The Chief – Really Right

When the 90-Day Calendar Screws the 90-Day Guy

Yep, it’s a doozy just like the title reads. For those unaware of the “90-day” moniker, it is the stock market, more specifically earnings reports from corporations. They occur every 90 days, as such there is no longer term planning, only a short term “juice the results” focus. The focus of this blog is on the “reduce expenses” part of the earnings reports. Specifically sending jobs overseas to save money.

In this case, the company he works for is privately owned so they do not report earnings; however, when they talk about financial results, they always mention getting expenses under control. As such they outsourced the IT department at the beginning of last year.

Enter 2026. 90-day Guy needs a new laptop. He claims his was “compromised.” As someone who worked the IT help desk in college, I think those are the annoying pop-ups originating in the lower right corner of your screen which are essentially are click bait to “buy anti-virus” that a) doesn’t work, or b) that you do not need. (see Jason Stathan’s Beekeeper movie).

In my experience, these pop-ups generally seemed to show up if you were visiting … um, … let’s just call them “websites you shouldn’t be on.” This issue is correctable, but he would rather get a new computer because he likely didn’t want the friendly folks in IT looking through his browsing history!

The new computer shows up, and even though it has a large and very red sticker on it proclaiming: Warning do not touch or open until directed to by ISC. ISC is our IT department. Of course, as paranoid as he is, he decides to open it right away, pull out the laptop and put the old one in said box and affixed the return label on to it. He waited about a week, (this is key), without starting it and didn’t call IT until 10 days after he received it.

When he got around to calling, the computer would not turn on. When asked to plug the computer in, he could not locate the charger cord. When asked if he could locate the instructions, I saw his face turn the color of a white sheet. Yep, this genius did not even look for the charger cord nor the instructions because, like a kid on Christmas opening the gift, he wanted so bad, neither of those things mattered. Oh yeah, he claimed they were never sent, because his motto in life is never admit wrongdoing. When the IT person said they were in the box, 90-day Guy went to his old standby; many losers who call for help go to “I can’t understand you.” Not only is that behavior borderline racist, but it also shows how big of a scumbag you are when you treat people at the lowest levels of the customer service chain like garbage. Full disclosure, he had this call on speakerphone, the accent while existing was not very heavy, let’s just say I have heard far deeper accents and still could understand. He just didn’t want to admit that he sent the instructions, the old laptop, the old charger, and the new charger back in the box without looking for them. He had to call back the following day when he got a charger from a fellow associate.

With a charged-up laptop, now it was time to log in. The IT person helping him this time had a deeper accent but was very much understandable. After playing what’s your log in and password, and unique identifier number for a solid 45 minutes, he quit. He decided to turn around to me and have me finish the process.

Hard NO. Full STOP.

Folks one little piece of unsolicited advice, never touch a computer that is not yours; especially, if it’s “owned” by a corporation. Additionally, if it was not intended for you, do not touch it. That’s a pretty easy way to get terminated. Again, remember the 90-day Guy ignoring the instructions on the do not open label. Which brings me to my next point. His MO is to blame others when things go wrong. Had I assisted, then under the bus I would have gone.

The call was even funnier. He kept openly declaring “I am very computer literate” while clearly demonstrating the opposite. I am unsure why he kept insisting that.

(I always call hat in hand, essentially saying, can you walk me through it?)

Stil unable to log on after 35 minutes and exhausting all plays in the IT guy’s playbook, 90-day Guy declared someone needed to be sent out to look at it. Again, his ignorance showed. Sending someone out costs $$$ and lots of it so they want to make sure the issue is one that a) can be fixed by said contractor or b) is most cost effective. The IT guy declined to have someone come out. You see, when you outsource, you are really just paying a lump sum each month to a third party each month/year, then they get to administer what benefits are passed along. In this case, sending someone out was going to cost a lot of money (you pay by the service call). So, 90-day Guy called the IT guy incompetent (always a smart move) and then hung up.

A third call happened the following day.

Again, he went for 45 minutes trying to log in to the computer, it didn’t work. While on speaker, toward the end of call, he proclaimed “doesn’t anyone speak English anymore?” The voice on the other end said “I heard you, sorry English is my second language. I am working here to feed my family.” Ouch. He thought he muted the call but left the speaker on. Smooth move. The IT guys said the computer was “deactivated remotely.” Of course, our resident, very computer literate person, had no clue what that meant.

The IT guy asked what kind of laptop he was using. Right on cue the words “my work one” came out of 90-day Guy’s mouth. Yep. He’s really computer literate. Top of his class. A legend in his own mind. He had no clue how to find out what type of laptop he had. Oh, it’s an HP Pavilion, but I digress. I had to help him find that info conveniently located on the top of the laptop when closed. “HP” was emblazoned there in large letters and on the left below the keyboard when opened.

Also, this information appears on a sticker under the laptop, but I didn’t want to further erode his mental health plagued brain. The IT guy said he would order a new one to be shipped out and it would take a day or two. This was at 2pm west coast time, mind you. This was also Tuesday.

Fast forward to Thursday. Still no laptop, and he is growing quite angry. I guess he submitted a survey saying the IT guy was incompetent and stupid and should be fired. Nice! He was venting in my direction saying it should have been here Wednesday. Nope, it’s right on schedule. See what his generation refuses to understand is 1 day shipping, means one day from when it gets to the plane/truck to ship it.

What he also fails to understand is it is not like McDonalds (a favorite of his btw) where you click a button and pull forward to the window for payment and you collect your meal. It has to go through multiple chains of command.

I can personally guarantee you the guy he spoke with has no authority to order a new computer shipped out. If it’s like when I was in college at the help desk, I created a ticket, another person had to sign off, then a supervisor of his did the work order. After those steps (I am sure it’s still similar), the laptop gets shipped. Had the call had been made at, say 9 AM, he would have had said laptop a day sooner. Instead, he waited until most folks who are decision makers were either gone for the day or fixing to leave. Hence the delay.

As far as the “deactivated remotely” goes, this is a thing that we had it back when I was in college. In essence, you have so many days to plug in/turn on/log in to said work laptop or it gets remotely disabled. Think of it like a kill switch. This is very necessary because with the systems my work uses and info that is stored on said systems, they cannot take a chance it gets into the wrong hands. As such, after so many days, they deactivate it. Hence, no one will be able to log in. Simple fact, but it escapes you when you didn’t see it on Fox News last night.

In closing, the 90-day calendar he lives by bit him. The company, like many others, outsourced American jobs to save money. Hiring a contractor or vendor lowers expenses. He has zero interest in this practice when it helps his earnings on stocks he owns, but when it’s a hindrance, he gets frustrated. He isn’t smart enough to know the difference.

There is an old proverb that goes something like this “do not spit in the well because later you may want a drink.” Boy does that ring true here. It’s been a fun 10 days here watching a grown man have a meltdown because he is realizing life has past him by and he never tried to keep up.

By Chief

Editor’s Note: If you want a different take on computer tech support then check out this song by Tim Hawkins.

Trump is Working with Liz Warren on Legislation? Impeach! Kidding

That sound you are hearing is the people’s brains (what’s left of them) at the local CRA chapter exploding on command. How could The Donald choose to work with a far-left crazy liberal?

It’s easy, and it’s something I would advise the Democrats to do more often actually.

If there are two things I wish Donald Trump learned from his first term, it’s that his own party really doesn’t want to work with him (in my humble opinion that has mostly continued to this day), and that Executive Orders are easily overturned by either; the Court, or his successor in office. If these things Trump wants are codified by Congress they become very hard to repeal or replace, like Obamacare. In all honesty, this term for Trump, I can only really think of one piece of legislation (the big beautiful bill) he has used Congress for. Everything else will be easily repealed or undone, before lunch the day his successor is sworn in (assuming it’s not a Republican).

Enter the Democrats in Congress.

Folks it’s painfully obvious that the Republicans do not want to eliminate or replace Obamacare, I could care less what Sean Hannity or any other host on Fox has to say about this. They had a chance, had no plan, and when voted on couldn’t muster the votes. Other pieces of legislation, they show little interest in being of assistance. Trump has actually dealt with a lot of drama in his first year back in office, nearly all of it started by his own party! Tom Massie, Rand Paul, Don Bacon, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, and a few others have either opposed his moves or made headlines screaming about “the Constitution.” Sure, I hear them on blowing up the “suspected” drug boats in the Caribbean, and arresting Nicolas Maduro, but is that the hill you wish to die on?

Trump made his comments and will be signing (signed?) and Executive Order limiting credit card interest to 10%. I cannot get a reading on his own Party on this, but if he is doing an Executive Order, he likely found out there isn’t much appetite on the GOP side for this. Enter Liz Warren. Warren is a fierce fighter of big banks and the ways they conduct business, resulting in hurting the poor and middle class. Do not get me wrong. She is wrong on quite a bit, but in this case, she sides with Trump. Warren can try to carry this bill through the Senate and get the House on board too, perhaps. It’s a Trump piece of legislation but in this case common ground exists. I have a feeling the GOP won’t want to hear Liz Warren sponsored it, so they will jump on board.

My point of this blog is politics creates strange bed fellows, but also Trump views everything as a deal, and he is not a conservative, he is a populist. Learn the difference! If I was leading the Democrat Party I would quit this impeachment and 25^th Amendment nonsense, likely being pushed by far left media types like Matt Dowd used to do, and work with him. He seems willing and ready to deal on almost anything. Think of the possibilities? Democrats may well have a congressional majority next year, rather than sharpening the knives (impeachment and 25^th Amendment), why not set the stage for deal making. Hate the ICE raids going on? Maybe strike a deal saying can you only go after the criminals? Leaving the family and day laborer types who are not criminals alone? Maybe cut a deal and say we will speak to the Democrat governors and communicate you only want to get the criminals and will do it for only a couple months? Trump may go for it if he gets an increase in defense spending, or if we can get some serious regulation roll back. Maybe tell Trump you want to see the ships in the Caribbean not blown up anymore, but in a trade, we will let you spend more money to hire inspectors at our ports and border patrol officers?

This already kind of happened in Maryland, Wes Moore, the governor, actually welcomed the FBI and ATF being sent in to work in Maryland. He didn’t want the National Guard, he gave valid reasons as to why. Folks are willing to work with Trump on certain issues, leverage that! Trump has a major say over members of his own party, and an election is coming this year.

Warren is not wrong on this, neither is Trump. Let us see if more deals are made.

The Chief

Reflections on Recent Events

As the year drew to a close, I have become more reflective on events of years past.

Folks, I have a strained relationship with many in my family as a result of their coddling of my sister. One thing that always bothered me was my sister could never do anything wrong in their eyes. They send her money to pay for her “influencer” lifestyle and think she will eventually turn it around, she is 38. At major milestones for my parents such as Christmas, Birthdays etc. I am treated to my parents saying they “just want 2 good kids.” I have always viewed this as a major slap in the face.

I am completely sustainable on my own. I own a home, have a great paying job, and have saved enough that when this job inevitably goes away, I can work because I want to, not because I have too. My sister on the other hand is a convicted felon due to her drug trafficking. Oh, and while on felony probation, she got a DUI in a crash on the way to the airport to fly home. Yes, she couldn’t even hold off on drinking until she got home. She suffered no consequences, no jail time, and very minimal fines. Oh, she still gets to live in San Diego, and my understanding is her apartment is near Coronado (high rent district). She has the perfect life. When we had family functions, I noticed family drifting toward her and away from me, they made their choice! I am the black sheep/persona non-grata.

I have gotten over it, it took some time, but I needed to realize I cannot control how other people think.

The wisdom I want to pass on?

1. Get the toxic folks out of your life. Not having a relationship with my 19 aunts and uncles (including spouses) was tough at first, just like not conversing with my 27 cousins (not including spouses) was hard at first. It gets easier over time; I don’t have Facebook or any other social media and honestly care not to hear the family gossip/goings on. It’s a relief! Trust me. They gravitate toward my sister for a reason, she has never seen a bottle of wine she couldn’t finish, when consequences do not exist, you continue your college days well into your late thirties.

2. Join groups and clubs to fill in your time but be wary of the folks who inhabit them. I made friends with William, thought I was friends with the Sith Lord, Sue, Terry (rip), Jared and others…. Boy was I wrong. I changed my voter registration to No Party Preference and viola, suddenly contact was cut off by the above group. Sith Lord and I were a 2 lunch dates a week kind of friends, then it was over. Sue walked right past myself and a friend at a political function last year. I know she recognized and saw me, because she turned her head quickly as to not make eye contact. Jared? I wrote him a letter of recommendation to be Executive Director of the County Party; he got the job and had no more use for me. Oh, he and the above cast of characters ran a fraudulent voter registration program… kinda sounds like a Democrat operation, right? All William and I were to them were errand boys. Oh, the kicker, they gave Jorge Riley an award after he was arrested for his role in storming the capital on January 6^thand filming and posting it to the internet. Riley is the only person there that day that admits to purchasing a weapon specifically for the event. Riley never assisted with GOTV calls, or precinct walking, and there were rumors of having kid(s) out of wedlock and not being the greatest about paying support… but hey, at least he is registered Republican! My wisdom? Look at folks in volunteer groups with a jaundiced eye, you are likely just cannon fodder to them.

3. Limit your time in front of the TV. This one is easy; I harp on it a lot. Most of the shows on TV are behind society’s decay this day and age. Rioting when you don’t get your way, sleeping around while married, and viewing fantasy as real life are big problems. Folks, the real world, is not depicted on the TV, it’s fantasy land. Nowadays, TV consists of people screaming hot takes, whether it’s politics, sports, or gossip to get higher ratings. The problem is, it also gets whackos to do irrational things, such as killing Charlie Kirk, killing the Democrat elected in Minnesota and injuring another, attempting to kill Trump… the list could go on. TV, as a whole, is very unhealthy right now. Matt Dowd (colossal loser btw) said dumb stuff on TV and that indirectly led to Charlie Kirk being murdered. Sure, Dowd denies all culpability, but in my mind, he is just as guilty as the shooter. My wisdom? I cancelled cable 8 years ago after a bad breakup with a girlfriend. The first couple weeks were a little tough, then I realized that I do not miss it. Better yet, I came to realize my life was revolving around “what was on TV” as opposed to dealing with the real world. I’m better for it; you will be too.

4. Limit your use/consumption of vices. This one is pretty simple, but it almost got me. Gambling, drinking, and drugs are all bad for you. All three are very expensive hobbies to take up and will lead to wrecked lives. I have a friend whose parents dissolved their marriage after 30 years due to one person’s gambling addiction. She literally spent all the money from both paychecks each month. They couldn’t pay the mortgage. They were a retired prison guard, and retired state worker. They had money, not broke folks trying to “double their paycheck on red.” Drugs are a rough habit and got my sister in deep legal trouble. I failed the bar exam, if you know, you know.

5. Be true to yourself. Again, this sounds simple, and it is, yet I know several folks who refuse to do it. Being true to yourself just means be who you are, don’t try to be someone you are not. This is the root cause of 90-day Guy’s “mental health issues.” When you tell a different story to each person you see and take on a different persona in every room you walk into it’s very hard to keep the story straight. Worse yet, you stumble up and tell the wrong person the wrong story contradicting what you said in the past. Imagine the mental gymnastics going on in his head, constantly wondering what story he told who and how to keep the gimmick going. My wisdom? Be who you are, quit trying so hard to be someone you are not, and don’t you dare blame mental health.

6. Stop blaming other people for your own mistakes. I know it’s easy and fun to blame a person who is not in the room. Heck it’s even in style these days. These people are the worst; it’s never their fault, always someone else’s. I have witnessed these folks blaming every friend they have, even their own spouse, for something that is their fault. They are insecure and love pointing the finger. They think it’s a genius idea, but they couldn’t be more wrong. My wisdom? If they are throwing other people under the bus in front of you or have nothing good to say about other people in front of you, you are getting the same treatment from them when you aren’t in the room. Proceed with caution.

7. Stop comparing yourself to other people. One thing I have found out is the “very hot girl, with the boyfriend” both seem so happy. You imagine that you want that for yourself. Then you find out they are not happy at all. Outside of the bedroom, and her being hot to show off like a trophy, they are not happy at all. I noticed a couple at my gym, they seemed happy and close. Well, she is pregnant and now he doesn’t look so happy. I am sure things will work out (pun not intended) but the lack of rings on either’s finger tells me they gambled in the bedroom and got (un)lucky? And as a result, they will be parents and may not be ready or so much in love anymore. That person driving the expensive car? Well, they likely have a very high car payment each month, how long can they afford the payments? The guy who claims to have a huge bank account, yet his card is declined when paying for lunch/dinner? Yeah. My wisdom? 2008 taught us a lesson, we didn’t learn (or is it lear?) anything.

People were living a lie; it has started again. Be happy with what you have or better yourself. You never really know how happy that other group of people is.

8. Don’t dwell or even remember the past in your life. You can learn from it but bringing up things in a sense of woulda, shoulda, or coulda is not healthy.

It’s also very irrational. Gas was cheaper last week. Well, you may not have needed it last week. Ditto with food and other items, it’s in the past let it go. Dwelling on that doesn’t change anything. Life events happen; regret should never be a thing. My wisdom? 2 things. When I failed the bar exam, the best advice I got was from someone I barely knew, he said “get into a car with a gas pedal, no mirrors, and no brake pads.” Why? Keep moving forward in life, don’t look back and do not stop. Dwelling on the past likely leads to anger, hatred, and other unnecessary things. One thing I live by is “a setback is a set up for a comeback.” Don’t make the same mistake. Rebuild your life and things will be fine. My favorite thing about this came up a couple weeks ago. My old roommate called and reflecting on our past in college he said “man you should have approached ______ she was gung-ho about you, and you passed? How come.” My response was simple, I was fixated on someone else at the time, enough said. As far as had I approached her, let’s just say everything worked out. She is a specialty nurse who works in SF, makes quite a bit of money and has 3 kids. Seems like a no brainer, right? I screwed up right? Wrong. Sure, the money would be great, kids would be great, I would be miserable living in that area. I would never have crossed paths with the friends I made in politics or church in this area where I live. That is why I do not look back on my life and psychoanalyze everything. I think for myself, I do not need to impress my friends.

9. Get God in your life.

No, I’m not saying to start quoting Scripture or standing on the side of the road trying to “spread the word of God.” It’s about right vs wrong and good vs evil. If you have some sort of religious guidance in life, you will see that what I am preaching in this blog is pure common sense.

The Chief

Trump Slashes Credit Card Interest to 10% … That’s a bad thing

How is it a bad thing you ask? Easy, credit counseling, not credit interest rate cuts are needed. One thing I do agree with Sen Elizabeth Warren on is banks and credit companies take advantage of some of the most downtrodden and down on their luck individuals. They also prey on folks who should not even have a card to begin with.

Folk’s it may sound anti-business, but I do not think it’s right for a credit card company to be on a college campus hawking its products. Students, by and large, do not have an income, this is purely designed as a trap. Give them a card with $500 or so limit, get them to charge a bunch of fast food and booze, then tell them the minimum payment is all that’s required. Then when they hit the limit, either raise it, or charge over the limit fees. Then the higher interest kicks in and the minimum payment doesn’t even touch the principal. Countless lives have been ruined by these cards. Adults, families, and college age people by the way, credit cards do not discriminate.

So why is it bad to lower interest rates? It’s temporary relief, not the answer to the question. We are, in essence, rewarding bad behavior. I know some folks will be able to pay these cards off, but many more should also be closing them out. Pay in full and close them out? HA. This feels like an excuse to keep people spending once paid off, due to low interest rates compared to what they were paying. Not everyone needs to go to college and not everyone needs a credit card.

What do people need?

Credit counseling. Its not allowed in school as part of a budget class because it was deemed racist by the older generation. Not sure how budgeting is racist, but that maneuver has created a massive issue with the younger and some older generations. Credit cards, especially store cards, are far too easy to come by. While I do not think the interest rate should be allowed to touch 35%, I am not sure what the maximum should be.

On cards, I stick to what Dave Ramsey says; in essence you do not and should not need one. If you get one or more, like I have, be sure to pay them off in full each month, never spending more than you should. Differentiate between a need and a want. Sure, the points or miles are cool, but no one has gotten rich of credit card points… no one. Sure, it’s nice to earn a couple few hundred a year, but I do not have credit cards for that reason. Yes, its true people who get credit cards often overspend to earn extra “points” just remember folks 5% in rewards is $.05 per dollar spent, it’s not like you are coming out ahead.

My bigger issue is Donald Trump cannot do what he wants to do legally. Sure, he can sign an Executive Order, but will it stand the test of time? It appears to me to be blatantly unconstitutional. Time will tell, I guess.

My final thoughts are why do we no longer teach people about credit? Dave Ramsey is spot on when it comes to this. It’s the same with pay day lenders, pawn shops, and hard money lenders. Folks need to know what they are getting into, in the form of a class, via the internet or in person. Folks need to know how these financial vehicles work and what they could end up paying, not in the form of legal mumbo jumbo on their bill.

The Chief

Trump had a Good Day (01/07/26)

Bloggers note: No way was this going to be posted the day I sent it to William due to an earlier blog submission. Any changes after today will create a retraction to this story.

The day didn’t start well as a woman was killed by ICE Agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I will state I am never happy to hear anyone getting killed by authorities. There is more to this story, I am sure. If the ICE agent was in the wrong throw the book at him; however, I have a sneaky suspicion the person no longer with us was no saint in the matter.

On to the good parts.

First Trump is going to ban defense corporations from using government funds to buy back stock and pay dividends unless they make serious changes to manufacturing capacity and research. Here is some info below….

President Donald Trump said he would move to block U.S. defense contractors from paying dividends or repurchasing shares unless they significantly increase spending on manufacturing capacity and research, remarks that sent shares of major arms makers lower.

In a social media post Wednesday, Trump also called for sharp limits on executive compensation at defense companies, saying pay should be capped at $5 million until firms construct what he described as “NEW and MODERN Production Plants.” He argued that contractors are failing to produce and maintain military equipment quickly enough.

Defense companies “are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment,” Trump wrote. “This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!”

Folks to put it lightly, this needs to happen, and I hope it does. By no means am I insinuating that we should be stockpiling for war, we do need increased capacity to build war machines faster and more efficiently. The bottom line is that times are far different from fifteen years ago. We must be vigilant that war could break out in the not-too-distant future. Folks, the 90-day people amongst us will be angry but why should our taxpayer dollars go towards bloated executive compensation, stock buybacks, and dividends? That tells me we are being grossly overcharged. Why is it that everything to the older generation must be based on the almighty dollar and how big my bank account is? To be clear, I am not saying, and neither is Trump, they shouldn’t be allowed to make money, but look at the profits these companies are churning out.

The Mental Health Card was a Lie

The 90-Day Guy lied. I have irrefutable evidence of his lie. Mental health is not a sympathy card and f**k you if you are using it as one.

How do I know he is lying? An aunt of mine who worked as a primary care doctor, and a surgeon, was over for Christmas. I asked for her expertise on this subject.

I told her what he had told me, that he told his doctor he was suicidal and had even picked out the knife to kill himself. She said the doctor is obligated at that point to make a call to the health and human service or related county/state department. She added that her medical malpractice insurance would not pay out if he had killed himself and she didn’t notify the correct channels. She went on to say he would be required to see a specialist for an evaluation. I told her he went once or twice then quit going, for money reasons. It’s always money with him, all the time. She told me that’s a lie also, as the appropriate channel/group would have forced him to attend, again being suicidal is a big deal this day and age with all the mass shootings done by them.

I further prodded, William will tell you it’s what I do, and her further responses crystalized his lying. She said mental health is a huge thing right now and most insurance covers it 100%. This is due to different laws passed as result of these shootings/killings. She said she had a feeling about what he did, I let her speak freely. Full disclosure, she is from Illinois, but I feel the laws/regulations on the books are likely similar or the same to California, where I am based. She said I can guarantee he went to an urgent care doctor, someone who is not his primary care doctor, he went in wanting to be diagnosed with a mental condition, and he won. Her words and I quote “he squealed to a doctor who is not his own and got put on a pill that will not fix his issue, it’s a here you go drug.” It’s a cover your butt, here you go, I guess you have a condition because you say you do. He went to an urgent care doctor because the doctor has plausible deniability, he can claim he sees a ton of patients each day, insured or uninsured he doesn’t know. It’s a free pass. That doctor was done with him after payment was processed that day, he got what he wanted.

He claims its anxiety when my phone’s alert for a call is coming in or a text is incoming bothers him; however, the sounds at the local casino do not. He gets off on things like this; it’s a sympathy card to him. It’s wild. When things do not go his way, it’s a mental health thing, yet he seeks no treatment. He is a liar.

There you have it folks, it’s been proven, truth always wins out. If you claim mental health and are lying about it, you are the lowest of the low. Actually, I’ll use a term the young people use: SYBAU … it’s an acronym for shut your bitch ass up. People with mental health issues need our help, not people who want to fake it.

The Chief

The “Fed” Lowers Interest Rates…. Stupidly

So, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors agreed to lower interest rates yesterday for the third time this year. If you are wondering what this is about or how it affects you, congrats you are in the right place.

In cliff note terms what this means is the following: Banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve; they pay the rate the “fed” sets as interest. Then the bank turns around and loans it to “you” in the form of a car loan, home loan, line of credit etc. You pay higher terms then the bank and they make money on the “spread.” So, for example, when rates were zero about 10 years ago, I got a home loan (mortgage) my interest rate is 4%. So, the bank borrowed the money for zero from the government and loaned it to me for 4% so they make 4% on the money I borrowed.

As a result, mortgage rates will drop as will vehicle loans etc.

Why is this stupid?

Fed Chair Jerome Powell didn’t do this on his own volition, President Trump has been saying he will fire and replace him with someone who will lower interest rates all year. The fed is independent of the presidency, but this president doesn’t adhere to that. Simply put, Trump wants what he wants and will stop at nothing to get there. He wants interest rates to go back to zero, basically where they were during his first term. The fed controls interest rates as a check to keep inflation in order, most would agree inflation is still very high. We also have economic uncertainty, layoffs are up, and consumer spending (credit cards) is at never-before-seen levels.

Again, why is this stupid?

It helps out very few people actually. Sure, if you have a mortgage that started about 7 years ago or less, you likely can refinance to a lower rate, that’s a good thing. Ditto for auto loans and home equity credit lines. If you are a saver, you get whacked as your bank will lower interest rates paid on your savings account. To be fair no big bank pays much as far as savings, but my online bank has gone from 4% to 3.3% in the span of 3 months. Don’t cry for me, listen to my point in the following paragraph.

Trump wants corporations and the government to refinance their debt, not pay it off. Trump’s corporation has billions in debt. Look it up, as it comes due corporations do not pay it off; instead, they simply “recast” it and refinance at the going rate at the time. For the last 7 years or so, it meant much higher interest rates. Lowering interest expense means more to borrow, more to expand that hotel, or build that casino, or buy a competitor. It benefits corporations, not you the individual. Large corporations have popped up in the last 10 years buying up single-family homes and renting them out. Avalon Bay, and Invitation Homes are two of them. Very low-cost debt allows them to pay over asking price, and there are no contingencies. It’s hard for a person to buy a starter house when these corporations exist largely to buy up entire communities of homes. Sure, you could get approved for a lower interest rate to try to buy a home, but good luck.

If you are a saver, aka you follow the Dave Ramsey, Caleb Hammer, FIRE etc. movements, you lose purchasing power as the interest you earn in the bank will be a rate far lower than inflation. The destruction of the savings rate is exactly what Donald Trump wants. It’s a way to discourage this behavior. There is no benefit to the economy of me having $85,000 in the bank earning what will eventually be about 1% a year.

So, what is my point here?

Trump’s big thing is the stock market. He, like many others who are addicted to the TV, thinks the stock market is the economy. When it goes up, its great, when it goes down bad. 90-day guy believes stocks only go up, and Republican administrations are the best for the stock market. Think again, it’s the opposite. You’re better off in a Democrat presidency, Republican congress time. The problem is the only place to get a return of any kind when interest rates are that low is the stock market. This is dangerous because in most circles, folks believe the market has major external forces that dictate returns for those in the know. Why do you think people like Marjorie Taylor Greene go to congress flat broke and emerge as millionaires several times over? If you think they have good luck, God bless you! Just to add, for every Marjorie Taylor Greene or Nancy Pelosi, there are quite a few big losers in the market. Buyer beware… pun intended. I strongly oppose investing every dollar into the market, always keep money in a savings account, but to each is own.

In closing, please consider this word of warning. What about Donald John Trump screams he has your best interests in mind when it comes to money and budgeting? Think about it, I’ve mentioned his corporate debt, how about the spending while he was/is president? Doesn’t inspire much confidence huh? He loves debt, and cheap debt at that. You do not have as much money as he or his family does, rates will eventually go up again. Ask Rite Aid or any other corporation that went bankrupt. Nothing is forever and you don’t have the knowledge or insider status to compete in the stock market with these folks. Look at the number of billionaires in Trump’s cabinet, or any cabinet of past presidents for that matter. They know more than you and have more connections than me and you. In the long run this “great bull market” will run out of gas.

Beware of the prophet seeking profits. Also, know that a fool and his money are soon parted, don’t risk more than you can afford to lose.

PS. Anyone think it’s odd that folks you don’t know to be financially literate are now speaking about investing in crypto and other whacky things like meme coins? These are folks who never spoke about investing in the past. There are several in my circle. It has me worried. I understand the 90-day types being happy. They consume so much TV they live in a self-induced echo chamber. But what worries me is the folks who are not investor types starting to get into the game, especially some of the folks I know who are not exactly smart.

The Chief

Weighing in on Williams Blog

Lyric above were used to introduce the gossip segment of the old TV show Hee Haw. They seem appropriate when introducing a post about getting into someone else’s business.

Sadness. Anger. Pathetic. These are words I won’t use to call out the losers who are criticizing William and his dating situation. It’s a symptom of something else going on in their lives that they act like that. It’s disgusting. Actually, I’ll quote Don Corleone “act like a man!”

However, I would ask William to describe the folks who are treating him this way. I can say without much risk of being wrong. They are, and I quote my Filipino friend, “Pale, Stale, and likely male.” I would expand that universe to females as well. It’s the older generation. Oh, and they are all likely married to boot.

There is a biblical passage “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” The way I interpret it, a group of sinners (we are all sinners) standing around the rock pile and no one tosses a rock. Unfortunately, the way it is now is a group of older folks grabbing multiple rocks and chucking them because they can (since they went to church Sunday.)

Many people use the term ______ is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Well, that generation actually invented something better than sliced bread; they put wheels on a goal post!

The point of this blog is “what is grief?” And how does one grieve?

I have an uncle in my life, he lost his wife to cancer as did William. He had 2 very young girls. He spiraled and became a full-on alcoholic, lost custody of said kids. He claimed he was “grieving.” I guess that would be an acceptable outcome for William? Not the Wiliam I know.

Truth is William has been grieving his wife, it’s been ongoing. I made an effort to call him weekly on Thursdays while his wife was undergoing treatment. It’s what a friend does. I am not married; I have no kids. I have no idea what the loss of a spouse is like. I simply called to give Wiliam a reprieve for a few minutes, a friend should do that. Just because someone has passed doesn’t mean the grieving didn’t start sooner. There were a lot of LASTS. Now William is having a lot of firsts, as in first ______ without said wife. I cannot imagine it’s easy.

To those who are shooting their arrows at William, allow me to ask, what is proper grieving? A customer of mine who lost his wife started frequenting strip clubs right after, is that ok? Is it one life one wife? Someone I went to college with is on wife #3, is that ok? Why is it not ok to chart your own course in life? Doesn’t everyone deserve to be happy?

When did we start comparing ourselves to everyone? Why is it that the nuclear family has to be husband and wife plus two kids of opposite gender? It’s an easy answer; we are now a Hallmark country. Better be married post college, better have a couple kids. The commercials on the TV put it right out there, gotta be a family during this season, single people be damned. Valentine’s Day is worse. The ads are basically saying it’s time to f**k and make babies and if you are not doing that you are worthless.

The bottom line is William is doing what makes him happy. He has a way in life and the path he is on is his. I am happy for him and everyone else should be too. He loved his wife, full stop; no one is happy she is gone, or how she was gone. Some may say war is hell, cancer is hell.

Let William live his life. Live and let live is a motto I live by. I am happy for everyone and everybody, do your thing, do what you do. I don’t care if you’re banging some bleach blonde bimbo or some brunette. I do care if you are banging Jennifer Aniston as that’s Troll’s piece of ass!

My biggest concern is when did it become a thing to “punch down” rather than up. Sure, you may have a wife, kids etc. Why can you not respect folks who do not? Maybe it’s a personal choice, but why? They do this because it makes them feel better about themselves. Jealousy is another factor. The 90-day guy loves to remind me of this every Thanksgiving and Christmas season. He isn’t religious but he always says I am missing something. It’s a shot at me being single. It’s his way of trying to push a narrative. Trust me, he is bitter. He has told me he watches porn. The jokes he tells about having sex with sheep and goats tells me what I need to know. He views his wife as a child maker who is past her prime.

Let William live and live yourself.

The Chief

Fifty Year Mortgages do not help Affordability

The fifty-year mortgage idea was floated by the Trump administration as a way to make home buying more affordable for the younger generations. While this may sound good on paper, it’s yet another way the older generation wants to saddle the younger ones with insurmountable debt. This is called “financial engineering” it’s the latest go to from the Baby Boomer generation that is entering the later stages of life… I mean power on this earthly plane.

You see, as things are currently, you have two options for a mortgage on a home, 15- and 30-year terms. Folks like Dave Ramsey and others rail against a 30-year loan, and he isn’t totally wrong. The problem is, we have a massive affordability crisis, as far as buying “your first home” is concerned. I say buy the place, if you can afford it, and you can always make extra payments toward your mortgage to build equity and own it quicker. Case in point, 10 years ago, I bought my first home, for $325,000. As of today, Zillow has it valued at $600,000. As you can see, starter homes are very expensive.

Enter the older generation. Having learned nothing from the financial crisis circa 2008, they now are floating a 50-year mortgage. This is the same group that floated and sold; interest only mortgages, negative amortization mortgages, NINJA (no income, no job, no asset) mortgages, and no down payment loans. This sunk the financial and credit markets so badly that banks needed federal government bailouts to stay in business. Foreclosures ran rampant and destroyed neighborhoods and cities. 15-17 years later we are not students of history, we just look for a new means to get to an end.

To be fair, this generation has been at it for a while now in regard to affordability. One thing William will tell you, I railed on the new 84-month car loan that replaced the 60-month car loan. This also had nothing to do with affordability. It was just a financial tool to get “you into that car you love so much.” It became not can you afford it, but how much can you pay monthly? We will adjust the dials in the finance department and make the numbers work. I do not know too many people who think it’s a smart idea to finance a vehicle for 7 years. Oh, check out what interest rate you will be paying, news flash it won’t be 0%.

Back to the 50-year mortgage, I ran some numbers, and it amounts to about a $300-400 savings per month in terms of a lower payment. This is based on a 30-year mortgage running about $2,600 which is common now. As you can see, the savings might help, but it comes with drawbacks. First, the interest rate will not be cheap as the bank will be holding the note for 50 years. Also, the age of the house will come into play. Buying that home built in 1960, it’ll be over 100 years old before the mortgage is 2/3 paid off! This carries significant risk for the bank as the asset could be falling into a state of disrepair. Also, you do not and will not build much equity over the life of that mortgage, so when you are looking to buy your bigger house, you won’t have much for a down payment. Just look at the amortization schedule. You will see the first 7-8 years is virtually all interest, not much toward principal.

The last thing to remember, the man pushing these mortgage ideas is none other than President Donald John Trump, a man who loves debt. Look it up, his corporation owes billions in loans. This is no shot at him, he made a ton of money in real estate, but he did it with the corporation holding the paper not himself. In this case, he is making you hold the debt personally. He has made zero attempts to cut the debt or deficit as President (this term or last), and a budget will never be a thing under him. He see’s things through the eyes of “as long as you can make the payment you are fine.” It’s the way his generation feels.

In closing, please think long and hard before you fall for these shenanigans put out by the older generation. The only thing they care about is wealth generation. The 90-day calendar types love it because this means home builders can sell more homes, banks can write more loans, and profits will go higher. They could care less about affordability; they prefer you locked into loan terms that won’t seem like a good move in a decade. This will not end well. I am happy there has been push-back on these mortgages. The truth is that some people will not be able to afford a home. You may not be able to afford that sports car, getting another credit card will not solve your problem. A class/seminar on budgeting/credit should be required.

Stop fleecing the younger generations. Be a student of history. We are entering a rough cycle in terms of affordability. Adding more years to the term is pointless. It’s time we grow-up as a country.

My Take on Gerryrigging I mean Gerrymandering

As an opening note, remember I am a Libertarian who votes with the Republicans, think of me as the opposite of Bernie Sanders who is a Socialist but votes Democrat.

Under the Constitution, we conduct a census every 10 years, meaning we count everyone in every; state, county, city etc. For the sake of this blog, I am not going to touch the “illegals were counted” argument. I am simply making a point about the lines drawn. Yes, I am aware and agree that certain states play “creative accounting” with the numbers. After the states finish the count, they send their figures to the feds. The total population then gets divided by 435 (the number of congressmembers) and a number of representatives for each state is determined. Let’s say 800,000 people. Then they take each state’s population and divide by that number and that is how many “districts” they get awarded. States that grow in population may/will gain seats, those who lose population or do not grow fast enough may/will lose seats. Each state is guaranteed 1 congressmember. Obviously for states that lose/gain, they must re-draw their district lines. This occurs once a decade. Some states have the state legislature draw them, others like California have an independent commission. These maps, when approved, go into place, typically for the election in years ending in “2,” for the next decade. Sometimes these maps are delayed by courts, or the voting rights act. Typically, this is due to racially altered districts, I’ll explain more below.

So, the Republicans in Texas, via Trump, decided to re-draw their lines for the upcoming election. While this is not specifically forbidden, they do not gain or lose seats, they just redraw the lines. They drew the new lines in such a way as to try to “gain” 5 Republican seats. The 90-day guy needed a new pair of man panties upon hearing this, it was the best news ever! They then moved on to Missouri redrawing the lines to obliterate the Democrat representing Kansas City. Ditto in North Carolina with a Democrat representing a “swing seat.” This is like shooting fish in a barrel, right? Then Comrade Newsom in California decided he would get in on the fun, and the voters passed an initiative to adopt new Democrat drawn lines, and suddenly it wasn’t so fun for Republicans. I will give Newsom credit, we have an “independent” commission, and he went to the voters and the voters approved a measure to override the commission and adopt new maps. I am not saying Its right, but it was the correct process. From what the interwebs are saying, Virginia, Maryland, and Illinois are kicking around the idea of re-doing their maps. Those would benefit the blue team. As a side note, Ohio was forced by the courts to re-draw their map, it appears the red team will gain a couple, Utah was required to re-draw theirs, blue team will gain one.

So, as you can see, we have bedlam.

The red team is angry that the blue team is doing it, the blue team is saying the red team started it. Truth is both couldn’t be more wrong. What the Founders had in mind were districts drawn so that regions/areas/cities/towns with the same needs get a representative who serves their interests. Think of it like this; if the Geater Sacramento area was in one district, the representatives could focus on; infrastructure, public transit, redevelopment funds, things bigger that more developed cities need. On the other hand, places way up north of Sacramento like Chico, Red Bluff, and the rural cities nearby have completely different needs; timber industry, farming, rural internet etc. My point is, what these maps did, was put the rural areas in with parts of the large cities, (both sides did this) to create districts the other side cannot win. For example, what do Santa Rosa and Sonoma have in common with Alturas and Chico? Outside of smoking weed, I’d say very little, but it now has 45% Democrat registration making it unwinnable for a Republican. This is a common theme both parties used, it’s been going on for years, but the pedal was pushed to the floor this go round. Also, both parties “shored up incumbents,” meaning they took members who may lose their seats and put people/areas containing large amounts of voters from the other team into a neighboring district. Think of it like this, as far as Northern California is concerned, if you remove some rural parts of Kevin Kiley’s district, and replace with a city like Rancho Cordova it could suddenly become unwinnable.

The other issue I have is that this sets a dangerous precedent going forward. How often will we be redrawing these seats? Let’s use this example. A congressperson from a former safe seat wins by only 4% due to shifting demographics. Do you re-draw the lines shifting parts of the closest “big city” out or draw in more of the “rural area or military base” in? To be clear, I am targeting both parties here. This would mean we become a banana republic, and sadly we are getting very close to being one.

What is my solution? Well, nothing is perfect, but I would start by saying cities should not be split up. For example, the City of Nashville should have representation from 1 person, not be “cut up” into four pieces and spread out making it impossible for a Democrat to win. Likewise in California, there should be 2 Republicans representing rural northern seats, not 2 Democrats representing Bay Area/Norcal hybrid seats. This actually gives representation. The idea here is the rep from a city will argue for certain things and against others, also bringing perspective from city life, the rural rep will do the opposite. This is healthy. By carving up Nashville or putting Bay Area cities in with northern rural areas, they do not get a voice. Frankly there is no point in even visiting there.

As far as competitiveness goes, I doubt many seats will be competitive but at least the maps would create actual representation. The other point here is states would likely be sending a coalition of representatives that looks like their states voting demographics. I mean shouldn’t CA be sending about 38% of its representation as Republicans? Ditto in Texas for Democrats? The way the lines are currently being drawn creates an out of whack representation demographic. Does anyone think North Carolina, a literal toss up state in presidential elections should send 11 Republicans in a 14 seat delegation?

With all the talk of rigged elections, doesn’t this actually seem like rigging an election? Creating a district your guy cannot lose? Or even being remotely challenged?