Xmas 2019

My Christmas 2019 holiday was better than 2018. Christmas 2019 was on the line between good and bad, between joy and depression, and between optimism and pessimism. I put up the Christmas tree on Thur Dec 19. It was the first time I put up the tree less than a week before Christmas. The past years I put up the Christmas tree during the Thanksgiving holiday since we got a new tree in 2011.

Putting up the Christmas tree late began new Christmas holiday trends which actually began in 2018. Here are the trends for future Christmas holidays.

*Late Christmas Decorations. Neighbors who traditionally Christmas decorate their residences had been completed late. It's nobody's fault. There is too much to do. There are more priorities. More time is required to complete priorities.

*Fewer Christmas Decorations. Some neighbors choose not to Christmas decorate their residences for fear of theft or vandalism. The neighborhood has seen packages stolen, shoes by their front door stolen, potted plants stolen, and car break-ins. Some neighbors who traditionally Christmas decorate their residences tone down the decorations for fear of theft or vandalism and/or less time to decorate.

*Lucky Roof And Heat. I saw two fat people shopping on Mon Dec 23. They were likely father and daughter judging their ages. They were fat like the people from the TLC series Family By The Ton. I thought yes they were fat. I also thought they were fortunate they have a roof for shelter, heat to stay warm, and a bed to sleep.

The San Francisco Bay Area has seen an increase in homeless population. There are too many people. There are not enough homes. Home prices are expensive. More people can't afford rent. I predict more people become homeless celebrating Christmas without a roof and without heat. People with roof and heat must be considered lucky.

*Keep Fun In Check. I continue the Lucky Roof And Heat. I control my Christmas joy. I don't take Christmas for granted. I may not celebrate Christmas next year for any reason.

*Losing The Christmas Feeling. A Charlie Brown Christmas is true. More people are forgetting the true meaning of Christmas. Business headlines said holiday spending is up. Welcome to consumerism. I admit I'm losing the Christmas feeling two ways.

My first feeling loss refers to the Lucky Roof And Heat. More people are worrying their next Christmas may be without a roof and no heat. More money, more resources, and higher costs are the reality to live comfortably in the San Francisco Bay Area. More people are getting tired. More people can't focus on the Christmas feeling. Where is their Christmas miracle? There are not enough miracles for everyone. Unfair.

My second feeling is the Christmas holiday is the same Christmas holiday. My Black Friday purchases have been mostly bare necessities and upgrades. It's good because I splurge less on fun. Also, I listened to zero Christmas music for the first time. I didn't listen to a radio station playing Christmas music during the holidays. The family meals are the same. My Christmas holiday has been routine too long. Maybe my Christmas holiday changes when I achieve freedom.

*Mailed Christmas Cards. My parents told me they received fewer Christmas Cards from the mail. Why? All reasons are true including higher postage cost, more priorities less time to prepare Christmas cards, and convenience emailing Christmas cards or posting Christmas cards on social media.

*More Gifts To Unwrap. Less Cards With Money. I realize giving cash is boring. I elaborate at Update On A Past Blog below.

Update On A Past Blog

I'm reading the entire Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling series. I'm on Year 5. Minor, minor spoiler. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged Christmas gifts during the Christmas vacation at Hogwarts. The Harry Potter scene inspired me to give my nephew and niece board games for Christmas. It was the first time I gave them gifts to unwrap. The past Christmases I gave money. Money is one of the worse gifts to give. I wrote a blog What Is The Worst Gift on Nov 29, 2005 saying the worse gift is gift cards. Give cash instead. I correct myself. Gift cards and cash are the worse gifts.

Black Friday 2019

My Black Friday 2019 shopping was 37.5% bare necessities, 37.5% upgrades, and 25.0% fun or splurge. My purchases one week before Black Friday Fri Nov 29 are included.

Fri Nov 22

I purchased a Wamshutta dark brown color bathroom carpet and XOX kitchen sink mat at Bed Bath & Beyond using a $10 off coupon spending $30 or more. I'm aware the $10 off $30 coupon is not a Black Friday coupon. Upgrades.

Mon Nov 25

I purchased The Bathery bath sponges, Up&Up hand sanitizer, Colgate toothpaste, Band-Aid, and New Skin at Target. Bare necessities. I also purchased 7 Wonders board game at Target. Splurge. I took advantage of good timing using my 10% off Target credit card anniversary coupon.

Fri Nov 29

Macy's. Calvin Klein underwear, Tommy Hilfiger underwear, and a Perry Ellis Portfolio wallet. Bare necessities.

Kohl's. Isotoner slippers, Apartment 9 short sleeve sleep t-shirt, and Croft & Barrow pajamas pants. Bare necessities.

Auto Accessories Garage website. Covercraft UVS100 custom sunscreen for the dashboard. Silver color. Bare necessities.

Sat Nov 30

Big 5. Nomex Enhanced Flight Glove Tactical for my go bag. Upgrades.

Nob Hill. Bundaberg ginger beer. Splurge.

I shopped at Target on Fri Nov 29. I purchased nothing.

I shop on Black Fridays to purchase bare necessities which includes stocking up on bare necessities, to buy new durable goods, to upgrade existing durable goods, and to buy DVDs on my wish list. Black Fridays are good shopping days for appliances, clothes, new TVs, desktop parts, and towels. If I can wait for the Black Friday, then I wait.

One Black Friday year ago I subscribed to SlickDeals' Frontpage Deals alerts. I purchased around five goods from their Frontpage Deals between Black Friday 2018 and Black Friday 2019. I also took advantage downloading $0.00 apps from the Frontpage Deals.

Highlight and Favorite 2018 Tweets

Here are my 18 highlight Tweets and 9 favorite Favorites Tweets in 2018. The goals delaying one year are relearning from my mistakes, reinforcing my lessons, reminding myself my moments, refreshing acquired knowledge, rediscovering new wisdom, and sharing changes. Follow me @inin61. Enjoy!

Highlights

Jan 06: Time heals all wounds. Oakland Raiders bring back Jon Gruden. Gruden coached the Raiders 1998-2001. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he last coached 2002-2008 with a Super Bowl championship in 2002 season.

Jan 06: Gruden does have relevant coaching experience. Gruden doesn't have recent coaching experience.

Feb 03: A lucky moment in a post office. I purchased one sheet of stamps from the Automated Postal Center. I received two sheets.

Feb 17: @Seijanokiseki Yes. My brother finished the first book. He's hooked. Harry Potter is my next book. I plan to read all seven books. Update Sep 2019: I started reading the Harry Potter books.

Mar 08: Today I introduce to Microsoft Power BI Desktop or Business Intelligence Desktop. BI Desktop is like Tableau. I learn more BI Desktop watching the demo videos for two hours than I learn Tableau. BI Desktop interface is more user friendly.

Mar 17: For the first time in NCAA history a 16 seed defeated a 1 seed. Sports history is made today. @SportsCenter: No words.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYdeCpaUMAABD1h.jpg

Mar 17: RT @SportsCenter: Less than two months ago, UMBC lost to Albany 83-39. Tonight, it pulled the biggest upset in college basketball history

Mar 25: 11th seeded Loyola Chicago Ramblers is going to the Final Four. The last time the Ramblers went was in 1963 when it won the National Championship. The Ramblers is the fourth 11th seed to reach the Final Four.

Mar 25: This year's Cinderella is Final Four bound! https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZF-eoyWsAAtMFw.jpg

May 06: forbear: to refrain or abstain from; withhold. To hold back, to be patient. #mynewwordoftheday

Jun 09: Spurs + Pelicans + Rockets + Cavaliers = NBA Finals #dubnation #gswarriors #nbafinals

Jun 09: 2015 + 2017 + 2018 = Dynasty #dubnation #gswarriors #nbafinals

Jun 27: Keep an eye on the check engine light when starting the car. One reason is to confirm the light bulb works. The bulb is not burned out.

Aug 10: Raise both arms high above your face to signal SOS to a plane flying over you. A one arm raise signals everything is okay.

Sep 14: Never stop meeting people. Here's an idea when I'm older. I set up a booth at an outdoor event. Article inspired old people giving free advice https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900028728/old-coots-booth-at-farmers-market-offers-probably-bad-advice.html, https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnE5Qp8U8AA6pyg.jpg

Nov 15: "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole." --Theodore Levitt, professor Harvard Business School (1925-2006)

Dec 27: The Dow Jones closed up 1,086 points or 4.98% today to 22,878. 1,086 is the largest one-day point gain in history. S&P 500 up 4.96% to 2,468. NASDAQ up 5.84% to 6,554. These three percentages are the largest since March 2009.

Favorite Favorites

Feb 21: @SportsCenter, REDEMPTION. https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/966574472353452032/photo/1

Mar 1: @HistoryInPics, "An empty stomach, an empty wallet and a broken heart can teach you the best lessons of life." ~ Robin Williams https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/status/969305098768863233/photo/1

Mar 2: @SexwithEmily, One of the best feelings in the world. https://twitter.com/SexWithEmily/status/969751736461258752/photo/1

Apr 9: @HistoryInPics, A young Paul McCartney's mirror selfie. Possibly the first selfie taken by a celebrity. https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/status/983420615951618049/photo/1

Jun 4: @arstechnica, Microsoft snaps up GitHub for $7.5 billion http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/06/microsoft-snaps-up-github-for-7-5-billion/

Jul 13: @arstechnica, Open offices are as bad as they seem—they reduce face-to-face time by 70%. http://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/in-open-offices-workers-chat-70-less-are-less-productive-and-email-more/

Sep 29: @arstechnica, This arcade is really vintage: Visiting San Francisco’s Musée Mécanique http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/09/this-arcade-is-really-vintage-visiting-san-franciscos-musee-mecanique/

Oct 27: @Buster_ESPN, Alex Cora called a team meeting right after Game 3 ended, and talked about the epic effort, and how proud he was of his players -- singling out Nathan Eovaldi, who got a standing ovation from teammates. David Price stayed with Eovaldi postgame, on the bus.

Nov 16: @GoodVibesToys, Happy Friday! Who else has had this happen to them? https://twitter.com/GoodVibesToys/status/1063588980736745472/photo/1

Why Are Most Straight A Students 4.0+ Students Not Millionaires?

I think back to all the smart students I knew in high school and college. I think back to my smart family and smart relatives who went to school during my years. I include the 3.8+ GPA and above in the question.

My answer to the question is end of motivation. Another answer is end of discipline. Another answer is they achieve success with a white-collar job and middle-class living. No higher success is necessary. There is no more learning. There is no more studying. They're ready to settle. Moreover, they were taught book knowledge. They were taught facts. They were taught proven theories. Learning by reading books, attending classes, and studying were easier than teaching motivation outside the classroom, teaching life lessons, learning human relations, how to be a professional, and learning by failure.

There are millionaire professionals in medicine, engineering, technology, art, law, real estate, account executive, and business--on paper. I refer to millionaires owning businesses, creating new inventions, and heavy investing such as investment bankers and venture capitalists. I also refer to millionaires as developers, corporations, and partnerships. My intuition tells me most of these millionaires are not straight A students. These millionaires are 3.0- GPA. The lessons these millionaires teach us are desire is more important than knowledge or I will is more important than I know, financial discipline is a key, never stop learning, and never settle. Further, get out of the classroom, learn outside the classroom, learn good communication skills, learn good social skills, be a professional, and never stop making mistakes--learn from your mistakes.

I personally know no millionaires owning businesses, creating new inventions, and heavy investing such as investment bankers and venture capitalists. All the people I know who earned straight A's and 3.8+ GPA are not millionaires.

Top 2018 Pics

Here are the 18 top pictures I took in 2018. They’re sorted from the start of the year to the end of the year. The goals delaying one year are relearning from my mistakes, reinforcing my lessons, reminding myself my moments, refreshing acquired knowledge, rediscovering new wisdom, and sharing changes. Enjoy!

A Second Look At 2018

It's the time I look back at my 2018 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. These blogs are also the 2018 best blogs. There are 12 blogs for A Second Look At 2018.

Blog Title: 1. Life Is Unfair There Is Bad Luck
Date: Sun Jan 7
Summary: Everyone experiences bad luck is fair. Some people experience more bad luck than good.
Feedback: Stop caring about bad luck. Stop counting the bad luck moments. Stop counting the bad timing moments. The big lesson I learned is stop counting on Sep 2019. Stop counting the losses. Stop tracking the setbacks. Stop worrying about the bad lucks. Who cares. I believe I stop caring about the losses, setbacks, and bad lucks, and start caring about working hard intelligently, life and the universe give me rewards.

Finally, I must use my weak short-term memory as a strength. I forget the too many bad luck moments.

Blog Title: 2. Top Ten Movies I Can Watch 100 Times
Date: Sat Apr 21
Summary: I listed my top ten movies I can watch infinitely.
Feedback: The list is updated. The new number one movie is The Shawshank Redemption I watched in Sep 2019. The updated top ten in brief from one to ten: The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, A Few Good Men, Star Wars IV, Stand By Me, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Aliens, Wall Street, Up, and For Your Eyes Only. Grease moves to honorable mentions with Gravity, The Dark Knight, and Toy Story. Also, The Shawshank Redemption is my number one all-time favorite movie.

I also update Top Ten Movies I Watched Late on Mar 1, 2014. The updated top ten in brief from one to ten: The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Colors, Welcome To The Dollhouse, Wall Street, The Graduate, Falling Down, It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, and The Godfather trilogy.

Blog Title: 3. Throwback Blog: To What Bad Degree Are These Tiny, Minor, Small Stuff
Date: Mon Apr 30
Summary: I shared advice when experiencing negative little stuff including let it go, have grit, laugh it off, and learn from the mistakes.
Feedback: I repeat the feedback from 1. Life Is Unfair There Is Bad Luck. Stop caring about bad luck. Stop counting the bad luck moments. Stop counting the bad timing moments. The big lesson I learned is stop counting on Sep 2019. Stop counting the losses. Stop tracking the setbacks. Stop worrying about the bad lucks. Who cares. I believe I stop caring about the losses, setbacks, and bad lucks, and start caring about working hard intelligently, life and the universe give me rewards.

Blog Title: 4. Reached The Top Innovating Infinitely
Date: Sun Jun 24
Summary: We never end innovate infinitely. The next innovations or the future innovations require more time, more costs, more work, and more training.
Feedback: Two thoughts. My first thought is the misleading title. We don't re-invent the wheel. How much more wheel innovation is possible? My second thought is today's easier life reinforces my blog. Life is easier because today's goods and services requires more hours, higher costs, additional responsibilities, harder work, more resources, complex training, and advance knowledge. Regardless, there are still 24 hours to a day. People are overwhelmed because we are working harder to live easier. Ironic.

Blog Title: 5. Throwback Blog: FYI, Parents You Are Teachers, Too
Date: Sat Jun 30
Summary: There is no excuse parents don't teach their children.
Feedback: The feedback continues 4. Reached The Top Innovating Infinitely. More parents are spending less time raising their children today. One reason is work. Today's workplace more occupations require more than 40 hours a week. We live in the information age. More time, more skills, more training, and more responsibilities are required to complete our jobs.

A second reason is freedom. More parents don't want to give up their freedoms before they became parents such as playing video games, watching television, and browsing their social media. In addition, these parents are eating more processed foods.

Blog Title: 6. Trust Time And Trust Life
Date: Tue Jul 10
Summary: I wrote a summary of life philosophy: life connections, time gives the answers, take life one day at a time, good moments, bad moments, life is unfair, timing, and trust.
Feedback: Everything happens for a reason. Is there a reason why there are too many people living in the world today? There are too many people. There are too few opportunities to satisfy many people. Some people living a life with few opportunities is unfair. Life is unfair.

I also mentioned the definitions of winners are losers are subjective. Success is relative. Failure is absolute.

Blog Title: 7. More Losses Less Wins And More Setbacks Less Accomplishments
Date: Thur Aug 16
Summary: Add up the bad little things results in bad big things.
Feedback: There are six blogs in A Second Look At 2018 semi-finals list which talked about the same points: bad luck, bad timing, setbacks, making a big deal on the small stuff, bad moments, my bad happening is somebody else's good happening, less wins, more losses, too many rejections, and being a loser. The 2018 bullshit blogs are more bad days and less good days. There are more than six 2018 bullshit blogs because I excluded the bullshit blogs not on the semi-finals list.

Blog Title: 8. Death And Taxes
Date: Fri Aug 17
Summary: Death, taxes, all people experience trouble, all people experience frustrations, and all people experience problems are guaranteed.
Feedback: Another life guarantee is all relationships change for better or for worse. Relationships changing implies all people change.

Blog Title: 9. Throwback Blog: Be True To Yourself
Date: Thur Aug 30
Summary: The last blog I ranted as an immature adult.
Feedback: The blog is another reminder I was young, stupid, and took life for granted. I was in my 30s acting like a teenager with a wisdom of a child. I'm lucky I'm catching up what I missed. I'm lucky I'm correcting my mistakes.

Blog Title: 10. The Lesson To Be Successful Rarely Taught
Date: Wed Sep 12
Summary: Timing, luck, chance, and opportunity are keys to success.
Feedback: You can be the best person at something. If you don't have timing, luck, chance, and opportunity, then you're going nowhere in life. If someone asked me the secret of success, then my answer is timing, luck, chance, and opportunity. I can add destiny, fate, life, and karma to the answer.

Blog Title: 11. You're Smarter Than You Think
Date: Wed Nov 7
Summary: I emphasize a common life motivator you may be smarter than you think. Another motivator is desire is more important than knowledge.
Feedback: I re-emphasize desire is more important than knowledge. I will is more important that I know.

Blog Title: 12. Too Much Stimuli Or Too Much Screen Time
Date: Wed Nov 21
Summary: We spend too much time looking at everything with a screen.
Feedback: I change my answer. We are both stimulated too much and spend too much screen time. It's easy to get distracted. It's easy to lose attention. It's easy to change focus or easy to lose focus depending on perspective. It takes additional strength, determination, and focus to ignore distractions.

We need to get back to sleep eight hours. We need to get back to leaving the house. Ironically, it takes additional strength, determination, and focus to sleep eight hours and leave the house in today's information age living.

Does the future accept the excessive online internet stimuli and screen time? Time is the ultimate judge.

The following blogs are shortlisted: I Need More Stories, Life Is Xs and Os, The Piano, and Use It Or Lose It.

Level Up Life Infinitely

My life changed forever on Sat Oct 4, 2008. I realized I must grow up. The changes started immediately. The results happened immediately. Some examples are new clothes, new desktop PC, read more fiction books than nonfiction books, and new gym workouts. Oct-Dec 2008 set up a memorable 2009. 2009 is one of my all-time favorite years.

Fast forward to 2018. I thought year 2018 set up was like the Oct-Dec 2008 set up a memorable 2019. Some examples are renewed my passport, purchased two new pairs of gym shoes, and replaced my car's timing belt and water pump. Today is Dec 2019. It's not a memorable 2019; although, there are 29 days remaining. I connect the dots backwards from today to Jan 2018. The 2018 set up was incomplete. I need more time. I need more work. I need more training.

What's the point of the blog? Life is like a game based on experience points. Level 1 to level 2 is quick and easy. Level 20 to level 21 is longer and harder. The level 1 to level 2 is 2008 and memorable 2009. The level 20 to level 21 is 2018-2019 to maybe memorable 2020. Perhaps level 20 to level 21 is 2018-2020 to memorable 2021. I don't know the answer at present. Time is the ultimate judge. I must wait to connect the dots backwards.

The life levels never stop. Never stop leveling up life. Leveling up is infinite. Never stop innovating life.

My Two Question Marriage Is He Or She My Spouse Till Death Do Us Part

I share two questions to ask long-term relationship couples with potential to marry. The first question is, "Do you trust your spouse to take of you if you're the weaker person?" Examples of being the weaker person are permanent physical disability, severe mental illness, long-term emotional distress, expensive financial disaster, and/or spiritual loss. Relationships change. Couples change. You change. Everyone changes. Today you're the best husband or wife. Tomorrow you're the worse nightmare like the neighborhood jerk, the roommate from hell, the community bitch, the borderline felon, or a convicted felon. Can your spouse help you become the best husband or wife? The converse is true. The converse first question is, "Do you take care of your spouse if he or she is the weaker person?"

The answer to the first question leads to the second question, "Is the couple motivated to work hard on their marriage?" A marriage is professional love. The couple is strong. The couple is brave. The marriage is always fresh. The days get better as time passes. They add new spices. They seek new adventures. They experience new experiences. The couple maintains the desire and dedication. I will is more important than I know.

John Lennon said it best about love, "We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it."

Update On A Past Blog

I was anti-social for the first time on Feb 18, 2017 Anti-Social For The First Time. Correction. I actually was anti-social for the first time on Jan 6, 2014 Feeling Anti-Social. I denied anti-social. I wanted to be alone instead because I feared being anti-social I lose my relationships. The feelings I experienced in Jan 2014 was the same feelings in Feb 2017. I wanted no human contact in real life. I wanted no human communication on my phone and online.