And Now, My New-year’s Resolutions (One Month Later).

Posted in blogging, health and fitness, living, work, writing with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 30, 2010 by Mike Hatz

Tomorrow is the last day of January; I cannot believe how a months that feels so excruciatingly slow has gone by so fast. In another month, I will turn 42. I can’t believe how fast that’s flown by; I mean, I was only 19 just the other day! I used to think 42 was old, but the truth is, it is quite the opposite. There’s a lot of great (but not guaranteed) years ahead of me. Elvis died on the commode when he was 42; I cannot afford to let that happen to me!

Most of my resolutions involve Luchrisa and I being able to enter our golden years with a little dignity. The most logical process in this quest is to first, become self-employed. Next, never, EVER lose track of my workouts. Finally, make as much money DOING WHAT I LOVE to save for our future. I have learned that the “steady company job” is not usually the safest way to plan for the future (unfortunately, I have almost waited till too late to understand this, but the point is that I finally figured it out).

So here’s the update on Resolution One, Make workouts more cardio-oriented. I have always worked out with heavy weights (my all-time max bench was 320), and did some walking, eventually running five miles five days a week, but from this year forward my workouts will be focusing on breathing and heart strength; hopefully, this will lower my triglycerides as well.

I had already lost 5 pounds and almost got my heart rate where it used to be in my prime when the bronchitis hit. Now it’s been over two weeks since I had done a push-up, a pull-up, or even jumped rope. I have been slowly working back into the routine, but I am still having a little trouble breathing, so I have to resist the temptation to jump back in at full force, especially in my natural desire to want to try and reverse the damage the bronchitis did to my body!

The next resolution is the one about wanting to work harder towards breaking myself of blue-collar life. Even though there is that urgency to make this happen as quickly as possible, I have to do this the smart way, because Reality wins out over ideas every time! Yeah, I still need that paycheck to keep steady until my ship finally comes in!

So, I have been exploring many other online writing opportunities during this past month, and finding out what will work for me and my schedule and unique situation and gradually building towards a nice income. Likewise, I am learning more and more about freelancing and want to eventually make my living that way as well.

Next, the novels! Yeah, I got four of them going (or maybe five; not sure), and I have resolved to finish at least the basic plot points before 2011, and have at least two of them done completely during the summer. As for my music-related goals, I still dedicating Tuesdays and Thursdays to practicing with the guys, but I cannot do Saturdays any more if I am to have extra time to create online content and such. Sorry, sometimes we all have to make some painful choices in life!

I am still learning to read music for both guitar and bass, but primarily bass since that’s still my primary performing axe. That is coming along decent, but I have been having trouble budgeting my time in the past couple years (which brings us to Resolution Five: Get My Time Under Control!). I have learned several years ago that time is even more valuable than money, although it is similar to money in the way which it behaves. In short, you have to tell your hours (and your dollars) what to do to get the most out of them!

So, on days I just don’t sit down in a chair right after work and fall asleep for two or three hours, I try to follow the schedule in my new DayPlanner (like I used to use in the good old days, before my life became “6 AM-8 PM – WORK / 8 PM-10 PM – CHORES). Now that I have time on my hands (not to mention this lucky break with the snowstorm), I can better organize it and make more efficient use of it.

Well, that’s all for now, as far as the first leg of my journey into the unknown. It is an exciting, but I have to admit one thing: I’m scared shitless! You see, except for a brief period serving in the Navy, blue collar is the only life I’ve ever known. I am fixing to take my wife and I on an entirely new, unknown path, and sometimes it freaks me out a little. But I can NEVER let that stop me from trying, because when my break(s) finally come, they’ll come fast, and I had better be ready for them!

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Changes for the Better in 2010

Posted in living, work with tags , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2010 by Mike Hatz

I got a hell of a wake up call during the past couple of months! On top of my health taking a downward slide (through nobody’s fault but my own) , I finally experienced the reality of the corporate world for the last time! I have had enough, and I am ready to get the hell out the first real chance I get!

Don’t get me wrong, I am more than grateful for this job; believe me, I have had way worse! No, it’s just that at over 40 years old, I finally realized that, in the corporate world, the worker is treated like a puddle of piss, even by their immediate, sub-low level ’superiors’.

Your intelligence and integrity does not matter to these 9 to 5 drones, because in their eyes, you are an animal. To your boss and to his bosses, there is no difference between an employee who spends his evenings trying to better himself and an employee who spends his drinking until he passes out!

I am sick and fucking tired of being treated like a low-life because of who I am. I cannot help that I didn’t get to choose which social class I was born into. I also didn’t ask to be cursed with my intellect and abilities. So-called ‘gifts’ like these are truly wasted on people like me, because nobody cares about that down here; all it does is get you ridiculed and shunned by your ‘peers’ and disdained by your ‘betters’.

And so it ends this year; 2010 will be the year I leave the bullshit of company politics behind me forever! My boss, an honest, thoughtful guy, basically made me realize that the majority of warehouse workers are animals in the purest sense of the word, and he is right! I have worked warehouses, landscaping, and construction most of my life, and I have labored with some really creepy characters in my time.

Anyway, that bit of social reality has finally made me realize that I will always be looked at in the corporate world as an animal because I do the dirty work! Again, my intelligence and character has no bearing whatsoever on how my higher-ups at the plant view me. To them, I am merely the smartest ape in their zoo!

So I decided that if I am going to enter my golden years with any dignity whatsoever, I have to get out of that bullshit, and do it immediately! The only way to not be treated like a beast is to leave the corporate environment that rewards ass-kissing, brown-nosing, back-stabbing, and social climbing as blatantly as it ignores hard work, intelligence, and dependability.

Sometimes, my situation reminds me of Brian Griffin (that’s the dog from “Family Guy”, for those of you who don’t know). Brian is more intellectual and intelligent than any of the humans in Quahog. He is an aspiring writer who can be articulate, thoughtful, cultured, and very well-read. But in spite of his superior intellect, he is still just a dog. I can identify so much with Brian, because in spite of constantly proving my mind, spirit, and character to the suits, they will always see me as ‘just a dog’.

Here’s to hopin’ that 2010 is the year I get my wings and start to see some real success from my writing and my music. I am willing to take any opportunity offered for writing and music gigs, even if it means having to leave the phony security of some J-O-B. I know I am more than competent enough to make excellent money doing what I love. I need to do this immediately, because I am OVER working my ass off at a mind-numbing, dead-end job for people who look at me as some beast of burden!

I used the excuse “I need to keep the paycheck coming so I can afford to write” for the last time. This year, I will make my own breaks, and when I finally get mine, it’s goodbye to that shark-infested cesspool of office politics once and for all!

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First Live Gig in Five Years a Success!

Posted in music, people with tags , , , , , on November 16, 2009 by Mike Hatz

Well, my first gig in five years went pretty well. This band didn’t even have a name or nothin’ (yet), but I played with them for about 6 weeks before we actually played before almost a hundred people.

From left to right is Ed Capps – Drums; Jack Lamb – Guitar; Darryl – Vocals and Percussion; Myself – Bass, Mackie Lyons – Guitar; Bob Bailey – Guitar.

Many, many thanks to the Elkins Family for having us as the entertainment that awesome warm afternoon! Why not watch another awesome clip of some Skynyrd (and YES, we know more than just Skynyrd, assholes!) Maybe next time, I will remember to bring a bigger memory card for the ol’ video camera!

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Ron Paul: Audit Fed ‘Gutted’ in Committee

Posted in politics with tags , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2009 by Mike Hatz

“Bank-Connected Congressman Blamed for Undermining Bill”

Posted on October 31, 2009. World Net Daily.

By Drew Zahn
WorldNetDaily

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has complained that the bill he sponsored calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve has been “gutted” by congressional committee, pointing specifically to a legislator whose campaign coffers have been boosted by the banking industry.

As WND reported, Paul sponsored H.R. 1207, a bill requiring the Federal Reserve – an organization that’s independent from the U.S. government but nonetheless oversees U.S. monetary policy – be opened to oversight by Congress. The plan compiled over 300 co-sponsors in the House before being sent to committee.

But in a telephone interview with a Bloomberg reporter, Paul said the teeth have been ripped out of the bill.

“There’s nothing left; it’s been gutted,” Paul said. “This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that.”

Paul told Bloomberg the bill has been stripped of provisions that closed loopholes protecting the Fed, including exemption from audits of transactions with foreign central banks and protected communications between the Board, reserve banks and staff.

Demand the money managers come clean by signing the petition in support of an audit of the Federal Reserve now!

Paul blamed the chairman of the House Financial Service Committee’s panel on domestic monetary policy, Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., for eliminating “just about everything” in preparation for the bill’s consideration on the floor of the House.

Watt, is has also been revealed, has significant connections to the banking industry.

It its report, Bloomberg mentioned that Watt’s congressional district includes Charlotte, headquarters of Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender.

Further investigation through OpenSecrets.org reveals that the largest share of Watt’s campaign contributions in the 2008 election cycle came from the finance, insurance and real estate industries.

In fact, of $609,072 given to Watt, $217,109 – or 35.6 percent – came from the money sector, including over $187,000 – or nearly 31 percent of his total contributions – from political action committees within the finance, insurance and real estate industry. The next highest industry supporting Watt was labor, which contributed only 14 percent of his total war chest.

Furthermore, the four largest contributors to Watt’s cause were Bank of America, Wachovia Corp., American Express and the American Bankers Association.

Keith Kelly, a spokesman for Watt, declined to comment and told Bloomberg Watt wasn’t immediately available for an interview.

Paul, however, told Bloomberg he intends to introduce an amendment that would restore the bill’s legislation to its original language when it comes to the House floor for a vote.

Paul long has been a critic of the secrecy of the Federal Reserve.

“Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar,” he said earlier. “Since 1913, the dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy.”

You’ve never needed to understand money like you need to understand it now! “Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Money System and How We Can Break Free” unravels the deception of the Federal Reserve and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading.

“Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has always operated in the shadows, without sufficient scrutiny or oversight of its operations,” Paul said when the plan to audit the Fed was introduced. “While the conventional excuse is that this is intended to reduce the Fed’s susceptibility to political pressures, the reality is that the Fed acts as a foil for the government. Whenever you question the Fed about the strength of the dollar, they will refer you to the Treasury, and vice versa. The Federal Reserve has, on the one hand, many of the privileges of government agencies, while retaining benefits of private organizations, such as being insulated from Freedom of Information Act requests.”

Ron Paul’s ‘End the Fed’: What we need to do to fix America’s economic policy for future generations

Paul has warned, “The Federal Reserve can enter into agreements with foreign central banks and foreign governments, and the GAO is prohibited from auditing or even seeing these agreements. Why should a government-established agency, whose police force has federal law enforcement powers, and whose notes have legal tender status in this country, be allowed to enter into agreements with foreign powers and foreign banking institutions with no oversight? Particularly when hundreds of billions of dollars of currency swaps have been announced and implemented, the Fed’s negotiations with the European Central Bank, the Bank of International Settlements, and other institutions should face increased scrutiny, most especially because of their significant effect on foreign policy. If the State Department were able to do this, it would be characterized as a rogue agency and brought to heel, and if a private individual did this he might face prosecution under the Logan Act, yet the Fed avoids both fates.”

WND previously reported that the Fed, despite being ordered to disclose to whom it awarded some $2 trillion in discount “stimulus” loans, continues its fight for secrecy.

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“Fall of the Republic (Part I)” Exposes the Real Power Behind Government

Posted in politics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2009 by Mike Hatz

I have known since I was a teenager that American Politics is nothing but a Punch and Judy show, with one puppeteer controlling both political parties and, of course, the entire government. Of course, most ignorant Americans refuse to believe this fact, instead choosing to cheer on ‘their side’, as if something as important as politics is just another football game.

“Fall of the Republic” is the latest expose by Alex Jones. This two and a half hour film names names and explains exactly how the world banks have hijacked our economy and those of many other countries of the world through the Federal Reserve. And every bit of this is backed up by facts and videotaped testimony.

This brilliant movie outlines the plan of the rich and powerful elites to enslave the worlds, and the awakening of the people of the world to their shenanigans. Likewise, it also shows how the elite is trying to thwart this awakening by keeping the people fighting amongst themselves along racial, class, and political lines.

Sadly enough, so many Americans still want to play the bullshit RepubliCrat game, thinking that this ugly economic mess is the other guy’s fault, when in fact is it BOTH PARTY’S FAULT! After all, there are not two separate political parties in America, but rather, two halves of one giant ruling dictatorship bent on controlling every aspect of human life!

It also outlines how President Obama deceived the people who voted for him the same way former President Bush did. Plus, it clearly illustrates unequivocally how President Obama crammed his administration full of corporate lobbyists and wall-street insiders; quite the opposite of the promise he made during the 2008 campaign!

Especially stellar are the few congressmen who are actually standing up to these criminals, most notably John J. Duncan (R-TN) and Ron Paul (R-TX). These rare statesmen are a glaring contrast to the arrogance and avarice of the politicians who condescendingly dismiss the concerns and legitimate grievances of the American People.

Alex Jones also brilliantly outlines how almost everything the past two Presidents have done is blatantly unconstitutional; especially the treasonous, unconstitutional act of President Obama simultaneously holding the positions of President of the US and the Chairman of the United Nation’s Security Council, swearing allegiance to the world government. As Mr. Jones rightly states, ONE CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS!

The film also goes on to illustrate how the Administration uses the Media to manipulate emotions in lieu of stating facts (first through the radio and eventually through television), and the passage of bills like the bullshit “Hate Crimes” legislation which has not a damn thing to do with protecting people from hateful slanderous and libelous attacks, but for controlling speech, especially speech that rightly calls the government and President Obama out on their lies and deception.

“Fall of the Republic” also exposes the junk science behind the environmental movement, as well as their real agenda, which of course involves taxing us into eternal serfdom through the Cap and Trade scam. Furthermore, it also outlines the terrifying parallels between the pseudoscience of the Third Reich’s assertion that any scientist who disagreed with Hitler’s view of the superiority of the Aryan race was not really a scientist at all. Many of the minds who had the guts to stand up to Hitler at the least paid for their insubordination with their careers and at worst with their lives!

Perhaps most shocking (to must folks, but not to all) is how all these trade, energy, and economic bills (from NAFTA to the Bailouts to Cap and Trade) have been designed by the banking and corporate elites to eliminate the Middle Class and enslave the ‘lesser’ people of the planet, condemning them to barely subsist in a neo-feudal economy where almost nobody can own anything, while a few of the privileged can own almost everybody, regardless of race, creed, or nationality!

Even more frightening is how Alex Jones exposes how our local City and County police are being given orders directly from FEMA, Homeland Security, and other government agencies NOT to protect the sovereignty of the American people, but to become political enforcers and Gestapo.

Clips of government-created film are shown on how to use the everyday possessions and actions of everyday people to profile them as terrorists. Terrifyingly enough, Jones proves that Homeland Security was created to keep us all in line with accusations of affiliations with shadowy bogeymen, rather than going after the CIA-created Al-Queida they were ostensibly created to eliminate!

Add that to the government recruitment of the common man in the fake ‘war on terror’; cable repair men, firemen, neighborhood watch, boy and girl scouts, and even our own children, in spying on Americans. These paranoid sickos will stop at nothing when it comes to making sure their stranglehold over the people of the world will never be broken!

‘”Fall of the Republic” is a well-made, factually-accurate documentary that is fast-moving and entertaining as well. Now, before leaving me any comments one way or the other, all I ask of you is to TURN OFF YOUR DAMN TELEVISION and and forget about the phony manufactured drama on your bullshit reality show or “who’s winnin’ th’ ball game.”

Next, actually watch all two and a half hours of this film with a completely open mind before you leave me vile comments about what a delusional conspiracy freak you think I am, and that this is all in my imagination. Video doesn’t lie, my friends, and YES, this movie is every bit as brutal in exposing the Republicans and former President Bush and their duplicitous actions on behalf of the New World Order.

Part II of this film is coming soon, and will not only demonstrate further the elite’s plans for every man, woman, and child on the planet, but also how to stop them. See, we cannot beat these people through violent revolution; seriously, you cannot whoop the Gestapo, YOU just aren’t powerful enough!

However, we all can win through a ‘revolution of the mind’, where each of us decides we’re not going to play their game anymore. Having knowledge is not enough; one must ACT upon that knowledge once it has been gained. When a human being decides that death is far better than living as a slave, that human being cannot be controlled. It is truly up to you: Watch the film, then decide for yourselves!

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