Aug 11
My Review of HG21 120GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder
120GB Hard Disk Drive
The VIXIA HG21 captures 1920 x 1080 High Definition resolution video directly to a large capacity 120GB Hard Disk Drive. Hard Disk Drive recording is an especially convenient format if you plan to transfer your video to a computer for viewin…
Remarkable and at a great price
Pros: Great Features, Comfortable to Operate, Versatile, Great Picture Quality, Durable, Simple Controls, Great Sound
Cons: In Motion Distortion
Best Uses: Movies/Short Films, Documentaries, Travel, Home Movies, HD Shooting
Describe Yourself: Video Enthusiast
For the money the most discerning video enthusiast will love this camera. I was very pleased with the pricing and all the accessories I was able to get at below the original cost of the camera. Cannon makes a fine quality product.
I was caught in a near tornado and just happened to have my handy HG21. Luckily I was able to take cover under a bridge, but as I was scrambling I wanted to video the golf ball size hail and severe lightning. There were strikes within feet of me every couple of minutes and lightning flashing all around me at 20-30 a minute. Yeah it was crazy and I was fearful that I was actually going to die.
I had the camera on and wasn’t really looking at the LCD screen just running and shooting. As you figured out, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this, I survived. When I got to take a look at my videos the next day, hoping to send them to the weather channel they were all very blurry. To say the least I was disappointed!
After experimenting a bit you have to pan pretty slow and steady to really get a great shot. When you do actually get the shot the picture is incredible. Personally I would have thought it would have better control on movement, but maybe I need to study the manual a bit more.
I do a lot of interviews and it really captures brilliant videos in HD otherwise. I’ve even caught fast moving objects such as cars and lightning itself. Again it just doesn’t capture very well when the actual camera is moving.
If you are not looking to put yourself into a situation where you might have to run with the camera, its well worth every penny and OneCall is the best for value.
The LCD blurs and becomes very grainy when batteries are drained, but this is good as the video quality stays perfect. I’d rather the LCD look bad than the video any day.
Aug 9
Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead, Icon of 60’s Spirit, Dies at 53 — New York Times Obituary
Jerry Garcia, whose gentle voice and gleaming, chiming guitar lines embodied the psychedelic optimism of the Grateful Dead for three decades, died in his sleep yesterday at Serenity Knolls, a residential drug treatment center in Forest Knolls, Calif. He was 53.
A spokesman for the band, Dennis McNally, said the cause was a heart attack.
The guitarist had suffered serious health problems for a decade. In the 1960’s, he was known as Captain Trips, referring to his frequent use of LSD, and he struggled through the years with heroin addiction. He was hospitalized in 1986 in a diabetic coma, and in 1992 the group had to cancel tour dates when Mr. Garcia fell ill from exhaustion. In recent years he had tried to stop smoking and to lose weight.
The Grateful Dead, and Mr. Garcia as their most recognizable member, had come to represent the survival of 1960’s idealism. As news of his death spread, fans wept in the streets of San Francisco and the Internet was flooded with eulogies and reminiscences.
Within the music business, the Dead exemplified integrity in a sphere of hype and artifice; beyond, they symbolized a spirit of communal bliss, with free-wheeling, anything-can-happen music to bring together a community of tenacious fans, the Deadheads.
The band’s future is uncertain; the Dead had planned to record their newest songs in a studio for an album to be released next year.
The Grateful Dead were one of rock’s most beloved institutions. Formed in 1965, when a Bay Area jug band decided to switch to electric instruments, the Dead created an all-American fusion of bluegrass, blues, country, rhythm-and-blues, folk and rock, all laced with improvisation. The band never played a song the same way twice.
The Dead built their reputation on long, free-form concerts, going onstage without a set list and playing anything from original songs to rock oldies to extended experiments with feedback. The music could shift in any direction as it sought what the band and its fans called the “X factor”: spontaneous, revelatory stretches of music arrived at through practice and serendipity.
The Dead were one of the top bands in late-1960’s San Francisco, and unlike their hippie-era contemporaries, they continued to thrive, their essence unchanged and their popularity expanding. John Scher, chairman of Metropolitan Entertainment, which coordinates the band’s East Coast performances, said yesterday that the Grateful Dead “are unquestionably the highest-grossing band cumulatively in the history of the music business.”
He noted that the band in recent years played 85 to 110 shows annually. It set attendance records for every major arena in the New York area, as well as the Spectrum in Philadelphia and the Boston Garden.
The Dead’s fans savored the group’s unpredictability, seeing as many concerts as possible and sometimes following the band for a full-length tour. For most of the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the band toured stadiums and did not play to a single empty seat; some concerts sold out before they were advertised, purely through announcements in the Deadheads’ newsletter and on a telephone hotline. (The band had planned six concerts in late September at Madison Square Garden as part of a fall tour, but it is unclear if they will proceed.)
Unlike the vast majority of rock bands, the Dead focused on performing rather than recording. Even as a stadium attraction, the Grateful Dead were something like an old-time jug band, barnstorming a territory that stretched around the world.
Mr. Garcia was at the heart of the Dead’s music. His reedy voice was unassumingly sincere; his guitar tone was pristine and bell-like, as he spun long, leisurely lines with distinctive curlicues and downward slides. He wrote about half of the Dead’s own material, working primarily with the lyricist Robert Hunter, and many of his finest tunes — such as “Ripple,” “Touch of Grey,” “China Cat Sunflower” and “Uncle John’s Band” — sounded as natural as traditional songs. Mr. Garcia’s smiling, bearded face became an icon of a utopian 1960’s spirit.
Jerome John Garcia was born in San Francico on Aug. 1, 1942. His father was a professional musician, and he took piano lessons as a child. But he lost most of the third finger on his right hand in a childhood accident. When he was 15, he heard Chuck Berry and took up the electric guitar. After nine months in the Army, he turned to folk music, picking up the banjo and playing in bluegrass bands; he also studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. By 1964, he was in Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, which also included Bob Weir on guitar and Ron (Pigpen) McKernan on harmonica.
A year later, with Phil Lesh on bass and Bill Kreutzmann on drums, the band plugged in and became the Warlocks. At first, they worked as a bar band, playing blues six nights a week. The Warlocks soon changed their name to the Grateful Dead — a type of British folk ballad in which a human being helps a ghost find peace — after running across the phrase in a dictionary. They became the house band for Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests, the public LSD parties held before the drug was outlawed.
The Dead lived communally in San Francisco and played many free concerts, soon working their way up to the city’s ballrooms and the Fillmore West. The band signed a contract with MGM Records in 1966, but its efforts were shelved. In 1967, the Dead signed with Warner Brothers, and while their first albums sold modestly, their reputation spread. From the beginning, when the band was financed by the LSD chemist Stanley Owsley, the Dead were known for the latest in sound systems as well as for their music. The group performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969.
By 1970, the Grateful Dead had made five extraordinary albums in a row: “Anthem of the Sun” in 1968, “Aoxomoxoa” in 1969 and “Live Dead,” “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty” in 1970. Its 1971 live album, “Grateful Dead,” became its first million-seller, and it continued to play to larger and larger audiences. In 1973, it was one of the three groups (with the Allman Brothers Band and the Band) to perform for half a million people at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Mr. Garcia also worked outside the Grateful Dead, as a musician and a producer. He recorded with the Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; he produced the first album by the New Riders of the Purple Sage, adding parts on an instrument he was just learning, the pedal steel guitar.
Outside the Dead, Mr. Garcia pursued some of the styles that were tucked into the Dead’s music. In the early 1970’s, he played jazz-rock with the keyboardist Merl Saunders and bluegrass with a group called Old and in the Way; he also recorded his first album as a leader in 1971, playing rock songs tinged with country. Through the years, he toured (between Grateful Dead tours) with his own band, and he collaborated with musicians including the keyboardist Howard Wales and the mandolinist David Grisman.
His most recent recording, released in 1993, was an album of children’s music, “Not for Kids Only.” In another recent project, Mr. Garcia designed a line of neckties that was sold at Macy’s and other stores.
Yet most of his time was devoted to the Grateful Dead. While the band had touched on funk and jazz, and had incorporated some of the new sounds made available through synthesizer technology, its music remained immediately recognizable, with a folksy, homespun tone that belied the size of its audiences. Grateful Dead concerts are among least overbearing in current rock; the band’s customized sound systems emphasize clarity and warmth, not sheer volume. Through the years, the Dead’s tour circuit expanded, including a 1978 series of shows at the Great Pyramid in Egypt; the band toured with Bob Dylan in 1987, a collaboration that resulted in a live album. The band weathered the deaths of Mr. McKernan in 1973 as well as the deaths of two of its keyboardists, Keith Godchaux and Brent Mydland.
Since the 1970’s, the band has attracted a significant following of Deadheads, which expanded further in the 1980’s as the sons and daughters of baby boomers embraced the band as a symbol of 1960’s pleasures and hopes. The Dead made an effort to treat their fans well. Unlike many bands, the Dead encouraged their fans to tape their concerts, even providing a place near the sound engineer’s booth for fans to set up microphones and tape recorders. They also kept ticket prices low and maintained contact with fans through the newsletter, a hotline and, more recently, electronic mail. In return the Dead have held on to what is probably the longest-lasting mass following in rock history.
In tie-dyed clothes and bare feet, dancing in the aisles, the Dead’s audiences revived the wardrobe, and perhaps some of the hopefulness, of the Summer of Love. In an interview for Joe Smith’s book “Off the Record” (1988), Mr. Garcia said, “To the kids today, the Grateful Dead represents America: the spirit of being able to go out and have an adventure.”
He is survived by his third wife, Deborah Koons Garcia, and by four daughters: Heather, Annabelle, Teresa and Keelin, all of Marin County.
No commentsAug 5
Boiler Rooms Ending/Al Capone
Anyone remember the sweet deal made at the end of Boiler Room? Total Immunity! He provides everything, all the records, their client lists, their set ups, banking, everything, even where they go after the Feds come down on them. Always loved that movie. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you to watch it. That’s true ALPHA: closing down the casino to run big ticket scams on others, all the while Al Capone goes to jail over something silly like Tax Evasion. How do masterminds get away with so much and yet get taken down for Tax Evasion? Baffles the mind.
Anyway: Boiler Room. Great movie
No commentsJul 30
A Sad State of Affairs–All Over Greed
This is a response to a post on PheroTalk Forum that I do not feel appropriate, for personal reasons, posting on the actual forum
You may read the entire thread here: : Why would someone do this? Am I bad person?
My reply, is a direct reply to mark-in-dallas’ post quoted below:
Mara is an awesome lady though, and you can tell her I said so!
I’ve heard that as well Mark:). She sounds pretty cool and I wanted to check out the product there: LovePotionPerfume. I was saddened when I got banned from her site for no reason. I mean, I didn’t even get a chance to post!
I thought it would be best to read up, just like I did on PheromoneTalk and every other forum I belong to, when I joined. I didn’t spoof my IP and used an email address that I clearly own so I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I certainly didn’t go there to try and rub someones nerves raw, like the thread I am responding to has broken down into.
When I got banned It didn’t surprise me one bit! People talk a great game about love and respecting one another and all the while they are secretly talking and plotting behind each others back and I certainly do NOT mean this happens only at one forum or the other. I was pissed off that someone would actually go to those lengths to watch who registers. All the posts and threads about lying and waiting to strike with masked IP’s, at LovePotionPerfume, well that did surprise me. I always have heard how loving, accommodating and well wishing everyone one is there. Please understand that in no way is this saying that it only happens over there. I mean really, just read the SteveO put the S back into Sexi… thread at PheromoneTalk and it certainly opens up eyes to the bad in some peoples hearts. Needless to say, yeah but I’m saying it anyway, that I was shocked and appalled at the ill-intent spewed at PheromoneTalk as well. I was pretty sure that I understood the rules at PheromoneTalk since I was always told to treat it like a party atmosphere. If it didn’t go at a party, it didn’t go there either. LOL, I’m not sure where some people go to party, but please don’t invite me if that’s the idea of a party.
When I mentioned the Laws Of Attraction (LOA) in a thread someone told me in private that they were told I didn’t know what I was talking about. Correct me if I’m wrong; what you think about and do most is EXACTLY what you attract into your life. If you think about, write about, plot about it, all the while doing the very same thing; you get exactly that back. Am I innocent and perfect? No, but at least I do not redefine the very meaning of what I say I believe in to suite the flavor of the day.
With that said, I could also understand why some people wanting to go off and start their own little private forum. I really hope it is a place that, in the Hosts own words:
please be comfortable posting anything as you would like to, with only RESPECT to any and all involved.
I wish them well. I do hope that I can myself join anonymously and post about those pheromone products I am currently unable to without bias. This leads me into my next point.
There seems to be a whole lot of conflicting information, or misinformation spreading. The more I read, the more I have to question the validity of MANY claims. All the marketing hype, all the underhanded deeds, all the hate-fueled words of anger and just pure evil is just bewildering to me. Michael Harris is talking about having to escape the USA, land of capitalism and apparently without room for pheromone research companies. I just don’t understand how other pheromone companies survive! He says innovation is a serious risk due to all the frivolous lawsuits, but this goes right back to my above paragraph on LOA. Clearly a company focusing all their efforts on a positive impact, of making the world a better place would have a place in this world. I don’t get it! I’m sure a man, that many would strive to elevate themselves just to get to his level, will be able to come up with a way to do business wherever he damn well pleases without fear of reprisal.
I guess in this world we live in though there are just some evil doers. I even remember hearing at least a few people I know who said my post about the tragic passing of David Carridine was about them. Umm hello, if you believed it was about you, than you must have a very poor image of yourself or maybe it is you… Let me ease their minds: I was sad to hear about the “suicide death” of a childhood hero. There are so many influences of evil coming from every side its mind boggling. To think a man who seemed like he had life in the palm of his hand, without any known provocation or history of mental problems would one day, out of the blue, up and end his life. Very sad indeed. I urge those who still believe it is about them to seek emergency psychiatric help now.
Unfortunately I’ve learned there are way to many people being deceitful and spreading viscous rumors and the worse part about it: it all seems like its based on making a buck! When people don’t care who they hurt, how many lies they spread, who gets caught in the cross fire (mob mentality) it just goes to show you the level people will sink to. Look what Michael Harris said what someone did to Jasmin’s kids. That is just pathetic! I am a firm believer in the Golden Rule: Due onto others as you would have them due onto you.
Although I could never understand how it is to appreciate a mothers love for her children (I have personally witnessed Jasmin’s love for her children and there is not a question in my mind that she is an amazing mother) I also have experienced personal attacks and against my family, but I do NOT accept the victim mentality. I refuse to allow a horrible situation to dictate my life. My situation is VERY different from Jasmin’s though as hers revolve around her kids. My love and well wishes goes out to Jasmin, but more importantly her children. I was blessed to spend many hours with that baby girl and boy and they are just loved, loved, loved and as such are loving, loving, loving. With an ongoing investigation I will not say more, but I will close this paragraph out with a silent prayer to the good Lord that her issues are resolved and whomever the guilty is that they are punished accordingly.
Well its 3:34 A.M. and I’m just blabbering about all this, but jeez, we have all this fighting and paranoia going on against so many companies. It’s hard to fathom an entire industry made out of just downright bad people with just a very select couple that are trying to do the right thing, and even those are now getting low down and dirty. Customers are actually drawing lines in the sand claiming loyalty to one company over another, but the really scary thing is, since when is a company more important than the human element? Are we all getting dragged into a big shit storm of hatred being perpetrated by an evil manipulative hack, whose identity is hidden that is looking to destroy lives–all over greed? Scary to fathom an idea as such!
I’ve been repeatedly told how this guy and that guy are just horrible and because of my loyalty to APR perhaps I’ve been completely blinded as well. Now that’s not to say it isn’t the truth, but isn’t it my responsibility to find out that truth? I’ve always believed there are three sides to every story: Your side, His side, and somewhere in between the TRUTH. Please now, I can just hear those same evil doers in the world using this to stir up trouble. Oh junkyfungus is saying APR are liars. That is not what I am saying at all. I am using APR as an example, because I work there, but because I work there I must also identify it as my fierce loyalty to the point of a fault that I put a company and those who work along with me and the very clients as truth without even investigating for myself where the truth lies. It is a responsibility, especially when loyalty is involved, that I do seek out the truth for myself. I’m certain that I would find truth and though I firmly believe it will sway towards those I trust, it is the correct thing to do. I’m talking about following that very Law of Attraction myself and giving all their due benefit.
I don’t really know someone is selling something they shouldn’t be, or that this molecule isn’t what they say it is. I am sure there are countless cries across the divide saying exactly the same thing about the other side. This all brings me right back to mark-in-dallas’ post about Mara being a good person. I am sure Mara is a great person and her products look magical, I only wish I was afforded an opportunity to read the forum as anyone else would have been. Use your time wisely my friends, be happy and in the words of Chuck-D: don’t believe the hype.
1 commentJul 18
Good Love Is Hard To Find
The old Tom Petty song…anyone remember? I know its late and perhaps I’m tripping on Shrooms, but I’m replacing the word love with nail clippers. It isn’t really funny because its 3:41 A.M. and I just got back from a night at the Flying Saucer with my favorite wingman and the only thing I can think of when I get home is: My favorite nail clippers which I misplaced.
I’ve had these nail clippers for MANY years and a good pair is hard to find. These suckers cut just perfect and you don’t even need a Emory board afterward. I mean who can truly say they don’t absolutely love a good pair of nail clippers and have hung on that pair like a wife? It’s late so good night and I love you all. Each and every one of you for whatever thats worth, but as long as we are clear, just not as much as I love my Basset nail clippers. Made in the USA<3<3<3<3<3<3
No commentsJul 16
AtomScent Going Live
It’s just another way I can challenge myself to make the world a better place through seduction. I believe I can positively impact the world by seducing one woman at a time until all of them are under the magnificent spell of JunkyFungus.
Enjoy: www.AtomScent.com
No commentsJul 3
My Fourth of July Fireworks
Every year I spend about $800 on fireworks to celebrate this great nations birthday, even though the obamanation is attempting to destroy US. Yesterday I went to a new fireworks tent set up across the street from Jake’s Fireworks World, where I buy from each year. This lady was super-nice but her prices were double and triple what Jake charges. She was adamant that she had great pricing and wasn’t coming down. My recourse was to leave and not buy from her, so that’s exactly what I did.
I’ve been pursuing other avenues of revenue and have cut back on the hours to only full-time (40 hours) rather than the 70 hours I have been working. Too many other ways for me to make money and opportunity doesn’t pay the bills so I was a little hesitant about buying these fun little explosives in the first place. I decided that I wasn’t going to stop being positive and living my life as awesome as I always have. There are plenty of ways that I have to make money and now that I am focusing more on them I am already seeing dividends. There are times I just need to remind myself that my loyalty is always first and foremost to myself. Been there and done that with CDG and look where they are now.
I went over to Jake’s and as always made a deal. I would get the BIG BANG (A $1200 assortment) for half price, plus a couple of hundred dollars worth of other goodies all for $650 plus tax. Right within what I planned to spend. Jake himself made the deal and when he went to charge my card he accidentally refunded me $750 instead of charging me. Unbeknown to me, he then charged my card the $750 to even out the charges, but we all know refunds can take 3-10 days to post back. Well then he went and tried to charge my card the $750 again for the works, but by this time the bank suspected fraud and froze my account.
He was very honorable about it and tried to call his merchant services but couldn’t get anywhere. Then he kind of gave up and was like I loose a sale and you don’t have any fireworks. Like no freaking way do I save all year for this one little vice of mine and then walk away empty handed and to boot he wanted me to sign the sales slip. Imagine being asked to sign a sales receipt for $750 and have nothing to show. No way!
I called my bank and after going back and forth for about two hours we finally got his bank to cancel the entire transaction and this allowed me to not leave empty handed. I ended up spending about $350 for $1400 worth of fireworks which a very cool Jake doubled and made my day. It was a mistake and and I told him there was no need to do that at all. As long as we straightened it out, but he was insistent. Jake’s fireworks World on Hwy 51 in Atoka, TN is the absolute most honorable guy and a true gentleman.
It reaffirms my belief in the Law of God’s Universe. I didn’t give up and through a bit of positive energy I got the greatest deal and saved a bunch of money.
Happy 233 Birthday USA. I love this great country.
No commentsJun 27
Jacko leaves himself to Lego Corp
Los Angeles Police reveal SHOCKING Michael Jackson child pornography plot! In a scandalous development the Los Angeles District Attorney has learned that Michael Jackson, in his last will and testament, has left himself to the Lego Corporation. It has been determined that Jackson, known to have undergone extensive plastic surgery, is 98% plastic. In the conditions of his will, Jacko will be melted down into the beloved Lego toy and only sold to boys under the age of 12.
A District Attorney source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that it will be the only time Michael Jackson will be able to have little boys everywhere play with him without fear of lawsuit. Looks like Jacko is having the last laugh on us and he didn’t even have to entice anybody with large sums of money. In fact he most likely will be coming out on top in more ways that I care to comment on.
Lego company spokespersons say the toy will not create any type of chocking hazard but are recommending parents thoroughly wash the toy after each use. When asked what color the Jacko Lego will be the company spokesperson said: “White, of course!”
A parody by JunkyFungus: This is a fictitious news story and is only a joke and not meant to be taken serious at all.
No commentsJun 13
The Other Side Of Paradise
I left the hotel today for some recreational adventures, you know, to discover the real Mexico without the tourists, without the Americanized (USA) versions of what the world is supposed to look like, without the glamorous and sterilized appeasement to keep the all mighty dollar flowing. After all, regardless of what anybody tells you, it is always about the dollar. To many people will tell you that its not, they love what they do, they would do it anyway, they would never do anything that didn’t make them happy, especially including work.
I am one of those people that absolutely love what I do, but at the end of the month I have bills to pay. So where as some of us do love our jobs, we all still need the electricity on, food on the table, gas in the tank and perhaps a bit of savings. A former employer once told me they sought after only those persons who wanted to work for the passion involved, and wouldn’t even consider hiring anyone looking more for the money. I thought to myself that’s all well and good, but here you are meanwhile withdrawing close to a thousand dollars nearly everyday. He shopped at the very best stores, went out to dinner at very pricey restaurants and drove a car which was worth more than some peoples homes.
I do believe that people should be paid what they are worth and I do believe their skills should be rewarded, but this person was living handsomely as he paid his employees pennies. I was always told how valuable of an asset I was to the corporation, but my weekly paycheck was barely enough to meet my monthly bills. He tried to keep us in check by keeping the fear that at any minute our paychecks could disappear at any minute. There was always stories about a new guy he met that is just itching for a job. The loyalty my fellow staff members and I was unquestionable, but his loyalty was derived from how much work he could get out of us for how little pay. Our reviews for pay-raises came once a year and I will never forget how hard I worked for them that year.
I continuously was told how I went above and beyond what was expected. The praises came in every day. I took the business from virtual mom and pop status to International Mega-Stardom. Every day leading right into review time I was ranked the best among the best. You’re going to go far, stick with us, blah, blah blah. The company originally promised me a large salary and loads of benefits, however, since the office I was taking over was situated in a repressed area of the country, what I was currently making as a floor manager (the lowest on the scale in New Jersey) far exceeded anything anyone made in West Virginia, where they were transferring me to. I took it as an opportunity to prove my value and just how much I believed in what I was doing, after all I was a team player. Back then I had so much loyalty for the companies I worked for that I put them before everything else including myself.
I’ll never forget that fateful day when the national manager of the company came into town to review my performance over the past year. Exceeded all expectations! I was given the task to get the companies largest office, missing every company goal, failing miserably, a 250 seat facility operating with 25 employees turned around. I had one year to do it or the office would be shuttered. The owners brother personally told me that he didn’t believe I could do it. Not only did I do it, but it was completely overhauled and we excelled in every area within three months. I was operating with 500 employees and if you weren’t there at least 2o minutes early you would lose your seat for the shift. Where we used to have 2 shifts we took it up to 4 shifts and operated 17 hours a day. It was an amazing turn-around and I was awarded Manager of the Year out of 60 other offices. I was expecting a raise that spoke of my achievements. Needless to say that when the National Manager said their were certain changes in the industry that were proposed before congress that might hurt the industry if passed I knew there was going to be a BIG disappointment.
The national manager told me how I was going to be compared to all the other managers pay in the region and my pay would commensurate with the average of this region. The very same region that was struggling with the same managers that had not only failed in their offices, but were the very same ones who had previously ran my office into the ground. I was in for a HUGE shock! I was told with the current deductions in pay that all the other managers had received in the same position I was in that my pay far exceeded ever other manager. So you’re telling me I’m not going to get a raise, not based on the merits of my work, but based on the margin of error (the bell curve) of every sorry excuse of a manager that you hired and trained, that has nothing at all to do with me whatsoever? His answer threw me for a loop especially considering by this point I was not going to get a raise. Well no JunkyFungus, I’m afraid you are making to much money for your position in this region and I am going to have to deduct a percentage of your pay to bring you into fair standards of other managers in the same region.
That wasn’t the only smack in the face that day though. I guess when he saw my jaw drop, my fist clinch so hard, knuckles turning white, my nails digging into my palm cutting into my skin, drawing blood, he felt obligated to say that I was still considered amongst the best paid in the area. All I had to do to remind me why my pay was still awesome in this area was to drive into town and take a look around to see how others were living and the disparity of how they lived and what they earned to my own pay. I left that job and last I heard that office was closed within a year after my departure and just last week all the managers who put loyalty towards the company first, even before their own selves were fired. From what I understand the owners sold out and the company wanted young fresh talent to take the company even further. I think its important to always remember that the company will always try and sell you the dream. Its the big-picture you’re after. Its the reward at the end that drive you forward. It should never be about your paycheck, anyone working for their paycheck is at the wrong job.
I’ll never forget that day when I was told to go check out how others were living, because in fact it did teach me something worth incredible value. First and foremost be loyal to yourself, but even more important you should love what you do, but never settle for the absolute nonsense that the owners of these companies are working because they love what they do and would do it even if it didn’t make them rich. If that was the case why are they becoming rich off all your effort and toil and not turning around and providing the proper means for you to earn a living. It always seems very funny that they are making so much money and yet their employees live in squalor all the while being sold the dream. The dream that always seems a bit out of reach. The dream that does not provide the family with enough food to eat, enough money to take the family to paradise when paradise is right down the street. They tell you to love your job and be happy at what you do, but pay them pennies. I’ve seen Cancun today, I’ve seen the huts where families of 7 sleep with dirt floors. Both mother and father and any children old enough all work because they LOVE what they do, bringing home their weekly earnings rarely enough to make it through a few days let alone the week. I hear those that tell you to keep working hard all the while withdrawing thousands a day. Times are tough, don’t work for the money, work because its your passion. I am bewildered how if its passion that drives you how can you allow those that are so poor to be in your employ?
If ever you don’t believe there are those who work for so little, a whole lot less that you do, take a vacation to paradise on Earth like Cancun. Drive to the areas that tourists are encouraged to never see. Your eyes will open up to just how some people really do live. and yes most of these people are very happy. Not happy because they love what they do, they are happy because they have integrity and honor and family and most importantly they have faith. There are some very good companies and people out there making the world a better place. These are not the companies that make the world better for their customers by indenturing those that work for them, they empower those that work for them so that they may empower the customers. A cycle of progressive forward thinkers willing to share not only the opportunity to make money, but actually sharing the money. If you want to see poverty go see it so that you can build a better world by empowering others to make a better world. Take the lessons you learn so that we can together make a better world and provide not only words of opportunity but actual opportunity.
My friend just informed me this morning that the company I write about here is officially closed and the owners have been indicted on a Federal Indictment and face 200 years in prison and one-hundred million dollars in fines and penalties and the government is also seeking millions in restitution back to their customers. I went to some poor parts of Cancun today, not to remind me of how great things are for me, but to remind me as long as one person struggles to survive in this world, we all have an opportunity to make the world a better place. What we chose to do with that opportunity is what we will be remembered as, as people. What will you do?
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