Throwback Blog: The Lesson To Be Successful Rarely Taught

Blogger's Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled The Lesson To Be Successful Rarely Taught written on Sep 12, 2018. Part of the title word Lesson should be Lessons in plural. The lessons are timing, luck, opportunity, and chance. I add how to learn from mistakes to the list of lessons. Teaching learn from mistakes is easier than timing, luck, opportunity, and chance. I also add motivation or desire is more important than knowledge or intelligence.

What is the lesson to be successful? The lesson is timing, luck, opportunity, and chance. How are timing, luck, opportunity, and chance taught? Impossible. If there is a way, then someone teach me. Also, if there is a way, then it's likely the teaching is difficult. Forget the quotes from the most successful people in business, sports, politics, and arts. Timing, luck, opportunity, and chance are four simple words to success. Many people can be engineers. Many people can be plumbers. Many people can be doctors and nurses. Many people can be accountants. Many people can be athletes making an income. Many people can be actors or actresses. Few people achieve those professions.

Are you at the right place at the right time? If yes, then timing favors you. Are you in good health? If yes, then you're lucky. Similarly, do you have a good brain and do you live in a good community? You have good luck. Do you have a complete college education or do you have good training? If yes, then you have opportunity. Do you have interviews? Do you have callbacks? Do you have invites? Do you have offers? Are you in the second round of an audition? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you have a chance.

Some people have the timing, luck, opportunity, and chance. Some people don't have the timing, luck, opportunity, and chance. There are winners and losers in championship games such as the Super Bowl and World Series. There are winners and losers in life. Some bad people win. Some good people lose. Life is unfair. Pray timing, luck, opportunity, and chance come to you.

Update On A Past Blog

Do you need a conversation starter? Do you need an ice breaker? Click Tell Me You Games for tips to get people talking. My tips I wrote on Dec 2014 may be silly. My tips are successful when people talk. The games bring back old school socialization. There are no texting, emailing, and video chatting. Everyone is present. Conversations are intelligent. Technology is okay to lookup information.

Nobody Weaker Than Me Kicked My Ass

I thought about the people weaker than me throughout my life from junior high school to my 30s. There were reasons why the weaker people I knew were weaker than me. I feared the weaker people become stronger than me. I feared the weaker people become better than me. I hated the weaker people whether they were my friends, co-workers, acquaintances, classmates, and family. I didn't want them to be in my presence.

What was my mistake? The fear should have motivated me to get stronger. The fear should have motivated me to get better. I should have worked to be a better child, better teenager, better student, and better young adult. I worked less than half-assed to prevent the weaker people becoming better than me. The end result was either the weaker people remained weak or the weaker people improved to match me. There was nothing to fear. Nobody overcame me.

The motivation to get stronger continues today. I include the motivation to get smarter and wiser. Physical fitness workouts improve indefinitely. Eight hours of sleep is required. Financial education is nonstop. I make a note to learn something every time I encounter a better person than me.

Bad Luck At Schools Predicted My Bad Luck Today

A common life wisdom is life changes. One example is schools. Connect the dots backwards. Reverse the timeline. I write a silly blog the school closures being bad luck from preschool to twelfth grade carried over decades later as an adult. Bad timing, circumstances beyond control, and somebody must lose are the same for the blog. Blame life. I include my preschool as another example of neighborhoods changing.

*Preschool: Closed at the end of the 1988-1989 school year. Demolished to build homes.
*Kindergarten and first grade: Closed at the end of the 1988-1989 school year. A Montessori school today.
*Second grade and third grade: Closed at the end of the 2021-2022 school year due to lack of enrollment.
*Fourth grade and fifth grade: Still exists.
*Sixth grade to eighth grade: Converted to a kindergarten to eighth grade school.
*Ninth grade to eleventh grade: Closed at the end of the 1990-1991 school year due to budget cuts. Became an adult alternative school. A private school today.
*Twelfth grade: Still exists.

Side note: My sister achieved the perfect three for three. She attended the same schools for grade school, middle school, and high school.

Seven Thirty In The Morning

I woke up at 7:30am today because my brother's family planned a last minute weekend visit. The air smelled cleaner. The air was crisped because of the rain and windy weather. I completed last minute quick cleaning housework. My brother's family arrived at 8:10am.

The last time I woke up early was Mar 2023. I have been waking up between 9am and 11am. I admit I'm inconsistent waking up in the morning. My late grandfathers on my dad's side and my mom's side must be angry. They woke up early for their responsibilities. On the other hand, they must be happy I did my share of keeping the household clean.

I go with the flow. Something happens causing me to sleep later than planned. I hope the flow moves towards sleeping earlier and waking up earlier.

Update On A Past Blog

I blogged My Two Grandfathers on Jul 3, 2018. I elaborated my grandfather on my mom's side keeping his house clean and organized. I elaborated my grandfather on my dad side on financial knowledge.

Top Ten Plus Three Equals Top Thirteen Stupid Blogs

I reread The Three C's: Choices, Consistency, Control blog written on Apr 2, 2013. The blog was about following the three C's to become successful. I was inspired to compile my stupid blogs. Nobody is perfect. Disclosing my stupid blogs is an example of being honest. New lessons or corrected lessons are learned. The Three C's is number one in the top thirteen. Six of the thirteen blogs or 46.2% were in 2013. 2013 was my worse year of written blogs. Here are the top ten plus three equals top thirteen stupid blogs.

13. A Million Dollars Or Your Life (Sep 14, 2013). My brother and I discussed philosophically when we were children do you want a life or a million dollars? We choose life because a million dollars is nothing without a life. Times have changed. Attitudes have changed. Today's lifestyle a million dollars can solve some life problems even in 2013.

12. Raymond's Calendar Year (Jan 17, 2015). I wrote my personal calendar year started on September instead of January with no reasons. Stupid.

11. My 30s Is Like Developing A Baseball Player (Oct 1, 2012). I documented my life when I turned 30 years old in 2004 like a baseball player starting his professional career. I said I'm going to be an all-star starting in 2012. No all-star. I was released from my baseball team in 2013. I'm taking oddball jobs including working the night shift at Costco.

10. My Personal Circle Of Trust (Nov 18, 2017). I wrote I trust myself by creating an inner circle consisting of intuition, a new circle of friends, learning new job skills, staying active, and growing wisdom. Control, Consistency, Choices, and Proactive (CCCP) is also inside my circle of trust. I didn't need to create a trust circle. CCCP is part of the number one in the top thirteen.

9. Bring Back Emotional Thinking (Sep 25, 2013). I don't understand what I wrote when I brought back emotional thinking. I'm still confused rereading the blog.

8. Naivety Is Ageless (Apr 12, 2016). I didn't need to write a blog adults can be naive. I didn't need to write five paragraphs. Perhaps, the point of the blog is the reader becomes naive.

7. Board and Can’t Quit Your Job? Try A New Work Schedule (Dec 2, 2005). I was bored--not board. Anyone can quit. I should have started finding another job instead of requesting a new work schedule. Nothing changed.

6. My Professional Dream Work Environment (Sep 21, 2013). I said open workspaces. Am I kidding myself!?! What other companies besides Google provide free food; free drinks; on-site physical activities, childcare, auto repairs, banking, dry cleaning; and relaxing areas for pool tables, foosball tables, ping pong, and video games. My answer is fewer companies today compared to 2013.

5. High School Fee (Mar 19, 2009). I wrote high school students pay $100.00 each year. Stupid.

4. My Open Cover Letter (Sep 17, 2012). The blog is a job employment cover letter. Don't read it. I'm embarrassed. I was naive. I was stupid.

3. An Extremely Great And Terrible Week (Jan 26, 2013). The blog was many blogs about recent events which should not have been written throughout 2013. These recent events blogs were written just to write a blog. I expressed my frustrations.

2. Give First To Receive Later . . . Wrong (Apr 16, 2006). What I wrote incorrectly was give first, receive later. What I write incorrectly was give something to receive something. There is no automatic receive later. There is no automatic receive something.

1. The Three C's And A P And Two More P's: Choices, Consistency, Control, Proactive, Professional, Personal Responsibility (Apr 2, 2013, May 4, 2013, and Jan 3, 2018). Thanks goodness I never answered an interview question with the three C's and the three P's. The three C's and the three P's are the stupidest idea I created.

The San Francisco 49ers Third Super Bowl Lost Hurts The Most

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII on Sun Feb 11, 2024. The Chiefs earned the back-to-back championship. I believe the 2024 Super Bowl hurts the most because head coach Kyle Shanahan did everything correct. He did it right. There are no guarantees. There is a winner. There is a loser. It's football. The 49ers lost the 2013 Super Bowl and the 2020 Super Bowl.

Shanahan couldn't control luck and timing. The 49ers experienced bad luck and bad timing. Debilitating injuries are bad luck. Lineback Dre Greenlaw torn his Achilles. Right guard Jon Feliciano injured his arm. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel injured his hamstring. Tight end George Kittle injured his shoulder. Samuel and Kittle returned to the game. My intuition told me running back Christian McCaffery was injured. Nobody controlled injuries. Another bad luck was the muffed punt. A punt bounced off Darrell Luter, Jr.'s foot inadvertently resulting in the Chiefs to recover.

Outcoached By Keeping Their Men Informed

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said head coach Andy Reid talked with the team about the new overtime playoff rules. If the 49ers scored a touchdown and kicked a one point on its opening overtime possession, then the Chiefs planned to go for a two point conversion if we scored a matching touchdown on its overtime possession. Multiple reports stated some 49ers didn't know the new overtime playoff rules. The new overtime playoff rules short explanation is each team is guaranteed one offensive possession. The overtime becomes sudden death at the beginning of the third possession if the score is tied. The new playoff rules started in 2022.

I'm in the minority. Shanahan made the correct choice to receive the ball after winning the overtime coin toss.

Moreover, a bad timing moment. The 49ers were the guinea pigs as the first NFL team to play offense with the new overtime playoff rules. The 30 other teams know what to do. The Chiefs received confirmation their plan going for two to win if they needed a touchdown on their possession. The overtime goal is either score a touchdown and score a two point conversion or bust.

Update On A Past Blog

Today's blog reminded me of the blog I Did It Right written on Nov 14, 2013. I can't control everything. Do the best I can. Forget the written bullshit.

Every Person Has A Breaking Point Dream

I dreamed last night I worked at my second company in the commercial real estate industry. It was a dark dream like a dark comedy or dark drama. The two-story office building prepared for a Valentine's Day celebration. The air, the environment, and the lighting felt dark except the reception area. There were no decorations. One of the administrative staff prepared many bowls of candy bars like Halloween. Perhaps, the Halloween explained the darky feeling. The back area prepared for a barbeque.

I worked in the Research Department. One of my primary responsibilities was maintaining the database. There was one R&D broker who needed closed deals entered in the database. The broker was a professional, a top producer, patient, respected, and focused. He was preparing a presentation for one of his top clients in the early afternoon. I received the closed deals he submitted in the department inbox in the morning. I delayed entering the closed deals. The broker asked me did I input the closed dealers. I answered, "I get to it." I was distracted. I was interrupted. One incident involved an industrial broker's daughter who started today as an intern. She was going to take my workspace. I was going to take my co-worker's workspace. My co-worker was going to be fired. I refused to switch my workspace. The conversation between the R&D broker and I continued throughout the morning.

Another conversation was during the 12:00pm hour. I didn't input the closed deals in the database. The R&D broker lost it. He grabbed me by the throat with two hands. He lifted me up. He threw me through a window on the second floor. I fell down at the back area where the barbeque was held. My body shattered. Blood came out from my body. I died immediately.

The dream fast forwarded to the evening. The perspective changed to third person who was me watching from above. Maybe I was a ghost. Maybe I was an angel seeing from heaven. The sheriff's department arrived at the R&D broker's house. The R&D broker's wife distracted the deputies as they walked inside the house tactically. He was an emergency medical technician before he became a commercial real estate broker. He drove out of the garage in an ambulance. He crashed the ambulance at another house on the same street. Additional deputy units were around the neighborhood. They surrounded the crashed ambulance. I woke up.

My morale of the dream is every person has a breaking point.

Instant Bullets Blog Feb 8, 2024

*The US Prison System. I read from an ex prison guard. Sex based offenses aren't tolerated in general population. The prison he worked these convicts are called SO. The SOs shower separately. SOs, severe mental illness, and ex law enforcement are separated in protective custody units.

Moreover, a lot of prisoners need help. They ended up locked up with sociopaths. Most are under-medicated or over-medicated. All are undertreated.

*Similarly, the foster care system is similar to prisons. Combining children with trauma and mental health problems don't make a nurturing environment. Foster care facilities are a jail for children.

*cordon: a line of circle of police, soldiers, or guards to prevent access to or from an area or building. Prevent access to or from an area or building by surrounding it with police or other guards. The troops cordon around the headquarters. The city center was cordoned off after fires were discovered in two stores.

I thought cordon was pronounced "corner off" when I was a child.

*The World Needs More Kind Teachers. Teachers communicate silently to their students writing notes. Next, teachers walk up to the student's desk to give additional help instead of calling out the student in class. It avoids potential shame.

*Is The Color Grey? Follow the instructions. Both blocks are the same color. Use your finger to cover the middle line. Light plays an important role in how we perceive color.

You may cover half of the middle line above or below.

*Internal Monologue. There are brain mechanisms which cause a person to hear himself or herself talk in their head without speaking. On the other hand, a person visually hears himself or herself talk if he or she doesn't hear his or her inner voice. For example, a person visually looks at a to-do list and can't hear himself or herself think.

*Aphantasia is the inability to visualize images in the brain. Mind blindness. Aphantasia is pronounced a-fan-tas-ia.

*A cow is female given birth to a calf. A heifer is a female cow not given birth to a calf. A bull is a fertile male. A steer is a castrated male calf. An ox is a fully grown castrated male.

*Miscarriage And Stillbirth. A miscarriage is a loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy. A stillbirth is loss of a baby at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A miscarriage and a stillbirth describe pregnancy loss.

*Harry Potter. Diagon Alley is diagonally. Knockturn Alley is nocturnally. Grimmauld Place is grim old place.

*Snap Fingers. The snapping fingers sound is from the fingers hitting your palm. Specifically, the middle finger hitting your palm. The sound is not the friction between your middle finger and thumb.

Snap your fingers. Hit the palm hard with your finger.

*A Child Is Thirsty. A child asks the parents for a glass of water late night. One of the parents is lazy walking to the kitchen. The mom or dad gets water from the bathroom. The child complains he or she wants kitchen water. Water is water. Don't be fussy.

*Dear Abby Oct 24, 2023. 1. The dad is a bad cook. Her advice is the entire family cooks together. 2. Son getting married and father wants to bring his special friend because mother has dementia. Her advice is no special friend because his special friend is a wedding distraction. 3. Old high school girlfriend heard old high school boyfriend arrested wants to contact his mother. Her advice is contact approved because they continue their relationship. Click Dear Abby Tue Oct 24, 2023 to view the column.

*Rank from 1 to 5 being 1 most important and 5 least important the following: emotional, financial, mental, physical, and spiritual. My rank is 1 physical, 2 mental, 3 spiritual, 4 emotional, and 5 financial. I define my spiritual as sleep because I have no religion.

*Human beings don't know what they need until they have seen what they asked for.

*sanctimonious: making an exaggerated show of holiness or moral superiority. A sanctimonious control freak.

*omniscient: knowing or seeming to know everything. I'm the omniscient narrator.

*Can a person experience the highs without experiencing the lows?

*Make A Marriage Bet. Make a marriage wager. Look at the groom when the bride walks down the aisle in a church. Don't look at the bride. Make the appropriate bet.

Another note. Neither the bride nor the groom wants to reverse engineer or connect the dots backwards a failed marriage. The multivariant equations are weaponized.

*A Granola Person. Granola loves the outdoors, low maintenance, and conscious of the environment. The outside activities including camping, hiking, and skiing. Granola supports local businesses. Granola eats organic foods.

*Successful Marriage? Yes or no. A couple is married for 50 years. 47 of the 50 years are miserable. The couple is not divorced.

*The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret. --Mary Rommely, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog January 2024

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. COVID-19 cases and flu cases surged. Headlines continued to increase. The 2024 year started out slow.

Mon Jan 1. Wastewater data showed high levels of flu, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in the Bay Area. The Santa Clara County Department Of Public Health data showed the third highest levels since 2021 for the City Of San Jose.

Wed Jan 3. Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo wanted healthcare providers to stop administering the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. The reason was the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) didn't show evidence the mRNA vaccines can't cause cancer. Public health experts and federal officials dispute Ladapo's statement.

Thur Jan 4. Shopped at a Costco Business Center.

A study from the University Of California-San Francisco (UCSF) found patients who took the COVID-19 pill Paxlovid didn't significantly lower the risk of long COVID for vaccinated people. The outcomes were similar for patients taking Paxlovid and for patients not taking Paxlovid for long COVID symptoms. A COVID rebound was higher than expected for patients taking Paxlovid. Paxlovid is effective for the unvaccinated. UCSF reiterated Paxlovid is a good treatment to prevent COVID-19 for high risk people.

Fri Jan 5. The JN.1 variant accounted for 61.6% of COVID-19 cases according to the Center For Disease Control (CDC). The JN.1 is a descendant of the BA.2.86 variant. JN.1 represented 3.3% of the total cases in mid Nov 2023. Hospitalizations increased for the eighth consecutive week to levels as of Jan 2023. The CDC said either the JN.1 is more transmissible or better at evading the immune system. Experts said there is no evidence the JN.1 has different symptoms or causes more severe illness. The positivity levels in wastewater samples are higher compared to Jan 2023 in the US. 19.4% of adults received the updated vaccine as of today.

Sat Jan 6. An uncle, aunt, and a cousin tested positive for their first times.

Mon Jan 8. The CDC stated 38 states and New York City are experiencing high or very high levels of respiratory illness activity. These activities include flu, COVID-19, RSV, and the common cold.

Mon Jan 15. The Oakland Unified School District announced students and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 can attend class as long as they don't have any symptoms. These students must wear a mask while indoors. The five day isolation period for testing positive is removed. Wearing a mask is optional policy started on Apr 2022.

Wed Jan 17. The genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 was submitted to the National Institutes Of Health database two weeks before the Chinese government released the genetic sequence. The submittal didn't indicate the origin of the coronavirus.

Virologist Dr. Lili Ren of the Institute Of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy Of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College submitted the genetic sequence to GenBank on Dec 28, 2019. GenBank is a public genetic sequence repository managed by the National Center For Biotechnology Information which is part of the US National Institutes Of Health. Ren's submission was incomplete. The submission was removed on Jan 17, 2020. Another submission was published on Jan 12, 2020 from GenBank.

China informed the world of SARS-CoV-2 on Jan 7, 2020. The outbreak started in Wuhan.

Wed Jan 17. The California Department Of Health released new guidance on people who tested positive for COVID-19. The isolation period is reduced from five days to one day. These people must be fever free for 24 hours. Wear a face mask when there are other people indoors for 10 days. Stop wearing a mask after two negative tests at least one day apart. Avoid high risk people for 10 days such as the elderly and weakened immune systems.

The CDC reported 21% of US adults and 8% of US children received the updated vaccine. The CDC also reported 24% of CA adults and 7% of CA children received the updated vaccine.

Fri Jan 19. The San Francisco Department Of Public Health closes its six community testing and vaccination sites on Feb 1, 2024. The reasons are budget constraints and fewer people getting vaccinated. The end of the COVID-19 emergency stopped funds to pay for the sites.

Tue Jan 23. Shopped at Costco at the 10am hour. It was dead inside.

Thur Jan 25. Shopped at Smart & Final Extra.

The CDC estimated 86% of COVID-19 cases are the JN.1 variant. Hospitalizations increased 200% for influenza, 51% for COVID-19, and 60% for RSV over the last month.

Fri Jan 26. UCLA researchers looked at 199 babies born between Apr 2020 and Aug 2022 to study the chances of babies experiencing respiratory distress. None of the babies tested positive for COVID-19. The odds of respiratory distress in babies born from unvaccinated mothers increased three times compared to vaccinated mothers.

Respiratory distress in infants is defined as difficulty breathing within 24 hours after birth. Also, pregnant women tested positive increases the chances of a premature birth or stillborn baby.

Fri Jan 27. The IRS told the Senate Finance Committee 95% of the employee retention tax credit were fraudulent. Congress created the program for businesses to keep workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial cost was $55 billion. The cost was $275 billion as of July 2023. Congress is considering ending the program. A higher tax credit for low-income families replaces the employee retention tax credit.