Smile For One Thousand Three Hundred Dollars

My regular dental cleaning was in Dec 2024. The dentist said I needed five resins costing $1,300. The resins are a generic term. Specifically, the dentist fills in gaps between the teeth to minimize debris stuck between the teeth and gums, and minimize decay. $1,300 or $260 per tooth is expensive; on the other hand, the alternative is future gum surgery which costs higher and more inconvenience.

I went shopping afterwards. The first two retail locations were two high class malls. I thought about $1,300 dental work and $1,300 for X object(s) many stores sell. The chances of X object(s) are useless for practical uses. A $100 jacket is good as a $1,300 jacket. Almost nobody cares for a $1,300 pretty decoration on a table. I thought "a who cares he or she has it (them)" item(s) for sale in the two malls.

Consumerism at its best. Consumerism creates jobs. We don't complain on televisions, movies, clothes, toys, automobiles, and tech gadgets. We complain on food, insurance, utilities, and dental work. Some people need to re-evaluate their budgets and their priorities. A smile can earn more than $1,300 in money. Nobody wants his or her partner with bad dental hygiene during sex.

All prices increase. Higher costs. Spend wisely. It's the 2025 advice of the year.

Update On A Past Blog

Here is additional information on the blog Homeless Encampment Eviction Day Real Story written on Mar 23, 2024. The media doesn't report the real story.

Many legal homeless people receive government support such as Social Security, disabled veterans pensions, food stamps, and Medi-Cal. Some homeless people don't meet the rules for government support.

Some homeless people refuse shelters by choice. Women feels unsafe. Pets are prohibited. Must be sober. Strict curfews; for instance, homeless people with jobs and/or visit family members conflicts with the curfew. Couples must be married to be admitted together.

Change Priorities

I took a Moby-Dick vacation on selected days from Oct 2023 to Feb 2024. Those selected days I spent less time job training and more time reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

I adapt the Moby-Dick vacation job training starting today. My job training continues. I spend less time job training. I spend more time on life. The reasons for the job training priority change are the job market, AI, the Information Age, and the economy.

Furthermore, I job search five days a week. There have been fewer job openings. There have been more people unemployed. More unemployed people apply for the fewer job openings; although, some job applications are submitted by AI. The probability of finding a job declines year after year. The probability of finding a job declines further in May and Jun when seniors graduate from high school and college.

The Costs Outweigh The Benefits

The more time job training cost outweighs the maintaining maximum job training skills benefit. A company hiring long-term unemployed people is rare. I reduce the job training cost. I benefit more living life not job training. The living life priorities are the following in alphabetical order:

*Cook: Everyone eats healthy.
*Complete errands: Shopping, organizing, and filling my car with gas.
*Emails: Sending and replying email to my family and friends. I also read my favorite articles.
*Learn life skills: Tying knots, shuffling cards, and memorizing jokes and riddles are examples.
*Listen to audio: Music and podcasts.
*Maintain the residences: Vacuuming, washing dishes, laundry, moping, cleaning toilets, and taking out the trash.
*Physical activity: Two days strength training and two days cardio.
*Play video games: Lowest priority. I play classic video games I never played.
*Read books: 75% fiction and 25% non-fiction.
*Social life: Spend time with people.
*Social media: Up to 45 minutes a day is nothing.
*Watch movie: I watch one movie a week.
*Watch television: Lower priority. I watch more sports and less shows.
*Write blogs: Write 100 blogs a year or 8.33 blogs a month is acceptable.

Ignorant consistency is removed. I accept half-ass sometimes because there's no penalty for less than 100% completion. I'm more flexible to priority changes beyond my control. I'm more accepting to adjust priority changes beyond my control. There is no reprimand for finishing a responsibility or a task tomorrow. It's okay to delay lower priorities.

I continue job training for the record. I continue job searching for the record. Finding employment is slim. There's more to life than knowing Excel, Python, data analysis, databases, and web pages.

Update On A Past Blog

I can title today's blog Reset Priorities In A Good Way, Reset Priorities II, Reset Priorities Correctly, or Reset Priorities Maturely. It's another life re-evaluation blog. Fair statement. People should re-evaluate their own lives time to time. Re-evaluate properly. Re-evaluate intelligently. It's okay to make priorities mistakes. Correct priorities mistakes immediately when committed.

I committed priorities mistakes from the blog Reset Priorities written on Sep 18, 2013. The two goals creating three priority tiers were consistency and more hours to sleep. I failed. I admitted my mistake on Feb 28, 2018 Throwback Blog: Reset Priorities saying " The blog is full of crap. I reset my life too many times." There is a limit people resetting their lives too many times indicates professional help may be needed.

Screwed Or Not Screwed

I ask questions about myself. I answer "screwed" or "not screwed" followed by an explanation. I choose no NSFW answer "fucked" or "not fucked." There is no 50/50 middle ground. If it's 51% screwed, then I'm screwed. If it's 51% not screwed, then I'm not screwed. Here are the self-analysis questions:

*Find a job: screwed. The unemployed readers know the truth. There are fewer job openings. There are too many unemployed seeking employment from the fewer job openings.

*Health: not screwed. I include physical fitness. I workout four days a week. I minimize eating processed foods. I sleep eight hours a night. I drink water when I'm thirsty.

*Money: screwed. All prices are going up. All costs are going up. All payments are going up.

*Job training: screwed. On the one hand, I finished my self job training on Apr 19, 2024 Self Job Training Graduation Analytics Research Technology. On the other hand, the continued job training remains too slow. There is too much to learn. There are good free learning resources. I'm skeptical on paid online training.

*Learning outside the job training: not screwed. Finding new life skills is slow and sure. An advantage being unemployed is plenty of time to learn. These skills can be useful tomorrow.

*Socialize with friends and family: not screwed. I started meeting my friends post pandemic. I started meeting new people post pandemic. I'm patient.

*COVID-19: not screwed. I wear masks. I'm updated on the latest vaccines. I never tested positive.

*Timing, luck, destiny, karma: screwed. The world has not been flowing in my favor for years.

*Time remaining to live life: screwed. My life is either paused or moving forward too slowly. I follow through everything I learned. Too many delays. Too many stalls.

*Happiness in the short term: not screwed. I wrote being a happy loser My Problems Are Nothing on Dec 27, 2024 compared to many people with bigger unhappy problems.

*Happiness in the long term: screwed. Money is not a factor to become happy. However, money helps a person become happy. I don't know the future regarding money.

*Mental: not screwed. I separate physical health and mental health. I read books. I job training. I learn life skills. Never stop learning.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog December 2024

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. The COVID-19 coverage on the XEC strain was almost nonexistent. I might have spent the most time out of the house. One reason was Christmas shopping. I avoided the big crowds. The Christmas and New Year's holiday weeks went by fast.

Wed Dec 4. Completed errands at AAA. Shopped at World Market.

Thur Dec 5. Picked up online orders at REI and Target.

Sun Dec 8. Shopped in Japantown-San Jose.

Thur Dec 12. Picked up an online order at ASICS in the Great Mall.

The latest COVID-19 strain is the XEC. The XEC is a subvariant of the omicron strain. The milder strain is the most transmissible strain. The main symptoms resemble the common cold including coughing, runny nose, congestion, sore throat, and fever. A test must be performed to determine the person has the common cold or COVID-19. The latest vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax should mitigate symptoms if a person tested positive.

Mon Dec 16. Shopped at Costco Business Center. Filled up my car with gas at Chevron.

Tue Dec 17. Went to the outdoor Christmas event Enchant.

Wed Dec 18. Regular checkup at the dentist. Shopped at Valley Fair, Santana Row, Costco, The Home Depot, Books, Inc., and O'Reilly Auto Parts. There were too many cars on the road. It seemed the freeway and city traffic returned to pre-pandemic life.

A scientific paper stating the hydroxychloroquine drug to treat COVID-19 was retracted from the International Journal Of Antimicrobial Agents. The anti-malaria drug claimed to reduce virus levels. The Food And Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization in Mar 2020 allowing doctors to treat COVID-19 patients. The authorization was revoked three months later because further studies failed to show the benefits outweighed the risks. Scientists questioned the drug effectiveness with small sample size and short peer review times.

Fri Dec 20. Picked up online orders at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Mon Dec 23. Shopped at Daiso, Target, KLOUD K-POP, and Safeway.

Tue Dec 24. The CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System indicated an increase in the COVID-19 virus in the nationwide wastewater measurements ending Dec 14. Levels increased from low level to moderate level suggesting an increased risk of infection. 21 states have high or very high levels. The midwestern region was at high levels. The Northeast and South regions were low. The West region level declined while remaining at low level.

The death rate was 1.1% of infected people. Hospitalizations at 2.3 per 100,000 which was down from 10.7 per 100,000 in Oct. Emergency visits remained at 0.7% since Oct 15. The positivity rate was 5.6% as of Dec 14. The positivity rate was 17.8% on Aug 10.

Sat Dec 28. Visited a Christmas pirate ship display at a residential home in South San Jose.

Tue Dec 31. The previous COVID-19 fall and winter seasons wastewater levels rose in Nov. The wastewater levels peaked at the end of Dec. The 2024 year wastewater levels were the lowest in Oct and Nov. Wastewater levels began to increase in Dec from low to high. The week ending Dec 21 COVID-19 tripled in circulation due to the newest dominate variant XEC.

The XEC variant is a hybrid of two JN.1 variants. The JN.1 variant was an omicron subvariant for the 2023 winter surge. XEC accounted for 45% of new cases from Dec 8 to Dec 21. XEC accounted for 15% in Oct.

Flu levels and RSV levels increased in Dec. 21.4% of Americans were updated with the latest COVID-19 vaccine as of Dec 21.

A Second Look At 2023

It's the time I look back at my 2023 blogs to give myself feedback. The goals delaying one year are relearning from my mistakes, reinforcing my lessons, reminding myself my moments, refreshing acquired knowledge, rediscovering new wisdom, correcting errant blogs, and sharing changes. The 14 blogs are also the 2023 best blogs.

1. Too Much Too Tired
Date: Tue Mar 7
Summary: Nobody is at fault for being fatigued because we live in the fast pace Information Age.
Feedback: Fast, faster, and fastest. The assignments, responsibilities, and training should have been completed yesterday. Everyone is doing more 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The same 24 hours a day and seven days a week were our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents generations lived. It's the Information Age. Stop complaining or live somewhere else.

I share two stories. The first story my brother is a cyber security engineer. One of his responsibilities is programming. He uses his company's proprietary AI to write the code. AI saves time. He has too many responsibilities. The second story my niece is a sophomore in high school. Her physical education class is yoga. The instructor allows students to take naps after yoga because students are too tired. There are too many responsibilities for today's high school students they must complete hours of homework in minutes.

2. The Time Is Now And Later
Date: Fri Apr 23
Summary: Go with the flow.
Feedback: Good intention blog. Dumb topic blog. We go backwards sometimes as we move forwards. We hope the net gain is forward. +2-1=+1 is the math formula. Unfortunately, some people the net gain is backwards. Life is unfair.

The timing is good for the second look. I'm surviving Dec 2024 by going with the flow. I hate adjusting my schedules beyond my control. The frustration feeling is recognized. Fewer responsibilities are completed at the end of the day. Finish the rest of the responsibilities another day.

The last two weeks of 2024 are rest weeks. The frustrations continued during the first week. I accepted them. Life goes on.

3. Graduation Means Continue Learning
Date: Sat Jun 10
Summary: I summarized my self job training since May 2015.
Feedback: The final self job training or the endgame started on Jun 7, 2023. The endgame was completed on Mar 24, 2024. I graduated myself with an Analytics Research Technology degree on Apr 19, 2024. The learning continues on Jul 15, 2024 with a weekly schedule Excel, HTML, JavaScript, Power Pivot or Power Query, Python, and WordPress.

4. Do We Fail When We Do?
Date: Sat Jun 24
Summary: Quitting doesn't necessarily equate to failure.
Feedback: The blog is confusing. I meant to say everyone does their best. Not everyone succeeds. Are the people who don't succeed a failure?

Answer the question: successful fail or success failed? Or successfully failed as in I did my best--if I died tomorrow, then could I say I did my best? I did what I must. Success failed can be elaborated as I did everything I was told. I did everything by the book. I followed the plan. I followed the advice. I followed the guidance. Unsuccessful. I failed.

If the chances of success are low or the chances of failure are high, then why do it? Good philosophical discussion.

5. Continue The Lie
Date: Sat Jul 8
Summary: I dreamed last night I faked an analysis report.
Feedback: The feedback is for the Update On A Past Blog for which a co-worker faked the statistics. He was caught. He found another job before he was fired.

Bullshit is not 100% successful. Most bullshit is detected. "I don't know" or "It was that way when I came here" are good ways to deflect blame when in trouble.

There was a Freakonomics podcast on academic researchers faking their reports Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? released on Jan 10, 2024. There is an update Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? (Update) released on Dec 25, 2024

The most successful people and most successful companies didn't make it to their tops on hard work and following the rules. There are some bullshit involved. They and it must be assholes to make it to the top and stay on top. The stakes are too high not to be assholes.

6. All Is Ready Cue The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show Opening Theme
Date: Mon Aug 7
Summary: I posted two YouTube videos and the lyrics on The Bugs Bunny And Road Runner Show opening theme to celebrate completing my self job training.
Feedback: I didn't play the song when I finished the self job training end game resulting in graduating with Self Job Training Graduation Analytics Research Technology on Apr 19, 2024. I played the song after I posted the blog.

7. Moving Forward Maturely
Date: Sun Aug 20
Summary: The week of Mon Aug 14, 2023 was a bad week.
Feedback: A second go with flow blog. The responsibilities for the week of Mon Aug 14, 2023 were completed or incomplete. There was no penalty for half-ass work. There was no reward for maximum completion.

Nobody is perfect. Even professionals are not perfect. They don't win 100% of the time. They can't do it today. There's always tomorrow. Excuses are justified.

The feedback for number seven combines with number two. There are justified excuses from Thanksgiving 2024 to the end of Dec 2024. Dec 2024 is ending the 2024 year on a bad note. There are more bad days than good days. There are unfortunate circumstances. There are unanticipated new priorities clear and present. More frustrations. More bad timing. Responsibilities are being completed or incomplete at the end of the day. A silver lining is lessons learned and wisdom acquired.

8. Life Is Not Fair In My Words
Date: Fri Aug 25
Summary: I shared my thoughts on the common knowledge "life is not fair." The government. The education. The economy. The social class. The world. The system.
Feedback: A quick philosophical feedback. There is balance in life. Does the balance mean a balance of good and evil? Does the balance mean a balance of winners and losers? Does the balance mean a balance of success and fails? There are winners. There are losers. There can't be a world of pure 100% good. There can't be a world of pure 100% evil. Or there can't be a world of 100% destruction.

9. I Have A Brain
Date: Wed Sep 20
Summary: My internal body and external body are sound.
Feedback: I repeat the statement "I made more of my share of life mistakes." I say on the record I experienced more bad luck than good luck. I say on the record I experienced more failures than successes. I say on the record I experienced more defeats than wins. Any past blogs saying the contrary are incorrect.

10. Full Information Acquired
Date: Sun Oct 15
Summary: Full information is not acquired.
Feedback: I reiterate there is always a possibility all information not acquired. There is always uncertainty. Full information or perfect information doesn't exist.

I adapt the uncertainty principle from German scientist Werner Heisenberg for a non-scientific wisdom. The uncertainty principle scientific explanation is particles' positions and velocities can't be observed.

11. Emotionally Draining
Date: Thur Oct 19
Summary: I speculated the three Major League Baseball teams which won 100 or more regular seasons games were eliminated in the 2023 playoffs due to emotionally exhaustion.
Feedback: I learned a wisdom in 2024. The head or the brain is more important than the heart. Intelligences or mental capabilities take precedence over emotions. Physical capabilities take precedence over emotions.

The Golden State Warriors started the 2024-2025 NBA season with a 12-3 record and first place in the Western Conference. The Warriors record is 16-15 and ninth place in the Western Conference as of Dec 30, 2024. I speculate the Warriors 12-3 start were motivated more on emotions and less on intelligence. The emotions are drained.

12. Happy Living An Alternate Life
Date: Mon Nov 13
Summary:
Feedback: I wrote multiple daily life blogs in 2023. I choose the Happy Living An Alternate Life blog to represent these daily life blogs. These daily life blogs are not bullshit blogs. These blogs are honest blogs. One can say I repeat the blogs to increase my blog count. Fair statement. I repeat myself and I reiterate I'm doing the best I can to earn a happy life.

My changed attitude, stronger strength, increased intelligence, and added wisdom changed my viewpoint on the daily life blogs. They're legitimate. Don't take life for granted. I'm one step closer to become a self-trained genius.

More people discover living a happy life by spending more time at home, more time in private residences, or more time indoors due to the global pandemic. Prices are going up. Money can change attitudes.

13. I Worked At Bad Companies
Date: Sun Nov 19
Summary: It was bad luck I worked at bad companies.
Feedback: I wrote a cynical blog. There are good companies. The general population never hears about good companies because they're not newsworthy. Bad companies are known because they're newsworthy.

Luck applies to the North America professional sports teams football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer. There are professional drafts bringing new players from high schools, colleges, and foreign countries to these sports teams. The luck involves which player is drafted to which team. Is the team a good company or is the team a bad company? A professional team is a company. All draft pick players hope their company he or she plays include professional treatment, good coaching, good ownership, support, and opportunities. Politics and complaints are minimized.

14. Merry Unmotivational Christmas
Date: Tue Dec 26
Summary: My 2023 Christmas was unsatisfactory.
Feedback: The feedback is cynical. There are always people celebrating a happy first Christmas for *insert reason*. For example, first marriage couple Christmas, first baby Christmas, first Christmas in a new house, and first Christmas cancer free. On the other hand, I sense more sad Christmases for *insert reason*. I sense more people celebrating another melancholy Christmas.

I stand by my opinion on the blog; in particular, the paragraph: All leisure activities including birthdays and holidays require planning. It's an oxymoron work and effort must be completed for play and fun moments. Chaos is the result without work and effort. Chaotic leisure is not leisure. The rewards pay off after the work and effort are completed sincerely and satisfactory.

Motivation is required to celebrate a good Christmas. I'm happy my 2024 Christmas was satisfactory. I corrected my mistakes in 2023. I motivated myself. I hoped my motivation influenced others to work for their happy Christmas 2024.

The following blogs are honorable mentions: Kick The Can Down The Road, The Devil Is Persistent Collecting The Bills, and A Lesson From The Rich People.

My Problems Are Nothing

I'm a happy loser for the purpose of today's blog. My life is like George Costanza. I'm unemployed. I live with my parents. My personal problems are small in comparison to other people. I'm not grandparents who do a bad job living a boring life. I'm not a divorced parent. I'm not an overworked and underpaid supervisor. My problems are small compared to a typical high school student. My intuition tells me some people with bigger problems exchange their lives with my life.

I'm happy. I work to earn a good life. Disregard the financial rewards in the paragraph. I job train learning new skills and reviewing existing knowledge. I job search. My physical workouts are two days strength and two days cardio per week. I minimize eating processed foods. I sleep eight hours a night. I read books. I learn life skills. I cook. I clean. I do my share maintaining the household. Stay busy.

The regular readers may say I sound like a broken record repeating my daily life. They may say I repeat another daily life blog as too repetitious. They may say today's blog is another bullshit blog. Regardless, I keep quiet. I don't communicate unsolicited advice. The problems are theirs. I hope their lives improve.

Black Friday 2024

The Black Friday 2024 shopping was another week event. I shopped offline and purchased online before and after the true Black Friday. No offline shopping on Black Friday. I made a Cyber Monday purchase. No splurges. All online purchases were picked up at their respective stores. No deliveries. Black Friday 2024 was my worst Black Friday.

Mon Nov 25

Three Coke 2-liter bottles and Nice Caramel Cashew blend trail mix at Walgreens Black Friday Week Sale. The trail mix was a $0.99 cheap must eat.

Tony's Chocolate bars and Wicklein Allerlei gingerbread cookies at World Market. 30% off entire purchase coupon.

Sat Nov 30

CEP The Run Compression Calf Sleeves 4.0 at REI. Not a Black Friday sale. The 31% off was a discontinued product.

Sun Dec 1

The Best Worst Ice Cream card game, Magnetic Foam Tanagrams, and Moose Match Mayhem card game at Target. Buy two, get one free selected board games.

Mon Dec 2

ASICS Gel-Nimbus 25 running shoes at ASICS. 25% off Cyber Monday sale.

Kanoodle Brain-Teasing Puzzles at Target. 15% off discount.

Tue Dec 3

KISS OF LIFE and Stray Kids music albums at Korean music store Kloud K-Pop. Stray Kids was a preorder not on sale.