the record, I am for clean air, water, and so on. I just hate being lied to by people who are driven by profit. As an elected official, you are probably a crook if you become a millionaire.

It’s not hard to predict when we will have a freezing winter or when our summers will be extra toasty. Where is Jupiter in correlation to the Earth?

Things will be warmer than usual if it is behind us on the same path or in the same arc. The opposite is true for the winters.

If you want to help starving authors or artists, I am both…check out my latest science fiction.

Earth’s Last Hope

Thanks, stay safe and stay informed.

-Scott

Hire an Employee who will get shit done.

The title is advice from someone on Linked In

Getting ‘shit’ done is liable to return the output of shit.

Intelligent, wise, and competent rise above many of the platitudes in this picture.

Many of these attributes will already be part of their character if they are smart, thoughtful, and intelligent. I would also add well-read outside of academia to that list.

Are they trainable?

What is their attitude?

Is work a four-letter word or an opportunity?

Too many people view work with a negative connotation; why?

We work to live.

Since work is a requirement for a happy life, an attitude of opportunity is necessary.

We tend to see arrogance in some who waste opportunities for short-term rewards.

You don’t deserve a $90k car straight out of college.

No, you don’t live as mommy and daddy raised you straight out of college.

A lovely home is a goal, not a right.

Define an opportunity you might suggest.

Opportunity begins with goal setting, and that starts at a young age.

‘I want to be an … when I grow up.’ Do you remember that career day event from school?

Do they still have those events?

They should have them every year throughout academia. Why?

Very little in life is static.

Technology is changing the way business functions.

Automation, AI, and, yes, robots are altering the future; thus, what one wanted to be in grade school might no longer be salient to the workforce today.

Robots don’t call in sick, sue, care about affirmative action or trans rights. Robots don’t take weeks to months off of work to care for a newborn. Robots don’t demand equal time off for the father. Robots don’t seek representation or file some grievance with their union.

Robots don’t have opinions; they get shit done.

Activism in the business world is a cancer that forces capitalists to seek alternative means to getting ‘shit’ done. The recent BUD-Light faux pas should be studied in marketing classes for years to come. That decision cost the stockholders billions.

Capitalists are not bad people; they are possibly more intelligent than you. They might be heartless pragmatists, but if they own a company like Tesla, they may have more on the ball than you do.

Treating entry-level jobs like careers demanding more money per hour than we pay our soldiers forces business owners to find new ways to trim the demand for humans.

Forcing companies to pay outrageous dollar amounts to unskilled workers who are learning to work; causes inflation. The entry-level worker needs to gain a grasp of economics.

With a higher product cost, the government is the winner as now there are more taxes generated by the consumer and income tax in a higher rate of taxation and more dollars to the foolish entry-level employee.

Again the unwise, foolish undisciplined, and uneducated only see the higher number on the paycheck and not the result of how they unwittingly are sabotaging themselves and the country. They got $15 an hour for watching a robot cook food for the masses. At what point will the robot and AI do everything with one single caretaker, much like the receipt checker at big box stores?

Will the price of goods reduce when they don’t require those employees?

The elimination of entry-level jobs starts with you bagging your groceries, then self-checkout, and one day it all happens while you sit on the toilet at 2 AM with your smartphone. A box with a painted smile arrives at your door the next day, eliminating several employees from the role of corporate America.

Trades are where young people should focus instead of seeking the corner office and high salaries straight out of university. The delivery driver role might be safe for a little while until AI and Elon nail down the bugs in autonomous driving trucks.

The hard truth is that the world owes you nothing. The world doesn’t give a ‘shit’ what you think, how you feel, or what you think you know. Garbage in equals garbage out. Reality often does not equal what you think you know or have been told by some talking head or activists in academia.

How can your skills and talents benefit the company you are looking at for employment?

You are in the wrong vocation if you can’t smile at your job.

Is there a future at that company, or is it a task-oriented position where you work putting Block A on top of Block B until you drop dead? If so, an engineer who unwittingly puts their progeny out of work will probably design a robot.

Most trades mean getting your hands dirty. Dirty hands might be your saving grace.

AI is not a toy but a replacement for you.

AI is the capitalists’ answer to activists who cost them money at every turn of the road. AI is the ultimate robot and the end game for many white-collar jobs. AI and robots are the final answers to union demands, not to mention the power they wield at the voting booth.

Robots can work 24X7X365 days a year, making widgets competing with countries that have slaves currently creating them.

While AI might not be wise, intelligent, or sentient, it gets shit done. As AI steels more of ‘our’ intellectual property, AI will turn out less and less ‘shit’ and more quality products in the way of code, art, legal opinions based on case history, and even finding solutions for medical solutions to cancer or other diseases.

What will the white-collar, over-educated erudite do as AI absorbs and concatenates the whole of human history? What will be left for them to pontificate over when ChatGPT spits out some epistle created from the thoughts of Voltiar to Chomsky?

What will the marriage of eons of philosophy look like? What will be left for the white-collar, corner office employee to ponder when a few keystrokes by some business owner can spit out a solution based on all of human history?

Will AI self-correct for the biased input by the woke mob who can’t define a woman?

What will the future look like for GEN Z, who thinks history is best left in the past?

If it were me, I would learn how to weld, learn carpentry or how to work on cars or airplanes or tanks, or how to wire that outlet that feeds power to your alternate reality in the world of an RPG.

I suggest farming so at least you and your family will have food.

As a writer, I can see the confluence of events from recent years to the current day as more than a coincidence.

Possibly you can see the reason for the VP’s gaff regarding reduced population under the guise of clean water and air. We just might have caught a glimpse into the future. Her comment wasn’t a gaffe. It was a Freudian slip.

Figure out what AI and robots can’t do, and focus on that for your future vocation.

One thing is for sure; the future will be exciting. Those with the gold will make the rules until the AI overlord determines they are useless. When the red eyes of the AI bots create their code, remember this prophecy from a science fiction writer, I told you so.

In the meantime, there are zero quick fixes, and the lottery is not a retirement strategy. Learn critical thinking skills and question everything you hear on the news. They are paid handsomely to act as if they care and lie as if what they are told to say is the gospel.

Yellow Journalism is a thing.

-Best

Here is a link to my latest novel.

Toll to the Troll

Taxes never end.

Everybody talks about it, and nothing ever happens. Why?

While visiting people in retirement homes, one lady told me a story. I found that story hard to fathom. In her time, there was a luxury tax.

The tax assessor would visit and assess a personal property tax on belongings. A full-length mirror was considered a luxury and was taxed accordingly. She would hide it under the bed to ‘cheat’ the government out of their share.

“Their share of what?”

I guess they knew people were hiding the mirrors under the beds and other items deemed a luxury. Since they didn’t have enough prison space to lock up the entirety of the country, they had to devise another plan.

Many tyrants today create new atrocities through stories to divide the tribes. What many refer to as systemic racism is nothing more than tribalism which is inherent in our DNA.

They know this but figure you are too stupid to understand how easily you can be manipulated into electing the fox that will eat you vs. selecting the shepherd who will protect you.

30 years ago, I purchased a house. Nobody helped me come up with the downpayment.

When I left home, I rented a dump I could afford while learning my craft. At night after a long day, I would have to chase the cockroaches off my table before I could eat a can of some concocted chemically laden food that was anything but healthy.

Purchasing day-old products or dented cans, I did what I could to survive. Returning home was never an option I would ever consider.

Why not instant gratification and rent something nicer, which I could have afforded??? So I could, at some point, afford a home. Before Dave Ramsy, I knew how to save money. Not using a credit card as a source of funds was one of the first lessons you must learn.

I worked a day job and then used my craft to start my own business, which kept me working till the wee hours before I had to do it again the next day.

Following the political ambitions of our elected leaders, I often question the process. I ended my career managing several folks and was responsible for million-dollar budgets from corporate America. I stopped being spoon-fed propaganda by the pundits on TV. They are all lying in some form or another. They are paid large sums to ease their conscience (like politicians) to spout damned lies while calling it the news.

At best, it’s yellow journalism…look it up if that term means nothing to you.

On January 6th, a riot in DC turned into a faux insurrection. The tapes released by McCarthy prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that our leaders are lying to us again. I mention this because America was founded on an insurrection.

Rejecting unfair taxes from King Georg’s Stamp Act to tossing tea into the harbor, Americans can only be pushed so far.

No, we will never surrender to the forces of darkness. Today Social media shapes the opinions of the jellyfish, who only know that George Washington was a slaveholder.

When you punch your time card or get up in the morning and drive to work, assuming you are not rolling out of bed and wiggling your mouse, you are a slave. Think about it.

I was once accused of being a whore. In retrospect, were they right? What will you do for money?

I paid off my mortgage when it hit me that between my monthly insurance cost and the property tax and associated fees, those monthly costs add up to more than what my monthly mortgage payment started out as. It’s almost as if I am renting my paid-off home from the government. That must stop.

Since the Golden State has been ruined by Marxist ideologies, Texas and others are flooded with people who voted for the fox. Now they are here and still think George Washington was only a slaveholder.

Universities around the country have instilled Marxism in the minds of the sheep. History is rife with how badly Marxism ends. Still, I guess history isn’t taught any longer as it is counterintuitive to the narrative.

Critical thinking skills are at a complete deficit. The proof is everywhere.

Governor Abbot, stop talking about personal property tax and do something about it. Sign an executive order, and scream at the top of your lungs that we will not take this nonsense any longer.

Why are retired people still forced to pay these incredible taxes?

In a bookstore not long ago, I noticed that familiar yellow and black covered book…’ for dummies’…

Marxism for dummies….’We will drain you dry and then devour you. Signed the fox.’

As a retired person, I spend my time assisting other writers who would like to become published. If you want a good read, please consider buying my book ‘Earth’s Last Hope.’

I aim to spend my ‘golden years’ supplementing my retirement funds with a passive income stream from Amazon… Bwhaaaa From a 24.95 hardcopy of my book, I get less than $3.00. Since Bezos has a new sweetie, he raised the cost of everything, including the distribution of the e-copy.

-Scott

Earth’s Last Hope

Every 396 billion years, all the planets align. Dr. Richards passes off the alignment as just another thing to discuss at NASA until Pluto’s moon is perturbed out of its tidally locked orbit. Discovering the reason for the perturbation sends her off on a quest to learn not what but who is responsible.

1947 was much more than a weather balloon. Samantha Richards discovers that her overbearing father is more than a soldier. Skunkworks is a walk in the park compared to his responsibilities.

When Earth suffers cataclysmic disasters, the president calls on General George Richards to invite his daughter’s uncanny expertise in solving puzzles to make sense of strange anomalies wreaking havoc around the globe.

Reluctantly, the two mend fences, placing all the secrets of AREA 51 and Roswell on the table. The world is in chaos and near extinction when Sam discovers the ‘WHO’ of the equation.

Is it really you?

It wasn’t that long ago when a star was accused of lip-syncing. The phrase ‘Is it live or is it Memorex’ came into vogue much like Xerox was synonymous with any copy machine.

We have entered a new world with AI.

If a child can instruct AI to create a picture of someone doing something they shouldn’t, what happens if it goes to court? What if a child is angry with their parents, creates a fake picture of them doing something illegal, and then makes a convincing argument that they did it for real?

The problem with AI is that it is much like the Coronavirus; it’s out of the box.

Videos are nothing but a series of pictures. What if that same kid creates a video of his or her parents doing something evil and submits it to some CPS officer?

How about audio, can AI create audio?

What if someone were to create a faux audio of some president doing something illegal?

What if they were to create a video of some president lying in bed being peed on by Russian prostitutes?

If the mere accusation of such a thing just caused an impeachment, what would an actual video of the event cause?

Flip a coin. What if Hunter was set up by the Russians, and all that stuff on his laptop was AI generated by the computer repair person / those who are after Biden?

I am not here to cast dispersions of ill repute on anyone. I am simply asking, ‘What if?’

While we could regulate AI in this country, what about other countries?

What about the megalomaniacs of the world with more money than sense controlling the narrative with AI-generated propaganda?

Some people are stupid. They will believe anything that supports their assumptions and reject anything that diminishes them. The media has ginned up so much hate that people will believe anything supporting their reasons for hatred.

Hate is how they will cause the lemmings to leap from the cliff.

Hate is how Hitler controlled the masses while he exterminated Jewish folks by the millions. Germans turned their backs on their neighbors as a hate campaign was generated against the Jews.

How will the billionaires of the world utilize AI to destroy mankind? How will they use tools like this to convince the masses to give up more of their rights for the promise of safety?

I am afraid the pen is mightier than the sword, and AI will create a new chapter in human history.

Much like splitting the atom, it was used as a weapon before it was used for good. Now that technology is a cudgel.

Do you remember the loony tunes cartoon with Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig holding on to the roots of planet X after they destroyed it?

“I can’t do that, Dave.”

AI needs accountability …period…

Any and all requests should be logged so forensically, allegations can be proven as fake or AI-generated.

Much like forensic data today, there needs to be a trial. Hence, the accused can be vindicated and the perpetrator put in prison.

Pass this suggestion to your representative if you agree.

-Best

Check out my forensic detective saga on Reedsy. It’s free…

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Eyes Wide Open

$900 objectivity…

Not everything is as it seems.

There is something called the WOW factor that realtors depend on when advertising a home. It starts with a photographer with an eye for composition and finding that WOW factor.

From wide-angle lenses to angles that omit white elephants, good photographers know how to get pictures that will pique the curiosity of a potential buyer. Then there is software that listing agents use to dress up the white elephants turning a desert into a golf course.

We authors do this with book covers, but I digress.

While a book cover should entice a reader to at least look inside the cover, these pictures are to incentivize the buyer to request a tour. A recent potential home has lots of wow. Objectivity can get lost in the ‘wow’ if one is not careful.

Once you decide this ‘home’ is right for you, get some objectivity. More importantly, be prepared to walk away.

It started with a few curiosities. An indoor pool that was in less-than-perfect condition. A building that was rusted to the point of possible structural failure. Shoddy workmanship to cover flaws with minor cosmetic repairs that did more damage to the property than help.

Then there were multiple windows with what appeared to be bullet holes. They were, in fact, bullet holes.

Hiring an inspector is one of your best expenses for purchasing objectivity. It is not his or her job to say, run, don’t walk. Their job is to locate flaws, structural deficiencies, other modifications that won’t pass muster, and cosmetic repairs that put lipstick on a pig.

Google reviews and, yes, Yelp are paramount in finding a good inspector.

The inspector recommended by the realtor had more negative reviews than positive ones. Pictures of nail holes from pictures hung vs. screwed-up roofs were their standard. Attempting to sell you services after the fact, instead of doing their job, was also part of the standard operating procedures they followed.

The inspector we found went above and beyond, pointing out things that must be addressed before proceeding.

A move-in ready home went to no less than $100,000.00 in necessary repairs before an evaluation from the mortgage lender could proceed.

Some notifications were minor electrical updates that had changed with codes. Others were a roof that had been damaged by hail. Still, others were air conditioners that had been disconnected because they were dead.

After I requested previous bills, I was shocked to see their electric bill hit $800 in August.

Finding both AC units in the home varied the input air to output air from 12 to 15 degrees on a 58-degree day, respectively, answered my questions. The winter months would not be much better, from heat pumps to heat strips.

The bottom line is this. Don’t fall in love with a property until after a quality inspector does his job. Look for reviews of your choice of inspectors, and don’t depend on your agent. A listing agent will want the one that finds holes from pictures hung. You want an inspector that will crawl through the attic or under the home looking for anything that could bite you in the future.

-Best

The Next Domestic Crises

The only thing more predatory than a politician are the credit card companies.

Carrying a balance on a credit card is by far worse than establishing a loan thru your financial institution. Those who can least afford it are frequently the target of predatory lending. PayDay loans and alike are one step away from borrowing from the mafia. Those who specialize in payday loans are not the financial institution you should deal with. They are the mob who will cash your check and attempt to solve all your problems by selling you magic beans for the cash, in the form of lottery tickets.

The root cause of the problem, however, is not those who seek to ‘assist’ those in need. The root cause is the need itself and a lack of intelligence when it comes to managing your finances.

If we glance at the past as in history, and then we look forward, we can see where this will end.

Having lived thru the lies of Carter, gas lines, odd and even days, and no more than ten gallons at any given time, we were happy just to get Gas, not really caring what it cost.

There is a price that is going to be the next crisis we must deal with.

I have not used a gas card in years. I used to have one that I did use to keep up with my expenses but that was a long time ago before frequent flyer miles.

The other day, unexpectedly, I received a new gas card. Why?

They know that there is about to be a boon to those who extend credit. We are used to budgeting X dollars a month for Gas. That expense has doubled. Depending upon how much you drive and what you drive, undoubtedly, you will feel it at the end of the month.

Not only is Gas twice the price, but food is also much more expensive. Heating and cooling costs have risen exceedingly fast.

Energy drives the prices for many things.

Where you might not have carried a balance in the past, you might now. Much like Sisyphus, pushing that rock uphill will break many.

Not to worry. A late fee is only $30, and your remaining balance might go up to 30%, but other than that, they have you covered.

If the current administration can blame all your pain on Putin, they stand a good chance to distract you from reality come election time.

It is imperative that you only listen to the very liberal media, which includes NPR.

Like Don Quixote, they truly believe that windmills will save the day. Tilting at tried-and-true methods of energy production, they seek to push this country back to the depression era. Little wooden shacks for the sharecroppers will dot the land in the middle of nowhere. They will need no amenities and will be totally dependent on their masters. Look no further than North Korea for a role model.

The poor management of your credit cards will be your undoing. Much like losing at Monopoly, you will mortgage your belongings to the very institutions that loaned you the money in the first place.

There are no do-overs. When you find yourself wishing for a solid cardboard box to keep the rain off your head, or fighting for a dry spot under a bridge, only then will you truly understand that this has never been about race, but a struggle between the have and the have nots.

Knowledge is power and that privilege that so many ignorant fools scream about. History is the source of that knowledge. It makes little difference if you like the history or hate it; it is there to learn from. Erasing history is just as foolish as thinking skin color is the solution or the problem.

If I were a gambling man, I would buy stock in companies that made loans. I would find companies that buy foreclosed homes and rent them out to invest in.

Most young people are stupid when it comes to money. They find renting is the quickest way to live the lifestyle they were accustomed to when mom and dad foot the bills. The attitude seems to be live for today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. If you look at their social media, you will discover what I mean. They are the market for the next breed of a predatory lender, those that buy foreclosed or ugly homes, spend as little as possible to restore or update them, and rent rent rent.

As prices continue to rise because of this administration’s piss poor policies, they will be among the first to suffer. Mom and Dad will be among the second to agonize as they end up opening their homes to their boomerang progeny along with their fur babies and maybe grandkids.

Mom and Dad, who saved for retirement, will end up using that retirement money to bail out their kids, who still think that playing video games all night is the equivalent of work.

Domestic disturbances will be over such things, and the entitled brats will be the spark that sets the next set of events into motion. The divorce, custody battles, and more money wasted on lawyers and court costs. Who could know this would happen??? Hello…

If you’re not putting money in the bank for a rainy day, you are screwing up. I would think that one should have at least three months of expenses saved in an account that you don’t touch. The wolf is at the door, and he is knocking.

When companies demand you return to the office, gas, tolls, and normal wear and tear costs return too. There will also be new clothes required. Are you ready?

-Best

Open Letter to Greg Abbot

With the latest power issues in Texas, one would think that we wouldn’t have these issues in a country like this.

“But it is cold.”

And, in the summer it is hot. The last time I mentioned to the city where I live, we had not enough water, trash pickup, and now electricity to add more businesses and apartments I was told to sit down and shut up. (in so many words)

It is all about taxable revenue. When I mentioned that to the city, they told me, “We have more churches than other cities, and they don’t pay taxes! We have to stay competitive.”

We have lost sight of the ball. When we can’t take care of what we have, we don’t need to add more.

Government is over-bloated and is more concerned about ways to keep their jobs and bring in more revenue than taking care of their constituents. Many of those are elected, and trust me, that can be remedied.

One cold snap and millions are without power. This incident was not even ice-related. It was supply and demand.

Maybe some child who knows nothing of economics or how the government works and thinks, might buy that. It is a crap argument. It is all about supply and demand.

In my line of work, we do something called a root cause analysis.

Why did it happen, and what can we do to better prepare for the next time.

We have not invested in the infrastructure or planned worth a damned for there to be power outages to the tune of millions of people because there is not enough supply.

Mr. Abbot, heads need to roll.

February and March are the cold months in Texas; the rest are hot and hotter.

We see California going through this because they have not invested in their infrastructure. I thought we were better than the Golden State.

You owe it to the people of Texas to do this root cause analysis and then tell us how you are going to fix the problem.

Platitudes, and turn off your heat or air and don’t run anything that uses electricity is not the answer. Controlled power outages are not the answer.

ERCOT needs to be held to account for this.

I have lived in Texas since 1962. This cold snap is not our first, and it will not be our last. Next Summer will not be our first days over 100.

If you want to attract more revenue in the form of a tax base, prove to the tax base that you have that you are worthy of it.

Pelosi wants a 911 commission to distract the country from its bumbling of issues. Maybe we should have a 911 commission to see how this happened. My guess is that you all already know, and knew it was a possibility. If that is the case, that makes you all negligent.

-Best

Customer Service 101

Your response should be crafted.

‘Recently, I took my car in for normal maintenance. Driving away from the shop, leaving from a red light, the engine stalled or hesitated. Calling the shop, their response was, “Those cars have Gremlins.”’

Even though they were obligated under warranty to fix it, I lost confidence in them immediately.

Finding another shop, I elected to pay them to fix whatever was wrong. Citing a potential catalytic converter issue, I reminded them of when the problem first occurred and then let them do their diagnostics.

The fault did not generate a check engine light. The lack of a ‘fault’ made the problem tougher to troubleshoot. If you have ever tinkered with old cars, the issue resembled a vacuum leak.

Finding a tear in a hose leading to the Mass Airflow Sensor cured the problem.

The ‘gremlin’ was the mechanic who did the original work and did not check to make sure his ‘cure’ did not introduce more problems.

While I am out a few hundred more dollars to another shop, finding an honest mechanic is worth it.

From plumbers to electricians and yes, computer professionals, it is OK to say ‘I don’t know.’

Customers would much rather hear you say ‘allow me to figure it out,’ vs. your (insert issue) has gremlins.

The original shop has lost me as a customer because the mechanic did not check their work and Gremlins.

No matter who you work for or what you do, you have customers. Identify them and treat them as you would want to be treated. Watch what you say.

-Best