So-called scholars and so-called experts have several theories and thoughts on why our great nation is currently not so great. I being a so-called scholar and expert I have a few thoughts on events that will further increase the problem.
1. Obamacare- If you don't want health insurance, then you shouldn't be forced to have it. If you do want health insurance either buy it or get a better job where your company offers it to full-time employees.
2. Obama ditches the Boy Scouts of America for 'The View'- That's right folks, our president, the leader of our country skips the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Virginia which celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America for the likes of Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters. I think someone is still bitter about not getting signed off on their 'Citizenship' merit badge. Some people responded to me on this issue with: "Hey man, boy scouts aren't old enough to vote." No, they're not, but their dads are and most own guns.
3. Couples showers- Huh? Really? My girlfriend has some friends getting married this fall so this summer has been filled with all the pre-wedding madness. So when my significant other told me we would attend so-and-so's wedding shower, I serious thought she was kidding. So somewhere in the course of human history a woman thought getting men involved in wedding showers would be a great idea. More sadly is that somewhere in the course of human history a man actually agreed to it. Thanks to that guy millions of men must now endure and suffer through something that should remain solely for the enjoyment of women.
No balls. No hope.
On a side note: I submitted my tax amendment on June 8 to get my $8K from Uncle Sam for being a first time home buyer before April 30. I called the IRS and they told me to wait another 4-6 weeks.
Bull spit.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Summer of Concerts
My girlfriend said to me a few weeks ago: "John, I think you should write a book."
Taken back by the rather bold and out-of-no where statement I asked: "And may I ask where that came from?"
She replied: "I read your blog ... and I think you're a really good writer."
Then it dawned on my how long it's been since my last post. I've done some pretty cool shit since then. Yeah, I went through a rough patch there but John B. Fischer is back and better than ever.
Summer unofficially kicked off when I moved into my townhouse in a historic St. Louis City neighborhood called Lafayette Square. In true Fischer form I threw a party that very night and made a great impression on my new neighbors when I found all my friends' cigarette butts stacked in a pile on my back doorstep. Awesome.
I'm 25 now. I'm closer to 30 than 20, which means my friends and I all have to deal with real world crap. Some of us sooner than later. My best friend came home from work one day to find all his wife's stuff gone from their apartment with a "Dear John" letter on the kitchen table. He received the divorce papers two days later.
Bitches ...
So what was originally a gift for getting accepted into the pharmacy residency program my friend turned into a "lets-show-this-guy-how-to-live-again" present: two tickets to Pearl Jam's first concert in St. Louis in six years. That was June 4.
Here a list of other shows I've attended this summer:
1. Tim McGraw with Lady Antebellum
2. Blitzen Trapper
3. Jay Farrar with Colonel Ford Trio
4. Cross Canadian Ragweed
5. The Eagles with The Dixie Chicks
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd (or what's left of them)
7. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers with Drive By Truckers (tonight).
I'm still working at GroupCast in their market research department. Been dating this girl Katie since February.
We went to her family's lakehouse for July 4 weekend. We went to Chicago for a SNU brother's wedding the following weekend.
Back in June I attended the Midwest Wildfire Training Academy which gave my a much clearer idea of the type of career I want long-term.
Peace, I'm out. I've got a Tom Petty show to go to.
Taken back by the rather bold and out-of-no where statement I asked: "And may I ask where that came from?"
She replied: "I read your blog ... and I think you're a really good writer."
Then it dawned on my how long it's been since my last post. I've done some pretty cool shit since then. Yeah, I went through a rough patch there but John B. Fischer is back and better than ever.
Summer unofficially kicked off when I moved into my townhouse in a historic St. Louis City neighborhood called Lafayette Square. In true Fischer form I threw a party that very night and made a great impression on my new neighbors when I found all my friends' cigarette butts stacked in a pile on my back doorstep. Awesome.
I'm 25 now. I'm closer to 30 than 20, which means my friends and I all have to deal with real world crap. Some of us sooner than later. My best friend came home from work one day to find all his wife's stuff gone from their apartment with a "Dear John" letter on the kitchen table. He received the divorce papers two days later.
Bitches ...
So what was originally a gift for getting accepted into the pharmacy residency program my friend turned into a "lets-show-this-guy-how-to-live-again" present: two tickets to Pearl Jam's first concert in St. Louis in six years. That was June 4.
Here a list of other shows I've attended this summer:
1. Tim McGraw with Lady Antebellum
2. Blitzen Trapper
3. Jay Farrar with Colonel Ford Trio
4. Cross Canadian Ragweed
5. The Eagles with The Dixie Chicks
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd (or what's left of them)
7. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers with Drive By Truckers (tonight).
I'm still working at GroupCast in their market research department. Been dating this girl Katie since February.
We went to her family's lakehouse for July 4 weekend. We went to Chicago for a SNU brother's wedding the following weekend.
Back in June I attended the Midwest Wildfire Training Academy which gave my a much clearer idea of the type of career I want long-term.
Peace, I'm out. I've got a Tom Petty show to go to.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Confessions of a Social Media Addict
People who talked about their "karma" have always frustrated me. Most of them were not practicing Buddhists or Hindus, most of them were not vegetarians and most of them definitely did not want to reincarnated as cows in the next life. However, the concept of humans having free will to choose good or evil and suffer the consequences thus as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences is really just the Eastern way of saying "what does around comes around."
During my unemployment tenure I became obsessed keeping up with the latest job hunting trends, tools and tactics. Several of those strategies involved the use of social media such as blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It all started in college, when Facebook selected the tech-savvy Indiana University to be a beta test sight for its new website. Upon college graduate I created a blog for my friends and family to keep up with what I was doing with my life. Upon unemployment, I joined LinkedIn to network with the professional community. Lastly came Twitter.
I wanted to be the most connected man on the earth. I wanted everyone who was someone to know who John Fischer is. I posted links to my blog and Twitter pages on my Facebook and LinkedIn pages and vice versa. I blogged my stories and tweeted exactly what was on my mind. Little did I realize that people were actually reading what I read. Looking back I had people warn me about what I put out there on the world wide web. I just ignored their warnings and went right back on to my old ways. I couldn't stop. I wanted to be on top of it all: social events, issues, news etc and social media was the ticket to it all.
some recent events in both my personal and professional life have made me realize how careful you have to be when publishing content that could be ready by the entire internet-connected world. Sarcasm, wit and humor often times cannot be interpreted in print. Sentences can be taken out of context. Some stories and experiences are just best kept private and personal.
During my unemployment tenure I became obsessed keeping up with the latest job hunting trends, tools and tactics. Several of those strategies involved the use of social media such as blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It all started in college, when Facebook selected the tech-savvy Indiana University to be a beta test sight for its new website. Upon college graduate I created a blog for my friends and family to keep up with what I was doing with my life. Upon unemployment, I joined LinkedIn to network with the professional community. Lastly came Twitter.
I wanted to be the most connected man on the earth. I wanted everyone who was someone to know who John Fischer is. I posted links to my blog and Twitter pages on my Facebook and LinkedIn pages and vice versa. I blogged my stories and tweeted exactly what was on my mind. Little did I realize that people were actually reading what I read. Looking back I had people warn me about what I put out there on the world wide web. I just ignored their warnings and went right back on to my old ways. I couldn't stop. I wanted to be on top of it all: social events, issues, news etc and social media was the ticket to it all.
some recent events in both my personal and professional life have made me realize how careful you have to be when publishing content that could be ready by the entire internet-connected world. Sarcasm, wit and humor often times cannot be interpreted in print. Sentences can be taken out of context. Some stories and experiences are just best kept private and personal.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Date Night
A couple weeks ago I saw a car on the side of the road with its hazard lights on. I stopped and asked what the problem was. "My car just died," was the woman's response. So I pulled around to jump start her car. When the woman got out of her car, my jaw just dropped. She was beautiful and appeared to be in her twenties. I made every attempt to jump start her car and keep her dry as the rain fell no luck.
I gave her my number and told her to call me just to let me know she was okay. She was cute and I wanted to see her again.
To speed things up a bit, I convinced her to go on a date with me. I picked her up for drinks and appetizers at Bar Louie in Kirkwood. Things were kind of awkward at first, but we seemed to hit a groove and the conversation just flowed from there. She is a very smart and motivated young woman. Much more motivated than I was at that age. She hasn't even graduated from college yet but is already working for the company who will offer her a full time position in the spring. That's awesome.
Next thing we realized it was 11:30 or so. I picked her up at seven. We had lost all track of time in good conversation. A woman hasn't caught nor kept my attention like that in quite sometime. Unfortunately the night had to come to an end.
As I walked her to her front doorstep, I asked her if I could see her again.
She said yes.
I gave her my number and told her to call me just to let me know she was okay. She was cute and I wanted to see her again.
To speed things up a bit, I convinced her to go on a date with me. I picked her up for drinks and appetizers at Bar Louie in Kirkwood. Things were kind of awkward at first, but we seemed to hit a groove and the conversation just flowed from there. She is a very smart and motivated young woman. Much more motivated than I was at that age. She hasn't even graduated from college yet but is already working for the company who will offer her a full time position in the spring. That's awesome.
Next thing we realized it was 11:30 or so. I picked her up at seven. We had lost all track of time in good conversation. A woman hasn't caught nor kept my attention like that in quite sometime. Unfortunately the night had to come to an end.
As I walked her to her front doorstep, I asked her if I could see her again.
She said yes.
Good bye 2009, Hello 2010
As we toasted our red Solo cups of champagne, my friends are I were in agreement: we were quite ready for 2009 to be over. We hoped 2010 would bring the fresh start people associate with the New year.
People who know me best know that I was more than ready for 2009 to be over, which was by far my most challenging time period of my life to date. So what better way to start fresh than by sharing that fresh start with some of your best friends.
So I headed north, to the Windy City, to say good-bye to "The Aughts" and hello to "The Teens" with my college fraternity brothers from Sigma Nu- Beta Eta chapter at Indiana University.
Once again I took the Amtrak train leaving St. Louis bright and early New Year's Eve morning. I did the one thing I told myself I would NOT do ... meet a girl. Again, people who know me best know why this is. However, we had some mutual friends, were both Greeks in college, shared some common experience and because she a law student she seemed to have half a brain. Regardless, the conversation made the trip go faster and soon enough we were in Chicago.
I was a little better prepared this time so I research the "L" lines and figured out how to get from Union Station to Wrigleyville without an expensive cab ride. Next thing I knew I was getting dressed and prepping for the evening.
Instead of some foo-foo hotel party downtown, we decided on a much more relaxed venue- a sports bar. However, some IU grad rented it out and charged $70 a head for all you could eat and drink. Let's just say we got our money's worth. The time flew by and as the ball dropped the single guys tried to find girls to kiss with any luck whatsoever. Maybe next year, right?
New Years Day involved finding a brunch so we could fill our stomachs and attempt to kill the hangovers we all had. Chicken wings, sliders and eggs were just what the doctor ordered. We watched a few bowl games as we ate, drank a few beers and chatted while I texted with the girl I met before Christmas who had car troubles.
Whenever this particular group of guys gets together, it's just like being in the fraternity house all over again. Immaturity prevails, couch wrestling takes place and every possible dirty and sexual innuendo is made at every comment. However, it is one of those situations where even though it appears that we hate each other, we have each others backs and would support each other no matter what. Whenever I'm with these guys, I know that no matter what, everything is going to be okay.
I got up with some old friends as well. The Leslie-Rachel rivalry was renewed at both high school love interests turned friends fought for my free time. Luckily there was no blood shed.
My train ride was delayed. Again, I was better prepared this time, I packed some Tylenol PM and knocked myself out. Regardless, my 6:20 am alarm came way too soon the following Monday.
Here's to Twenty Ten.
People who know me best know that I was more than ready for 2009 to be over, which was by far my most challenging time period of my life to date. So what better way to start fresh than by sharing that fresh start with some of your best friends.
So I headed north, to the Windy City, to say good-bye to "The Aughts" and hello to "The Teens" with my college fraternity brothers from Sigma Nu- Beta Eta chapter at Indiana University.
Once again I took the Amtrak train leaving St. Louis bright and early New Year's Eve morning. I did the one thing I told myself I would NOT do ... meet a girl. Again, people who know me best know why this is. However, we had some mutual friends, were both Greeks in college, shared some common experience and because she a law student she seemed to have half a brain. Regardless, the conversation made the trip go faster and soon enough we were in Chicago.
I was a little better prepared this time so I research the "L" lines and figured out how to get from Union Station to Wrigleyville without an expensive cab ride. Next thing I knew I was getting dressed and prepping for the evening.
Instead of some foo-foo hotel party downtown, we decided on a much more relaxed venue- a sports bar. However, some IU grad rented it out and charged $70 a head for all you could eat and drink. Let's just say we got our money's worth. The time flew by and as the ball dropped the single guys tried to find girls to kiss with any luck whatsoever. Maybe next year, right?
New Years Day involved finding a brunch so we could fill our stomachs and attempt to kill the hangovers we all had. Chicken wings, sliders and eggs were just what the doctor ordered. We watched a few bowl games as we ate, drank a few beers and chatted while I texted with the girl I met before Christmas who had car troubles.
Whenever this particular group of guys gets together, it's just like being in the fraternity house all over again. Immaturity prevails, couch wrestling takes place and every possible dirty and sexual innuendo is made at every comment. However, it is one of those situations where even though it appears that we hate each other, we have each others backs and would support each other no matter what. Whenever I'm with these guys, I know that no matter what, everything is going to be okay.
I got up with some old friends as well. The Leslie-Rachel rivalry was renewed at both high school love interests turned friends fought for my free time. Luckily there was no blood shed.
My train ride was delayed. Again, I was better prepared this time, I packed some Tylenol PM and knocked myself out. Regardless, my 6:20 am alarm came way too soon the following Monday.
Here's to Twenty Ten.
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