The Last Best Year 1999 Or 2007?

I'm an unprofessional anthropologist. I'm an unprofessional historian. I unprofessionally answer the question is either 1999 or 2007 the last best year? Here is a quick history of 1999 and 2007.

1999: NASA launched the Mars Polar Lander, President Bill Clinton was not convicted of impeachment, Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl, a hot air balloon circumnavigated planet Earth, Shakespeare In Love won Best Picture, the Melissa worm attacked the internet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 and 11,000 for the first time, Kosovo War ended, Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, Napster was created, USA defeated China in the FIFA Women's World Cup, multiple earthquakes in Turkey, New York Yankees won the World Series, Exxon and Mobile merged, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned.

2007: iPhone debuted, Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, Virginia Tech shooting killed 32 students, Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the USA House of Representatives, British Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned, Bob Barker retired as host of The Price Is Right, European heat wave, The Departed won Best Picture, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 13,000 and 14,000 for the first time, San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds became the all time home runs leader, Southern California wildfires destroyed 1,600 structures, Boston Red Sox won the World Series, and Writers Guild Of America went on strike.

A criteria for the last best year is the highest number of winners. Success is maximized. The winners and the success are measured on a global scale. The chances people become instant winners are high just by participating. People apply for jobs, interview for jobs, and hire for jobs. Colleges accept many students. There are plenty of acceptances to programs. Consumers purchase homes, cars, and long-term durable goods. Banks give loans to entrepreneurs.

More opportunities. More openings. High enrollments. There are plenty of pie slices for everyone. Spend here, invest there, and gamble or bet on the opportunity. Reduce savings to earn more money. Money is plentiful attributed to the central banks such as the Federal Reserve, Bank Of England, Bank Of Japan, Bank Of Canada, European Central Bank, People's Bank of China, and the World Bank.

The above happened in both 1999 and 2007. An economic catastrophe happened their following years. The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 resulted in a recession. The real estate bubble burst in 2008 resulted in The Great Recession. Maybe 2019 was the last best year. The COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 resulted in a recession and an inflation.

What is the last best year for the world? There are multiple answers and explanations because they depend on the perspectives.

Update On A Past Blog

I want to add two more bad advice, bad lessons, or bad teachings to the Top Ten Bad Advice, Bad Lessons, Or Bad Teachings blog written on Wed Feb 4, 2026. The first is calling out my parents. I connect the dots backwards as I age. I acquire more knowledge, more wisdom, and more experience. The three convince me my parents gave me bad advice, bad lessons, or bad teachings. Do they mean well for which they didn't want me to be a bad adult? Yes. Do they try to be the best parents they can be? No. I forgave them decades ago on the day I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008.

The second is learning Riichi or Japanese Mahjong. I quit learning Riichi in 2007. I'm lucky I relearned Riichi in 2009. The reasons I quit Riichi in 2007 were bad lessons and bad resources. The books I read were terrible. The online resources were confusing. Fortunately, there are more good books and better online resources today. I consider myself an advanced level Riichi player.

No Guarantees In Life Including Sports

Sports are percentages. There is pass completion rate, percentage drops, and number of points the defense gives up per game in football. There is field goal percentage and free throw percentage in basketball. There is batting average, walk to strike out ratio, and earned run average in baseball. There is goals against average and shots on goals in hockey. There is no 100%. There is no 1.000.

The percentages, rates, ratios, probabilities, averages, sums, and totals in all sports applies to life. Chances in life applies to sports. Timing and luck in sports applies to life. A basketball player experiences a bad shooting night in a regular season game. A no big deal. A basketball player experiences a bad shooting night in a championship game. A yes big deal. The thought process applies to a quarterback throwing a football, a place kicker kicking a field goal, a baseball player going 0 for 4 with three deep flyouts, a pitcher giving up four home runs, a winger missing too many shots on goal, and a goal keeper giving up four goals.

We blame the players for the bad performance. We blame the players for the miss critical plays. We blame coaches for bad decisions. Think rationally. No player wants to screw up. No coach wants to lose. The chances are there to connect, and sometimes there are no chances. Timing and luck are not there. The game is lost. The strategies don't work out. It's the other result. It's the opposite of the percentage. It's the other side. A basketball player free throw percentage success is 90.1%. The player missed critical free throws at the fourth period. It's the 9.9% failure percentage. Failed. The team lost the game. Regular season is a no big deal. Try again next time. Championship playoffs is a yes big deal. It's unfair. It's the nature of the sports world. A professional sports team not making the playoffs with at least 50% regular season wins is considered a successful season.

The Odds Are Against Professional Dreamers

There are a limited number of active professional sports players who play in the top leagues. There are 1,696 professional football players in the 32 team NFL out of all the professional football players. There are 450 professional basketball players in the 30 team NBA out of all the professional basketball players. There are 780 professional baseball players in the 30 team MLB out of all the professional baseball players. There are 736 professional hockey players in the 32 team NHL out of all the professional hockey players. Those numbers are small. Practice squad and inactive professional players are excluded from the numbers. The chances of professional sports players in a North American big league roster are slim. Life is rolling the dice. Many try to become professional sports players. Few succeed.

Update On A Past Blog

I add the percentages, rates, ratios, probabilities, averages, sums, and totals in all sports to the blog Top Ten Life Lessons I Learned Watching Sports written on Nov 5, 2016.

I wrote a no guarantees blog A Lesson Learned Tonight written on Feb 2, 2010. The blog talked about Conan O'Brien leaving The Tonight Show with a $45 million settlement on Jan 2010. I remind myself there are no guarantees in life; however, death and taxes are 100% certain.

I repeat an update on a past blog word for word from Owners Hiring The Below Average Worker on May 12, 2023:

Life is chances. The right place at the right time. Timing and luck are in favor. The wind blows behind your back. The odds are good. The dice are rolling well. Probability is close to 100%. Here are two blogs related to chances, odds, and probabilities: Roll The Dice When You Wake Up written on Aug 12, 2019 and The Homeless People Rolled Too Many Snake Eyes written on Apr 8, 2019. Death and taxes are 100% certain. Life is unfair regardless of the probabilities. Times continue to be tough going forward.

I Dislike Going With The Flow

One of my top priorities is physical fitness. I take advantage of my long-term unemployed status to workout four days a week. Two days of jogging. Two days of lifting weights. I feel weak missing a week of workouts. I feel failure missing a week of workouts. I feel unhealthy. I falsely feel gaining weight. All of these feelings should be nothing. I have been sick in the past. I have been injured in the past. I eventually get back to health like professional athletes. There is nothing to worry about.

The week of Mon Jul 21, 2025 I hated going with the flow. Going with the flow reduced stress; on the other hand, stress increased missing physical workouts. Physical fitness decreases stress. The increase and decrease didn't cancel each other. There were events, instances, and circumstances beyond my control. My sister in-law and my nephew stayed overnight on Mon Jul 21. The household didn't have groceries. My brother, older nephew, and niece visited on Tue Jul 22. I cleaned the household on Wed Jul 23 to take advantage of the below average temperatures. I drove a family member to the hospital for multiple appointments on Thur Jul 24. I also experienced multiple stomach aches. The explanations were a poor breakfast and an inadequate lunch. My sister's dog stayed overnight on Fri Jul 25.

The entire week I adjusted my routines. I delayed routines. There were one-time priority tasks. The week of Mon Jul 21, 2025 was a crappy week. Acknowledge the crappy week. Everybody experiences crappy days. Everybody experiences crappy weeks. Nobody plans a crappy week. Unemployed people rarely experience crappy weeks due to fewer responsibilities and fewer obligations. Life happens. Move forward. Fighting the flow can be worse than going with the flow. Sleep well at the end of the day.

Update On A Past Blog

I convinced myself go with the flow on Mar 16, 2022 from the blog Consciously Aware My Mind Is Focused On The Flow. I wrote today's blog to reinforce go with the flow. There were no penalties, fines, and reprimands for the Mon Jul 21, 2025 week. Moreover, my right hip is sore for which I mentioned in the blog. Perhaps, no workout for the week may speed up the healing.

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.

Smile For One Thousand Three Hundred Dollars

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

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

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

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

Update On A Past Blog

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

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

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

There Are Too Many Toys Qualitatively Speaking

I received the 2024 Target Toy Holiday catalog last week. There are 80 pages including the front page with the popular toys and the back page with my mailing address. There are too many toys to choose.

My childhood generation the toys included Fisher-Price, Lego, Transformers, Barbie, Play-Doh, GI Joe, Hot Wheels, Disney, Star Wars, Nerf, books, Tonka, board games, art, cosmetics, sports, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch, bikes, manual four-wheel cars, and motorized toy cycles. The top video games were Atari and Intellivision.

Today's childhood generation includes the toys above plus Bluey, Pokemon, Marvel, Melissa & Doug, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jurassic Park, DC Comics, Furby, Giggle Scape, Ms. Rachel, PAW Patrol, Gabby's Dollhouse, Perfectly Cute, Baby Alive, Out Generation, Mini Brands, Monster High, Rainbow High, Unicorn Academy, LOL Surprise, and Jurassic World. The top video games are Nintendo, XBOX, and PlayStation. FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image are available. There are multiple electronic toys companies. Cheap small size circuit boards and processors must be appreciated. There are many more from lesser-known companies. PC video games gifts are worth mentioning even though they're not included in the catalog.

The marketing department knows how to sell. The bottom of each page or the footer sells to the consumer easy ways to buy, free shipping, free store pick-up, batteries, save 5% with restrictions using the Target credit card, and a QR code. Repetition works. Up to three pages are books. Books generate low revenues. Kids want toys requiring batteries.

I'm surprised there are enough pieces of the pie for all of the toys to earn revenues for Target and their companies. Competition is tough. Children can't play all of the toys 24 hours a day. I'm flabbergasted.

A Brief Childhood Moment

I remember playing toys in the toy aisle at TG&Y. TG&Y was a five and dime chain store in the United States. The children and I literally made a mess playing with toys on the floor. An old man in his 50s wearing a shirt and tie told us to stop playing with the toys. He must be the manager. We ignored him. Everyone continued playing. I saw the manager walk around the store ignoring us minutes later.

Update On A Past Blog

I admit a second mistake following the blog It Was My Fault I Made A Mistake I wrote on Jul 23, 2023. The first mistake was arriving late for a family event. It was my fault my mom, dad and I arrived late. The second mistake happened on Mar 14, 2024. The house landlines phone base is connected to the VoIP device. The phone connection was poor. I called the VoIP tech support. The technical ran tests on their end. No error messages. It turned out I connected the ethernet cable from the router to the VoIP device to the wrong port. Otherwise, the VoIP connected wirelessly. I failed to check the blinking lights behind the broadband port to confirm the ethernet cable connected from the router to the VoIP. Another reminder to check and to confirm the little details.

A Daily Dose Of Novocain

Today's Information Age we get any information on the internet in seconds. Too much information is available in seconds. Easy access. News feeds are 24/7. Information feeds are 24/7. Social media feeds are 24/7. 98% of all feeds are garbage. Novocain is administered. Useless facts. Useless information. Nothing learned. Nothing improved. Moreover, dissatisfaction increases there is a desire for more information hoping to quell the dissatisfaction. Brain cells are destroyed. My IQ drops. The causality is too much Novocain. The Novocain habit I accidentally miss reading important news, information, and knowledge.

Reading is tiring. Additional mental energy is required to ignore the useless. Additional mental energy is required to stop reading. On the other hand, there are some people with more time on their hands they enjoy the useless. More power to them.

Update On A Past Blog

People who purchased shares from the blog Bet On The Real Raymond Mar Coming Soon written on Oct 4, 2014 should be happy. The stock price went up. Long term investing works. Buy and hold work.

I'm the best choice for many circumstances. I have been the best choice to get the job done. Unfortunately, there were too many barriers. Bad luck. Bad timing. I was told lies. People prevented me from being successful. Misinformation. Bad lessons. All are forgiven. I needed more time. I needed four years and 11 months to be specific. The naive, uncontrollable, and immature person is retired. Be patient.

Amazon Items For Free Shipping List No More

The pic above is a list of items I add to my Amazon shopping cart to get free shipping. The list was revised multiple times. I used the list years ago when I needed an item or items for a cheaper price. Most of the time the item or items were too cheap I needed one more item to get free shipping; in particular, DVDs and board game accessories were easy $5 or below items. Amazon used to sell auto parts significantly cheaper than my local auto parts store. I started the list to save time and to stop additional shopping. I wanted to buy the item or items, pay, and logout.

Times have changed. Amazon is my last retail store to buy goods. My city is known for package thieves. I'm comfortable paying more at brick and mortar stores for peace of mind. I use the list as a gift guide. I also use the list as a wish list. Many of the items are for hiking, backpacking, and emergency situations. I don't want to throw the list in the garbage; otherwise, I wasted my time.

3,050 High School Seniors Lose

The California State Supreme Court ordered the University Of California, Berkeley (Cal) undergraduate enrollment numbers at the 2020-2021 academic year which is 42,347 students for the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year on Mar 3, 2022. A proposed faculty housing and classroom construction project is suspended. Cal accepts 3,050 fewer students for the 2022-2023 academic year. A neighborhood group Save Berkely Neighborhoods sued Cal for failing to address additional housing, worsening homelessness, increasing traffic, and louder noise. Cal plans to find other ways to enroll the 3,050 students. Cal prioritizes state residents for the 2022 fall in-person undergraduate enrollment and transfer students.

I'm repeating common life knowledge. I'm reminding myself and I'm reminding my readers. Life is not fair. Accept it. Blame life. Blame the system. Blame bad luck. Blame bad timing. Life has winners. Life has losers. The losses are greater than the wins, and there are more losses and less wins as long as the number of opportunities remain unchanged. Blame scarcity.

Did the 3,050 students earn Cal's acceptance? Yes. Did the 3,050 students deserve Cal's acceptance? No. Did the 3,050 students fail? No. Thousands of high school seniors worked hard to go to college. Many applied. Few accepted. Nobody deserves everything in life. Nobody is entitled. There are a few exceptions. Who said person A deserves this and that? Who said person B deserves this and that? Who said person ZZZ deserves this and that? Destiny, life, karma, an act of God, and the powers that be assign deserving fortunes to people.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote similar blogs. The blog Too Many People written on Jul 15, 2019 was about 44 out of 5,000 applications won an affordable apartment unit lottery. There Are Losers For Every Winner blog written on Dec 8, 2018 was about one team wins the championship and the rest of the teams lose. Also, the world is a zero-sum.

Life Is Good Because It's Predictable And Certain

Predictability is good when you know with 99.9999...% accuracy it happens. Certainty is good when you know the person, the place, or the thing is present. There is relaxation. There is comfortability. We know what we have. We expect we have it. Reliable transportation. Nearby hospitals. Retail stores stock with goods. Plumbers ready to service. Utilities running. Phones communicating. Schools teaching. Chances are closest to 100% there is a tomorrow. Chances are closest to 100% the world didn't come to an end. Assurances. Paradise. Predictability. Routines. Life is good. It's too easy to take them all for granted. It's too hard to be reminded don't take them all for granted.

The bombshell can drop anytime. How big is the explosion? Life is bad when the boom happens. The security blanket is burned. No assurances. No paradise. No predictability. On the other hand, life is potentially good because the bombshell creates new opportunities. A new security blanket is created. New assurances. New paradises. New predictabilities. The bombshell drops test strength, courage, knowledge, motivation, and resilience. Prepare for future bombshells.

Update On A Past Blog

I thought about going back to school to earn a B.A. in Accounting at a nearby private university in 2009. My contract at Cisco was terminated in Nov 2008. I earned an A.A. in Accounting at De Anza College in 2011. I thought about taking a beginning class in Salesforce in 2015 or 2016. My contract at Palo Alto Networks was satisfied in May 2015. The one-week class cost $3,000 at the time.

The two thoughts reentered my mind. What if I went back to school to earn a B.A instead of a A.A. by attending a private university instead of a junior college during the Great Recession? What if I enrolled in a Salesforce class? Am I employed today? Maybe. Maybe not. The private university was an expensive gamble or bet. I intentionally choose the words "gamble" or "bet." $3,000 for a one-week official Salesforce class was an expensive gamble or bet.

The two thoughts reminded me the blog A Lesson Learned Tonight on Feb 2, 2010. Conan O'Brien hosted The Tonight Show on NBC for less than a year in 2009-2010. NBC brought back Jay Leno. The ratings for The Jay Leno Show and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien were low. I learned the lesson there are no guarantees in life. Having two college degrees is no guarantee a successful life. Taking a beginning class in Salesforce is no guarantee I'm an expert at Salesforce or enough experience to earn a job interview for a job opening requiring Salesforce.

Top Ten Plus Three Equals Thirteen I'm In The Minority Opinions

Expressing our opinions is a basic human right. Good people listen to opinions. Good people respect other people's opinions. There are opinions in the majority. There are opinions in the minority. I share my opinions I believe I'm in the minority. One opinion I'm in the minority is people experience racism, discrimination, and prejudice daily. The three exists today. The three existed yesterday. The three exists tomorrow. Racism, discrimination, and prejudice continue throughout history indefinitely.

Here are the top ten plus three equals thirteen I'm in the minority opinions:

13. If you don't have the money and don't have the future income, then don't have children. The costs of raising children go up every year. A family is too expensive. Condoms are cheaper than diapers. Parents don't need a PS5. Parents need long-term stable income.

12. A common health knowledge is eat five fruits and vegetables a day. I eat three fruits and vegetables a day. Another common health knowledge is drink eight glasses of water a day. I drink water when I'm thirsty. I'm the healthiest ever. The two common health knowledge are marketing and too easy health advice.

11. Men's And Women's Bare Necessities. Men can use women's bare necessities. Women can use men's bare necessities. For example, I use women's body wash.

10. Weigh Yourself Daily. Body weight is an indicator of your present health status. Weighing yourself daily is not weakening your self-esteem; on the other hand, it may motivate you to live a healthy life.

9. Your fiancee's parents are a poor forecast how your fiancee becomes your lawfully wedded spouse when the two of you get married. Your fiancee's parents are like stocks or professional sports drafts. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Your fiancee parent's actions, behavior, knowledge, and opinions don't predict your fiancee's actions, behavior, knowledge, and opinions.

8. Work And Life Balance Is False. Whoever thought of the term or fad might have made it up to make money. Fads are short-term. The fad inventors maximize earning money quickly before the fad is forgotten.

7. Students learn life working in retail. High school students and college students learn book knowledge in the classrooms. High school students and college students learn reality in retail. Parents must make your children earn money by working part-time in retail.

6. Tough Job Market. The job market is tight indefinitely. People graduate school, college, or a trade school every year. There are not enough opportunities to hire new graduates. More people delay retirement. More jobs are eliminated by technology such as robots and automation.

5. Your inside is more important than your outside. False. Your inside and your outside are equally important. Physical appearance is important. We do judge a book by its cover.

4. Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." The quotation is false. It's better to be single than in a toxic relationship. It's better to be single than in a mis-match relationship. Many people choose to be with someone even by dumbing down themselves to avoid loneliness. Don't disrespect yourself. There is strength, courage, and wisdom to be single. Don't lose self-respect to be in a relationship.

Moreover, I repeat number five. Your inside and your outside are equally important. Physical appearance is important. We do judge a book by its cover.

3. All schools add an extra year. Elementary school pre-kindergarten is mandatory before kindergarten. Junior high school add a fourth year for grades 6-9. High school add a fifth year for grades 10-14. There is too much to learn. Expectations are too high. Students need more time. Parents, school administrators, and the government need more patience.

2. There are too many *fill in the blank*. There are too many restaurants, TV shows, books, people, podcasts, useless junk, etc. Many of the *fill in the blank* are garbage.

Honorable mention: 1. The educated are not always free. 2. The news is the same 90% of the time.

1. More people are not going to succeed. There are too many people. There are too few opportunities. Life is zero-sum. The world is zero-sum. The size of the pie is always the same. There are people who fail no matter what. There are unsuccessful people no matter what. Many works hard and follow their dreams. Few succeed. Many times something happens beyond their control they become unsuccessful. Blame life. Life is not fair.

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell explains why some people succeed.

Everyone Gets A Piece Of The Pie

The Los Angeles Angels fired visiting clubhouse manager Brian "Bubba" Harkins in Mar 2020. Harkins worked with the Angels since 1990. A visiting clubhouse manager and his staff prepare equipment and uniforms for the players before the game starts. Also, a visiting clubhouse manager is like a hotel concierge.

Harkins provided a "foreign substance" for pitchers to improve their control pitching the baseball. Harkins was taught how to make the "foreign substance" by Angels' pitcher Troy Percival 20 years ago. The substance was available by request. Most pitchers and coaches paid Harkins to cover the costs. No profit was made. Any "foreign substance" on a baseball or doctoring is against baseball rules. Pitchers were quoted Major League Baseball (MLB) allowed doctoring for at least a century. However, the middle of 2021 MLB announced umpires search suspected pitchers for any "foreign substance." Pitchers caught with a "foreign substance" are suspended. No pitcher has been terminated for cheating.

Harkins filed lawsuit against the Angels and MLB for defamation and being the scapegoat on Aug 2020. The Angels and MLB filed a motion for dismissal on Nov 2020. The Orange County Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit on Jan 2021.

Equal Access

My response is the "foreign substance" is open to everyone. Everyone gets access. All pitchers are included. All MLB teams are included. No pitcher wants to exclude another pitcher because the pitcher may get angry. The angry pitcher tells MLB officials the illegal activity even though MLB doesn't enforce the rules. The piece of the pie is available. All parties are satisfied. Everyone is happy at the end of the day.

Update On A Past Blog

Today's blog contradicts The Size Of The Pie Is Still The Same on Jun 23, 2016. I wrote there are too many people living on Earth. The size of the pie doesn't increase to accommodate the increasing amount of people. More people don't get a piece of the pie. A genius can solve the problem by eliminating greed.

The Jul 15, 2019 blog Too Many People was about a church building 44 affordable apartment units. The church received over 5,000 applications. The 44 unit pie didn't increase.

The World Is Too Many And Too Few

#pessimistic
I question some common wisdom today pessimistically speaking. Never give up. Achieve your dreams. Nothing is impossible. Continue moving forward. Accept failure because you learn from failure; the end is success. There are opportunities to find. Work hard to achieve your goals. You can do anything by putting your mind to it. Be patient. There is hope. Believe in yourself. Keep the dream alive. The harder you work, the luckier you get. You are going to be successful staying focus.

Good advice from the common wisdom above. What if I say all the common wisdom above are losing strength today? Am I pessimistic? Yes. Am I being ridiculous? Maybe. Does my opinion have merit? Yes. Explain. There are too many people in the world. There are too few opportunities. Competition is fierce. Fierce may be an understatement. Competition is barbaric. Barbaric may be an overstatement today. Barbaric may be the truth tomorrow. There are too few chances for people working to be successful. There are too few breaks in life.

We can work hard intelligently to be the best people. Unfortunately, timing and luck are nothing with little opportunities. The rewards pay nothing with too many people competing for too few openings. There are too few winners for many deserving people. There are too many losers for many good people. Life is unfair. It's reality. How can Mother Earth sustain geometric population growth historically speaking decades later? Are humans going to be barbaric to survive?

Side note: I wrote a similar blog titled The Size Of The Pie Is Still The Same. I wrote too many people are greedy. There's not enough pie for everyone. The not enough pie applies to greedy people or not greedy people referencing my blog above.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Addicting To Learn Programming

One of my personal projects is learning Python. I hope knowing how to program creates job interviews. I have been learning new job skills while job searching.

Project Euler is a website asking math questions to help people learn programming. For example, problem 1 is find the sum of all multiples of 3 or 5 below 1000. People write a program to solve the problem. Some people use C. Some people use JavaScript. Some people use Python. The best way to learn programming is write programs.

I wrote a program for problem 3 Largest Prime Factor on Fri Jun 2. The program I wrote was successful. It calculated the largest prime factor for 10, 100, 1000, and 13195. However, my Ubuntu didn't have enough memory to calculate the largest prime factor for 600851475143. I spent hours figuring out how to write my Python code requiring less memory. I was laser focus like the late Steve Jobs. I became forgetful. I ignored all my surroundings. I lost my sense of time. I was stressed unnecessarily. There was no deadline. I wanted to complete the problem desperately. I could have waited next week to continue. I solved problem 3 at 2am on Sat Jun 3. Was it worth the extra hours staying up? My answer is no. My addiction to learn programming was like being addicted to binge watch Breaking Bad or an all-nighter playing video games decades ago.

No more learning programming addiction. I gather my strength and my courage to take a timeout when I reach the stress point solving programming problems. Timeout rests my brain. There is a chance my timeout helps me solve my problem with a rested brain. Moreover, there are easier, non-mathematical learning websites for programming students to solve problems; for example, Practice Python. Google "Python programming problems" to find more Python problems websites.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Be Strong To Be Sane

What is saving you from becoming insane? What is preventing you from becoming crazy? You're a good person. What does it take to not be a bad person? A TV show. A person. A hobby. A place in your city. There can be more than one item, person, activity, or place. My sanity is saved playing Mahjong (Riichi), working out at the gym, reading books, blogging, following sport headlines, and cooking currently. Also, I'm working hard to achieve my next big goal which is independence. I job search five days a week. I learn new job skills six days a week. I want to move out of the house. I want to live on my own. I want to control more of my life. I want to make more choices for myself. I want to live a good life consistently. I want to be more proactive. I want to meet new people. I want to make more friends. I'm not throwing away my life watching TV eight hours a day, drinking, playing video games, and being physically inactive.

In addition, I follow the philosophy of the late Steve Jobs. I blogged my Top Ten Steve Jobs Quotes. Two of my top ten quotes are the following: (1) Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. (2) The journey is the reward.

Stay busy. Boredom kills the life motivation to live. Strength, courage, intelligence, and motivation are required to be a sane human being. It's ironic working hard is required to stay busy. Be patient. Pace yourself. A person's motivation is more important than a person's knowledge. "I will" is more important than "I know."

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Random Jeopardy Answers

Today's blog was inspired from The Costco Connection magazine interviewing Ken Jennings. These questions are good job interview questions.

I want to go back to college. I'm not talking about going back to De Anza College for the second time. I'm talking about going back to college after graduating high school. My college life was boring. I studied too much. I didn't have enough fun. I met very little people. I learned little life skills. I experienced little new experiences. I sought no new adventures. My early 20s was an almost disappointment.

What is my life mulligan?

There are too many things I want to experience. I want to visit Europe. I want to go wine tasting. There are hiking trails I want to hike. I want to insert coins in a jukebox. There are books I want to read. I want to move out. I want to be free. I want to drive along the California coast on Highway 1. My bucket list is too long at my current life situation. I want to stay alive to check off the entire list.

Are you ready to die?

Steve Jobs was an innovator. He knew what the world wanted. I want to know how the college dropout became a world legend. He changed the world. I want to learn how he became successful. How did he have the vision looking ahead?

Who is the person I want to meet dead or alive?

I want to live independently. I want to be free. I don't want to live with my parents the rest of my life. I want to find a full time job. My contract work is temporary. I believe I'm a good full-time employee. I know what to do working at a company full time. I want to expand my circle of friends. Living alone is depressing. I remain strong and smart to never become a person shutting the world and a person taking out my stress on others.

In summary, I don't want to with my parents for the rest of my life, I don't want to be unemployed, I don't want to be lonely, I don't want to be a person having no idea what I'm going to do with my life, and I don't want people thinking I'm an angry person.

What are my biggest fears?

My new video card is defective when I upgraded my desktop computer. I submitted a RMA to both the online store and the manufacturer for which both approved the RMA within minutes. I mailed the video card to the manufacturer via USPS Priority Mail instead of the recommended ground shipping UPS. I packaged the video card more compact instead of the recommended big box with 2 inches of protection throughout the entire card. The manufacturer began the process quicker than if I mailed the video card to the online store. The manufacturer updated my RMA status stating the video card is received and a replacement is in process.

Tell me something I discovered recently.

I took Computer Accounting Systems at De Anza College. The class was a requirement for my AA degree. The quarterly project was learning the accounting cycle from journal entries to closing the books for the quarter. Creating the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement were included. The project was completed in hard copy. All of the numbers, journal entries, ledgers, and quarterly statements were written. Computers were not involved. However, I used Excel to duplicate the accounting book and to calculate the transactions. I wrote the Excel calculations to the hard copy.

Tell me a time I cheated.

My life changed on Sat Oct 4, 2008. My world became better. I realized I must be stronger, smarter, kinder, and wiser. I became responsible for my actions. I must earn my successes. Playtime was over. I stopped taking life for granted. I live my life daily being a mature adult.

Share a miracle.

I'm proficient in seven languages. The languages are English, Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese. My social skills are excellent. I travel to many countries. I'm proficient in many cultural customs. I know lots of people throughout the world. Life is good.

What is my dream job?

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

24/48 Rule

Every consumer has experienced the urge to purchase the big ticket item, the must-have durable good, the product to keep up with the Joneses. Chances are the pricy thing such as the plasma TV, V8 automobile at bargain price, or the elegant dress is very expensive. Do you have a problem controlling the urge to splurge?

I like to share the 24/48 rule. The 24/48 rule is 24 hours and 48 hours. When the consumer has the urge to splurge, the 24/48 rule activates. The consumer must wait 24 hours to purchase an item less than $100.00 and 48 hours to purchase an item $100.00 and greater. The 24/48 rule dollar amount threshold is a judgment call. The rule works for me because the next day or two, I lose the urge to splurge. I think to myself, "Did I really need to buy it?"

The 24/48 rule is helpful for marriages and their spending. When someone has the urge to splurge, the spouse must follow the 24/48 rule and communicate to the partner I wanted to purchase the item--I had to urge to splurge. After the wait, if the item is still desired to purchase and the partner approves, then he or she can purchase; otherwise, the item to purchase was an urge to splurge and partner approval was not needed.

Anyone can save a lot of money and a lot of headaches with the 24/48 rule. The rule saved me a ton of money, less junk in the house, and sometimes when I waited, the cost of the item went down in price or upgraded. Good luck adapting the 24/48 rule if you choose to $-)

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.