WHERE TO FROM HERE

It is almost two weeks since our election and some of the candidates that lost haven't given up yet. I suppose that is alright if you truly believe when you are defeated by a large number of votes and you believe that there is no way you can lose then you fight for everything you can. I also believe that when the world tells you that you are a loser at some point you have to believe you are a loser!

Losing isn't the worst thing that can happen. It's possible that you could go to Costco and not find a parking place. Well, you can find that parking place but you might have to walk for half a block. Some people park that far away because they think they need exercise and that walking around Costco isn't enough walking. I was an Infantry Officer, I know about walking but that was 50 years ago. I now walk because I need to exercise my cane.

I was at Costco yesterday to get a few things. I am one of the older members in the area that I live in. Certainly in age, but also as a member of Costco. I just turned 36 years as a member of Costco, November 1986 was when I joined. I was a member of the Price Club for a couple of years before that. Back when I joined Costco we used to go to Price Club and then to Costco, it was a good Saturday. It was great because the two stores had many of the same things but they had different things as well and that was why we shopped both.

It's no fun anymore. I find I only shop at Costco and the Commissary. When I need something special I go to Home Depot because they have a greater selection than Costco and I don't have to wait until the next day for Amazon to deliver whatever it is to me in one or two days. Also, Home Depot offers a 10% discount to vets! Yes, I do shop at Amazon for those things I need and can't find at Costco because they always have what I am looking for. Their prices aren't as good as Costco but they do have a greater selection and sometimes the selection is what I am looking for.

The prices are better at Costco than at any place I can think of. Selection isn't great unless you are looking for different bagels, then you have 4 different bagels you can choose from. If you want an item delivered it sometimes costs a little more from Costco than shopping in the store but they are still cheaper than anyone else around. One of the first jobs I had when I was put out of the Army back in 1979, was as a consultant working for a guy by the name of Jason Jennings. The firm became one of the largest, according to them, broadcast forms in the world.

Jason used to say that when we hit the turn of the century there would only be 4 companies selling retail. I'm glad he was wrong! There are at least 5 companies doing business today, however, Jason wasn't far off. So many of the businesses doing business today are owned by other businesses that it is hard to know who you are dealing with. I found that I had a hard time working for anyone other than myself. That is why I got a Brokers license so I didn't have to work for someone else. I also didn't have to split what I made with anyone else.

In the real estate business, if you work for someone else, a broker, he gets half of what you make. If you have a sales license you have to work for someone else, so no matter how good you are you still only get half of what you make. I never understood why anyone would put themselves in a position to split their hard work with someone just because they are afraid to go into business for themselves. Sure you are taking a chance that you could go broke but if you are good enough and you believe you can make it on your own then you need to go for it.
 

I tried to get a salesman's license but the company I was working for couldn't find a broker to license me. That's why I took the courses and got my Broker's license. I felt it better that I should be the boss and have a bunch of people working for me paying me half of what they made rather than the other way around. I was also able to walk away from the business when I thought the business became a rip-off and people were going to go to jail because of the way loans were being produced. I determined it wasn't worth my license or my going to jail to follow the herd and do the type of loans that were being done in the middle 2000s.

I still don't understand why a lot of people didn't go to jail at that time. There was a banking crisis that was caused by the guys and gals running the banks. There was a banking crisis because of the type of loans people were licensed to do loans were allowed to do. There was a banking crisis because people like me that could have done something to stop the crisis didn't because they determined that there were not enough cells to lock up all the people that should have been locked up. Then there were the people like me who determined people were going to jail and it wasn't going to be them like it wasn't going to be me.

It seems the good people got out of the business back then. The people that took the chance that they wouldn't go to jail for the loans they were doing are still there. They made a lot of money and almost brought the country down. They are still in charge and they are bigger than ever. The loans are the way they were when I got into the business, the lies are still happening and a new banking crisis will happen again because of greed. There can be no free ride for borrowers, they need to qualify for the loan they get. That doesn't mean they need to buy a loan that is fixed for 30 years. Only a fool buys that kind of loan. Why do you ask? Because only a fool doesn't refinance when the borrower has the chance and gets a lower interest rate and lower payment.

We have just passed through Black Friday and are heading to Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday will be the biggest Monday shopping in the history of the internet. More business will be done tomorrow than any Black Friday. Like everything else, it will provide a platform to do business, a lot of business. Amazon will hit records as will Costco Online, Walmart Online, and lots of other online companies. Some people will get ripped off because they get deals that are not the deals they thought they were getting because the companies offering the deals really don't exist.

Today I have been all over. It was a good day to have been all over all kinds of things. I will always be grateful for being too mean to have died over Thanksgiving 1970. I made it through another Thanksgiving weekend. I expect to make it through a lot more Thanksgiving weekends because I am too mean to die!

I am getting ready to shop online at Amazon and will let you know how I did.