Bucket List Item #23: Death Star & Football

bucket list

A list of things to do before you die. Comes from the term "kicked the bucket". (from Urban Dictionary) I got to check off an item from my bucket list...albeit not like skydiving, or climbing Mt. Whitney (I have no desire), or visiting the Taj Majal...nonetheless, this was a [twice or three times in a lifetime list item]. Since I live relatively close to Dallas, I wouldn't consider it once-in-a-lifetime.   There it is, the Death Star...Cowboy Stadium...Jerry's World Barbara and I took a weekend trip to Dallas to initially see the Chicago Bears v. Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, but we (I) impulsively got tickets to the Texas Rangers v. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday.  The Angels won 5-4 thanks to Tori Hunter's top of the 9th 2-run double. So we got on our Bears gear: me (Throwback Mike Singletary #50) and Barbara (Walter Payton #34). At first, I was hesitant of wearing opposing colors to the Boyz home, but good friend and hard-core Cowboys fan Mark, assured me no sweat. He was right. If I would guess, Bears nation represented about 30% of the 100,000 in attendance. That's crazy!  Bear Nation! 4th quarter - most Boyz fans left the blowout leaving 30,000 Bear fans. After 2 1/2 quarters, the Bears started the blowout with a defense that forced 5 Tony Romo interceptions and 2 pick sixes(interception return for TD). It was absolutely crazy, with Bear nation goin wild  and Cowboy nation pissed off. Did I mention that the scoreboard-TV is freakin' awesome? Something like 60 yards long with 1080p 120hz viewing pleasure. Well all I can say is "Wow!" What an amazing sports venue. I'm sure no other stadium can match Jerry's World. If there is, let me know.  Good for Jerry, good for Dallas. I'm impressed.

Facebook, Friends, & Politics...Arghhh (*sigh)

Like many of you, I have many FB friends from high school, college, and other sorts of acquaintance-types of interactions over the years. I think it's cool, even flattering, that some of these people  - who I haven't spoken or seen in twenty-plus years - want to be friends with me.

Some are teachers, construction workers, firefighters, poker players, and so on. It's pretty neato to read up on their lives...even kind of weird b/c I know more about them in this virtual world than I knew about them in the real world. What I find intriguing, especially during election years, is the way in which their political convictions come out...whether they simply state their political party in the profile page - or "like" a particular candidate - or share a particular political link - or [squinting my eyes] spout out vitriol against a candidate or party.

How many times have you opened your News Feed to find posts like:
"F*ck the Republican Party!" or "Sarah Palin is an idiot" or "OBAMA - One big a$$ mistake America" or "The last time Republicans supported a man this stupid (Romney), he actually won (Bush)" or "... is rather disgusted..woohoo let’s socialize medicine and tax the rich more and just give even more welfare to the lazy Americans!" and so on and so on.

What makes me either silence, block, or unfriend someone faster than Usain Bolt running 100 meters is when these FB friends start ranting about their party, candidate, or whatever as if they were trying to change my 42 year old mind (2o of which have been convicted in political beliefs) by showing me data tables, video links to hate mongerers like Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Bill Maher, Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and those other comedian/pundit/anchors knuckleheads. (Wow, I didn't realize how many people treat some of these people like the end-all be-all of news reporting).

I recently unfriended a HS acquaintance for posting the most vitriolic, racist, angry rant basically saying that if you didn't support Obama, he (former FB friend) does not want to associate with you and does not care one way or the other if you unfriend him. Wow! So in a room full of 100 of your friends, you will essentially alienate yourself and de-friend from 50 of them because they don't align themselves with your left-wing liberal viewpoint? Dang, I thought I knew you better than that. I guess I was wrong.

If you fall into the category I just described, I simply look at you as a demagogue - one who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument. I don't think you're an idiot. I don't: I just think you're starting to come off like one.

I truly believe that your opinions are well-reasoned and I respect your passion and convictions...But your FB statuses are like your personal slogans, and every time you post one, you add to your public schema and run the risk of causing every statement you make to seem trivial, childish, and naive. Rather than coming across as knowledgeable and well-educated, you come across as simply a demagogue.  

Here's my take: (and listen (or read) to me carefully)...'cause I care about you all. The author of this blog is a registered Independent. I choose to be a free-thinker regarding any/all political issues whether fiscal, foreign affairs, social, or any other important issue in our society. I do not need a political party's talking points to sway my vote. I do not need YOU to sway my vote nor do I need to read your biased, mean-spirited takes on Mr. Obama, Mr. Romney, the Congress, Mr. Ryan, or Mr. Biden. I will vote based on my personal beliefs and convictions (from 20+ years of quantitative/qualitative data collection) whether it comes from aligning with a talking point from the Left or a talking point from the Right. I will vote what I think is best for my family, city, county, state, and Nation. 

If I have not "liked" or commented on one of your FB posts recently, I either didn't read it {as I try not to peruse FB on a regular basis}, or don't deem your post worthy of "like" or comment, or I silenced you! Whichever one it is, please respect my perspective, as I have respected your rants by not contributing to it.

This message is approved by Jay Caballero, Ed.D.

A Swing to Emulate

My swing coach hipped me to this video. Notice how still Tiger's legs are as he generates the torque in his hips. I take special notice to his left shoulder as to how far it is rotated beyond his chin. I've been doing exercises to increase the flexibility in my hips and shoulders in order to generate that type of shoulder turn. Not that I'd ever get to that level, but I believe the shoulder turn is vital in everything associated with a solid swing.

Start of Something Big

On Wednesday, escrow closed on my first real estate investment purchase since I moved to Vegas. I look at this as the start of something big. The way this house was purchased was a story in itself. I will document the story in a future blog post.
This property might be primed for a wholesale flip...and I am biting my lip about the opportunity to flip this house, but...given the various factors surrounding this property, I will use a different exit strategy and look long-term on this investment.

Here are the factors:
1) This property is located on a street directly behind the Clark County Civic Center which includes the City Hall, Police Department, and Detention Center. The entire Civic Center block that houses the city agencies once inhabited residential houses, similar to the one I just purchased. After speaking with the previous owner, he believed the block that contained my house would eventually submit to eminent domain. That crossed my mind prior to having that conversation. If that'd be the case, ca-ching! 2) Regardless of eminent domain potential, the location is conducive to commercial zoning. I will look into this possibility and hopefully can use the property for commercial use i.e. Bail Bonds, Sandwich Shop, Day Care, etc. Of course, commercial zoning equates to higher leasing rates as compared to a residential rental property, 3) However, if the commercial zoning is not a possibility, the rental income potential can yield a ROI (Return on Investment) of 20%, which means positive cash flow of $800/month and full investment return in 4.5 years.

So as you can see I'm excited about the possibilities of this property. This week, my partner Cisco (CD), will start a simple rehab on the property i.e. paint, flooring, and window treatments. I already have a tenant lined up for October 1. And while all this has been happening, I partnered up with a Realtor that will be my exclusive agent to find more investment properties for wholesale flipping potential.

What's outside the box?

As I write this, I reflect on my recent [voluntary] exit from 15 years as a professional educator in the public school system...I can probably write a book on my experience but I'll save it for another day [year].

On Monday, I will sign final papers to close escrow on a home I bought about 30 days ago from the seller, a multi-millionaire CEO of Vegas Fasteners Manufacturers who supply General Electric and the United States Navy with customized nuts and bolts for turbines, submarines, and aircraft carriers. Pop the cherry---this is my first real estate investment purchase in Vegas since moving here in June. Here's to many more!...I digress.

My point is: six months ago I was managing [and more importantly leading] an elementary school through the rigors of testing, accountability, curriculum, fiscal, evaluations, parent involvement, and so on..you name it. Today I am starting a sister company (Hope PCA, LLC) to the already existing home health company (Hope Home Health, LLC) in which I serve as its chief operating officer. In addition I have created a real estate investment company called MLK Homes, with a vision of buying, selling, rehabbing, and renting residential and commercial property in Las Vegas. But when it's all said and done, my true passion gravitates toward creating and performing music on the piano. This is a simplified  summary, as the aforementioned was a process that took time and effort. Any way you look at it, I took a risk and stepped out of my comfort zone...a nice career in education with a handsome salary...in order to invest for me and my family's future. But it didn't come without naysayers questioning my decisions...and some of these people were my close friends and family.

Although these people were passively discouraging my decisions, I tended to give them the benefit of doubt probably because I knew they were looking out for my best interests...doing it for my own good. You know what, though? The average teacher or accountant probably does have more financial security than the average jazz pianist or artist, but I firmly believe that to feel truly accomplished should mean that you are doing something that matters to you.

Playing it safe, collecting a paycheck, or taking the path of least resistance is safe and irresistible. It is staying inside the box. So I had to ask myself, "Is doing something 'for my own good' really 'for my own good' if it causes me to be less than who I really am?"

My Take on the book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Just finished reading this 540 pager by Walter Isaacson, former CEO of CNN and Times Magazine managing editor. Perfect timing as Apple officially announced the iPhone5 this week and will unleash it to the public on September 21st. BTW, this was the first product launch without Steve Jobs since his passing last year. Here are some highlights, or rather "my take" of the book:

His Leadership

Authoritarian, autocratic, dictatorial, charismatic...one could ask "how can these type of leadership styles spawn a company that revolutionized 21st century technologies and accumulated over 40 billion dollars in revenue over his tenure?" Don't most schools of leadership promote a democratic approach? delegatory? participative?collaborative? in order to promote a healthy and productive organization?  According to the author, although Apple's culture was often steeped in fear, intimidation, and uneasiness, Jobs created a culture in which collaboration was essential to bringing out people's creativity and imagination. His team took ownership of the products they produced. They believed in what they were creating and did not cut corners in the process. 

His Personality

Jobs had what the author described as a reality distortion field (RDF), which was the ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement, and persistence. Jobs would often give a project deadline of say, 2 weeks, which (in the employee's reality) was not possible. They needed 6 months. Long story short, they met the deadlines albeit working 18 hour days. Steve Jobs had a temper. He would often berate employees in public if he did not believe their work was meeting his expectations...such as "this is shit!" referring to a particular design or idea. Jobs considered the time in his life that he was on acid extremely important in his development because it provided him with a state of enlightenment that he had never experienced before. "Definitely, taking LSD is one of the most important things in my life." He was heavily into eastern spirituality, Zen Buddhism, and Hinduism. Jobs told Isaacson that he was "50/50" on the existence of God, and that he wasn't sure whether there was an afterlife. But he was hopeful, he said, that something would endure after death.

His Family

He fathered an illegitimate child that he originally denied having with his first girlfriend, Chris-Ann Brennan. The daughter, Lisa, is about 36 years old today. It is safe to say that she had a tenuous relationship with her father over the years up to his passing. Jobs had three children with his widow, Laurene Powell: Reed, Eve, and Erin. He took Reed under his wings, but it was wrote that he kind of shunned the two daughters. Steve admitted regret in not being a better father to his children.

His Products

This book chronicles the tension between Jobs and his competitors such as IBM, HP (to some extent), Adobe, Disney (in particular, Michael Eisner), and of course, Bill Gates and Microsoft. During Job's tenure, Apple released the following products that played a major role in defining 21st century technologies: Apple I, Apple II, Lisa, Macintosh, G3, iMac, OSX, Intel/Mac Pro, MacBook, iPod, iPod Touch, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Pixar Studios - Toy Story franchise, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WallE, Up, and Brave. It was noted that Pixar's 10 year run between 1995 and 2005 out-performed and out-grossed Disney Animation Studio ten fold. This was a major factor in the tension between Jobs and Eisner.

My Favorite Quips

Ron Wayne, an early friend from the Atari years, declined to invest $1500 in Apple because it was too risky. His $1500 investment in the year 2010 would have been worth 2.6 billion dollars. He now lives in Pahrump, NV. 

Daniel Kottke, an early friend from the Reed College-LSD-Hinduism days, and an early Apple computer engineer, was not offered stock options when Apple went public in 1980. Although he was a spiritual friend of Jobs, Jobs did not believe Daniel was worthy of stock options. It was rumored that Jobs denied him stock because he felt betrayed that Kottke offered Chris-Ann a shoulder to cry on after her split with Jobs.

In 1980, Jobs spoke to a class of Stanford business students and after submitting to a dull and predictable barrage of questions about the worth of Apple stocks, he asked, "How many of you are virgins? How many of you have taken LSD?"

Jobs on Bill Gates - "Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he's more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology...He just shamelessly ripped off other people's ideas...He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

My final take

Although I am not totally aligned with his leadership style, temperament, and disposition, I believe he was one of the most influential people of our lifetime. It is hard to deny the impact that Apple and Pixar products have played, and will continue to play, in our society. I can't think of one company that puts out a product with so much hype and anticipation as Apple products. I can't imagine the scene when the iPhone 5 is released to the public on September 21, 2012. And more importantly, the products are creative, detailed, clean and pure...right down to the packaging. That's the way Steve wanted it. He was a perfectionist, right down to the inner parts not seen by the user...even at the cost of denigrating and alienating the people around him. Steve Jobs was probably an asshole, jerk...the kind of guy you would just want to kick his ass...geez, the guy parked in handicap spots with no remorse (RDF). But when it's all said and done, this "asshole" had a vision to create a company that intersected the liberal arts and technology...when no other company had that kind of vision...and did so with flying colors.

Disclaimer: I switched to Apple products in 2010 when I purchased the first iPad. Since then I have switched my PC to an iMac, Samsung phone to iPhone, Zune player to iPod Touch, and have recently purchased an Apple TV....