BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

31Jan/170

Cali

So... tonight I had a phone call with some people in Cali.  It was a good convo.  I basically was poking around to see what I was allowed and not allowed... It's much more clear now.

Basically I can't "borrow" money from my trust.  I can't leverage capital either.  I can't really do much but let them hold it and invest it, and then I get income from it...

So there's that.  Hey, I mean, I'm not complaining.  That's fine with me!

Anyways so yeah.  The phone call was good times though, the two guys I spoke with were super nice and friendly and funny.  So, it's all good.

They did however invite me to come hang out for lunch.  I'm down for that.  It's an excuse to hit up the west coast.  So, I told them I would definitely take them up on that offer, and I plan to as well.

Let's see, what else.  Well... I got into a swing trade yesterday with my own personal funds.  I'm anticipating like a 3 or 5 day hold time.  We'll see... Here's the thing that you learn about swing trades...

Okay, first off, my swing trade is at 100 shares.  I did blog about a 1000 share trade... Obviously, I'm just not ready for that yet.  I don't know if I'll ever be.  Timing the market is kind of a crazy thing.  Even the best of the best get it wrong.

Now, even though there are technical indicators, they don't always hold true.  Sometimes the market can move in strange ways...

Here's why I always trade long.  I can hold... I can sit and hold.  And hold.  And hold.  Here's also why I trade dividend stocks... Income.  If I am wrong about the trade, I can still receive some kind of positive cashflow from the investment.

So, yeah.  We'll see how the trade goes.  If it doesn't swing, I'll still hold it.  I'll just collect my dividend from it.

Anyways, besides my investments... I've decided to take a break from dating and try to focus on music.

And also focus on drinking more coffee and tea.  Because, I'm just big on coffee and tea lately.... And fancy cheeses... That's another big thing at the moment.

You know, I don't think I'll ever really be successful with anything, books, music, whatever...

I mean, one of my family friends just won top prize at Sundance for his documentary.  I'm super happy for him.  But to be fair, he's in NYC.  He does a LOT of stuff.  He lives and breathes movie making.  He also studied at NYU and such.

I mean, I'm going to keep making music.  I'm going to keep writing these books, and hopefully finish this first one soon.  I'm also going to keep with my own personal investing and such.  Try to get better and better at my long term portfolio and additionally with my short term technical swing trades too.

But here's the thing... As I said tonight in my phone call with the west coast... When I think about my life priorities...

I'm 34... My priorities now are different from when I was 24, or 14, or 4.

So, when I'm 44... My priorities will be vastly different and again when I'm 54 and when I'm 64... Etc. etc.

The thing is... I probably don't even know anything about what I'll be in the thick of at 44...

Like, I have yet to even cross paths with people.  I have yet to even connect and work with people that who knows... what sort of things will be in my life at that point.  But one thing we decided was... I want this money to be there.  I want this money to last.  And I want to know it's like a safe bet if I do need it.  And then on top of that, just knowing I have that income to fall back on or help me out is comforting.

SO, maybe I can't like borrow the trust to go into the real estate business and start renting out apartments that I've bought.  Or maybe I can't self publish my book, or buy a music studio or something with it...

But, that's probably a good thing.  Starting any business, or making any kind of business investment is risky.

Sometimes it's better to just let the professionals handle that.

I do however still have my own little investment portfolio which I can use to play with.

Anyways... The part I was just really thinking about the most was when I said about the 10 year timeframe priorities... which is true.  Even 5 year time frames.  My life will definitely be very different 5 years from now than it is now, just as it's very different than it was 5 years ago.

But hey, you know, I'm happy to just kind of float in the river of time and see where I go next.  I'm happy to just come home after work and work on my music and books and what not.  And I'm happy to do my own little investing and trading.  And maybe what I thought was going to be an overnight swing trade, will turn into a 6 month hold for dividends trade.

But that's how life is... Have to be prepared for the unexpected.  Because that's the more likely scenario anyways... Expect the unexpected and you'll probably be more prepared than if things had gone how you'd thought they would go.

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30Jan/170

Project Blue Balls

So, we all know Trump fired Sally Q. Yates not because she didn't do what he wanted her to do.  He fired her because she's a woman... and Donald Trump is a misogynist.

Also, we all know this is never actually going to happen.  But it's an interesting idea to think about.  I mean, I'd be willing to bet after enough time, all men would finally give in and not care about who the president is and would be happy to impeach Trump.

The project is... Project Blue Balls.  #ProjectBlueBalls.

Basically, the idea is,  all women just join together and blue ball their men.  All boyfriends and husbands... No more sex from their significant other until they agree to impeach Trump.

That's it.  Done.

I didn't include same sex couples because, let's be honest, none of them voted Trump.  There's just no way any of them did.  And if you did... What the actual heck?

Anyways...

It won't take long really.  I'd give it a few weeks.  And after a few weeks... Men wouldn't care who was in the office as long as they got some action.  They'd agree to impeach Trump REAL quick just to get laid.

No lie.  I can tell you right now, it would be VERY effective.  But, it's ONLY effective if ALL WOMEN come together.  They have to stand in solidarity with one another against men.

Again, it would never happen... But it's an interesting idea.  What would happen, what would women be able to achieve just by withholding sex?  Just pick an issue...

#ProjectBlueBall until women win out.

Maybe after Trump is impeached... They find another sexist issue to fight.  You know?  Just use the one thing that men want most in this world... Against them, to get what women want.

It's an interesting idea, but it would never happen.  Still an interesting idea though.

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29Jan/170

Night Terror

Had a really crazy horrible night terror last night.  It was about my mom.  Every so often I have a dream that she's alive and then she's upset that everyone thinks she has died.  And I have to explain to her that she really DID.  And then in the dream she tried to tell me that won't fly with her and is unacceptable and that she needs to go back to work.  And I have to explain to her that she can't work because she's no longer alive.  And then she gets super frustrated.

Last night's was different though.  It was weird, I was like being forced into these rooms that looked like hospital rooms by people who were on some kind of evil side, and then people on a good side would kind of appear to help me escape.

So, it was like, I didn't know who was on the side of good and who was on the side of trying to capture me and put me back inside these rooms.

It's hard to explain.

Dreams are like that.

And then at some point it involved me spilling bottles of wine and trying to clean that up and then there were people that thought the red wine was blood and I was trying to explain to them it was only spilled wine and not blood.

Anyways then I was like taken to this new room and then someone was trying to help me escape again... and then there was a hospital bed, and it had someone under a sheet.  And then a nurse came in and took the sheet off and it was my mom.... But then she started moving, and the nurse was just like... "That's normal... She's dead, but sometimes there's movement after death."  Then she started to like sit up and try to talk... And then I just started to cry and ask the nurse if she could do anything... And she said she couldn't.  And then I was just like screaming that she was still alive, but the nurse was saying that she was dead.  And my mom just tried to crawl out of the bed.

Then I kind of woke up breathing heavily.  I was also crying in real life.

I mean, I know it's just a dream... But sometimes dreams seem very realistic.

Anyways... So yeah.  Night terrors are definitely no good.

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27Jan/170

More Bacon

Today... I had Wawa for lunch.  It was on Wawa.

Sweet.

Well... I mean, not that it's REALLY all that big of a deal.

So, Wawa gave me a 10 dollar gift card.  Which, I didn't actually want.  That wasn't the point of me emailing them.  See, there was a bacon mishap at one of their stores.  I ordered a turkey hoagie and added bacon.  I didn't get bacon.

So, I decided to email them the exact details.  They sent me an apology letter and included a gift card.

I don't want money thrown at me.

I want someone to follow up with the employee, or the company wide policies or procedures that allowed the mistake to happen  in the first place!

Don't just send me a 10 dollar gift card and hope that will make it all better.

Hey, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth... But, I don't need 10 dollars.  Trust me.  10 dollars in the form of a free gift card isn't going to do it for me.

I want you to run your company well.  I want your employee to care about the work they are doing... and I want mistakes NOT to be made.

I want systems implemented that catch mistakes.  Safety nets and checks and balances put in place to stop something that might lead to someone paying for something but not getting what they paid for.

Anyways... It was nice of them to reach out like that.  But, I just hope they review their employee and maybe figure out how they can motivate that employee, or better work with the employee so they don't wrap up the sandwich and place it on the "ready for pick up" area of the counter when it wasn't a complete product ready to ship.

Anyways, those were my thoughts on that.  I double checked my sandwich in the parking lot and there was definitely bacon on the sandwich with this order.  So, it seems all is well with the Wawa ordering process, at least for this specific order versus the previous one.

I had also gone to Whole Foods the night after my bacon mishap on my burger and they refunded me the entire cost of the burger.  Again, I had discussed with them my concerns and the middle aged woman simply stared at me blankly and said... I can only refund you for the full price of the burger, and that's about it.

I just feel like my concerns are falling on def ears of unenthused employees.  And that's the entire problem.  We have an entire workforce of people who don't care about their jobs.  They just work, like zombies but without any kind of passion.  And that's not how work is supposed to be.  You should feel like you fill a purpose...

Well, I guess I'll get off my digital soapbox for now.  Maybe work passion is a topic for another blog post.

Anyways... Yes, Wawa gave me a gift card, and Whole Foods gave me a refund, which, like Wawa, I used to buy another sandwich.

But it was nice to know that they do work to resolve the issue when something isn't done correctly.  So, points to both Wawa and Whole Foods on that.

Why I was missing bacon on two separate orders in the same weekend... Is beyond me.

Who knows how the universe really works.  Maybe a year from now I'll be like... If it hadn't been for the missing bacon... I never would have __________ .

Who knows.  All I know is, I've definitely received my bacon fix.  So, for now... I'm good with bacon.

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26Jan/170

Big

So, I've been doing some calculations.  I mean, really real calculations.

And... I think I've got consistent trading figured out.

We're talking small trades.  Like, a dollar per share over the course of a day or two.

I know, you're just like, big deal right?  What's the big deal of a dollar.

Well... 1 dollar can be a big deal!  If you amplify it.  So, I'm not going to discuss amounts in anything other than theory and models.

Let's use the following example....

Lets examine the stock 3m (Symbol is MMM) and how small trades could have turned into big money.

SO, we're going to look at a 30 day price movement.

3m is currently at 176.82.  That's 176.82 a share.  So, one share will cost you that amount.  10 shares costs 1768.20 and 100 shares costs 17,6820.00.  SO... what about 1000 shares?

176,820 dollars.

Wow.  Who has that kind of money though?

Eh, people do.  Trust me.  There are people that have that kind of money.  Plenty of people.

Let's say hypothetically speaking, you have 200 k to trade with...

And let's say you could have made trades on 1 stock in the last 30 days with that 200k... How much could you have made?

Let's have a look.

SO, 3m stock is our stock of choice... The amount to trade with will be 200 grand.  The trade times will be between 1 and 3 days.  Preferably the same day in and out, but holding overnight is fine because 3m is one of those stocks that just doesn't have a lot of price movement since it's considered a bluechip dividend aristocrat stock.

Now, the rule on trading that I'll be using is bottom and mid Bollinger bands.  Bollinger bands are an indicator of volatility.  It gives you a frame of reference in stock price movements.

My rule will be to buy when it taps the bottom Bollinger band and sell when it hits the mid band.

What's my possible income off that 200 grand?

So my first trade was end of day on December 28th.  A  buy at 178.30.  Then I sold the shares the next day at 178.87.

So, that's 1000 shares and 57 cents per share.  Or, 570 bucks.

Not bad for one days work.

Oh, now, before I go on, remember that there are taxes to be paid on this... and commissions.  So the actual take-home is less.  But still... For two mouse clicks?  Not bad, considering if you wanted to make 500 bucks waiting tables at 10 bucks an hour... You'd have to work 50 hours.

Okay, now let's go to our next trade.  Oh, let me stop here and say, that over this 30 day period of time, 3m is actually down 1 percent.  SO if you had just bought shares a month ago and held those shares as a buy and hold strategy instead of active trading, you'd actually have lost money.  1 percent of 178k... Or 1780 dollars.

Let's keep going...

So, our next trade has to wait... There's a 3 day waiting period for cash to settle.  So, you can't actually trade again on that same cash until it settles 3 business days later.

Actually, let's assume we don't care about the 3 day cash settle period.

Next buy and sell...

Buy 177.33 January 3rd.  Sell 178.71 on January 5th.

How much money did we make that time from our hypothetical rule based trade?

Well... If you times both prices by 1000 and then subtract the smaller number from the larger... You get the difference...

$178,710 minus $177,330...

$1,380.

That's a 2 day trade, holding on the 4th... for a net profit of 1380 bucks.

2 mouse clicks.  One buy, and one sell.  1 thousand shares in... and 1 thousand out.

Next trade.

So, the next trade is actually later on that afternoon on the 5th, so, this is a skipped trade in the real world due to the Good Faith Violation rule and trading on unsettled cash.

But let's assume maybe you had multiple lots of 200 grand to trade with... Look at you, big spender!

You buy in later that day at 177.30... then sell at 178 the very next day... another 700 bucks in your pocket.

Our next trade comes on the 10th as a buy and a sell on the 11th of January...

In at 176.50 and back out 177.30.

SO, there's what?  Another 800 overnight.

Next trade is in at 176.30 on the 12th and out later that day at 177.26.

Basically 960 bucks in one day.

The next trade then doesn't happen though until the 24th... While there are opportunities, I'm sticking with my Bollinger band strategy.  Bottom buy, mid sell.

There's a huge scary sell off all the way down to 175.50 or so... It goes up and down in that bottom there for a while before it starts to rebound again later that morning... By the next morning it crosses the mid band at 178 a share.

So, in 24 hours, the net profit was 2.50 a share... Or 2500 bucks at 1 thousand shares in and out.

Tally all that up?

And you're doing pretty well.  So, if you'd just HELD your shares for the last 30 days, you'd be down about 1700...

If you'd actively traded according to bottom and mid buy and selling...

You'd be up quite a pretty penny.

Now, let's assume that you trade all those same trades... On margin.

Margin is where you borrow capital from the investment firm to leverage your trades.  You then pay interest on the time that you have the money in the market.  So, if you trade for 24 hours, and you pay a 5 percent margin rate... 5 percent divided by 365... or 1/365th of 5 percent would be the cost you'd have to pay in margin on that borrowed money.

It's well worth it if you're right.

Assuming a 2 to 1 margin on all those trades... You just doubled your income for those 30 days.

Yeah.  That's some serious cash.

Welcome to Wall street style day trading using a boring bluechip conglomerate stock.

Oh, but you ask what happens if you're wrong and it goes down?

Could happen.  But, let's assume you even got stuck with the shares during a fairly big market correct... First off... It's 3m stock.

If you go back on the 10 year history, or even the 20 year history... 3M has been paying a dividend and increasing it EVERY single year now for 58 consecutive years.

58 years!  That means if you just don't freak out and hold your 178 grand in shares... Eventually, you'll start getting quarterly payments in the form of dividends, and every year those payments will increase.  As well, during every correction... 3m eventually recovered.

Basically, yes, you could be wrong, and you can sell out and take a small loss and then keep going...

Or, you can just hold on to your britches, collect the dividend, and wait it out until you go back into the green.

It's 3M.  The odds of 3M completely going out of business and you losing ALL your money, are fairly slim.

It's mostly about just being able to stomach the ups and downs.  But those who can... Can make some serious cash from the volatility.

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25Jan/170

The Story of The Bottle of Wine

I've come up with the most appropriate day to crack open this bottle of wine I have...

February 2nd.

I actually didn't really even realize it was right around the corner until today.  So, I've been staring at this bottle of wine that I bought for someone very specific some time ago... and just a short while ago, I made the decision to go ahead and open it up and drink it.  I found it packed away in this box recently and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I was thinking, why not just drink it?

You know... Living La Vida Loca... Or something?  Cheese the day? (Seize the day, I kept trying to type seize and this autocorrect feature I have on my laptop kept changing it to cheese, so cheese the day it is!)

It actually may not still be good though, because I was informed that wine really should be consumed even within a year of buying it, or maybe two at most.  So, who knows... I might open it, take a sip and just have to pour it down the drain... We'll see.

Anyways, I figure, I bought it all those years ago to give as a gift to this specific person who's birthday falls on February 2nd... But it never happened...

You know though, it's okay.  These things happen, or sometimes don't happen.  Love is... tough.  It's weird.  It's strange.. and it's mysterious.  But, it takes two to tango!  So if the tango never happened... There's not much that can be done about it.  Sometimes tangos don't happen!

*shrugs*

It just happens... You know?

Well anyways, I figure, I'll just kind of... Open it up... and that will be how it goes.

I bought it for her birthday, like WAAAY back in the day... and that day came and went, and now it's later on down the road, and I figure... So, I'll just kind of be like well... Here's to... just enjoying wine no matter the situation.

I guess.  But it's okay, that's how life goes.  And honestly let's say hypothetically like years from now some sort of tango did ever happen... or we were ever just back in one another's lives for one reason or another... Would she really want some old as heck wine that has probably gone bad as a birthday present?  Probably not.

I mean, hey, I can always buy more wine.  So.... as those sayings go... bottoms up... and down the hatch!

It's soo weird, the stuff I've done for that love tango...

The stuff we all do when we've got the hots for someone.  Isn't it funny?  I mean... Here I was buying this bottle of wine thinking I'd wrap it up and give it to her on her birthday.

Ah oh well... Love, right...

Maybe one of these days I'll figure out how it all goes...

For now, I think, I'm just going to play it safe and make friends with people... And just go out and have fun... Love is so serious!  It's so... I don't know... I think I need a break from it all.  Thinking about it... Searching for it.

I guess it's not actually taking a break from love because I don't have love to break from.. but you know, the search for it.  I need that break... Just let it all happen how it happens.

I think I just want to go to my Science After Hours events... Or Comedy Improv Festivals... Or just drink wine with friends.  Or go to parties...

Love is so mysterious...

I'm just going to go about my usual business for the time being.  I don't know.  The one thing I do know is... Some times, there are these few and far between people that just... Capture your attention.  And then you find yourself in a wine store picking out a bottle of wine for them to give as a gift because for some reason you're just completely all gushy just thinking about them.

It's so weird.  It's like... Who are these people that do this to us?!?!?  And how does that happen?

One moment you're going about your business and the next... You're totally like... Gaga over someone.

Right now though, I'm gaga free... I feel like I just need some time to be gaga free and just hang out with people, make friends, do fun events...

Repeat after me, gaga free is the way to be!

Just work... Make music... You know?  Write... drink lots of coffee and tea and what not... Do yoga... etc. etc.

Things are calm in my life right now... So, I think I'm just going to try and enjoy this calm.  I don't know what's up ahead...

But, I'm just kind of trying to enjoy the little things.  Like, watching a good show on Netflix, or sipping a good coffee.  Or like tonight when I stopped at a new place in town that makes tacos and got some tacos to go while I watched Netflix.

Just relaxed, and enjoyed the evening.

And that's my plan for that wine... Just relax and sip a little wine on February 2nd.

My guess is though, the wine has gone bad... But just like there was a time for me and that special someone to have dated, and it went bad... There was a time to drink this wine... And that wine has most likely passed.  I mean, maybe the wine is still good.  I guess I'll find out!

But new relationships happen just like new wines can be bought at the wine store.  Well, okay not exactly like that... it's a lot easier to go buy more wine than to find gushy love... But that's what makes love so much more valuable than a fine wine... Because you can't just go snap it up at the wine store...

It has to happen when it happens and how it happens... and then in the between time, we have the wine to drink and enjoy.

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24Jan/170

An Unexpected Email

So, at work, they send out emails to everyone about various things... You know... Like campus wide announcements.

It's usually just like, surveys, or something about construction and some road or wing is closed, or a bathroom will have no running water from this day to this day... Etc. etc.

This morning there was an email that had the title about an important announcement.  I usually click on these emails while I'm eating breakfast and just kind of skim so I know what's what for when I arrive at work.

Well so, this email informed me that one of the members of the college community didn't wake up Saturday morning.  It's super sad.  She was super young.

I guess I just kind of read it and thought... How fragile life is.

It reminded me of something similar that happened in high-school.  A girl that I was friends with just didn't wake up one morning.  This time around it's just a little different because I'm not really close with her.  I know her, I mean I don't REALLY know her.  I tried to make conversation a few times here and there but it was very fleeting.

A couple of quick words.

To be honest... She didn't seem like... very chatty, at least to me.  I just kind of took at as she was busy and had work to do.

Maybe she wasn't one for workplace idle conversation.

At any rate... I just never got a chance to know her beyond a quick hello, or helping her with a quick computery thing.

Some people are chatty... Some just aren't.

But, I do feel bad for her closer friends and family and obviously her.  She'll never get to experience you know, finding love... Maybe I'm the only one who makes that a number one priority.  For all I know most people actually fear their wedding day and would rather be alone their whole life and only are dating or end up marrying because they are supposed to or pressured to do so by their family.

I guess everyone has their own priorities right?

Well so, yeah... One of my other coworkers, also in a different department than myself, was her roomie...

I can't imagine how her mind must be at the moment.  I mean, okay, I kind of can... Because my mom was my roomie... so, I mean, I can sort of relate in that way and know what it's like to have someone that used to live in the room next to you, but they are no longer there.

Life is very rough.  It's full of curveballs and craziness and stuff most of us will never make sense of...

But yeah, I read the email and was just, taken aback I suppose... It was just unexpected.

I guess it didn't hit me AS hard because of all the stuff I've been through including losing my own mom, and losing my friend in high school.

It's just sad though, anyone that goes at a young age... It's always super sad.  It's been a bit of a somber day.

Life is short... For some it's just a little shorter than usual.

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22Jan/170

The Bacon Scam

So, in the last two days, on two separate occasions, I ordered from TWO separate places, sandwiches without bacon on them.  One, was a turkey hoagie at Wawa, which I pushed the "Add Bacon" button, but when I unwrapped the sandwich on my way up to the Comedy Improv fest in Bethlehem, there was no bacon to be found.

The second time was just tonight at Whole Foods.  I ordered bacon, and paid for it, and did not receive it.

And you're probably saying, what's the big deal?

Let's assume, that both Whole Foods and Wawa add bacon let's say, thousands of times a day at every location.  Now, let's assume that on maybe one in every 10 times, they don't add bacon.  I'm going to assume this rate is much higher since it happened to me at two separate businesses in two instances in the SAME weekend.

The odds of that are very low if this does not occur often.

SO, what happens?  Most people I'm willing to bet say, "oh well".  And that's that.  It goes unchecked.  That extra dollar or 80 cents goes right into the companies top line.

Their revenue is now showing cashflow for a product or service that was never delivered.

1 dollar here, another there.  It's possible that hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, or even millions of dollars in undelivered services are processed.

This is a boon for the company because they effectively just received money on a service not delivered.

I'm calling this The Bacon Scam.

Look for my book, The Bacon Scam, out next year.  Okay, not really, but in all honesty, how much of this bacon scam is happening around the world?  How do you know an espresso shot has been added to your Starbucks drink?  Maybe it wasn't.  You paid for it.  But how do you know?

How do you know your oil was changed when it wasn't?

Jiffy Lube actually cracked my oil pan the last time I used their services... In 2007.  I never went back.

My mom even the night before she passed away her central line cracked, where she was getting her meds.  That means they had to start rotating meds because they couldn't get any other line in her.

To me, this happens because people are either not qualified for the job, not properly trained, or the system as a whole is not properly designed.

It's a transparency issue.  Anytime you restrict any kind of view... You get mistakes and issues.  Any time you don't have complete transparency and checks and balances.  You get problems.

There needs to be better quality control on everything from sandwiches, to hospital procedures.

The Bacon Scam isn't happening because the company is TRYING to be malicious... It's a talent and HR issue.  The employees aren't properly doing their work.  Maybe it's because they just can't possibly DO the job... They might lack the skill set...

Many people are suited for different jobs, and sometimes people are just placed in jobs they aren't suited for...

The Peter Principle applies here.

But there are ways to compensate for this... For example... Wawa could implement a big flashing bright LED when someone pushes the ADD bacon button on an order.  So when someone goes to make the sandwich, the screen they are looking at to follow along could stop at a certain point and FLASH RED

ADD BACON!!! ADD BACON!!!

Or, they could use transparency packaging that is see through.  That way, a person can see the order before it is finalized.

Alternatively the person could show the sandwich to the customer BEFORE it is wrapped up to confirm it is correct.

Either way it is up to the consumer to fight and be vigilant no matter the industry or situation.  The Bacon Scam is everywhere and it's up to people to stop and check and make sure they get what it is they paid for.

After all, that extra dollar, or 80 cents adds up, or companies wouldn't do it in the first place.  If you see something, say something, and be loud about it, don't be afraid to get in people's faces.

Investigate, demand answers, be proactive, be pushy...

Because that's how problems come to light and that's how things get fixed.

Otherwise you end up paying for something that you never receive delivery on.

An update... So one of my friends just told me that her grandmom was charged extra at Sheetz, but did not receive bacon.

I'm willing to bet that The Bacon Scam is a multi million dollar industry, or possibly multi billion.  Companies possibly do it on purpose just to make the extra income betting that customers won't be bothered enough to go back to fix the order.

Employees may be told to omit this, on the hopes that the customer may over look the extra dollar, or 50, or 80 cents.

If so, this is definitely one very big scam...

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21Jan/170

Phrases

So, lately my thing has been to jot down phrases that my mom used.

Like... She was a bit fan of the phrase dollars to donuts.  So, something along the lines of "I bet you dollars to donuts that..."

I'm finding that there's a whole slew of unique and interesting phrases she used.

As I think of them I just kind of write them down.  I don't know, it's a fun way to remember her.  Makes me miss her a ton... But, that's a given.

Anyways, I'm only up to 6 or so right now that I've actually written down.  I've definitely thought of at least twice that but didn't write the others down and now they've sort of left my conscious mind.  They'll be back though and then I'll write them down.

It's strange the things you remember and when you remember them.  The littlest things set off the most interesting memories that were buried deep in the past.

Anyways.. Who knows what I'll do with them... Maybe make a song out of them, or start another book.  Not sure yet.  Maybe I'll just read them back later on and be reminded of her.

But... I have a sneaky suspicion (Mom phrase) that at some point, they will come in useful.

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20Jan/170

Netflix Originals

Okay, so... Up until recently I had only ever watched Netflix original TV shows.  This prior weekend though, I watched a Netflix original movie.  Okay, so to be honest, it was stupid and cheesy.  But... I actually enjoyed it.

So, the movie was this one with that Mall Cop guy in it.  It's called The True Memoirs of an International Assassin.  Or something along those lines.

Anyways the basic premise of the movie was that the guy wrote this book and then he submitted it to these publishers and they all rejected it save for one.  That one then changed the title of the book adding "true" to it even though it was fiction.

He's like... "Well, that's not cool."

Then she hands him a stack of cash as part of the profits and he's like.. "Well okay I guess..."

Then... Like as soon as he gets home from that meeting... There's a knock at his door and you're just like OH NO!

That's when it gets interesting.

You'll just have to watch it.  I feel like it's a decent enough plot.

So, the one thing I noticed from it is that the plot is very much driven by things completely out of his control that weren't of his own decision after he makes one original decision.

Basically... In the very beginning when he's writing the book, one of his friends tells him something, and then tells him that information is NOT for the book.  He goes against that and puts it in the book anyways.

It's that act that sets the whole thing in motion and then everything from then on is like a whirlwind around him that is something he basically has no control over.

I feel kind of like most of us can identify with that.  Maybe something happened in the past where... We made one choice that we realize wasn't the best choice, but it's one of those situations where it's too late to go back and now there are forces all around us pushing us further down that road.

Maybe that's why I was into the movie... I mean, it's also pretty funny.  It's just one of those mindless movies where you have it playing in the background while you do something else and then every couple minutes you glance back up and watch for a few minutes and then go back to what you were doing.

Anyways... Check it out of your Netflix queue is getting kind of short.  It's not the best movie ever made, but it's fairly entertaining.

Oh and I like the soundtrack.  The songs are super popular classic tunes that have been redone.  It's a bit like how they redid pop songs in a different language for The Life Aquatic.  It's the same as that.  They redid the songs in a different language to fit the movie.

Anyways... Give it a watch if you're bored.  Or just want a good background movie.  I was going to post the trailer here but I just watched it and it TOTALLY gives away most of the movie.  So, I'm not going to post the trailer here.  Just put it on in the background while you're doing work.  Or just watch it.

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