21 Reasons I Like Working For Myself

I've had a variety of jobs. Retails sales from 10th grade nights in high school on and for longer than I wish to remember. There was a time I thought i could never get out of retail sales. then after high school I worked in an insurance company in various departments like shipping and receiving, mailroom, printing, deliveries, etc.

Then years in the USAF. I went in Law Enforcement, got changed because of bad feet in basic training (when inducted I asked if I should remove my socks and the doctor said, "No, not if you want to get in."), went into being a parachute rigger in survival equipment (because I'd been sky diving (as detailed in my true crime screenplay, The Teenage Bodyguard). I just missed out on becoming a flight simulator technician), joined the OSI at end, then got out for college where I eventually graduated.

I'm the one taking the photo

After that some unbelievable jobs both bad and good. Through college and university years I worked at Tacoma Tower...Posters, then Records, then after graduating, Video (in both Tacoma and then moved to Seattle Mercer store...

Tower Posters in Tacoma

So many great stories and friends from there (some no longer with us). Then years in a corporate environment I eventually retired from as a Sr. Tech Writer, and various kinds of IT administration jobs.

Corporate office in 2008 Seattle 

It paid for my kids growing up, for us to live. Then when they moved out and I could do whatever I liked or wanted to do, I kept working and started writing day and night toward retiring.

I just wanted to write and be involved in filmmaking. Something I grew up being fascinated with and really, should have started doing after high school.

So now that I'm doing it, what is so great about it? What are the things I like about working for myself. Obviously there are some down sides. That being said, I also do work as hard as ever but I also may put in more hours day or night or whenever as I feel necessary and wanting to do it.

My home office

Well, I'll give you a look inside:

1. There is no limit to how many hours you have to work or how few. You cannot work more hours than are allowed if you want to. No concerns about allowed overtime or required minimums. And so, my hours are obviously my own.
2. Work is always judged by myself and not a committee of those who do not have even an inkling or any a background in whatever the hell I'm doing.
3. Absolutely no commuting. Unless I want to.
4. No Christmas or New Year's holiday layoffs. In fact, NO layoffs. 
5. Casual Friday is EVERY day. Dress code is what I put on in the morning. If anything.
6. I can go anywhere on the Internet at any time without repercussion or concern from management with no worry about firewall, seeing the principle or being fired. Only maybe, the Federal government. 
7. I get lunch or breaks whenever I want them. NO limit in their time or number. Lunch is when I take it and it's over when (if) I return. 
8. If I ever want a drink or a vape hit...done. I can use any substances I want to aide in creativity, if and whenever I want. NO Drug Testing. In fact, I think I'll have one right now! Which brings us to number 9....
9. I can have as much fun as I want.
10. I can now actually give a damn about what I'm doing 99% of the time. Sometimes even 100% of the time.
11. I feel far more alive now!
12. There is no one to blame but myself. Meaning, when there actually was someone else to blame, you couldn't really point that out. Now there IS no one else to blame and you CAN point it out! Or uh, wait....
13. I can jump between projects at the drop of a hat as energy and creativity dictate, to do whatever I FEEL I NEED to be doing, and when. 
14. There is no "Monday Morning Blues". In fact, there is no "Mondays", or "Fridays" for that matter. My week starts every week, today. Or tomorrow. 
15. I can actually be myself, 100% of the time. On the other hand, I am also the only one who annoys me, or for that matter, who makes me laugh. That last one though I'll admit, can be a bit weird at times.
16. Only I decide the projects. When they start, finish and how good the finished product turned out. 
17. No cubicles! EVERY one gets an office. No one argues about any of that!
18. Great coffee and treats! Always. 
19. No guilt when personal things crop up.
20. Finally...NO corporate BS. No shareholders \ no stockholders \ no management at all to answer to.

Happy Holidays!

Purpose of Government is Our Decision

It occurs to me that part of the political issue today between liberals and conservatives, or however people wish to categorize themselves, is that there is a fundemental undercurrent of misunderstanding about the purpose of government in the first place.

Bootie Cosgrove-Mather in an article titled The Purpose Of Government for CBS said:

"Call me old-fashioned, but I still hold with the ancient Greeks who said government has only one purpose, to improve the lives of citizens."

USHistory.org's article The  Purposes of Government says:

"Why do governments exist? One major reason is that they create rules. But what rules are necessary or desirable?"

Originally governments were started to protect the people. Once that is established and effective, government's purpose expands as a natural course of evolution. After having solidified its ability to protect it turns internal, taking on the actions of making the citizenry work more fluidly, enhancing and further protecting the citizens. Making the citizens more productive and enhancing the quality of their lives as a natural and necessary evolution of the purpose of government.

At some point part of the purpose of government is to maintain and protect, the government itself. Then comes a need for balance between the citizens and the government being protected. For the government to protect itself under the mistaken belief that it is more important than the citizens because IT appears to be the citizens, is a confused point of view that has led to entities such as the Soviet Union with it's leadership abuses, Communist China, North Korea, and so on.

It is not unlike the need in a company or corporation, for balance between security and business. Perfect security denies all business. Perfect business eliminates security. Too much of one destroys the other, just as too little of one can destroy the other. 

It is a balance. Just as our Founding Fathers understood and so built into the United States of America, appropriate checks and balances. In protecting the people from the government and the government branches from one another the society as a whole is protected from and within itself. 

When the initial elements of protecting the citizens and the government have been accomplished, and the basic elements involved in enhancing citizen's productivity and quality of life are in place, it is only natural that the government, as strong as it  should be by this point, would continue to strive to find more and better ways to enhancement society. Without getting in the way of the citizens needs and desires and to continue to find new ways to be more productive for the citizens in its attempt always to be considering enhancements to its purpose as time marches on.

That means that government needs to protect the citizens, the individual units from large collectives such as citizen groups and businesses and corporations. It means that rather than allowing itself to be propped up by big money, it recognizes that and takes steps to fix itself, continuing to protect its citizenry.

From time to time any entity needs to reflect, to reevaluate its original purpose, to review if that is truly what it is still doing. By that concept, people should not be working more hours for less, but less hours for more. They should be paying less for more and better healthcare.

If at some point the care by the government reaches the pinnacle of no one needing to work, because they have finally been freed up to do what they wish, it is not for others who think work is the only way to live, to judge and apply their beliefs onto others. If and when the government should be able to support that.

If the government is on that path and at some point it changes direction, someone needs to look to see why that is happening, who or what caused it, and how to get back on track. 

When people have reached a point that they no longer have to work, or even more so, no longer have to work in jobs they find despicable, it doesn't mean people will no longer need to work but that our orientation as a nation has morphed into allowing people to find what they enjoy doing and pursue that. Be it in the arts, sciences, labor force, or what have you.

My personal belief is that work enhances people's lives. If one is doing the right work for who they are.

Not however the kind of work many of us are currently being forced to do now a days. Not the stress and numbers of hours required per week for a family to be able to support themselves. Not the need of some families who have to have two jobs, three, four or five jobs when there was once a time when only one person needed to have a job to support their family. When they didn't have to work unreasonable days each week if not all, and too many hours per day.

We should not be working more than eight hours a day, more than five days a week and yet, many of us are. We have been hearing how we are slackers, lazy if we don't work twelve hour days five, days a week.

Yet we should be striving hard toward working less days and hours per week. We should be striving toward four day work weeks, six hour days. We should be working half days at full pay so two people could do the work of what one person is doing now. Those are directions, goals, we should be considering, working toward.

People may scoff at that contention. But they scoff because of how things are, not because of how things could be. The reason things cannot be that way now is because of how big money has brainwashed us all to think it's not possible. All while corporations and the very wealthy syphon off all the money so there is so very little left for the masses. 

We have to decide first, just what do we want the purpose of our government to be?

Then we can make that happen. 

On Mein Fuhrer Donald Trump and American mistakes

So now Trump says we need a database of all Muslims in America. I assume it would be bad for them if they don't register. He said he would get them registered at Mosques and many other places.

Donald Trump Says He’d ‘Absolutely’ Require Muslims to Register

Really. Seriously?

A Jewish group responded to this saying they've seen that done before and it didn't end well. Well put, if understated.

Well, there is at least, this:

Donald Trump’s Call for Muslim Registry Denounced by Democrats

I wonder. What if Hitler never had killed anyone? Just "managed" those "dangerous" Jews. What if he didn't scream and be charismatic with crowds? Trump screams and is charismatic with crowds.

You know, Hitler was really just a good corporate mind. The ultimate corporate mind. Efficiency to the max.

Trump says this country is very poorly managed. We need to better manage this country. He would better manage this country. Trump is the ultimate businessman. Very much a corporate mind.

I used to think we just need a businessman to run this country to get things in order. Then someone pointed out we are a nation of people, not a corporation of workers. There is a massive difference between being president of a nation and being CEO and manager of a corporation. That was when I realized how true that was.

A corporation needs to run and that is the end all be all, to make money, be efficient (see Brazil (1985 film)). A country has to act somewhat like a corporation but then it may have to lose money to take care of people and keep them happy and safe because in this country it is about a nation of people pursuing happiness and quality of life. Or it once was.

I'm sure it will all be all right.

Since I first learned of the Japanese internment during WWII I have said I refuse to ever go back to that kind of chickenshit behavior.

Where are the Islamic countries in fighting off the terrorist threat against the world, against their own in the Middle East?

Where indeed. Is it because they can't be warring on other Muslims? Why not? Isn't that what we need them to do, to stand up and police their own? Is it because they as in Saudi Arabia have something else going on themselves? Like how they are about civil rights and support behind the scenes? Is it because of their tribal nature always pitting one type of Muslim against another, always treating each other badly internally between sects in their gang mentality?

I suspect all the surrounding Middle Eastern countries are concerned about DAESH (ISIS\ISIL). So why does America or Russia or anyone but them have to be the ones to do it all, for them?

It just seems to point out a few things about that region that leads me to wonder why we have to even be there.

Because of oil? Israel? Really. What is so important about the Middle East anymore? We were there so that exactly what is happening would never happen. In order to protect Israel, to have cheap oil, or oil at all (but at any cost?).

Haven't things changed now?

Though now I agree that due to many of our own actions (mostly on the Republican ticket) we now have to deal with humanitarian issues, even though we don't want to. It's like being the bully in a playground to a weak, stupid kid (no I'm not saying Muslims are stupid, this is about America being a bully). Then all the other weak kids gang up on and now you what, run away? Good luck with that now that they have organized and retaliated.

Am I 100% right on all this? Perhaps not. But I suspect you may be able to get the idea of what I'm trying to say.

Republicans like War. War on people in other countries.
Wars on drugs (people in this country).
Wars on the poor (again, this country, very much so through drug issues).

How about we mellow out and work toward no wars?

But if we need any, let's....

WAR on ignorance (Kill Fox News, open up schools to educate our citizenry esp. the poor).

WAR on having to be perfect to run for office or stay in office especially about legal (if not immoral) sexual behaviors.

WAR on lying in public office (that would end politics in this country on at least one side).

WAR on Governors (or politicians in general) doing stupid things that are against their citizenry.

WAR on gerrymandering not being done right (if actually needed for the real reasons it may be needed, to protect our citizens, not to support politicians or parties).

WAR on people abusing the meaning of the 2nd amendment.

WAR on those who are attacking people properly utilizing the 1st amendment, and on those who are abusing the 1st.

WAR on curbing or eliminating voters from voting (this should be a mortal sin for politicians and yet it's practically a branch of the republican party (as is gerrymandering).

WAR on the rich abusing the rest of the country.

WAR on politicians helping the rich abuse the rest of the country.

WAR on abusing other countries for our benefit (especially when they eventually turn about and attack us and caused grief to the entire world).

WAR on monopolies like we're supposed to be doing.

WAR on big money in politics.

WAR on the religious pushing their agendas on a secular government that supports a mostly non-secular country.

WAR on fake religions.

WAR on religions who dabble in politics without paying for the right to do so through taxes.

WAR on those abusing immigrants through American politics.

WAR on those cutting taxes to where the government fails it's purpose as in maintaining our infrastructure and the esp. then saying that government is too big but only in the ways that are needed, or broke by their actions but not the big government that actually exists and is over funded.

WAR on a minority (think Tea Party conservatives) perverting a major political party (think republicans)

WAR against good ideas.

WAR against calling government plans for the people as socialism and calling that anathema to our country.

WAR on those who are warring on others and calling positive progress and evolution of an entire nation as a WAR on them, just because people are waking up and seeing the abuse of some of those groups disingenuously as a WAR on themselves.

But really let's stop this near sexual addiction to WARs, extreme conservatism and Donald Trump types and start seeking out the facts, recognizing them, and then building functional systems upon those findings without letting extremist ideologies and idiots subverting our beneficence and pursuit of happiness.

Let's stop making mistakes.

Let's start thinking and making better choices.

Let's end this on a positive note.

At least a rational one based in reality:

Attendees of the Cairo International Film Festival speak out, with the event's president speaking of a war "between civilization and barbarity."

Okay, perhaps we can end on a positive note after all....

I'm an American.

And as for Christians....