Their Life Game Is Over

There are winners and losers in life. Life is not everybody wins. Life is not a 100% success rate. Some people are lazy. Some people are unmotivated. Some people disrespect themselves. These people are genuine losers.

There is another group of losers. I call the another group the false losers. I wrote a blog on These Young People Are False Losers on Aug 7, 2022. These false losers did everything correct. The end results are no successes no matter what happens. Blame bad luck. Blame bad timing. Blame life. Some people must lose. It's like a Major League Baseball season. Each of the 32 baseball teams play 162 games per season. 5,184 total games played. All of the 32 baseball teams aren't winners. Theoretically speaking, all 32 teams at best the percentage win rates are 50% or .500; in other words, all 32 baseball teams end the season with 81 wins and 81 losses. 81 wins plus 81 losses equal 162 games. 162 games multiplied by 32 baseball teams equals 5,184 total games. All 32 baseball teams don't end the season with 81 wins and 81 losses in reality. Some baseball teams win 100 games or more. Some baseball teams lose 90 games or more.

All of the genuine losers and some of the false losers declare their lives game over. There are no reasons to work hard. They say infinite exercises. They say infinite lies. Forget responsibilities. Forget commitments. Forget working. Ignore the rules. Life is all leisure. Life is all fun. They stop living. They start dying.

The 2009 San Jose Jazz Festival During The 2008 Great Recession

I attended the 2009 San Jose Jazz Festival. It was my first jazz festival. I went on Sat Aug 8 only. I stayed at the main stage most of the time. I was lucky I attended a good festival. I saw some of Black Joe Lewis, the entire Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, and the entire Allen Toussaint. Good memories.

The other memory was the timing. 2009 was a recession year because the real estate bubble burst resulting in the stock market crash in Sep 2008. People were out of work. People watched their spending. The world slowed down. However, all attendees, performers, and festival staff forgot about the recession on the weekend of Fri Aug 7-Sun Aug 9. The three days were a break. The three days were leisure. Adjust the budgets. Find some discretionary money for fun. People socialized, danced, sang, ate new foods, drank beer, drank wine, and experienced first time moments. Life went on. Life moved forward. The economy moved forward regardless of the pace.

I also attended the 2009 Monterey Jazz Festival. The Monterey experience was the same as the San Jose experience; although, I couldn't afford the additional fee to attend the main stage. A secondary memory was a video game demonstration for which I forgot the company. I visited a friend who lived in Monterey afterwards. We ate at a Japanese restaurant for dinner.

Update On A Past Blog

Artificial Intelligence has been in the headlines. AI reminded me of two past blogs. The first blog is *Pop* All Bubbles Burst written on Jan 15, 2006. I mentioned the Mar 2000 dot-com bubble burst. The stock market doesn't always go up. The AI stock market is in a bubble.

The second blog is Give It Time The Winners Remain Standing written on Mar 10, 2021. There were too many dot-com companies from 1997 to 2000. The dot-com winner companies are in business today. The dot-com loser companies went out of business. Likewise, there are too many AI companies. The AI winner companies stay in business. The AI loser companies are out of business. Time is the ultimate judge.

A Beginning Of An End Began On Fri Jul 24, 2026

I completed errands first thing in the morning yesterday. I filled my car with gas. I shopped for groceries. I withdrew cash at the bank. I paid a department store's credit card bill. The rest of the day I cooked the household meals. I read books. I job searched. I checked my emails. I exercised.

A day-long thought was in the back of my head. The self job training is ending. I started the self job training in May 2015. I reviewed existing skills SQL, VBA, Excel, and HTML. I learned new skills including Python, CSS, JavaScript, Git, Power BI, Linux, and R. I fulfilled the reviewing and the learning on Mar 25, 2024 self graduating with a degree in Analytics Research Technology. The detailed timeline is the blog Self Job Training Graduation Analytics Research Technology posted on Apr 19, 2024.

I reduced the post graduate self job training to three days a week starting on Nov 2024. I finished reviewing HTML and CSS. Python and Excel continue. The AI training is the basics concentrating on Claude and Gemini. There are no plans for a post graduate degree.

Get Back

I may be going back to the year 2010. Get Back to year 2010? I wrote the Get Back blog on Jul 13, 2011. Today's Get Back is somewhat different than the Jul 13, 2011's Get Back. Excel reviewing and Python learning are indefinite. The two are my De Anza College classes. There are free and paid AI classes. Which classes match my career?

Furthermore, there is free time on days I don't self job train. What do I do? There are anime series I neither started nor finished during my anime days. There are video games on my Steam account I never played. Hiking is an option. I can't exclude a visit to San Francisco. Ice skating is being planned for Winter 2026. There are curbs to happy go-lucky days. There are barriers to fun. There are financial limits. My maturity keeps me in check.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog May 2026

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. May was the fastest month of 2026. The COVID-19 headline was some people qualify for COVID-19 era IRS tax refunds which must be filed before Jul 10. Ebola outbreaks in the African countries Democratic Republic Of Congo and Uganda.

Tue May 5. Shopped at Nob Hill first thing in the morning.

The Food And Drug Administration (FDA) blocked a publication supporting vaccine safety for COVID-19 and shingles. Scientists analyzed millions of patient records. The serious side effects were very rare. Vaccines saved millions of lives. The publication was blocked because the author's conclusions didn't support the data. The conclusions were flawed.

Thur May 7. Errands at Bank Of America, AAA, Microcenter, and Barnes & Noble.

The USA monitored US residents who traveled the MV Hondius cruise ship. Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia reported travelers aboard the ship. No symptoms shown. No cases documented.

Three people died, three suspected infections, and five other confirmed cases at the MV Hondius. The outbreak started at a birdwatching expedition from Argentina to Cape Verde.

Dutch Health Ministry officials said a flight attendant working with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was hospitalized and tested for Hantavirus. A Dutch woman died after contracting the Hantavirus being a passenger on the flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to Amsterdam.

The Hantavirus is a rodent-borne virus; in particular, the Andes virus strain can transmit human-to-human. The virus starts with flu-like symptoms including fever, fatigue, muscle aches, diarrhea, and vomiting. The virus can be severe. The virus can be a deadly respiratory infection. There is no vaccine. The Center For Disease Control (CDC) said the death rate is between 30% and 40%.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said risk to the general public is low. There is no global outbreak. The incubation period is up to six weeks.

Wed May 13. CIA whistleblower James Erdman III testified at the Senate Homeland Security Committee. He said Dr. Anthony Fauci influenced intelligence about the origins of COVID-19 at a laboratory in China. There was a cover up. The virus leaking from a lab was downplayed. The intelligence focused on animals being the origin.

Fri May 15. Shopped at Lucky first thing in the morning. All the people who wore masks were Asians.

Sun May 17. Shopped at Costco. Nobody wore masks. I continued wearing my two masks.

Thur May 21. I watched part of the Paul McCartney interview to the end of the last The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Sun May 24. Shopped at Nob Hill.

Wed May 27. Thunderstorms with pea sized hail.

Sat May 30. Ate lunch at The Olive Garden.

Begin The Divergent

I speak from personal experience. I follow the top four North American professional sports baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. The four diverged years ago. Football and basketball are higher priority. Baseball and hockey are lower priority. I believe my sports divergence and other sports fans divergence started at the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Divergence happens. Divergence can be good. Divergence can be bad. Divergence can be happy. Divergence can be sad. Divergence is present. Divergence is change. Divergence is life. There are forks on the road. Which path does the person choose? A or B. Or C. Or D. Workplace, careers, all relationships, hobbies, and opinions are examples. In particular, marriages. I'm not a marriage counselor. Some marriages end in divorce because the marriage diverges. The marriage changes naturally or intentionally for the worse at nobody's fault. The couple grows apart naturally.

Out with the old. In with the new. Close a chapter. Open a new chapter. The garbage collector arrives to pick up the garbage.

Some Endings Are A Relief

I remember my junior year and senior year attending San Jose State University. I felt relief when I completed my last final exam of the semester. The relief feeling was the same for a good semester and for a bad semester. All semester obligations completed. The stress was removed. The tension was gone. The brain relaxed. Freedom. My post-semester activity was shopping later in the day after the last final. In particular, I completed my Christmas shopping after the fall semesters. The mandatory stores were Valley Fair shopping mall in Santa Clara, CA; Fry's Electronics; and Barnes & Noble.

There was no post-quarter activity after I completed a quarter when I went back to school at De Anza College. There was no relief. There was no post-quarter activity. Stress and tension were mild compared to San Jose State University. I was in my mid 30's with life experience, maturity, and not repeating my mistakes as a second-time college student.

I digress. The end eventually happens. It's over. Finish. Complete. Victory or defeat. Win or loss. It's the end. Take time off. Stop. Take a breath. Evaluate. Debrief. Reflect. Think of the positives. Think of the negatives. Strengthen the accomplishments. Correct the mistakes. Resume life or continue living life when the break is over. It's the life system.

Year 2026 Predicting Like Polymarket

I'm Polymarket today. I predict the year 2026. The 2026 year is 2025 part 2. 2026 is 2025 extended. 2026 continues 2025.

The devil collects more payments. More people made deals with the devil. The bills are due. Repay the contracts no more. Repay the contracts no less. If people don't pay, then chaos results. The devil profits from chaos.

There are more changes in both quantity and quality. Change is a clique at the start of every new year. However, I repeat, there are more changes in both quantity and quality. Take the average number of changes in the last 20 years. Double the average number. I remind the reader changes happen by choice. I remind the reader changes happen beyond people's control. Positive or negative. Lives are changed for better or for worse.

The number of failures increases. More people fail. Some fails are their own fault. Other fails are no fault of their own. Blame life. Blame bad timing. Blame bad circumstances. Blame bad luck. Somebody succeeds and somebody fails.

It's harder to lie. More truths are revealed. More truths are exposed. Deception requires more work.

More relationships are questioned. Examples include professional, personal, romantic, friends, family, neighbors, and online. Humanity has been getting wiser contrary to news reports and social media. The alternatives are considered. The substitutes are looked for a second time. There are more experimenting--trial and error.

Artificial intelligence is more prevalent. Individuals are less dependent on other individuals. More people forget they live in paradise at the end of the day.

Highlight and Favorite 2024 Tweets On X

Here are my 15+5=20 highlight Tweets on X and 4 favorite Favorites Tweets on X in 2024. 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 26: Just RT: Commentator Dave Ross shared his only collaboration with the late Charles Osgood on Apr 1992. The topic was Earth Day. They sang a song as world leaders. "There's a hole in the ozone . . . Link.

Jan 29: We work, when we come home, we work some more.

Feb 26: A life wisdom is never give up. A person is one away from success. . . Pic.

Feb 26: . . . On the other hand, sometimes giving up is the correct choice. Quit while ahead. Quit before crap happens. Pic.

Mar 23: You can bring a horse to the river. You can't make the horse drink.

Mar 30: @fermatslibrary, Newton's Laws 1st: An object at rest stays at rest an object in motion stays in motion. 2nd: Force = Mass×Acceleration. The more you push the faster you'll go. 3rd: For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. A rocket can lift off by expelling gas downward. Pic.

Apr 15: YouTube video brief explanation of black holes. Earth is the size of a grape. Sun is the size of an elephant. Distance between grape and elephant is four soccer fields. Black holes are stars at their end of life exploding as supernovas. Link.

Apr 15: Many black holes are smaller than a grain of sand. A singularity is something in the middle. A singularity is the mass. The black sphere around the singularity is the event horizon. Anything inside the event horizon turns into spaghetti noodles.

Apr 24: A woman happily in love, she burns the souffle. A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn on the oven. --Baron St. Fontanel, Sabrina (1954)

May 23: @espn, The NCAA and its leagues are moving forward with a multibillion-dollar settlement agreement that will allow schools to directly pay players for the first time in the history of college sports. Link.

Jun 20: Weaponized incompetence. Weaponized ignorance. The Office Of Strategic Service (OSS) was the US intelligence agency during WW2. The OSS published a sabotage manual in Jan 1944. Declassified in Feb 1963. Download the .pdf file Link.

Jun 20: Examples of office sabotage: 1 Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions. 2 In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that the import jobs are assigned to inefficient

Jun 20: workers . . . . 3 Hold conferences when there is more, critical work to be done. 4 Spread disturbing rumors that sound like inside dope. 5 Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible, without getting yourself into trouble.

Aug 10: @NBCSports, SPLASH AFTER SPLASH AFTER SPLASH AFTER SPLASH! Steph Curry couldn't miss in the final minutes! #ParisOlympics Link.

Sep 19: @Dodgers, HISTORY! SHOHEI OHTANI IS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE 50/50 CLUB. Link.

Sep 28: A Freakonomics podcast talked about multitasking. Almost all of us don't multitask. We prioritize. We switch attention between tasks. An air traffic controller is an example of a multitasker. Link.

Sep 30: @NBCSGiants, BREAKING: The Giants have parted ways with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi after six years and replaced him with franchise icon Buster Posey (via @PavlovicNBCS) Link.

Oct 08: I live near a laundromat. I exchanged two $1 bills for eight quarters. It took me decades to realize I could get quarters at a laundromat instead of buying something at a retail store.

Dec 04: A good lie is say "grandma's homemade secret recipe" or "grandpa's hearty secret recipe."

Dec 30: The excuses are justified.

Favorite Favorites

Feb 20: @SexWithEmily, Fun fact about condoms, they slip more frequently than they break! Use lube: counterintuitive though it may seem, it helps prevent the condom from "catching" on skin and coming off. Happy #NationalCondomWeek!

Apr 16: @Variety, #SNL star Heidi Gardner will "never be able to shake looking over my shoulder and seeing what I saw" during the "Beavis and Butt-Head” sketch that made her break. "I left the stage a little bit in shock. Then the anxiety set in and I was like, 'Oh my God, was that okay?' I had some friends in my dressing room, and they were like, 'Of course, it was okay.' So many other writers and cast members came up and said, 'Good job.' I’m like, 'What? I actually didn’t do my job' . . . It's really hard for me to give myself any sort of credit because I didn't do the job." Read more here: Link.

Aug 10: @NBCSAuthentic, Steph took his iconic celebration to the global stage after his dagger three against France Link.

Sep 23: @abc7newsbayarea, With the A's down to just three games left to play in Oakland, team owner John Fisher finally addressed and apologized on Monday for the team's departure from Oakland. Sports Director @LarryBeilABC7 gives his passionate reaction to the letter. Link.

My Game Over Is Coming Soon

Blogger's note: Today's blog is posted at both Innovating Common Knowledge and Finding Raymond Mar.

I'm running out of time. I'm running low on the number of chances. Resources and support dwindle. Permanent quitting time is near. I've exhausted everything I can think to earn my freedom. There are winners in life. There are losers in life. I belong to the losers. Nobody's fault. Blame life. I receive bad advice. Some knowledge are acquired incorrectly. I reverse setbacks as much as I can. I did my best. The narrative is I didn't do enough.

I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I think of my past self job training from today to 2015. Some may say my training was too good. Completing some training faster didn't guarantee a job. Time is no longer my friend. I'm not going to succeed.

No Longer Awesome Boring

I'm running out of ideas to keep my life fresh. There are more stale days lately. There are more rotten days recently. The present life is getting old. The general routine is unchanged for decades. I fear the present general routine becomes too comfortable I'm unable to adapt to better changes.

Reject The Alternate Life

Fortunately, the otaku life or the anime and video game life is forbidden. No fat man life. No eight hours of video games a day life. The lifestyle eating healthy and exercising is clear and present. I read books. I maintain the household. Self job training continues; although, what else can I learn which matches my strengths? My choices are few. I sleep well. I move forward.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote an honest blog Permanent Unemployment on Jan 24, 2024. I spoke for some long-term unemployed people like me frustrated with the job hiring system. I mentioned AI replaces human jobs. Job training costs continue to increase which includes money and technology tools. Timing and luck are factors getting hired and getting rejected.

Twenty Random Blogs Aug 2025

Blogger's note: I increase the number of random blogs from ten to twenty.

Here are twenty random blogs in order of randomly chosen. Duplicate blogs are allowed from past random blogs. There are no duplicates today. The previous random blogs are Ten Random Blogs Jul 2020 on Jul 31, 2020, Ten Random Blogs Aug 2021 on Aug 13, 2021, and Ten Random Blogs Apr 2023 on Apr 16, 2023. Update remarks are included.

1. Watch Wall Street (Sep 26, 2005). I shared my activities before and on Sep 26, 2005.

Update remark: Wall Street is one of my all time favorite movies.

2. Never Stop Learning Lesson Emphasized Because One Of The Shermans Past Away (May 05, 2017). The Shermans was a couple who lived in the neighborhood for decades. They moved to the eastern USA to be closer to their families. The husband past away. The wife passed away in Jul 2017.

The lessons I learned continue today. Never stop learning. Find new experiences to experience. Don't waste life watching television eight hours a day. Some seniors choose the sedentary life watching too much television.

Update remark: Rest in peace Bob and Alice.

3. Three Hours Of Me Time Weekdays (Feb 08, 2013). I wrote my life working Mon to Fri from 9am to 6pm. Wake up, go to work, work at the company building, go home, and sleep eight hours. Three hours of personal time remain. Repeat.

Update remark: No full time worker sleeps eight hours a night on weeknights. More workers lose concentration, act grumpy, feel weaker, and make more mistakes. No full time worker spares three hours of personal time. There are too many responsibilities in today's Information Age. A worker must complete an hour's work in 30 minutes.

A balanced life doesn't exist. The successful people don't live a balanced life to become successful.

4. Throwback Blog: I'm No Longer Nice (Aug 27, 2016). I reuploaded a previous blog be a good person. Don't be a nice person.

Update remark: I posted an I'm No Longer Nice blog update on Aug 21, 2025 Keep Going In Life. I added, "Being extra nice doesn't result in extra rewards. It's not aloofness does pay. It's niceness doesn't pay."

5. It's Okay To Live At Home (Jun 18, 2013). I wrote valid reasons sons and daughters live at home with their parents. Sons and daughters must not take for granted living at home. Sons and daughters must continue living their lives to the best of their abilities.

Update remark: The blog is 100% true today.

6. Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog February 2023 (Mar 05, 2023). California ended the pandemic state of emergency on Feb 28, 2023. It was the start of loosening restrictions and mask mandates.

Update remark: None.

7. Highlight and Favorite 2019 Tweets (Dec 30, 2020). My favorite Tweets in 2019. I share my top favorites:

Tweets

Jan 21: A conversation starter. Ask the question, "What keeps you busy?"

Jul 28: I'm not dumbing down. Never dumb down your life. Don't be an asshole for yourself. Don't let people drag you down. Nobody holds your back.

Jul 28: These people must leave your life. People come and go for good or for bad. Some people leave your life. New people enter your life.

Sep 22: I just finished watching The Shawshank Redemption. My high school and college friend watched the movie when it was released in theaters. It was the most boring movie he watched. He didn't understand the point. I avoided the movie.

Sep 22: I choose to watch the movie decades later. Good movie. Recommended. The movie is slow. I put the pieces together watching the movie without success.

Sep 22: My friend is correct up to the climax of the movie. It's the best full circle movie I have ever watched. Stick around. Don't give up. Have hope. The pieces are together. Good things can happen.

Sep 25: The female middle school student was wise beyond her years. RT @BoyYeetsWorld: one time in middle school i dated a girl for 4 days and when she broke up with me she posted on facebook sometimes your knight in shining armor is really just a loser in tinfoil and to this day that the sickest burn I've ever gotten.

Favorites

Apr 23: @NBCSSharks, BARCLAY GOODROW!!! Watch the Sharks winger's game-winning overtime goal to give San Jose an epic Game 7 victory. Pic Video.

May 12: @SportsCenter, KAWHI. GAME 7. FOR THE WIN. Pic Video.

May 12: @espn, Another look at Kawhi's Game 7 winner. Pic Video.

May 18: @SJEarthquakes, CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI. KING. #WondoWatched Pic Video.

Jun 13: @SportsCenter, Klay turning around in the tunnel and coming back out to shoot free throws had Oracle going nuts. Pic Video.

Jun 13: @BayAreaSportsHQ, This moment is an all-timer. Pic Video.

Jul 14: @SportsCenter, GAME. SET. MATCH. Novak Djokovic outlasts Roger Federer in an epic five-set #WimbledonFinal Pic Video.

Jul 14: @espn, Longest final in #Wimbledon history: 4 hours 55 minutes, 422 points, 68 games, 35 aces. Pic.

Aug 12: @SexWithEmily, As much as we like to beat around the bush, dropping hints to your partner is not the best way of communicating -- your chances of being understood are much higher when you are direct about what needs fixing. #sexwithemily #communicationisalubrication

Sep 14: @HistoryInPics, The Beatle's last live concerts—at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966 and then on a London rooftop three years later—have gone down as some of the most significant events in pop music history. Collector Finds Rare Footage of The Beatles's Top of the Pops Performance in His Attic.

Nov 19: @WakeOfWeek, I will always root for this man because of the way he has handled himself in hard times -- from bad coaches to having a different offensive coordinator every year to losing his job to Kaep to... this. #AlexSmith @lizbsmith11. Alex Smith's wife celebrates ex-49er's recovery from ghastly leg injury in emotional Instagram post.

Dec 11: @espn, Bill Belichick has his players focused on the 53 players in their locker room, not on social media. Pic.

Dec 16: @NBCSGiants, So many memories. @PavlovicNBCS takes you back through all of the best -- and funniest -- moments from MadBum's legendary Giants career. Pic Article.

Update remark: The Shawshank Redemption is my all time favorite movie. The Shawshank Redemption is not a slow movie after many rewatches.

8. Quad 3 Of 4: My Favorite Shape (Oct 24, 2006). The circle is my favorite shape. "My anything, anytime, and anywhere are going to come full circle good or bad. I make sure I create good circles and I innovate the circles."

Update remark: None.

9. Intelligence May Change Your Daily Life Intelligently (Sep 09, 2015). Use intelligence as an adverb. Think intelligently, communicate intelligently, work intelligently, and make mistakes intelligently are some examples.

Update remark: None.

10. Top 2018 Pics (Dec 17, 2019). My favorite pics posted in 2018. I share my top favorites:

Update remark: None.

11. Thought Provoking Information (Sep 03, 2017). A pics blog. The pic which inspired the title is below.

Update remark: None

12. My First Pop Tart (Sep 12, 2007). I ate a pop tart for the first time in my life. It was strawberry and strawberry with icing.

Update remark: No more pop tarts in my diet. I rarely drink milk. I stopped eating oatmeal in 2018.

13. De Anza Week Nov 15, 2010 (Nov 18, 2010). I went back to school to earn an AA degree in Accounting. I blogged one week during Winter Quarter 2010 at De Anza College. The week consisted of students and instructors with too much on their minds and too fatigued.

Update remark: They were the same yesterday. They are the same today.

14. First Time I Saw A Restaurant Close On Tuesdays (Dec 09, 2018). I said it best. "2018 is over. I wanted to try a restaurant in another city for the first time. I was in the area on Tue Dec 4. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. Are you serious? The event summed my recent life. Bad luck. Bad timing." The blog continued expressing my frustration 2018 was the year everything went wrong.

Update remark: I have not experienced another 2018. I have not let life take control of me.

15. I Own 15 Pairs Of Shoes (Jan 28, 2021). I posted pics of my 15 pair of shoes. They include exercise, boots, formal, and casual outdoors.

Update remark: None

16. A Procedure To Stop Insanity (Sep 09, 2021). A life wisdom. Everyone is different. Everything is different. Birds of a feather flock together. Different folks for different strokes. There are matches. There are mismatches. A circle can't fit in a square peg.

Update remark: Live your life who, what, where, how, and I match who you are.

17. Lonely And Cheerful (Jul 24, 2007). I felt lonely and depressed in Jul 2007. I didn't feel cheerful. False optimism.

Update remark: The 2007 Summer Sabbatical failed. I did everything wrong. I admit I made a mistake. 2007 should have been one of the best years of my life. 2007 was one of the worst years of my life.

18. Throwback Blog: SOMT: Kodak Declares Bankruptcy (Sep 30, 2017). Toys R Us declared bankruptcy on Sep 19, 2017 which inspired the throwback blog on Kodak declared bankruptcy. The throwback blog was a brief explanation of the Kodak bankruptcy and my experiences using a film camera and a digital camera.

Update remark: Mismanagement, Amazon and Wal-Mart, and poor customer service are not the top reasons Toys R Us declared bankruptcy.

19. Work Mar 8, 2014 (Mar 08, 2014). I blogged the highlights when I worked in a retail start up. Dermatitis on my hands. Refusing a shipment. Both store locations short-handed. Purchased my first bottle of wine Raymond Cabernet Sauvignon "Generations" 2009. Wi-Fi problems.

Update remark: The dermatitis on my hands turned out to be a dirty workstation. I cleaned my workstation. No more dermatitis. I still own my Raymond wine bottle.

No smart person works in retail. Desperate smart people do work in retail.

20. Go To Sleep With A Smile (Oct 21, 2011). I was called for jury duty. I didn't get selected. The prospective jurors answering personal questions during the selection process convinced me my life is good. I sleep with a smile.

Update remark: Domestic violence can be a lifelong trauma. Some people you see when shopping are victims of crimes.

X Is On The Clock

Patience is a virtue. Sometimes patience pays off with rewards. Sometimes patience costs with penalties. Don't know what to say. Can't respond. Too many unknowns. Processing continues. Adjust priorities. Wait for the favorable timing and luck.

Everything comes in time. The law. The system. The rules. The procedures. All is present in due time. Marriages. Graduations. Job interviews. Evictions. Championship games. Vacations. Car repairs. Medical appointments. New computers. Movie releases. Contract expirations. Academic years. Fiscal years. Full recoveries. All start in time. All end in time. Delays are likely. Cancellations are possible.

There are 24 hours a day. Guaranteed. Nobody speeds up time. Nobody slows down time. The inevitable. Give it time. Give them time. There is an end. There is the conclusion. This is it. Do you understand? Everything is coming soon.

Saturated And Flooded And Swamped Too Much Terrible

A common reason the video game arcades slowly died was the home consoles Atari, Intellivision, Nintendo, and Sega in the 1980s. Sony and the desktop PC continued the arcade death in the 1990s. Another reason was too many arcades. Arcade owners ordered more video game cabinets. Too many video arcade games led to more bad arcade games created people didn't play. Industry profits declined.

Today's Information Age is experiencing the same video game arcades history in the 1980s and 1990s. There are too many movies, television shows, podcasts, books, musicians, video games, board games, foods, drinks, and clothes. Also, there are too many YouTubers, Instagram accounts, bloggers, online tutorials for *insert subject*, TikTok influencers, online posts at bulletin boards, memes, and so-called professionals. Most are terrible.

Google arcade locations. There are arcades in existence. There are two websites which tracks arcades Aurcade and Classic Arcade Game Locations. Dave & Buster's is excluded.

Give it time. Time is the ultimate judge. The terrible fails. The terrible disappears. I'm confident the exceptions televisions, person computers, and radios don't die; on the other hand, never say never.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote a blog to start a conversation blog Tell Me You Games on Dec 22, 2014. Another idea to begin conversations is share current events life changing moments. For example, natural disasters, politics, graduations, marriages, wars, championships, celebrity events, grand openings, and first times. It's a good idea to meet new people. Get people talking. Get people socializing.

Graduating High School Seniors All Back At Square One

My nephew graduated high school yesterday. There were 750 out of 800 graduating seniors who attended their ceremony held in the football field. No tickets were required. Seniors could invite any number of family members and friends. The open seating area on the field was full. Both sides of the bleachers were filled. Some family members and friends disobeyed the graduation ceremony rules. No big deal at the end of the evening. The graduating seniors met with their family members and friends to share a once in a lifetime moment.

There was a commonality when all graduating seniors received their diplomas. They're all even. They're promoted to high school graduate level 1. A new experience points system is activated. Everyone starts with zero points. Everyone opens a new book starting at chapter 1. Level the playing field.

It doesn't matter who were the high school students. Athletes, trouble makers, C average 2.0, goths, rockers, skaters, geeks, loners, straight A 4.0+, popular students, gamers, and good looking students. If the term "college preps" still exists, then they're included. Weirdos, fat students, bullies, bullied, special ed, and bad looking students. All high school students were included.

The rumors disappeared. The mistakes learned. Popularity no more. No more ranking students in *fill in the blank*. Send the bad memories to vault. There were bygones. There was forgiveness. The past is the past. The past four years matters none. The end arrived. High school is over more for better and less for worse. Time to say goodbye.

Boring Ceremony Not Boring

Parents and younger siblings who said high school graduation was boring must take it back. Retract the boring feeling. If parents said high school graduation was boring, then their high school graduation was boring, too. If younger siblings said high school graduation was boring, then their high graduation is going to be boring. The siblings are going to graduate soon.

High school graduation is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Nobody must screw up a once in a lifetime moment.

Read Books To Learn Different Wisdom

Blogger's Note: May is pic month. I'm catching up posting pics from my smart phone. Enjoy!

Different wisdom perspectives: You don't need to learn every day, nothing is possible, take and take the opportunity, and quitting or stopping may be the best choice. Ring Security owners a reminder the motion sensor slides up and down from the wall mount. Lowe's sells working gloves. The Riichi junk mat can be used for other Mahjong styles. Blame management for JoAnn Fabrics' bankruptcy. It's okay to spoil oneself for soft serve ice cream.

Oreo Can't Be Milk's Favorite Cookie

The Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies were part of yesterday's Super Bowl LIX snacks. It has been multiple years since I last ate an Oreo. I didn't eat an Oreo during the COVID-19 pandemic. I purchased a Costco size box on sale in Dec 2024.

I couldn't believe it after taking one bite. The Oreo changed compared to my childhood. There was less cream. The cookie felt lighter in weight. There was no crunch sound. My tongue felt foamy. It was like air holes filled part of the texture.

I read the ingredients. A few ingredients include palm oil, cocoa process with alkali, invert sugar, wheat, and soy. There is a bioengineered food ingredient. A marketing ingredient exclusion is no high fructose corn syrup. I choose not to research further the ingredients for the changed Oreo. I'm not eating Oreos. I take my chances on Costco's bakery cookies.

The Perfect Error

Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in a historic 2024 US Presidential Election. The Electoral College is 295 for Trump and 226 for Harris as of the blog entry. 270 is needed to win. The Popular Vote is 72,623,882 for Trump and 67,927,989 for Harris as of the blog entry. AP News is the source. The race wasn't close. I want to share my takeaways. I want to share my feelings. I'm not a political science expert. More information is released to the public from the winning side and the losing side. My personal life lesson is Harris committed the perfect error.

A top reason why Trump won the election is the struggling people and struggling families. I use a father, mother, and two children family as a typical example. The father and/or mother are unemployed. No income. Money is running out. The parents' worries are not abortion, the economy, the Middle East war, climate change, crime, Russia, and education. The parents' worries are food on the table, paying the rent or the mortgage, insurance, clothing, and bare necessities. All other worries are secondary. Moreover, the parents' pride, self-worth, self-confidence, and dignity are weakened. There is jealously neighbor Bob is providing for his family. There is jealously neighbor Dave is providing gifts for his family. The parents voted for Trump because if the struggling family goes down, then the country goes down with them. The parents don't believe Harris provides food, rent or mortgage, insurance, clothing, and bare necessities.

Who's Harris?

The people didn't know Harris. The people needed Harris' personal information. The people needed a bio on Harris. A top strategy was attacking Trump's character, Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices which factored to overturn Roe V. Wade, and Trump behaving bizarro. Everybody knows Trump. The Trump story is the same. Trump told the truth. His truth was a strength. Harris should have told more truths.

The people wanted to know Harris' agenda. There was no need to protect President Joe Biden. There was no need to support Biden. Biden leaves the White House on Jan 20, 2025. Harris must support herself. The people wanted to know what she wants to do as president. How does Harris lead the country.

Biden deserves blame for Harris' loss. The Democratic National Committee also deserves blame for Harris' loss. The Democratic party failed to convince the 81-year old Biden and his ego not to run for the 2024 election. Biden was forced to drop out. Biden's approval ratings hovered around 40% for most of the four years up to Tue Nov 5, 2024 was a negative. Harris did her best to convince the American people to vote for her in 107 days. Harris needed at least a year to run an effective campaign.

The Democrats lost human connection with working-class people, women, minorities, people under 30, and suburban people. They couldn't decrease Republican influence in rural areas. Harris received bad advice. I anticipate the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee fire strategists, senior staffers, consultants, and top committee members. The Democrats need better candidates for 2028.

I watched the Saturday Night Live skit with Maya Rudolph earlier today. If I watched the skit before Election Day, then I said, "The election is over before the votes are casted. Trump wins." Click link to watch 2024 Pre-Election Cold Open - SNL.

The people have spoken. The United States Of America is not ready for a female to become the President. The United States Of America is not ready for a female to become the most powerful person on planet Earth.

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is the group of presidential electors to vote for the president and vice president every four years. The number of electoral votes is equal to each state and the District Of Columbia congressional delegation consisting of two Senators plus the number of House Of Representatives. The total number of electors is 538. A majority of electoral votes 270 or more is required to elect the president and vice president. If there is no majority, then the House Of Representatives elects the president and the Senate elects the vice president.

Update On A Past Blog

I want to correct the bullet point from the blog United States Of America Today Is Election Day 2024 written on Nov 5, 2024 and from the blog Instant Bullet 2020 United States Presidential Election Version written on Jan 20, 2021. The incorrect bullet point below:

*There are 46 Presidents Of The United States. These 46 Presidents are out of all the people who live or lived as naturalized born United States Citizen age 35 or over. 46 dreams came true. It's unfortunate few people accomplish their dreams completely.

The correction is there are 45 Presidents Of The United States on Jan 20, 2025. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms 1884-1888 and 1892-1896. Donald Trump is going to serve two non-consecutive terms 2016-2020 and 2024-2028 beginning on Jan 20, 2025. The correct bullet point below starting on Jan 20, 2025:

*There are 45 Presidents Of The United States. These 45 Presidents are out of all the people who live or lived as naturalized born United States Citizen age 35 or over. 45 dreams came true. It's unfortunate few people accomplish their dreams completely.

I wrote advice to Trump from the blog An Opinion Letter To Trump And An Opinion Letter To Biden written on Nov 15, 2020. I said to Trump, "All is not lost. Election 2024 is four years away. Begin today. . . . Learn from your mistakes. . . . Take advantage being out of a job to prepare for Election 2024." He learned. He prepared. He wasn't sincere. He wasn't graceful. Everybody remembers Jan 6, 2021.

Children Following Sports Should Learn Life Is Unfair

There are four major professional sports leagues in North America. The National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB). The NBA has 30 teams divided in two conferences and six divisions total. The NFL has 32 teams divided in two conferences and eight divisions total. The NHL has 32 teams divided in two conferences and four divisions total. MLB has 30 teams divided in two leagues and six divisions total.

What is one commonality among the four sports leagues? The answer is one team wins their championship in a season. All other teams lose. One NBA Finals winner. One Super Bowl winner. One Stanley Cup winner. One World Series winner. There is no second-place winner. There are no playoff participation awards. There are lots of good teams in each league. A few of the good teams are championship caliber. I repeat. Only one team wins their championship. All other teams lose. Life is unfair.

There are more popular teams. There are less popular teams. There are teams the ownership provides the necessary monetary funds. There are teams the ownership limits monetary funds. There are teams with many all-stars. There are teams with few all-stars. There are teams in big markets. There are teams in small markets. There are teams with good coaching staff. There are teams with bad coaching staff. There are teams with the latest stadiums and facilities. There are teams with outdated stadiums and facilities. There are teams with strong fan bases. There are teams with weak fan bases. There are no equal teams in each league.

Timing and luck are factors. Which team has the fewest players on the injury list? Which team has the most players on the injury list? Which team is the healthiest during the championship game or championship series? Good weather or bad weather? Does the ball bounce perfectly? Does the ball tip to an opposing player? What team benefits the puck ricochets off the wall? Which team wins the attrition battle? Which team their star-players are in a slump? Which head coach or manager guesses correctly? Which player makes a winning gamble move? Which team benefits from an incorrect referee call? Which team gets the breaks?

Update On A Past Blog

I reminded people There Is Truth Serum During COVID-19 And After COVID-19 on Sep 16, 2024. I want to add some truths change life from good to bad. The blog Life Is Good Because It's Predictable And Certain written on Jan 20, 2022 said bombshells shook people's sense of predictability, certainty, and calmness. Life changed after the smoke cleared and damage assessed.

There Is Truth Serum During COVID-19 And After COVID-19

Governments declared the COVID-19 global pandemic ended in 2023. However, the COVID-19 virus is clear and present indefinitely people need an annual vaccine like the annual flu vaccine.

Sodium pentothal or the truth serum was administered during the global pandemic. There is more sodium pentothal administered afterwards. Living a life with lies has been harder. Anyone lying maintaining the lies are difficult. Resilience faked during the pandemic is not faked afterwards. Calling out dishonestly has been easier. People waiting for the evidence to prove lies must be patient. It's impossible for 100% of the people globally their lives change for the better because life is unfair. There are winners. There are losers. The losers are identified. The percentage applies to me and everyone I know. The truth is coming soon from the lies I notice. The equalizer is coming soon for the appropriate situations or moments.

Social media is untrustworthy overall. I go with the information present. Lies? Maybe. Deceit? Maybe. Give them time. The lies and the deceit are exposed.

The truth serum is administered anywhere at anytime. It's given at the workplaces such as nurses and the hospitals, teachers and the schools, first responders and the stations, and postal employees and the post office. It's given at the supply chains. It's given in manufacturing. It's given in retail businesses. It's given in the public sector. It's given in governments. It's given in the banks. Money decreasing. Stress increasing. Respect decreasing.

Less Can Be More Or Too Much Is Too Much

Awful Announcing posted an article titled "Do The Olympics Prove That Less Is More?" on their The Back Page for their Wed Aug 14, 2024 emailed newsletter. Olympic sports are held every four years. The other three years and 50 weeks people do other activities. People go back to their normal lives. The Olympics is an example we devote time to the event every four years. We satisfy new Olympics desires every four years; although, technically the Olympics are held every two years because the International Olympic Committee changed the format from the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics held at the same year every four years to the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics alternates every two years while maintaining every four years in 1994. Each Olympics is different. In contrast, sports media repeats the same reports, the same top athletes, and same top stories daily. For instance, the San Francisco Bay Area is tired of the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk contract situation.

Keep the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL to one season every 365 days of the year. One Super Bowl a year is satisfactory.

No Need To *insert blank* 24/7

People don't need to play video games daily. People don't need to watch television daily. Anime fans don't need to attend the same anime convention two or more times a year; in other words, one Anime Expo a year is satisfactory. Vacationing at Disneyland once a year is good enough. Vacationing at Disneyland once every few years is better. Hike different trails. Spread out the hikes. The grandparents don't need to be bothered day after day. Make good choices on spreading out leisure. Make good choices on spreading out traditions. Make good choices on spreading out secondary responsibilities.

Instant Bullets Blog Jul 15, 2024

*Repair Board Game Boxes. Link from Board Game Geek This handy guide to repairing split boxes is over 20 years old. Let the weight of experience wash over you. Personally, I didn't try it. It looks like the guide works.

*Small Knowledge Bullets.

*Lifetime warranties such as Columbia jackets, Jansport backpacks, and Osprey backpacks use the returns to identify weak points in their products.
*The Swiss army knife parcel hook is used to carry items as a handle.
*Microsoft Word or Outlook. The user accidentally pressed CAPS lock. Select the text in upper case letters. Press Shift+F3 to convert from upper case to lower case or to title case.
*An oven door can come off for cleaning. Remove the hinges pops the oven door off, clean the door and oven, and pop the oven door back on.

*Money Talks.

*You're not paying the mechanic to bang on your car; you're paying the mechanic to know where to bang on your car.
*You're not paying us to Google; you're paying us to know what to Google.
*$1 to use the hammer, $999 to know where to use the hammer.
*Lawyers drafting papers have a template which takes a few minutes to complete. Lawyers charge expensive fees; however, lawyers spend years learning how to complete the papers quickly and accurately.

*Do Give Up. Sometimes giving up is the best move.

*College Football Illinois Fighting Illini at Penn State Nittany Lions nine overtimes on Oct 23, 2021. Illinois vs #7 Penn State INSANE Ending | 2021 College Football. Illinois UPSETS #7 Penn State in 9 Overtimes.

*Student Did Math. Question asked Tell how you know. Student answered I just know.

*Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. "Curiosity killed the cat" is a proverb used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. It also implies that being curious can sometimes lead to danger or misfortune. The original form of the proverb, now rarely used, was "Care killed the cat." In this instance, "care" was defined as "worry" or "sorrow for others."

There were multiple variations dating back to the origins. The earliest known printed modern version was Dec 23, 1912 from The Titusville Hearld Newspaper: . . . "Curiosity killed the cat, But satisfaction brought it back." . . . .

Wikipedia source: Curiosity killed the cat.

*Interview Get To The Point. Interviewer: Give me an example of a time where . . . . Me: Look, do you need staff or not.

*Locks And Safes. Items in a safe valued more than $300? The safe isn't secured because a professional opens the safe using a crowbar in three seconds. Or a professional uses an angle grinder. Another viewpoint the safe is a decoy. Organize important documents in an old shoe box. A good safe with a good lock delays intrusion. The number one purpose of a safe is fire protection.

Locks only keep honest people out. Locks keep honest people honest. Insurance is for the real criminals.

*axiom: a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.

*axiomatic: self-evident or unquestionable; obviously true; accepted. Pronounced ax-e-o-matic.

*Issac Newton's Three Laws Of Motion. First: An object at rest stays at rest; an object in motion stays in motion. Second: Force = Mass * Acceleration. The more you push the faster you'll go. Third: For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. A rocket can lift off by expelling gas downward.

*Mark Cuban on the Lex Fridman podcast episode 422 Mark Cuban: Shark Tank, DEI & Wokeism Debate, Elon Musk, Politics & Drugs | Lex Fridman Podcast #422:

*I personally think that everything good that's ever happened to me is because of luck. I think that's just a good way of being. It's like you're grateful.
*On Jeff Bezos: It seems like he did a lot of really interesting, powerful decisions for many years of Amazon to make it successful. But he was really able to raise money, right? A lot of money.
*If you are happy when you were broke, you're going to be really, really, really happy when you're rich. . . . If you were miserable, you know in your job before, there's a good chance you're still going to be miserable if that's just.

*Welcome to adulthood. Now, more than ever, freedom equals responsibility. What will be your contribution to the world? Agree or disagree?

*An anecdote is a brief story, usually told because it is relevant to the subject at hand. An antidote is the cure for a poison, but can also be used figuratively for anything that solves a problem.

An anecdote a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature. A short, obscure historical or biographical account.

*There is a hall of fame for mascots. Visit Mascot Hall Of Fame. Located in 1851 Front Street, Whiting, IN 46394. Open to the public. Purchase tickets are required.

*Former New York Mets relief pitcher Jorge Lopez said, "I'm the worst teammate on the worst team. Honestly." Lopez was quoted on May 29, 2024. The Mets released Lopez on May 30, 2024.

*Congressman Glenn Ivey (D-MD) talked about Donald Trump's guilty verdict in falsifying business records to hush Stormy Daniels. If Trump wins the 2024 election, then he can be president. On the other hand, common people with convictions can't vote and can't find jobs Congressman Glenn Ivey on the Trump hush money verdict and the "2-tiered justice system." An example life is unfair.

*Spelling Is Important. The misspelled word is "miximum." Is the correct word minimum? Is the correct word maximum?

*"Now, if you know some other way that I can be honest with you, you got to tell me." --Fast Eddie Felson, The Color Of Money

"Nice guys finish last." --Carmen, The Color Of Money

*hypochondriac: A person who is often or always worried about his or her own health. An excessive preoccupation with or anxiety about one's health.

*If you don't work on relationships, then they become chores. Agree or disagree?

*Don't be a stranger.

*Use Freebees Wisely. A student was allowed to be tardy or late to class two times per semester in my high school. The third tardy the final grade was lowered by one-third. In other words, a student was given two free opportunities to be late without penalty. I used one of the free opportunities to be late for my seventh period class on the day yearbooks were handed out. Yearbooks were handed out after sixth period.

I arrived late to seventh period. Jealous classmates looked at me when I arrived with the yearbook. Moreover, I avoided the long lines after school when the rest of the student body got their yearbooks.