​I recently removed myself from Linkedin and Facebook. Mostly because my activity on both sites is…uh…well I just don’t log on often enough to maintain any reason why I would keep a social media vacation destination. They are like an unused time-share…money well spent until you don’t want to spend the money to go to the same place and see the same thing.
 
Never mind the information overload and sharing to third parties and selling data and acquaintance accessibility and mindlessly scrolling and tricking myself into believing I will take advantage of the industry news.
 
All dead end reasoning for the opportunity to debate whether I need to update my photo, profile, resume, responses all the while flipping a coin as to what deserves a “like” or which emoji to post with purpose and positivity.
 
I denied a request by a friend, so named because we speak to one another face to face on a weekly basis as well as over the phone, via text that I download a video chat app. I can send video, audio, GIFs, links, likes and whatever else I would like person to person via a good ol’ fashioned smart phone.
 
The hope for the future is that the Apple and Android become better friends so that the digital domains don’t discount each others demands for attention. This would be great so that I don’t have to add an app every time I want to discuss a daily dose of dave. Platform M&A man, make it happen!
 
There are a number of other sites that I need to revisit and remove myself from if only to make room on the next site to take my time and attention. At the moment Twitter is by far a worthy cause. Be yourself or play God. Be you or bot it out.  Most importantly be mindful of mindless scrolling. A vacation from the day to day shouldn’t be spent in virtualville.
 
That being said the personal attacks are not fun and should be resisted. There are so many other significant ways to make a point or point out a problem or pointedly direct someone to a solution. If you would not say it to someone’s face do not say it at all. This principle is a guiding force in patience and virtue. But I mean – come on man! How can tongue and pen be restrained in this day and age! Get serious! 
 
If you do it. As Example. Others may follow.

I never got the recall notice from bucks about the metal straws being dangerous. They are metal. So. Maybe don’t give them to a baby.

Playing a part in our conservation of the environment and its resources I like the fact that morning coffee is dangerous. One sip of the six shots and I am wide awake to defend myself from the onslaught of the mobile order crowd.

​My glare of eye and cup letting them know their choice is not a sustainable way to go. True mettle.

Heat, hot, hype! No need to be a hero but don’t use the heat as an excuse to not do something that’s on your list be it a workout, a family visit, yard work or Church.

Getting to spend my morning taking folks through their personal workouts with a little inspiration is awesome - be the cause of your sweat, not the effect.

​More importantly make it your day, do your job and be awesome!

Cats are curiously cool. Especially when they wash their paws and stay hydrated.

​Beat the heat today y’all!

The @SCOTUS decision to allow folks to piggyback union contracts bites. I wonder if, as Churches begin to voice their opinions on political matters people will stop contributing to the baskets. Kicking the commandment for coin by the wayside. 
 
I have been faced with a decision of going Financial Core for SAG/AFTRA because Michigan went right-to-work. FiCore means I would pay Union dues and be able to work both Union and non-union jobs but have no voting rights and in declaration of my dual citizenship would have to mail in my Union card. Shame, shame, shame.
 
A brief note about the Union card – SAG/AFTRA should send one card and mail little stickers at every renewal. I am sure that would save some money. In my 20 years in the Union I have never been asked to show my card. Ever. So. Um. Yeah.
 
I have not gone FiCore nor do I have any plan to do so and am sure it has cost me money, as most of the work coming into Detroit is not of the Union sort thanks to the vision of our Governor. While I conservatively agree with the premise behind the decision it was poor judgment not to put forth effort in a compromise to use the amazing human and natural resources this State has to offer – all Union worthy.
 
My choice is a matter of integrity and character, traits missing from some of the representatives of these United States. The state of our union is getting dissed by a few for the sake of the FISAright now as Rep Louie Gohmert emotionally skews the facts in the face of Rod Rosenstein. RR is a baller by the way. 
 
Watching the House Panel hearing shows you firsthand that character and integrity matter when it comes to true patriotism. The corruption card gets pulled from all sides be it politics, religion or soccer. Currently caught in a conundrum to wrap this thought up all I can say is our current state of the union is a NON-UNION production.

Taking in a daily dose of awesome sauce at the moment. Fresh from a vacation with my lovely bride celebrating 4 years of continuous wedded bliss. The weather in Cabo San Lucas was tremendous all week – a little breezy at times but juxtaposed with the warmth of our solar system’s star it was by all measures perfect!
 
Batteries were recharged poolside, the culinary feats of local restaurants were devoured and exercising was kept on track with 32 stairs and a 6-liter water bottle doubling as a kettle bell.
 
Everybody puts in double the effort in Cabo. The waiters had gift certificates, the managers had deals for every expedition under the Mexican coastal sun, the cigar salesman were shilling “party supplies” and straight up “weed,” “blow.” Your hearts desire could be satiated along the Marina boardwalk. That’s all I’m saying; grateful that appetizers, entrées and desserts filled the void for virtue sake.
 
Sun to snow as home we go. The powerlessness over Mother Nature was taken in stride. The energy of my clients in the gym the next morning boosted my lack of Vitamin D intake. I love the effort folks put forth at each session and am motivated and inspired by each of their lives and how actively they participate in the good, the bad and the ugly.
 
Sometimes the wires get crossed, their feet won’t follow instructions. But they take a breath and get back to it. The action overcomes the discoordination which irons itself out a rep or two later. Just awesome. For real. The doing gets it done.
 
Effort is important. My brain would like me to maintain the status quo or overheat or underperform or bite off more than I can chew. The people God puts in my life show me that the breath will bring me back. I need to show up, take action, put forth effort and the circumstances sort themselves out.
 
No one has the excuse of “I don’t know how to do that,” anymore. That won’t fly. You can be taught it, look it up, attempt it, try it, watch it, mirror it, mimic it, and by all means Google it. Follow along with a YouTube video or at least, the very least make the effort to find out what the appropriate action is. Then take it.
 
Sitting and watching life go by may be good for vacations but back in the 9 to 5 which is really 5 to 9 - you got to get in the mix. Fearlessly. 
 
My effort is my power and vice versa. It is powerful to get up and go through the motions on those days that I do not feel like placing any effort at the forefront of my day.
 
It is the minimal effort that maximizes my time and power to participate in my day, my life. It is the maximal effort that powers me forward.
 
I got schooled by a former Alcoa employee regarding my novice take on trade, having been made vitally aware that all is not equal in the “Made in China” trade routes – for that I am grateful. I made the effort to learn more, seek information albeit after I chimed in with an opinion. For that I apologize. 
 
What I’m saying is – don’t be dismayed by the circumstances. Don’t be deterred by the naysayers. Don’t sit back and think you know it. Make the effort. You have the power. #YANA

​

Uh. Are the steel tariffs an entitlement program? I don’t know how any of this stuff works. For decades I have been listening to people bemoan welfare and bridge cards and the all encompassing “entitlement” programs which keep people from working hard or incentivizing them to work hardly at all. BUT! It seems that forcing market conditions to “save” something that is extinct burns useless energy and is entitling a false foundation of financial security.
 
My maternal great-grandfather was a butcher, market owner. The Great Depression took his store credit and bled it out. My paternal great-grandfather was a coal miner. He did not lead his children into the mine. My grandfather walked up to the gates of a closed auto factory. Never once in family lore have I ever heard anyone say, “the government…the company…the State…the (anyone other than me)…owes me a job.”
 
So. I was just wondering this morning while driving from one of my jobs to the next, is this push for coal and steel nothing more than an entitlement program? Why is the government forcing market conditions? More importantly why are people not seeking another skill set? Why aren’t companies operating more efficiently? ; )
Listen – I am oblivious and naïve and blessed because my current status allows me to do anything with humility and confidence having a family mindset that has led me coast-to-coast creating opportunities.
 
That being said, I have been told since I was a kid and again as an adult to “get a job.” The worst part about hearing that nowadays is that a vast number of people have no transportation, reliably, to get them to the opportunities that exist. We have been pushing autonomy since coal and steel came into adolescence. Get a job, get a car…catch your 22’s in a conundrum.
 
As a society we removed the easiest, most efficient mode of transport and planning and now, like a boomerang, we are building personal train cars. As if it were not enough to have our own car and be expected to drive it we now are building entitled train cars. Why not hook all the autonomous cars up and…that’s a TRAIN! Getting people to where the opportunities are quickly and efficiently has fallen into the social pothole of personal entitlement.
 
I just wrote myself into a corner. The government, company, State doesn’t owe me a job so why would I expect the government, company, State to get me to where I need to be. Market conditions make it beneficial and sustainable to fill the glut of employment opportunities.  Market conditions also suggest that you need to up your skill set and move on because past conditions do not provide future opportunities.
 
I’m grateful for being taught that I am responsible for me; being stuck or dependent upon an outside source is not in my lunchbox. I should ask for help when needed but the trick to that is, when help is presented – I have the responsibility to take it. That means moving, or learning something else, or working midnights. Things will change – unless I wait for my government, company, State to change it for me.
 
Anyway. Hoping to shed some light on the energy we put into tariffs. Blaming outside forces entitles me to do nothing to improve my situation.

​I have no desire to wade too far into the political waters but my wife will no longer play euchre because she refuses to follow trump and I don’t have enough lip balm to keep my mouth shut.
 
It is interesting that POTUS’ promise to “Drain the Swamp,” may come true, if only for the fact that he, a long-time Swamp enthusiast, has belly-flopped into the center and all the little monsters are no longer able to hide deep beneath.
 
It seems that a lot of those politicians, both Democrat and Republican, are not amphibious as they gasp for breath on the shoreline. Our representatives are flopping around from years of dark money and careers made of campaigning.
 
The Constitution offers us Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
 
Life = Healthcare.
Liberty = Education.
Pursuit of Happiness = Security.
 
Could we make it that simple? I appreciate having healthy, smart, safe neighbors. I like paying taxes. It’s important. We deserve to be healthy, to be lifelong learners and travel safely to our responsibilities and points of interest.
 
Military and first-responders deserve the best equipment and technology available to protect our National interests at home and abroad. Educators need and deserve the same. Medicine and science are not best served by one-size-fits-all cash flow capitalism.
 
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are not individual propositions but are sum parts of the whole that give our society its flow.
 
We are an amazing prism of people that don’t deserve to be bleached out by rhetoric and an archaic process to populism. Voters have gotten our swamp packaged as a sunset over calm waters but the lurking beneath has run shallow and the masses have begun to wade in deeper.
 
Some would like to chill on their pontoon boat and float. Others want to post “No Trespassing” signs on the water’s edge. Bunches are trying to siphon it off with straws while others make waves to bluer waters on their yachts.
 
Whatever your pursuit, we should all be able to agree that our representatives’ political life should not be resuscitated, but be replaced. Just like the bridges, railroads, streets and buildings that crumble beneath the wait of water.
 
The bureaucracy of autocracy seems ill-served by our elected officials who deem it necessary to add applause breaks and lounge oafishly while the reality of the TV stars a message reddened by the flop into the swamp.
 
Be it snorkel or snark remember your vote counts and you don’t have to settle for Dynasty nor expect disaster. 

North Korea fires ICBM’s into the atmosphere brazenly chest thumping it’s nuclear missile capabilities while it’s half brother, the good twin to the South prepares to light the Winter Olympic torch?
 
The Winter Olympics are being held in a country whose neighbor has the U.S. cutting all international diplomatic ties. A slalom, speed skater edged, snowboarded up dose of disaster that is our foreign policy.
 
Are we luging our way down the icescape into the best international snowball fight in the history of…hey! Yes! A snowball fight! That would be much more fun than nuclear war. 38th Parallel SNOWBALL fight! We could put the gloves on!
 
In the age of global warming what better way to cool the diplomatic tensions than a SNOWBALL fight! I believe it would cut our defense budget significantly and give our military an amazing showcase to design, plan and have privatized troops build snow forts which would be a welcome relief after years of HESCO bag-sand-filling.
 
The Russians can take their steroid-frenzied athletes and dig snow caves and carve ice statues and maybe we could have an American contingent of cosplay ‘Game of Thrones” athletish folks liven up Olympic village. Viking sighting, anyone?
 
A taxing year comes to a close with democrats dancing around and over a pedophile’s pistol prancing, the special counsel’s menu of mayhem feeding swamp beasts as the migration of refugees and homeless wear down their soles. We took a knee effortfully, unable to rebuild the island formerly known as integrity on the back of Bitcoin bracing for a market crash like a wind-gusted ski jumper tilted every so slightly right. Or left.
 
The middle ground could be Gore-Tex gloved combatants in an international snowdown taking the “gore” out of war for 2018.  Soohorang getting all Snoopy, handing out snow cones so everyone could just chill all the while indoctrinating innocent children into the social media land-escape.
 
I’m tired of watching asses do their best impression of being asses. Bring on winter and a healthy dose of international competition and relations and understanding. Drug free ofcourse as we have enough international doping going on.

​Marshall Mathers’ freestyling for the BET Hip Hop Awards conversation has been consumed by his target, Trump. But the key to his verbal veracity comes at 43 seconds, commenting at 45 seconds, “I’m ‘a stop.” His thought of denigrating and subordinating women was halted. Not tongue tied on this timely message is a progression that should be duly noted by fans and modern-day masculinity alike.
 
If Eminem holds to his word - For real, if his message of misogyny has ceased, if responsibility has been taken, his target - Trump, could learn much more from his lyrical assault by what was purposely left unsaid. POTUS is bad at “presidenting.” That’s what I am calling what he does. Inspired by my wife referring to me watching football and baseball and playing lacrosse as “sportsing.” That’s my favorite wifeism.
 
I like sportsing. In this generation of trophy participation prodigies I hold strong to the belief there is nothing more important than being part of a team or being coachable or understanding how to handle success and failure. POTUS does not wish to be part of a team or worse he has decided that his team is a much smaller segment of that which makes up Team USA. This continues to stun the entertain-news poster children as they repeat his words and continue to sew discord by opining on POTUS’ posturing.
 
Words matter. Mathers' words have been helpful, hopeful and hurtful to this now forty-something that grew up on the bass beats of hip-hop. Every decade seems to define a new lesson. It is unbelievable to me that the timeline holds true but ten years holds the key to the next nugget of knowledge no matter what you hear from those already there. You need to feel it for yourself. You need to get old to find out.
 
It seems that there is a generation of old men that have learned nothing. They continue to suppress and exploit those who do not wish to be compelled by this so-called white male birthright. It is no longer okay. This white knuckling of power is not okay. It is not okay to imprison, to subvert, to abuse. This is no longer a country for old men and we are all better off for it. From a practical standpoint, from an economic standpoint it’s straight up stupid to stand fast to segregated solutions.
 
Trump, Sessions, Weinstein, Mathers – one of these is not like the other. Was once but is no longer. Take a stand to make all those stronger. Another decade demonizing, falsifying fallacies of minorities. To all the shorties, we will stand up. Support. We got your back. Not looking back but to be clear, noted we will no longer stay there. #ForcedRhymeForever for all of us over forty need to come clean so that the thirty, twenty, ‘tween and babies will control this scene with compassion and prosperity for all.