Mystery Shopper

So this past weekend I ventured out to buy some holiday gifts/Black Friday specials. I had no idea what I was in for, but I knew what I had experienced in the past. First stop, Best Buy. I guess that the big box retailers still think that no one has a tv. Since that is ALL they seem to have. That and air fryers are all the rage, but it doesn’t seem like customers feel the same way. With streaming devices everywhere dvds and blu-ray discs are no longer marked down to ridiculous prices like before. It has been 2 years since the PS5 released and still there is no gaming consoles to be found. If I was a mystery shopper all of the stores would have failed. I know why they are down in sales. They don’t even say hello to customers, let alone shoplifters. The funny thing is Best Buy rearranged their layout, so loss prevention now faces the front door, and customers can see all their cameras in plain view. And a weird thing is they don’t give you a receipt unless you ask for it, so you literally walk out the door with no proof you paid. Yeah, I don’t get it either. Can we say “shrink problem”?

I tweeted to Best Buy and let them know of the epic fail on their part. They were very concerned and I gave them more detail in an email. I don’t know why they don’t sell things people actually want as gifts.

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The Butterfly Effect

They say don’t step on a butterfly as it has a domino effect. Or something like that. Anyway my point is that there is one certain individual that did a certain act that had insane effects. That person would be the former president of the United States who gave the republicans their supreme court the crappy judges who are there now. I’m talking about Roe V. Wade. If that didn’t happen, the midterm elections would not have turned out like they did. For some reason the experts thought that Colorado would be controversial and that our new house representative would have been republican. Yeah, the 8th district, like where “I” live are just normal people. It is mostly suburbia with normal somewhat non-white folks. Thornton Colorado … remember home of the Walmart shooting? Yep, that is the district that was “up for grabs” as they say. As far as I can tell it is mostly democrat in this district as all the democrats won their seats in Adams county. Also keep in mind, the newly minted voters, especially the Tik Tok gang — were out in full force voting to save their reproductive/body rights. Republican women voted democrat. Yes, you read that right. Independent voted democrat. So if you are looking to point a finger to blame the current state of the nation, you can point it at Trumpty Dumpty. HE did this.

And for the record I DID like Black Panther 2/Wakanda Forever. I just had my own criticisms of what I liked and didn’t like.

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Colorado adds a seat in congress

Did you know that Colorado scored an additional seat in congress? Yep, all the new residents that moved here allowed a totally new district, technically representing me — Thornton & north. New York lost one of its seats, and we elected an ethnic female pediatrician doctor as our representative. Colorado joined six other states to gain seats. Texas picked up two seats, while Florida, North Carolina, Montana and Oregon also gained one. Doing the census survey is important and could ultimately shift the balance of power when it comes time to those votes in the electoral college. While it appears that most of the country is done with the election, there are still five states that have an additional election to determine the final and ultimate winner.

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So if you are one of my readers and you are in one of those states. Vote. Use your voice and make a difference. Go with your friends and vote for your future. There was low voting turn-out, and they know how many are registered and how many show up. So vote. You need to think in a hive like mindset. YOU are part of the hive. WE have all voted, and some of us will vote again, in huge massive numbers. WE are a force of power. The minorities now outnumber the majority.

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Election Highlights

Here is the big news. The former press secretary for the White House is now a governor. Arkansas you are doomed. And the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania is now a senator. Dr. Oz was viewed by 55% as someone who wasn’t a full time resident who just tried to steal a senate seat. I hope it cost him millions. Nebraska, my home state, had a minimum wage issue on their ballot … and amazingly it passed. What? I know right? Well I looked up the numbers and it appears that the number of “not republican” is increasing. So much that if you took all of the other parties vs. the republicans there are actually 29,307 MORE if everyone voted. What happened? Well, COVID killed off a lot of voters and non-vaccinated folks helped to spread the death even faster. No one is wearing masks. There literally are thousands of brand new voters who went to the polls this time. The power struggle in the senate is real and there will be at least a handful of run off elections. Colorado created a new congressional district, amazingly it is where I live, and that means a new seat in congress. I could have run, and probably would have won. My unethnic name would have scored me a seat, but then I’d actually have to get up and go to work, report to someone and that just doesn’t sound like fun at all. And who wants to be a target? Look at poor Nancy Pelosi’s husband who was attacked and beaten with a hammer. Damn. Although it would be fun to travel back and forth to D.C. The $174k salary wouldn’t be bad either. What would be MY issues? Well if you have read the blog, I have shouted out a lot of things to “Biden”. If I was in congress I’d focus on education, career development and helping citizens find meaningful career choices. Well, maybe next election. Yeah right. But, if I really wanted to make a difference, going into politics is one way of making things happen.

I saw Black Adam last weekend and the new Black Panther 2 comes out this weekend. Since the main character died of cancer, they have to somehow rewrite him out of the story and write in his sister. The dude wore a mask and a costume when he is a hero so how hard is it to recast? They did it with Thor when they wrote in Jane Foster as a Thor. There wasn’t a ton of people at Black Adam opening weekend, so we will have to see how Black Panther 2 does. If I see it I will let you know my two cents. You know it will eventually make it to Disney+, so you decide.

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18+

As crazy as it may sound, but there are now hundreds of thousands of “kids” who love my book, that are now old enough to vote in the upcoming midterm elections in the United States. If you are one of those kids who doesn’t have an ideal parent as a role model to teach you about politics, then you are welcome to take my advice. What would “I” tell my kids? Vote. I would tell them to vote. I used to think that I was one small voice that no one heard or would listen. But I was wrong. There are a lot of people that want to know what I think and want to think how I think. Look to the good in people and situations. Dismiss the negativity and rude comments. Listen and be a role model. So vote. I would tell you to vote for an independent or a democrat. If you don’t know anything about politics, it really is all about the house and the senate. Who controls it determines many of the outcomes that affect our/your daily lives. Most minorities (like me) are democrats. White people, … our nations former slave owners, … are republicans. If you are a person of color, you really should vote. There will come a day when the white people are outnumbered by the colored people. And THEY will be the minority. Vote.

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Mind Your Own Beeswax

A few months ago I picked up a jar of Rodial Bee Venom eye cream. If you don’t know anything about bee venom it has some reactive properties such as death, as it technically is a chemical weapon designed by God. After you have washed your face, before your serum, put on the bee venom. It might tingle or even sting. Bee venom stinging… ground breaking. hahahahaha. Seriously, beeee careful not to get it in your eyes. It is in a different form that an actual bee sting, so hopefully you don’t die. If you are allergic to bees then probably not a good idea to try this “nature’s botox”. Of course a lot of people say they can’t tell a difference, since I always look young — but I certainly can tell. The puffiness under my eyes is gone and those lines around my mouth are gone also. In all fairness it has been almost 3 months since using it and it is way cheaper than a botox treatment, which can be several hundreds of dollars. I also used it on my elevens. What are the elevens? They are the 2 lines that appear between your eyebrows when you frown. Thankfully the elevens are also gone. So far so good. I’ll keep y’all posted.

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Well She Hulk is officially over. I sat through all 9 badly written episodes and the finale didn’t let you down with more bad writing. I’ll let you sit through the bad writing and acting and suffer through it like I did. Better watch it to the end, for the secret scene. And in case you missed it, President Biden pardoned every crime for cannabis under 2 ounces. Wow. Yes, it is for real. Just give it time and it will no longer be a crime to have a plant.

I was not paid for an endorsement.

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Stop saying “It is what it is.”

Instead say, “I am extremely disappointed in the outcome of this situation and I understand there is nothing in my power to change it. So it is pointless to complain and bitch about it. So I will move on with my life and look to the positive things in life that I can control.”

Pointing out the obvious and displaying your shitty attitude just makes you look like an ugly person, so don’t do it.

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What do you want to be when you grow up?

Do you know what “I” would do for the education system if “I” were in charge? Well, Mister Stephens, what would you do? First off, I would make it mandatory that every single high school student before the age of 16, take a career management class. We would call it … that’s right you guessed it, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Part of that year long course would be investigating, researching, job shadowing and interviewing real live people doing the job. It would include budgeting, finance, credit, and a slew of other actual helpful tactics to manage your career, the finances that go along with it and the ways you can earn income. When I was teaching that class, at the college it was too late to tell someone they picked a really shitty career with no hopes of ever making any money. Trust me when I tell you there are thousands of unemployed video game artists/developers. My year long course would include ALL kinds of professions, from trade to pHd and I would have forums where students could actually learn, ask questions and decide what is right for them.

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NO ONE plans to be an Uber driver, a ditch digger, or construction worker. It just doesn’t happen that way. And no one tells you that you can make money as an influencer, a sugar baby, a housewife/husband, … or even as a drug dealer. But yet, all of those occupations exist. Almost every job out there has the wonderful things and the shitty things. It is a good idea to know what both of those are before you commit yourself to that career. A buddy of mine from high school, super smart, went on to be a lawyer. He was very musically inclined and artistic, so I wondered why he would go in a direction like law. Well, turns out he didn’t stay a lawyer and he went back to his artistic side of things.

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WHY do you want to be a millionaire? What do you want/need to buy that is THAT expensive? Know what your minimum and maximum salary needs are and focus on what is important. Making 200k a year sounds great, until you find out you have no life, and you work 70 hours a week. I think to myself, “If I didn’t have any bills, how much would I need each month to live comfortably?” Once you have that number you don’t have to kill yourself to overachieve. Just remember, NO ONE is banging down your door to pay your bills in full each month. They’ll get their money when they get it, right? As one of my managers once said, “We work to live, not live to work.” And when you confuse the two we will have a coming to Jesus meeting to get your priorities back on track.

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Yo Biden. The department of education needs a revamp with a focus on finding students meaningful careers that will pay their bills. Each graduate needs an understanding of where their money comes in and goes out. It’s not rocket science, but kids these days can’t even do math or count back change. There needs to be a small business course so everyone can learn about tax breaks and advantages they had no idea they could claim. I don’t have a doctorate, so I don’t think that person in charge would be me. I just came up with the idea that could literally revolutionize America for a better tomorrow. Although it could be a lot of fun developing courses like, “eBay, and other online sources of income.” And while we are at it, everyone needs to take an ethics course.

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Forgiving a small amount of debt doesn’t fix the problem of students going into careers with no idea how to earn an income. Millions of people have useless degrees that have no relevance to their actual source of income.

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Tesla Stock Split

For the first time ever, Tesla has done a stock split. Actually it was cut in 3, so a 3 for 1 stock split. Fortunately I had a single share, not part of a share, so now I have 3 shares. Ah life is good. Some day these 3 shares of stock will be worth a lot. Remember back in the day day Walmart did their first stock split? Yeah, I wasn’t a part of that round either. But hey, now I can say I got 2 shares of stock for free. Sure the price is a little lower than it was, but I think we can all say that we know Tesla is going to be bigger than it is today, and I was lucky to be one of the entry level guys.

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Elon Airport

So if you didn’t hear, in addition to SpaceX headquarters in Texas, Mr. Billionaire has decided to build his own private airport. The airport less than five miles from his base of operations had issues and probably didn’t kiss his ass. So you know, he has his own private jet that some kid on Twitter was following him. Musk offered him 50k to stop posting it on Twitter and the kid said no. So of course it makes sense to build an entire airport just for your own personal usage. Of course there will probably be Tesla chargers everywhere on site. Great for the Texas grid right? I mean, if they installed millions of acres of solar chargers on all that land then maybe … just maybe they might stand a chance.

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And just in case you missed it, one ticket for the Mega Millions lottery was sold in Illinois. Yay for them/him/her. I still call it the idiot tax. Lotteries are the biggest scam that everyone seems to be okay with on a worldwide basis. Sadly that winner ends up getting taxed at an obscene rate, actually more than 50% considering state taxes that also are entitled to the winnings. So I guess when you wonder where the government (in the USA) gets all their money, they literally steal it from lottery winners every single day. I would love to see the books for the Internal Revenue Service. The bank account must just be massive.

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