Still Alive!

Hello Friends,

An incident took place the day before yesterday, when I was filling in a teaching gig for a colleague at one of  San Francisco Schools. 

After I taught my class, I walked out of the building in my way to the Bart, since I didn't want to drive all the way to San Francisco that day. Reaching the second block, I noticed that special gigantic skyscraper. Sometimes I had that feeling of certain admiration to special kinds of architect.

I decided to take a photo for that extremely high building, which for me looked like someone was bending down at you to ask you if you were in need of help. I grabbed my cellphone and I took a shot then I turned the lens towards me and took another shot for myself on that spot of the street.

In a flash of a moment, where there was a bus passenger shelter, that sort of a cabin with a bench style, there came out that African American woman who was coming at me, waving her hands as if rapping a song, and saying: "Hey bitch! Why are taking my picture, bitch?"

My first natural reaction was: "Don't call me bitch." She was not hearing what I said. She continued saying: "Why are you taking my picture, bitch? I'm gonna beat your ass". She was not a big build-up or muscles but I was not going to fight with her. In my mind I thought why she was doing that, instead of thinking how to defend myself.

I answered again: "I did not take your picture, and don't call me a bitch." 

She said: "Show me your phone, bitch. I have to see it with my own eyes."

I showed her my phone scrolling through the photos, just for the sake of getting rid of that wave of anger and to correct the image she had in her mind that I was taking her picture. That didn't help. 😖Still

She didn't stop. She continued: "Don't play with me, b., move it the other way around" which I

did while I was still taking it easy. At that moment, I thought that we were done, and she would go away, but contrary to my thinking, she was about to start something else, and she approached me, putting two fingers with her left hand to my right shoulder, pushing it a little bit, and repeating: "I'll beat......"

Only at that specific moment, I ran out of patience and I was provoked. I don't know where that voice came from, because it was not my voice, it was a voice that came up from very deep guts inside of me yelling in a roaring tone: "I   t o l d  y o u that I did not take your picture."

She stepped back out of startle or surprise (I did't care to know), I guess. I walked away and did not turn around or looked behind. I heard her voice saying some other words but I didn't really care about anything she was saying. My heart was pounding. My thinking was all focused on how far that would go and how it would end.

In my purse I had that Robocopp grenade, a security device, but I didn't want to reach out to it inside my purse lest she would think I was pulling a knife or a weapon which might  make her even more violent.

I'm not sure if that was a good handling or not, but all I know is that I'm still alive.

Thank you for being with us today. Until we chat some more, be careful when you walk the streets of San Francisco, you never know what to expect any more. Leave your comments and share with us your experiences, and check on our previous posts, you'd find them inspiring!

With our love. 😉

Money Chatting!

Hi everyone! 

  

If you wanna live the American dream - buying a home to live with your own family, first you've got to know well about money.

You've got to know more than what you think. It is not only about earning money or saving it. That is not all. You need to understand the whole game, so that you won't find yourself in debt, or foreclosed, and have nowhere to go, coz you didn't think of all the details, which will keep crawling to you a day after day.

It's great idea to have a house, to own a place where you and your beloved ones will live. Realtors will try their best to persuade you, showing you places beyond your means. They will introduce to you methods of payments or mortgage, and will have you imagined that this is the best investment in your life. But the truth is, the Real Estate market is not that good, and investing in real estate has no longer become the best way of investing your money.

Sometimes media exaggerate about real estate situations in some States, but other times, there is some truth you can feel between the lines if not said openly.

If you want to buy a place to live in, and have 20% of the value of the place you wanna buy, and you have 10 months savings for emergencies, and if you have kids, I would say 12 months expenses, you can go ahead and buy your house. You need to make sure that:

1)  This is the place that you like to live in for at least 5-10 yrs.

2) It is affordable, within your limits and budget.

3) It is close from where you work and where your kids go to school.

4) Take it easy, take your time in making your decision, and do not be pushed by realtors or brokers.

If you feel that you are not that acquainted with money aspects well enough, and that it is better to attend some classes or consultation for you to make the right decision, do not hesitate. It is good to learn more. You will get a good piece of info from each person who would talk to you about money. 

You've got to do the numbers. You never know what will happen in 5 or 10 yrs from now. Others will not be in your shoes, coz when it comes to buying a house, it is only you who would feel how to take all the pressures. 

The best word I heard was "Try to live under your means, and within your needs", unless of course, you already made it to the six figure monthly income. In this case, we should congratulate you that you were able to figure it all out.

If you didn't, think how hard it is to stand in your truth when you're d dealing with a family, how can you stand in your truth with your beloved ones. I'm gonna tell you. Yes, coz the hardest people to stand in the truth with, is your family, so let's talk. You hear me say it all the time, People come first, so let's stop for a second n talk.

People first. When I speak about people with you, I talk about you. Are you putting yourself 1st, are you putting your truth 1^st? Are you strong enough to face your daughter when she comes to you saying: "mama, why do we have to leave our house n to go n live in a tiny little apartment.” We had to stand in the truth.

“Why can't i get all the toys?Why is it that we can't go on vacation?” can you answer your kids when they ask you these questions? It is so hard to look at your family saying “Sorry I cant afford it.” But your kids are learning from how you act. If they see you spending from credit all the time, without having a budget, or having good planning for your money, they will grow up doing the same, and the debts will continue in growing up with them.

The new American dream has to be this: “below your means, within your needs.” I am not saying within your means, I say below your means.

If you can afford a new car, it's fine, but if your car 5 yrs old, n running great, just keep it. If you live within your means and spend all the money you have your retirement plan will not cover you. Your pension plan to cover your needs. That is why you have got to live below your means, within your needs. Of course you have to buy things you need.

You have to live the truth with your children coz they are growing at a time, when it's gonna be harder for them to get jobs, harder to afford to go to school, harder to do anything, coz the debt the Americans have created, is not gonna fall only onto our own shoulders, but also onto the shoulders of our own kids.

I hope this will make you think deeper before you try to buy a house. We'll talk again soon. Love you all 🙋

Equation Money-Energy

Hello Everyone,

I read an interesting explanation for energy, after stating that energy is never depleted as it is the first law of thermodynamics. It explains that in chemistry, this law is demonstrated in the fact that the amount of heat and work are equal to the total energy change in the system. 

Also after mentioning that the distribution of heat or work can change, but that they will always equal the same energy change because they are part of a closed system.

  The explanation is expressed in the equation of:
   E (energy) =   H (heat)  +  W (work)

   Thus:
   Work =  Energy  -  Heat
   Heat =  Energy -  Work

  


Then another example is added, to make it clearer for our minds:

           Balance                 =  (Deposited money)  -  (Withdrawn money)
  (in your bank account) 
           Heat                      =       Energy                -        Work

Would this make it more understandable? Does it make more sense? I guess it is, since the checking account, the deposit, or the withdrawal have become essential parts in our life, so even when we try to explain chemistry or thermodynamics, we find ourselves using money or banking terms in order to make it more intelligible to our students!

Let's talk some more. 😊

Money's Noxious!

Hell Readers,

What is the money?

Most of the money in a modern monetary system is what's called fiat money. Fiat money is money that has no intrinsic value but is used as a medium of exchange because a specific government deems it so. In Latin fiat means “let it be.”

Hence, money has no value in itself. Money is a tool that we invented to use it as a value for things we need such as food, home, services, etc. Money can buy things that are materialistic but not sentimental or emotional commodities, similar to love, pride, or respect.

The importance of money comes from the value the humans assign to it. We put a price for our food, home or shelter, but we cannot put a price for our health. Health comes before money. Then you may ask: "Wouldn't money buy health?"

The answer is "No". It can only help solve some health problems, but it cannot make you a healthy person if you are not. It can buy some med for you to take, or it can buy some medical equipment to keep you alive, but it would not buy the health you need to have to live a normal life.

Money cannot buy you the age you would like to have. You like youth. Do you like to be youth? Money cannot buy age to you. What is the importance of wealth then, if you have all that money but you are 70 years old, and you can no longer act like a 30 yrs old guy. 

You allowed your dream of being wealthy guy to steal you age and to steal your youth although you knew that you had a limited time on Earth. You thought that you'd make it while you were in your 40s but it took you more than that. Alas, no more youth. No wife or husband. No child or kids. You lived for making money. But money cannot buy you life.

Stop believing what you read online about the importance of money. Money has no importance. It's all an illusion that we live. Money is far overvalued. Truly, its definition the way it is now is so noxious. Wake up, guys!

Until we talk again, stay with our greetings and love 💟

Squared Coins!

Hello Friends,

It is of interest to me, as it is for many of you, to know more about coins. It has been one of my unfulfilled projects to have coins which are produced in different states glued to a US map, but I never had the time to do that, although I collected quite a good number of  coins with unique designs which were made by each of the 50 states (now we are more than 50).

What is a coin?A coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government.

Where was the first coin made in the world?

In Turkey,  but it was called Asia Minor at that time 610-600 BC.

Who minted the first coins?

King Alyattes of Lydia, Turkey.

What were the first coins made of?

The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of silver and gold. 

When was the first coin made in the United States?

The very first officially minted US coin was the Half-disme (dime), struck at the newly built Mint in Philadelphia in July 1792. 

What is the clad of a coin?

A clad coin is a coin that has multiple layers of metal in it; most current U.S. clad coins consist of an inner core of pure copper, with outer layers of a silver-colored nickel-copper alloy. Examples of this type of clad coin are the U.S. Quarter, and Half Dollar.

Now, I have a question for you: Why was the coin rounded instead of squared? 😉😉

Can we have squared coins instead of rounded coins now? We have all the technologies that can enable us doing so, don't we? Plus who knows, may be it could save us some money. Let's think about it, and send your replies.

Until we talk again, be cool with our greetings & love 😊