Good News for Wisconsin Handgunners

I was very happy to see this email from my State Assembly Representative. There is currently a bill in both houses of the Wisconsin State Congress to repeal the outdated and utterly useless 48 hour waiting period for handgun purchases.

There is simply no logic in a waiting period law. Like Wisconsin in the 1970's some states put them in place to allow time for background checks. But now with nearly instant verification, there is no need.

Sadly some state have put similar laws in place recently with the idiotic notion that it would give someone time to "cool off" before committing a crime. They laws were actually sold on the premise that a person who doesn't own a gun will become enraged enough to kill someone, go to a store, buy a gun with the sole purpose of a predetermined murder. Then while waiting a predetermined amount of time by the State, will calm down and decide not to kill.

Have you ever heard of someone going to a LGS to buy a handgun, purchase it, then call back within two days to say they changed their mind and no longer want the gun? Absolutely stupid reasoning. But then again, people think a "no firearms allow" sticker on a door will stop a determined cold blooded killer when the already existing punishments for murder will not.

At any rate, I'm glad to see my State politicians are working on removing useless laws that infringe upon my rights. It does not make any since that currently I can walk into any place that sells non-NFA rifles or shotguns, lay my money on the counter, complete the required background check paper work and walk out the door with it; but have to come back 48 hours later for a pistol.

On Wisconsin!

Hopefully Brian Williams Loses His Job

So it's starting to look like it's very likely Brain Williams will lose his job for being a liar.  He made up a story to make himself look better. That's all it is, and he just might lose his job over it. I am fine with this.

He wasn't swapping stories in the company break room with coworkers about what they did over the weekend. He was telling a national audience that he was part of a newsworthy event. Now if he simply told some friends his story, I couldn't care less nor would anyone else. But a completely made up tale is not someone who's job is to convey accurate, creditable information to the public should be conveying to the public.

Someone in that position needs to be held to higher standards. The very position they have causes people to trust the information they present to them is truthful and accurate. If someone in that position betrays the public's trust by telling them a fictional tale of being aboard a military helicopter that was forced to make an emergency landing due to being fired on in a warzone; that person needs to lose his job. Immediately.

Hopefully Brian Williams loses his job in the very near future for blatantly lying to the public for his own gain. Then hopefully we start holding our politicians to the same standards we hold Brian Williams to.

Cake!

I'll admit it. I find humor in some people's failures. Epically when a devious and or manipulative plan falls apart. Like what happened recently at work.

During a late morning manager's meeting, a person in attendance made a comment about it being the General Manager's birthday. Not being one to miss an opportunity to kiss up, one of the managers hatched a plan to have a little surprise birthday party for the GM that very afternoon.

I found out about this by the meeting request that came in my email right before I left my desk for lunch. "Surprise Birthday Party for GM in the training room at 2:00pm." When I came back from lunch, the meeting was canceled with the message "there will be cake for whoever wants it at 3:00pm." This is where the comedy sets in.

A little while ago I mentioned on this blog about me buying a co-worker a Mountain Dew as a thank you for him going out of his way for a project of mine. The point I was trying to make with that blog post was even small gestures of appreciation or kindness can go a long way, as long as they are sincere. Gestures of appreciation or kindness done solely for personally can backfire on you quickly.

Here's a link to it, in case you're really bored and want to read it:

Simple Little Things Add Up

This is a good example of the later. The Manager who took it upon himself to throw the surprise party couldn't care less about celebrating the GM's birthday. He was simply wasn't going to miss an opportunity to look good in front of his boss.

At work we all know this for it is the standard mode of operation for this particular manager, and everyone sees through it. There was nothing sincere about this, his history shows this clearly. It was also clearly shown by the fact that the GM's birthday is in June, not January. If the Manager was sincere, you'd think he would have picked up on that sometime over the last 12 or so years the two have worked together. Especially when birthdays are announced monthly in the company newsletter emails.

But the main thing I got out of this little life lesson is this: there was a lot of birthday cake to be had six months before it should have been shared. And now the opportunist manager is pretty much obligated to come through is more cake in June!



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Think I figured out why middle aged teachers really hate Gov. Walker

Now that, thankfully, Mitt Romney has confirmed he is not running for President in 2016, more attention is being put on some of the lesser nationally known contenders for the GOP side of the race. Predictably, with some national attention being directed to Wisconsin Governor Walker, middle aged Wisconsin public school teachers are outraged.

I thought for a long time that their angst against our Governor was purely because with Walker's budget reforms, they had to personally contribute more to their union pensions and the State was going to put less in. That really shouldn't be a big deal in my opinion, but then again I'm a  fan of Dave Ramsey and follow the principles of his book: The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. If you're a middle aged school teacher, you should be at the point in your life where you're putting 15% of your income towards retirement. If you have to put more into your union pension, you just put less in your Roth IRA and your budget is not affected.

But Walker's reforms are working, and I didn't see why they middle aged teachers are still being so spiteful, until I realized a trend in comments left on Facebook posts about Walker. They all like to make fun of him for his lack of education and while there is no proof, claim he has gotten where he has due solely to corruption.

Yesterday the light bulb clicked on for me to the root cause of their spite: their education and where they are at in life. They are comparing their personal education, career paths, and how much they've achieved in life to him; and they come up short on the achievement end. That's where jealousy sets in.

They look at themselves and see a person with a Masters Degree, who pays their union dues, who works hard everyday and pays their share of taxes. They live a honest hard working life, yet they still have student loan debt, a mortgage, and other debts & bills that keep them from living in prosperity.

Then they look at Scott Walker. A guy who drops out of college yet becomes very successful at business and now very successful in politics.  They see a man who has become very wealthy and powerful in a short time without a higher education.

Then they look at themselves again, a person with a higher education who has worked hard for many years and is struggling to get by. They've done everything right and honestly with little to show. So when someone succeeds wildly without doing exactly what they've done, they can only assume he did it dishonestly. While there is logic to that thought, the spiteful middle aged school teachers leave a major factor out of their thinking.

The private sector does not work the way the public sector works. In the public sector the longer you've been there and the more degrees you have, the higher you go. In the private sector, degrees & seniority can help, but the harder and smarter you work the higher you go. This concept can be completely lost on a person, who for all practical purposes, have never left the classroom.

I've seen this in my personal life. I know first hand a few self-made millionaires who got there by starting their own business and working their asses off. Personally I doubt I'll ever make it to that level, but I do not live paycheck to paycheck, and if I continue my modest yet comfortable lifestyle I will be able to retire early with dignity. All with a meager 2 year degree.

Of course not everyone can achieve that. You need the right skills, the right ideas, the right opportunity and a huge pile of luck. But the most important things you need the drive, the focus, the desire to work for it. Most of us don't have that, but all of us can make excuses and be jealous of those who do.



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If you're bored enough to read more of my political rants & ramblings here are some of my favorites:
Can we recall the candidates?
Mr. President, We Are Listening
Solving The World's Problems, One At A Time: Same Sex Marriage