Signs of the Apocalypse

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.

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.

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.