Ken Dabrowski & Some Christmas Cheer

As a future millionaire and your devoted author of this sight I would be remiss if I didn’t mention probably one of the most important discussions that I have had in 2007. It took place with a one, Mr. Ken Dabrowski. Yes sir, he has his own Forbes page. He happens to be on the board of my daytime job as well as three other companies. The sad part is I almost went the entire night without even talking to him.

I view the company Christmas party as a test to see if you can work the room. Working the room takes a lot of self confidence wit and energy. I pretended that it was one of my companies and these were my employees. I attempted to go from table to table and give warm greetings and crack a few jokes, with the hopes of leaving each table slightly more entertained then before I visited. You want people’s dates or spouses to ask, “Who is that guy”, “What does he do”. This involves looking smooth, and being as smooth as you look. How did I do? Let’s say I was better then last year, but I still need some work. Surprisingly I enjoyed it and it felt quite natural.

(I won’t give any personal details regarding my opinion of the party and the speeches given and activities, for fear of losing my job). After we ate and engaged in some auction for Charity activities, I was talking to a friend and I was telling him that we should be over there talking to Ken. His response was, “What are we waiting for?” Hell, he was right, and the time was now.

Once I head over and started to talk to Ken, of course all of the company’s haters soon follow. My boss, and other colleagues want to get in on the act. The best part is that Ken noticed. He’s been around the block a few times and he knows company dynamics and politics and I’m sure he noticed the leaders and the followers. Now there is a crowd around the man; and I’m bucking for attention. This is exactly how the first round of the Apprentice tryouts were. 8 type "A" level personalities trying to get noticed. After jockeying for position; I really began to engage Ken in some serious dialogue. I asked him to walk me through his career. I was interested in knowing how someone goes from being an Engineer at Ford to Chairman of the board for four companies. He’s and old School Ford guy, starting there as a Co-op. He started on the drafting boards and was a director by age 43. I asked him if he always knew he was going to do something bigger, his response was a little shocking. “No”., he said. He said that he never knew his next move, he was just concentrating on the here and now.

Am I too worried about the next steps and not focusing on the now? It definitely is giving me something to think about.

One of my other colleagues asked him to define what it takes to be a success. He didn’t say anything earth shattering. He just said that you had to be reliable and dependable. I wanted to get more personal but it wasn’t the time or place. That answer was like telling you if you want to lose weight eat less calories then you burn; however it was the right answer for that setting. I would expect nothing less from a man of his caliber. He told me that he just flew in from Naples. It was Friday evening and he was in our conference room on Thursday. So he flew to Florida Thursday evening and then flew back Friday for the Christmas party. WOW. That’s how I’m trying to live.

All of the reading; business etiquette, handshakes, Wall Street Journals, come into to play. Ken mentioned that he studied program management techniques from all of the big companies; GE, Xerox, GM, Home Depot, all of which I was at least familiar with. I liken this meeting to that of Nicholas Cage to the Wall Street dude in "The Family Man" (1 of my top 10 movies) when he was trying to sell him tires.

I told him that I am the Program Manager for our New Chrysler business. He was impressed and proceeded to tell me that the weight of the company is on my back. He expected to hear positive things this time next year and he wished me success. What he didn’t know is that success means that I won’t be there next year.

-MJL

A Holiday Scam!

So this weekend was my company "Wash & Rolls" Christmas party and me being the money hungry guy that I am, I still had the guys go out and work a half day. Well, I had a bad feeling something was going to happen and it did.



I got a call from the crew and they said that the truck went down in the middle of the street. It's the middle of the Christmas shopping Season and they are broken down in a huge white truck, directly in front of the entrance to Target.



Needless to say, it's only a matter of time before the police will be there; and we are riding dirty. We have an extra person riding in the cab and the truck doesn't have any of the state required reflectors. I tell the crew that I will be right there.

I jump in the Grand Prix like a chocolate Michael Knight and I'm out to save the day. While I'm in route I get a call from my Ops Manager and he tells me that someone is going to tow them to our lot for $20 bucks! "OK", I say in disbelief, and I head straight for the lot. When I get there, I see the guys breaking the equipment down (to protect it from the cold weather. Detaching hoses, and running antifreeze). I tell the crew to relax, and that it will be no time at all and I will have us back on the road.

Then Big Ross points to a rather short impish looking dude standing behind me, and told me he was the guy who towed the truck. I turn around and thank the guy. He proceeds to tell me how he towed the truck and then put his truck in reverse and backed our truck into the parking spot. Upon doing so, his transmission's reverse fails. He then proceeds to ask me, "What am I going to do about his trans?"

I look at him and say, "Yo man, I don't know what I'm going to do for MY damn transmission let alone yours". Dude steps closer to me and says, "Well your insurance should pay for my truck". What?

What kind of insurance does this dude think I have? He then says, "Someone is going to do something?" in this cocky arrogant tone.

Now I'm pissed. "How the Phuck is my insurance going to pay for your truck". "What made you think you could tow this truck with that little ass pick up you got".



"I tow things all the time" spews the Ricky Hatton (see pic for Ricky Hatton photo) look alike. "That's your problem," I yell stepping closer. Despite the 17 degree wheather I start getting hot.



"So it like that?" Says Ricky! ITS PHUCKIN' LIKE THAT - I shout back.



Then he gives me this wild look, puts a "Black in Mild" in his mouth and jumps in his truck.


I tell the guys that this dude will be back to flatten our tires or smash our windshield.

When I get to work; I'm holding court as usual entertianing, and I tell the guys the story. One of my co-workers proceeds to tell me that the same thing happeneded to his wife! She felt so bad she gave the guy $200 bucks. Whoa!

I guess if I had a ton of money and he wasn't such a prick; I would have given some money too. Tis the Season Right?

The moral of the story: GET TRIPLE A


Truck Diagnosis from the Dealership: $4200 in damage.

Thats the real Scam!!!

-MJL

Curse of the Coffee Creamer

So, I started this new job in February and after a few months of adjusting I finally fell into a good routine. I'm on track to fulfilling a lot of my goals so I started to focus again on my weight loss goal. I have always had a problem watching and maintaining my wait since high school but I have good bone structure so discipline and dedication is really all I need to achieve my goal. As we all know the key to the perfect body is diet and exercise. For exercise I lift a little weight and do vigorous cardio on the elliptical machine. Very few times in my life have I been able to do all three consistently. When I have for a period of 2 or three months the results are fantastic.


Around March I started a consistent work out program, and noticed that the neck of my shirts was getting a little "snug". I thought, “I'm just getting bigger because I'm lifting”. Then my waist got a little bigger and I had to extend a loop hole in thee ol’ belt. Hmmmm..... Then met with my Operations manager who I haven't seen in awhile, and we were talking and he says, "Hey you look like you are putting on some weight".

No way, I’m working out harder then I ever have in the past 10 years. It MUST be muscle. Another month goes buy and now a little "snug" around the collar turns to “Can't really get that button closed”. The tension on that center button was like the Pamela Anderson’s bra strap.

I get on the scale and now I start to worry. I have gained 10 lbs. WTF! So I turn up the Cardio and tune in the diet. Lean Chicken or Beef for lunch and vegetables. That’s what’s up, I will drop these 10 lbs in no time. I even switch to the super healthy No taste protein bars. 6 weeks go buy and I gain another 6 lbs. WTF!!

Now I’m in the danger zone. My ASS is like Arsenio hall and my pants are starting to feel a little bit snug in the thighs! Phuck that, I think. I start doing cardio 6 to 7 times per week and lifting 3 times. I take my diet down to 4 hard core things:
1. Coffee
2. Lean chicken or beef,
3. Frozen fresh vegetables,
4. Super healthy protein bars

And then proceeded to go on a candy fast!
Finally my weight levels. I went from Buff to bubba, from fit to don’t fit., from hip to hippy.

I'm thinking that I can't keep this up forever. Then casually over dinner my girlfriend says, “What about the cream in your coffee”. Cream in my coffee. What’s that gonna do. 2 or 3 of those little cups and an equal or splenda packet. What can that harm?

Little did I know! Peep this:


http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/manufacturer/968.html

1 creamer cup has approx. 40 calories. I use at least 2 creamers per cup of coffee. The kicker is: I HAVE AT LEAST 10 CUPS PER DAY!!!

I was taking in a minimum of 800 calories of pure cream. That's like eating a hot fudge sundae every day! I couldn't believe it. I would do 45 minutes of cardio and that would not be enough to even burn off the cream. For wonder I wasn’t losing weight.

I thought this job was the szhiznit because we had the fancy coffee creamers. Little did I know

Needless to say no more coffee for me. What will I do for caffeine.

TEA!

The lbs are Flying off and I have doubled my wardrobe.
This link has some other interesting diet busters that I never knew.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21838237/?GT1=10547&pg=2#TDY_20WorstFoods

Now when I finally take a vacation (one day), I will have a beach bod instead of a beach ball belly.

Holla at your boy

-MJL

Coffee Creamer

Millionaire

Calories

Much Needed Hiatus

Well, as you can see it's been quite a long time since I have
Blogged last. This can be attributed to the fact that I have been busier
then ever before. On top of trying to launch my newest internet project
I was in New Jersey for Thanksgiving and then straight to China for a week.

I thought the blackberry was going to help me stay consistent with my
blogging but to no avail. Despite the $70 monthly Google checks and the
occasional check from Amazon the main reason I decided to blog is to try and capture the events of my life as they occur and the affect of these events on my psyche. When I hit the Forbes 400 I can then pull from these posts and create a memoir that is representative of my feelings at the time when events were actually occurring. Better then the Google check or the memoirs are when I receive an email or feedback stating how a blog has given them inspiration. It’s truly hard to get inspired and stay inspired everyday.

Have no fear, I’m here to help.

Well I’m back in North America and blogging, maybe I can get in one or two posts per week. I still got stuff to say and many successes and many failures that can be all drawn from. I would like to thank my readers for the kick in the ass reminding me to get back on my grind, sometime a good swift kick is needed….Even for the most ambitious man on the planet.


-MJL

The Tax Man Cometh!!

First of all I would like to give a big shout out to MICHELLE - I hope New Baby Girl and Mom are doing well.

After a volatile January we are trying to continue to kick ass in Feb.

I have five big things going on right now: My Main Job, My "Big" Website idea, two inventions I'm trying to bring to market and my Truck Washing Business.

My main job and truck washing business have been getting most of my attention because money from these endeavors is what I have been pouring into the others. I am all risk right now. No savings; only investing. The risk is minimized because I'm betting on myself.

THE TAX MAN- DA DA DHUMMMM!

Well my business had a great year; so I figured I better legitimize things and get an accoutant.

First of all - Do you know how much a good accountant costs? How about $300 per hour? The actual write up work and tax preparation stuff can be done by a lessor member of an accountant firm, but the consultation and prep is typically done by a partner. All news to me.

Second of all - Do you know how important each and everything you put into and pull out of your business account is. Very important.

The first thing he told me was, "If you want to go to jail, Then Keep Doing What you are doing". He said you are more likely to get away with killing someone then not paying your taxes.

I told him to do whatever he needs to do to get me right. I brought in my huge "Timberland" box of records and printouts from Quickbooks. 16 hours later, he had my 2005, 2006 and almost 2007 taxes done. That's right I haven't filed business taxes in 3 years. "How could someone that is so smart be so stupid?" That is the same thing my accountant asked.

It's because I'm thiking survival! Who cares about taxes if you aren't even going to be in business.
When you have no money - you have no choice. Now I have a huge Accountant Bill, and three huge IRS bills.


To maintain everything on the Up and UP so to speak, I had my accountant set up a payroll service. He then tells me that I should set up a check for myself twice a month. This means that I have to pay myself a check, pay taxes on that income, have the business pay taxes on that money and then put the money back into the business.

How sick is that.

When it's all said in done I have a huge problem. THE TRUCK WASHING BUSINESS IS IN THE RED!.....Again.

My first order of business is getting more customers. I haven't had this problem in a long time. The days of me printing brochures at home, searching for addresses in Yahoo Yellow pages, and printing labels and folding are long gone. I contacted three agencies and I am waiting for a quote.


So the bad news - All savings and business savings have been exhausted to the tune of slightly under $20,000.

The good news - Your boy is not going to jail. It appears that Wesley (Snipes) was aquitted too.

So not only do you get more blogging but you might get Blade 4!


Gotta Run - there's much work to do.


-MJL

Crazy Eddie - The Dude was Insane

I am aware that everyone doesn’t really know who Crazy Eddie is, but he was the szhit back in the day. He had the late 80’s on lock down. These commercials used to come on like every 5 minutes, to the point you were repeating the slogan in your sleep. That guy we all knew as Crazy Eddie on the commercials was not really crazy Eddie. He was DJ Jerry Carrol. He was a face man cleverly hired to bring in the masses. What better then an average looking, white guy with his own electronics store. Almost like a favorite Uncle to make you feel comfortable about purchasing electronics from him. Similar to Richard Goldman’s dancing for DOC glasses or Marty Hartunian given his spiel for ABC warehouse.


Richard Golden, 59President and CEOD.O.C. Optics Corp., SouthfieldRevenue: $108 millionCivic and corporate involvement: Gilda’s Club.Golden made eyewear sexy. Golden, with his aggressive advertising campaign, coined the term “sexy specs” and was one of the first retailers to market glasses with an emphasis on fashion. D.O.C. was founded in 1946 by his father, Donald Golden, and Richard Golden has been president and CEO since 1986. D.O.C. has grown into the 10th-largest retail optical chain in the country with more than 100 locations in six states, and it also operates 14 stores under the name SEE, or Selective Eyewear Elements.



Gordon Hartunian, 73President and CEOABC Appliance Inc., PontiacRevenue: $390 millionHartunian’s ABC Appliance is Southeast Michigan’s only remaining regional chain of appliance and electronics stores. Hartunian has outlasted other competitors such as Highland Superstores Inc. and Fretter Inc. and continues to battle national giants Circuit City Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. Founded in 1964, ABC has 35 stores in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana and is known for its commercials starring Hartunian.



The crazy Eddie empire peaked with 43 stores in four states and 300 million in sales. Not a lot by today’s standards but that was pretty good back in the 80’s.

The real guys behind Crazy Eddie were Eddie Antar and Sam Antar. Eddie Antar was fraudulent from the beginning.
Excerpt from Wikipedia
“Almost from the beginning, Crazy Eddie's management was engaged in various forms of fraud. The Antars paid employees off the books, and regularly skimmed thousands of dollars (in cash) earned at the stores. For every $5 Crazy Eddie reported as income, $1 was taken by the Antars. In 1979, the Antars began depositing much of this money (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in Israeli bank accounts. The Antar family skimmed an estimated $3-$4 million (US) per year at the height of their fraud. In one offshore bank account, the family deposited more than $6 million between 1980 and 1983.[2]
In preparation for taking Crazy Eddie public, Eddie Antar initiated a scheme in 1979 to skim less each year. Since more income was actually being reported, this had the effect of showing drastically increasing profit margins. While the company's actual profits (taking into account skimmed profits) from 1980 to 1983 increased approximately 13%, reported profits rose nearly 37%.[4]
Despite the misgivings of people closely associated with Crazy Eddie, the company held its initial public offering on September 13, 1984 (symbol: CRZY). Shares of the company sold initially for $8. By early 1986, Crazy Eddie stock was trading at more than $75 per share (split adjusted).[1]”
Eddie Antar became the focus of SEC and Federal investigations, and was eventually charged with a series of crimes. Antar fled to Israel in February 1990, but was returned to the United States in January 1993 to stand trial. His 1993 conviction on fraud charges was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty in 1996. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and received massive fines.





Here is the story behind their low price guarantees in Sam Antar’s own words; who is also currently doing time as a convicted felon.

"Much attention has been paid to Crazy Eddie’s famous price policy – “Shop
around. Get the best prices you can find. Then go to Crazy Eddie's and he'll
beat it!” Even more attention has been paid to its legendary commercials
featuring Jerry Carroll. However, many people do not know the real story behind
Crazy Eddie’s aggressive sales tactics. Yes, we “offered” the best price and at
times it was sometimes true. However, most customers never purchased the items
that they initially came into Crazy Eddie to buy. We had an entire procedure
built around Crazy Eddie lingo code words described below to maximize profits
for the company. We had in Crazy Eddie lingo called an “SW” or “switch the
customer” policy which was to initially seek to sway the customer to purchase a
more profitable item that offered “better value.” If the initial sales person
could not SW the customer he would “TO” the customer to let another more
experienced sales person “take over” the sales pitch with the customer in order
to “guide” them to the more profitable purchase. If the customer was still
insistent on buying the items that they had originally come into Crazy Eddie to
purchase rather than lose the sale we would sell them the merchandise but try to
sell them high profit accessories and long term warranty contracts to make up
for the low profit of the units purchased. If the merchandise was not in stock
we would sneak the display item off the shelf and “lunch it” or repackage it and
sell it as brand new. Finally, if a customer decided not to purchase a product
for any reason after going through various phases of this process Crazy Eddie
has a “NAD” or “nail at door” policy where a sales person located at the exit
would try to “kosher” the customer. The Crazy Eddie Empire was built on deceit.
The massive financial fraud that followed was based on a culture of deceit the
permeated from the Antar family that ruled Crazy Eddie. There are many lessons
to be learned from the Crazy Eddie frauds. Specifically as it relates to your
commentary I would suggest something I learned in my first day in economics
class, “There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.” Company’s have costs and
must earn a profit. Yes, some companies can make money more efficiently than
others. However, as a former criminal I can assert that old line, “If it looks
too good to be true, it is probably is.”

All this Crazy Eddie Stuff's got me nervous. I'm going to see my accountant on Thursday!

-MJL

Quote of the Week

I was reading the Wall Street Journal and came across an interview with Roger Ailes.

He is known as the president of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group.

Roger is from the old school - Shirts, Ties, and Business as Business. Here was his take on modern times:


"The problem with most people who don't suceed is that they see options. It's the way I was brought up. I dug ditches, I put in sewer pipe, I put in guardrail. When I was18, my dad looked at me and said, "Where are you going? You can't live here...Are you going to go in the sevice? You want me to put your name in up at the shop? Try to go to college!

So I went to a cheap state school so I could work three jobs.

When you don't see options you don't give up easy. The real problem with our society is we've taken the word responsibility and turned it into entitlement, and we sit around thinking that that's an option. "

Nuff Said!

-MJL


Roger Ailes,
Wall Street Journal
Millionaire
Business

One of the best Comments

Below is one of my favorite comments. Whomever wrote this reminds me so much of a business partner that I used to have. Typically only the controversial statements get comments and people found this comment slightly controversial and might I say even offensive.

I'm going to go on defense slightly for this commenter. I'm not going to call Americans unintelligent but they are very impulsive, greedy and more emotional then other countries. There is pressure by society to surrender to the masses and most people crumble under this pressure. How do you explain things like the pet rock! This guy made millions from a pet rock. He did exactly what the commenter is suggesting, that is capitalizing on the sheer stupidity or I would like to say sheer emotions of others.






The Pet Rock was introduced at a gift show, where the store, Neiman-Marcus ordered five hundred. After a news release showing Gary surrounded by boxes of his Pet Rocks, Newsweek did a story and within a few months was shipping ten thousand Pet Rocks every day. He even appeared on The Tonight Show twice.


By Christmas that year two and a half tons of rocks had been sold, three-fourths off all the newspapers in America had run Pet Rock stories. A million rocks sold for $3.95 apiece in just a few months making Gary Dahl an instant millionaire.





My business partner had an extremely high IQ and had a tough time conceptualizing why people were not as smart as he was and did not think the same as he did.

Of course there are overstatements because he is trying to get his point across. Obviously people will make $250,000 in their life time but like the other commenter "Chelle" says you don't want to be house poor trying to pay your mortgage.


To respond directly to the poster's comments about my short term goals of which included buying a vacuum cleaner, sleeping more, golf scores, and exercising. That was just a way of showing my reading audience that there are smaller goals nested in larger goals; and that the impact of the small goals and the decision-making that goes into completing them are no different then the larger ones. I have been through some REAL problems in life, including recently my mom getting hit by a car, leaving her unable to work....so more so then ever I realize how important money is.


In regards to my plan on being a millionaire I have what I call MSI - Multiple Streams of Income with the first and foremost being my job. Although it involves me in a cube (my own personal hell) my income is high which is what I'm using to fund the rest of my endeavors.

Of course I have my now profitable Auto Detailing / Truck Washing Business (4 Employees deep).

Real Estate Investing – In every down market someone is making money!

Ebay – One person’s garbage is another person’s treasure!

Aggressive Stock Investing – Very self explanatory

Internet Development business which I'm a partnered in that I can’t elaborate on just yet.


All of these activities puts my debt to income and income to spending ratios very high. My living conditions mimic that of someone who makes $40,000.00 so I have money to keep investing. I will eventually continue to buy and run additional companies and invest in more ventures until I can afford to break out of my cubicle prison without putting all of my endeavors at risk.

The commenter has a set of balls on him to quit his six figure job at Motorola and throw caution to the wind. Investing in yourself and your abilities is where it's at. I still haven’t worked up enough courage or cajones to just go in and kick the cube down.

Kudos to the commenter, for taking a strong stance and walking the talk. For those who were offended - life's too short. Just offend back with a comment of your own.

-MJL

I'm exhausted....Enough for now.

SAID POST IS LISTED BELOW

Hello,

I stumbled across your blog and found myself reading your stuff for about an hour. You have a very interesting take on things. Most of what you say, I totally agree with. I too own my own business and am in the process of becoming a future millionaire, which is pretty much 99% guaranteed after my company releases our next product to the public. I find money very interesting and the game to reach millionaire/billionaire status is quite fun to play.

Your post from July 3, 2006 (Getting out of debt: part 1) was right on with what I also believe. Most people are in fact too lazy or too "busy" to do anything to get out of their current stressful situation. Most are stuck in a rut of the current dead end jobs or have screwed up their chances for success by popping out babies like candy. You may also realize that the main reason that people are not making a ton of money is because they are simply stupid. Honestly, the average IQ of us Americans are the bunt of jokes in other countries. Your average John or Jane Doe does not have the mind set or the knowledge to know that it's a bad idea to purchase a house that costs more than they will collectively earn in their entire life. They also can't equate that having 4 kids and a $30,000/year combined income doesn't mean that its a good idea to pop out a few more babies.

Also, because your typical American has an average intelligence of a 10 year old, it is nearly impossible for them to even know how to start a business let alone run them. The fact is, the reason why many of the rich people are rich is because they know how to capitalize on the sheer stupidity of others, which is the majority of the population.

Going back to your post on July 3, 2006 you list your top 10 worries. Some of which included a vaccume cleaner, sleeping more, golf scores, and exercising. I hope since that time you have had the chance to experience some REAL problems in life. I agree that money is everything and everything revolves around money. The thought of money is what gets me up in the morning and keeps me going during the day. Money along with determination is the reason why I quit my $100,000 a year engineering job at Motorola to start my own business, which is currently slowingly moving me closer towards going bankrupt and almost reaching $100,000 in debt. But that's what drives me. I love the experience and the thought of one day becoming as rich as Bill Gates or the 2 founders of Google. I can go on forever about this interesting topic, but I am curious as to what you are currently doing to reach your millionaire goals? So far, you've been the only one I've seen who actually knows what he is talking about and knows what is needed to get the most out of life...Money

9:53 PM

Future Millionaire Skills ..and I don't mean that!

So this past weekend I got to fly first class again. Even though the flight was short, (Detroit to Virginia) I still loved every second of it.
Ok, it wasn't as nice as the picture but I still love it.
I went halfway through the flight and I still wasn't able to make conversation with the Asian gentlemen next to me. What a waste, I thought, If I can't find out what he does and who he is, then what kind of future millionaire am I. Then I peeped his monogrammed socks and that was it! I had to find out more. He looked visibly bored so I offered up the Wall Street Journal. This accomplished two things: 1. He was impressed that a hip hop head such as myself – dressed in the shirt from one of my companies - not only did I have a copy of the journal it was labeled with my name showing that I'm a subscriber. 2. Now he was just as intrigued about me as I was about him.

Score 1 for the future millionaires. By the time the flight landed I had this tenured professor, Phd from Michigan State, raised in Philly, 26 years living in MI, teaching in Virginia on the weekend, advid mountain biker crackin up. He was even tapping my arm and pointing to stuff out of the window for me to take note of. I never got his name or exchanged cards but when I left he said, "Take care man". It was at that point that I realized we had been the only two passengers in first class that spoke the entire trip.

Go figure. Politicking with anyone anywhere is a skill that is mandatory for the self made millionaire. I got that part of the game down flat.

MJL



1st Class,
Flying
Millionaire
NorthWest Airlines

Funny and Inspiring Quotes

Well, it's been a little over a year now and I have successfully been able
create several streams of income. The goal is to be involved with so much stuff
that I can eventually quit the "Cube-Job" and hold things down on my own full
time jobs. I shouldn't be so quick to call my hustles streams of income; some
potential streams and some are dreams but they are all in progress.

I had to take a time out to get things in perspective and focus.
There was a small period of content, and I can't have that. Now that I am that angry person again, I can get more accomplished. I must admit the addition of the Blackberry to my arsenal has greatly improved my efficiency, I can even use it to help blog.

How about some good quotes?

One is just plain funny. I consider myself well traveled and Northwest Airlines has been the armpit of all airlines. In this months Esquire, the writer of the article states this about Northwest
Airlines:

"Northwest Airlines, an organization whose incompetence would be best described as Ruthian. It's too bad the 9/11 terrorists did not patronize Northwest Airlines; they undoubtedly would have been stranded in Logan airport until they collectively renounced Islam "

Ain't that the truth.

The other quote came during my viewing of Tiger winning the BMW
Championship. The commentator said something to the affect of,

"Even when I played (golf professionally) and dreamed of the PGA Tour and
how I good I could be, I never even dreamed I could be as good as he (Tiger
Woods) is"

That is a perfect example of how we limit ourselves. He's that good that he is beyond other pros' wildest dreams. They can not even conceptualize beating him. Tiger might be the only person to expect to make a 50 foot putt.

He’s not surprised when he wins because he expects it.

When I'm done, and I mean really done, I wont be surprised because I expect it.

Please remember those who lost their lives in
9/11.

-MJL

Rich,
Tiger Woods
Millionaire
NorthWest Airlines

Now That's a Break!

Now that I have alienated all of my loyal readers, I am back once again. What I have recently learned is that it's more then OK to be me.

I am a grumpy piece of crap right now. The only thing that makes me happy is working and money. Is this wrong? Most will say yes, but it is what it is. There is nothing I can do about it. I try to fight it and to no avail. I am knocked out everytime.

I look on Myspace sometime and see people taking pictures with famous people like Jay-Z, or some athlete like AI. I'm wondering how come I'm not Jay-Z or AI. I figure, I'm going to die anyway, why not die trying to get rich and make my family comfortalbe. I'm like the guy diving on the bomb to save the platoon.

I'm sick, miserable, tired. I can't sleep. I can't make enough money fast enough.

This is where the "Insane" part of the blog appears. I am insane and if crazy is wrong then I don't want to be right.

-MJL

Battle at Kruger - Just like Doing Business

This video is great. It shows business at it's best. The strong prey on the weak, and the strongest prey on the strong. Who are you?

The Stock Market Roller Coaster

What's really going on in the market? Why all of the hoopla about records highs and lows?

Let me take the time to break things down in layman’s terms, so we can understand it, and plan accordingly.

There are only a few times in history when the Real Estate and Stock Markets have fallen simultaneously, the recent reason behind this is the defaulting of our good ol friend, "The Subprime Mortgage". For the record, subprime mortgages are home loans given to high risk borrowers. High risk refers to those with shady credit histories, bankruptcies, non payments, 3 baby muvas’, making no car payments etc. There are certain "no-doc" subprime loans that don't even require lenders to verify the borrower's income. In extreme cases lenders offered what they called a "ninja" loan. No job, no income no assets.

Lenders were just giving money away trying to get as many mortgages on the books as they could. Well, this home loan frenzy increased home ownership rates to a high of 69.2% in 2004. These homes were paid for by mortgages with 3 year ARM's (adjustable rate mortgages) that have recently expired. This means that the terms are now able to be adjusted. Now three years goes by in a flash. People not watching the calendar and not prepared have seen their interest rates shoot up and their mortgage payments go up hundreds of dollars a month.

What some of us don't know is that when a bank gives you a loan, they set everything up and then sell it to investors (Smith Barney, Goldman Sachs, etc) packaged into bonds. They will approve a bunch of loans with borrowers with similar qualifications, package them together and an investment company will buy the debt. Due to the plummeting housing prices, institutional investors are seeing these bonds as high risks and refusing to buy them. Even AAA rated subprime bonds aren't selling.

Now lenders can only give out the amount of loans that they can afford to fund themselves (they still have to make loans, because they want to stay in business). This limits the amount of loans available, which in turn allows the lending company to raise the criteria to only highly qualified borrowers. If they increase the qualifications high enough, then maybe institutional investors will get back into the game. If offer them a bunch of mortgages by borrowers with credit scores only in the 700’s they might jump all over it.

When the home prices were rising, life was good. When you couldn't make a mortgage payment, you just refinanced. Took the equity out and kept it moving. After prices peaked in most markets in 2006 that ended quickly. Not only are people defaulting on their 1st mortgage but now they have two defaults.

How does this affect the economy?

Well business too want to borrow money to expand, and now there is no funds for them to borrow. It’s harder and the cash is not flowing as freely. That is why the Fed injected 24 billion dollars into the market.

This came in the form of repurchase agreements

nducted with mortgage bonds. This will allow money to keep flowing into the system.

What does that mean for you?

1. Keep your job. Do what you have to do to keep you income flowing.

2. The rental market will be alive and well again. Before it was hard to rent because any Tom, Dick and Tyrone could get a housing loan. Now with the restraints Bradley, Blake, and Matthew will also have trouble. They will be ready to rent and you will be there holding the rental agreement.



Remember in down markets the rich get richer. ….and we want in!

-MJL










Stock Market,
Subprime
Millionaire
Hustle

Why The Chinese are so Thin

Sorry Guys, but I have a new hustle I'm trying to develop so I have been away from the blogging scene.

I have been thinking lately about the human mind. I wonder what in your mind prevents you from doing exactly what you want to do. You have a vision of how you want your house, how much food you want to eat during a certain meal, how much work you want to get done in a certain day.

What about the human mind prevents you from achieving these goals?

If anyone has the answers, I'm all ears and I'm sure my readers are all ears. I have been falling just short of my own expectations and it's driving me insane.

Well I promise I will make up the lack of posts with some good shzit in the up coming days.
In the meantime I have posted some additional pictures from my trip to China.


This is the cure to obesity. Look at this food, this is real Chinese food, not the wings and rice that your used to.


Enjoy!

EXTEND YOUR BLOGGING FAMILY

Well everyone was doing it so I figured Why Not...

As a blogger you want more then just your mom and sisters reading your blog so we have what you call link backs. Now that Google, the power house that it is (depsite missing Wall Streets mark last week), has just aquired feed burner we can utilize this great tool to increase our blog traffic.

If you own a blog..follow the steps below:

1st - Go t0 Feed burner and make sure you are a member and your blog is listed.

2nd - Copy the list of blogs below onto your blog. A simple copy and paste brings all of the html code with it. SWEET!

3rd - Add yourself and up to 5 other bloggers and their feeds to the end of the list before you publish it on your own site, hence creating link backs for your blogging friends and then click the RSS feed link to subscribe to all of them. Then you add yourself and up to 5 other bloggers and their feeds to the end of the list before you publish it on your own blog. That's it. Now you will be the most popular blogger around. If I see you've added me, I will do the same.


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HUSTLER OF THE WEEK

J K ROWLINGS

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowlings's seventh and final book about the boy wizard, sold an estimated 8.3 million copies within 24 hours of its release, its US publisher has said.

The publisher, Scholastic, said it printed a record 12 million copies in anticipation of the 12:01 am release on Saturday.

The book was magic for retailers, as well, chalking up records for bookshops in New York and other US cities.

Borders USA chief executive officer George Jones said it was the biggest day in Borders' history, with 1.2 million copies of the book sold worldwide on Saturday.

Each of the Potter releases has been a number-one best-seller in the United States, Britain and around the world.

Most recently, Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, released on July 16, 2005, sold a record 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, from a press run of 10.8 million copies, Scholastic said in a statement.

With all the hoopla however, book stores are so compettive that they are selling the book just pennies over what they pay for it. They are just trying to build a loyal customer base. They are driving profits away from the mom and pop bookstores who can't afford to stock as many books, or sell as many so cheap. It's dog eat dog in the business world!

The only one really makin' a killin' is Harry and his Movie Cast, and of course our hustler of the Week - JK Rowling

I'VE STILL YET TO CRACK THE PAGES OF HARRY. I'LL GET RIGHT ON THAT AFTER WAR & PEACE & MOBY DICK!

-MJL

A Cup of Epiphany

Inspiration comes to us from many and any different avenues. My latest epiphany came via a cup of coffee. I live, and thrive off of coffee, and caffeine. I average less then 4 hours of sleep per night, so me and coffee are like Rob and Big, best friends.

Well, last Wednesday at 3:10 PM, I go to the luxury coffee café that’s located in one of the business suites at my prestigious job (translation: Sh@%tty little coffee room at work), and I am faced with the decision of trying the coffee that's in the pot, or making a new one, which no one would probably drink because it's after 3:00. Any other day, I would roll the dice and pour the coffee, add my cream and equal take a sip and go back to work. If the coffee was awful, “Oh Well” if it was good “JACKPOT!”.

Then I thought, this is simple. If I want a good cup of coffee I should make one. I deserve to have a good cup of coffee, I have been here working since 7:00 AM with no lunch and no break. I won't be leaving until 6:00 PM, why do I have to sacrifice my taste buds and my desires to save the company a half a pot of coffee that I might even drink or that would get wasted anyway. In that split second, a lot of what I do and will do would change. It was a defining moment. I grab the coffee, and dumped it in the sink. "SO THERE", then I pulled out the pack of Maxwell House, opened the packet and smelled the sweet aroma of my future, my success and aspirations. I brewed up a nice fresh pot of millionaire brew and poured a nice cup.

Then I sat at my desk and started to think about all of the things that I left up to chance...and why I left them up to chance. I have control over a lot more then I am willing to except. In the past, I would do work, and then let what ever happens happened. It just so happens that my little effort, is equal to other peoples good effort, and I have been successful / lucky.

I could be more successful if I took ownership. If you want to lose weight, STOP EATING & work out. Take responsibility and stop making the excuses. A lot of us don't do this because we feel, for some deep rooted reason that we don't deserve to be successful. That if good things happen then bad things are to follow. None of this is true, you deserve exactly what you are willing to work for.

Another reason why we don’t try is fear of failure. We don’t try hard in the beginning so that when and if we do fail, we can have a crutch to blame things one. That is loser mentality.

L – O –S – E –R.

Take charge of your life right now. Let's turn it up a notch. We are winners and we win. I don’t care how corny it is, but in the morning look at yourself in the mirror and MAN-UP. Take responsibility for your day and make things happen. 9 times out of 10 things don’t happen or you fail to get things done because YOU don’t do it.

LET'S DO WORK!

-MJL

Hey there beautiful people. I'm back. I had to take some time out and get myself together. This usually means I have a new hustle...and guess what? I have a new hustle. (Details to be revealed as I get myself further in deeper)

When looking for inspiration I usually turn to TV or documentaries about real life people and what they have done and overcome to become successful. Like I always say, just because you do what they do doesn't mean you are going to be as successful, but doing what they do, working as hard as they do at least gives you a shot. Besides the King of Cars, Flip that House, and Unique Whips, another show that keeps me inspired is Making the Band 4.

Those not familiar with Making the band, it's a nationwide talent search, a-la American Idol where Puffy or Sean Combs puts the “would be” music artists through trials and tribulations on the road to making them a success. He keeps them up late at night, he puts them through physical training, mental training in attempts to have them feel what he felt during his struggles in acquiring his $315 million empire. These kids are given an opportunity of a life time and all they have to do is endure all Puffy has to shell out for 3 months and they will live their dream.

In the past contestants have quit or cried, complaining that the demands were to hard, or the regimen too strenuous. During season 2 Puffy sent the contestants walking to Brooklyn to buy him a slice of cheesecake from Junior's bakery – I would walk through all 5 boroughs of NY barefoot, butt naked in flip flops if it meant access to $1 million.

Imagine, that someone said you could only sleep 3 - 4 hrs per night, exercise everyday until you drop, and work 16 hour days and your wildest dream would be granted. Most of us would jump for joy, because those trying to live their dreams have probably been doing all that and more for as long as they can remember.

What's refreshing about this last recruit of Making the Band Contestants, is that the confessional commentary that you hear gives you the impression that they understand the chance that they have been given. (Yeah, at times the guys get a little feminine, but they are R&B singers so it’s to be expected.)

For instance one of only two "white" dudes on the episode is Dan. When Dan got the call back, they said that he was a little chunky. Dude went home, hired a personal trainer and dropped 16 lbs. That's wanting it....and if you thought "white" boys can't dance. Look at Dan during the second call backs, he is probably in the top 10 dancers. I don't know if Dan will make it to the end, but his drive and determination can not be doubted. He understands the meaning of "NO DO OVERS!" That is how life is. No Do Overs. He has one shot, and he is doing everything possible to make this one shot count.

Remember how you imagined your life would be when you were growing up? Remember what kind of car you would drive, house you would live in? Things you would do? It's all still possible if you work and strive. If you don’t work and strive then you are not even giving yourself a chance. How can you win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket? If you are content not fulfilling your own goals for yourself, then great, but if you want better, take stock of yourself, create a plan, and make it happen.

Even those who don’t watch MTV, or think these reality shows are silly. Look at one episode of Making the Band 4 and you will be inspired. Look at an episode of King of Cars, and you will see how hungry (sometimes borderline sleazy) salesmen hustle to feed their families. Look at Unique Whips and find out how many hours Will Castro works his crew to produce high end products.

Let this be an inspiration for you to get out and reach your goals whatever they might be.


-MJL
inspiration,
Making the Band 4
Millionaire
P-Diddy

What are we playing for.....

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I last posted. You can always tell how busy I am by the frequency of my posts. I have been trying to stay on top of my shzit but it's hard work.

I will say this, when I start getting paid, if you have been reading my blog, and have a business worthy idea, hit me with it so we can both get paid. It's hard work, I say it's hard "Damn" work trying to get a million these days. Especially when you are starting from negative $100,000.00.

With that being said, I look for inspiration where ever I can find it. Some one emailed me these pictures (shout out to Alex). This is what I dream about at night.
Enjoy the pics.......I will be back with some news worthy posts after the holiday. Happy Fourth.