Update XX: A Darn Good Judge of My Financial Situation

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Bushie,  the fact you fail to admit your life is in shambles, is part of the  reason you are in your current situation

Again, have I ever said things are perfect?  There's nothing wrong with looking at the bright side of life.  Things could be much better, but they could also be way worse.  I will say again, I have nothing to be ashamed of right now.  I have nothing to worry about.  If God be for me, who can be against me?

I honestly have to ask you, what do you consider "things are going bad?" Your parents being eating by wolves?

Among white American 30-39 yr old males born to middle class households, I'd say your quality of life is about 5th percentile.  Most of the people below you have terminal cancer and heroin addictions. Actually, some heroin addicts probably are above you.

Do you ever want to find love? Do you ever want to be not only independent of your parents but pay to buy them nice things? Do you ever want to feel healthy and not plagued with constant aches and pains?

It's all a matter of perception.  You cannot subjectively peg my life into a percentile and expect me to agree with it.  Life is not great, but it sure as heck not bad.  I am just a normal human being who happens to be unemployed at the present time due to no fault of his own.  I'm no better than that and no worse than that.  There's no other way to put it.  You can't make it look better than what it is and you can't make it look worse than what it is.

Smash, my life is not in shambles, but that doesn't mean I am content to leave it where it's at.  God loves me just I am, but loves me too much to leave me where I am.  He wants to see me reach my full potential and that's something I want, as well.  My faith has everything to do with it.  I can't do anything on my own.  I need His strength and guidance to carry me on, because without Him, my life would definitely be in shambles.  You ask me how I can say my life is not in shambles?  My answer is because God is in my life.  He makes everything new.  Don't judge me yet, He's still working on me.  Again, things could be much better than where they are now and I want to get there, but at the same time I cannot be ashamed with where my life is at right now at 8:45 pm CST Wednesday, January 14, 2015.  With God's help, I'll get there.  Without His help, I won't.  Simple as that.

The above is basicaally your problem in a nutshell.  God isn't going to do it for you, and yes your life is absolutely in shambles.  You can get out of it, but you need to do it YOURSELF, not God, but YOURSELF.

Nonsense.  I can do nothing without God.   Do not dismiss my faith as irrelevant.

Bushie, I'm not dismissing your faith as irrelevant.  However, your situation isn't going to change if your answer for everything is God this and God that.  Seriously you sound like Inhoffe when he tried to explain why he didn't think Global Warming was real (because GOD...)

  YOU need to do it, YOU need to make changes, YOU need to better yourself, YOU need to take better care of yourself.  The only one that will get you out of your current situation is YOU. 

I'm not trying to mock or dismiss your faith, but you need to realize, the one that controls you is YOU.  Until you get to that point, you won't have a chance in hell of having any type of financial Independence.  You won't have a chance in hell of taking the massive financial burden off your parents.  You won't have a chance in hell of not being a walking sitting heart attack waiting to happen

Exactly - you think your faith is like a fast-track ticket through the airport security screen of life. It's not.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The minor rough patch now includes dizziness and sleep apnea. RIP Bushie. Dead within a year. Sad to see Update end so soon.

I just hope he can cling to life long enough for Update to beat The Simpsons in number of seasons and become the longest running sitcom.

It's more of a David E. Kelley 'dramedy' than a sitcom though...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I don't like LinkedIn, but I understand how it works.

Indeed, I refuse to have it.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Bushie, Jeff, whatever

Please take my advice and just deactivate your account... please. You were gone for a week and these fools had to make up stupid jokes just to keep this sh**ts alive...come on man. You know you are better than this, delete this and your Facebook, and these bums will be as screwed... many of them base their whole lives on this update thread, just force them to do something worthwhile.

And who are you exactly?

...thank you.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

If you respected them, you'd be doing something ... anything ... in the downtime between jobs, or working two to get out from under them sooner. Take a cashier job now, work it full time, transition it to part time when your CADD job comes along and work both to earn more faster.

That's drive. That's determination. That's follow-through. When crisis strikes, you act and you overcome. That's what real people do, Jeff, to earn those qualities you said you want. How much respect would you earn in your parents' eyes if you got off the couch, swallowed your pride and worked double shifts at a 7-11 to pay them back and applied for CADD jobs like a mad man during your off hours. Again, the issue is, you're never in crisis. You know that, no matter how many times you fail, mom and dad will be there to pay the bills. That's crippling any ambition you may actually possess.

I can tell you - one thing worse on your CV than lots of short-term gigs... are big gaps in-between jobs. One thing I was advised (even though I was a student during the period in question) was to note periods of extended travel. Which accounts for a 4 month gap in my job history. Because I can tell you, while people will be saying "why does this guy keep losing jobs after such a short period of time?" they will also be saying "why does this guy spend long periods of time unemployed?"

Even if you want a $12-15 per hour job, keep looking, but rather than spending all day watching TV, planning on doing x, y or z and then sending in a few applications.... get a job, any job or even volunteer somewhere - anything to show that you weren't just focused on your career, but that you were focused on remaining employed and showing resilience and flexibility. 

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I made it safely to Tulsa about half an hour ago.  I have nothing against grocery stores and do not consider those employees to be beneath me.  If you think I think that, you are grossly misinterpreting things.  Not entirely your fault, though, as I am very poor at explaining things.  To show I do not have anything against grocery stores, I went by the Reasor's grocery store chain on my way into town and picked up some milk and cereal for breakfast tomorrow.  I also had to get trash bags, but altogether, it only took me 11 minutes and $18, but I went by a grocery store that did not have the name Walmart on the front of the building.  The store smelt nice and fresh especially by the refrigerated section.  Saturday, I will go by Walmart as I will have several more groceries to purchase.  For just one or two things, though, like tonight, I have no problems going by the grocery store.

Um... that's a novel interpretation/deflection of the "just get a job as a cashier!!" suggestion.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

You all missed the fact that I ate at a mom and pop instead of a big chain.  Instead, I got bashed over the head because it's fried chicken.

I'm sorry how rude!

Let's give a big round of applause for helping a small business! Don't you monsters know good news when you read it!

Oh... IT'S FRIED CHICKEN! Was there even a plant-based element that wasn't just fibrous material held together with fat?

No, you aren't getting congratulated for that and you should be bashed over the head for another set of decisions that are so obviously terrible.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Wow... that's what people feed their children?!

I hope Child Services is watching it like a hawk.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

bushie, if you ate a light (i.e. normal supper for the rest of us) would mama bushie encourage you to eat more?

She does not encourage me to be fat.  Granted, she does not encourage me enough to lose weight, but she mostly lets me live my own life and reap what I sow.  Grandma encourages me to eat healthier a little more, but she has really backed off in the past year.  Mostly, she lets me eat what I want.  Incidentally, Dad is doing a heck of a job managing his diabetes, and so is mom.  They splurge every now and then, but then get back on track almost immediately.  They eat virtually the same stuff I do.  The only difference is they are really good at portion control.  So much better than I am.  The doctors are amazed at how well their diabetes are under control.  We no longer laugh about it and they do take it seriously.  I'm just so thankful that everytime mine is checked, which is every six months, my blood sugar and A1C levels are always perfectly normal.  I am not taking any medication for diabetes, either.  I am really, really fortunate.  I need to do everything I can to keep it that way, and I have not been doing well, but I'll get there.  It may be a slow, painful process, but I'll get there.  Sorry for the rabbit chase, but I felt it was a good time for an update on their health.

Note.... your parents both have type-2 diabetes. Which means your chance of getting it is almost 100% ... if you don't change your ways.

I remember reading that post about your Dad's diagnosis and how everyone was laughing and that you were only going to worry about eating right on weekdays (that doesn't include Friday) so four nights a week, but if your poor father was able to get Friday off, then it would only be Monday-Wednesday nights.

No wonder with your family's reckless disregard for their health, that their doctors are amazed at their resilience.  

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

No wonder Bushie lives the way he does.... no sin, no personal flaw, no damage done to others can keep him out of Heaven.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

You know what? A person who is verging on 300lbs and is at 5'7" should be embarrassed and should be being judged. You don't have a medical condition that means you can't lose weight (thyroid? some weird fluid/fat retention thing)... it's all lifestyle and some genetic elements.

Fundamentally, what it comes down to is your childish view of food and your responsibility for your own welfare. You talk about responsibility, but you take it on in name only. Your parents and grandmother fix your problems for you, they're your enablers. I'm sure they don't intend to, but they are. The food issue continually perplexes me. You KNOW, not think, but KNOW that your diet is doing untold damage to your body. When basic levels of restraint are recommended... what's the response? You act like you're being told to eat lettuce and only lettuce and water until the day you die. You treat it like you're being punished if you reduce your fat, sugar and salt levels. Trust me bub, it's nothing compared to diabetes (just because your parents have theirs controlled, doesn't mean yours will be so easy, especially considering your inability to restrain yourself), congestive heart failure, circulatory problems etc etc...

The idea that you keep finding excuses to avoid eating healthy, it's a weekend (Friday inclusive... or if Papa has the day off, Thursday!), it's a holiday (real or invented), it's a major national event. No one who is serious about getting even a little bit healthy would act like this. This is your life. My 5 year old niece has a better relationship with food than you do. I dare say my 2.5 year old nephew has a more diverse and healthy diet.

There are people here who have actually tried to help you, many, I even wanted to for a time, but you've rejected anything you didn't want to hear and then lashed out when things go bad or you get called out.

For all the noise about people not respecting you... how about you at least show some respect to the people who have tried to help you. And just be honest, you don't want to do anything that's difficult, uncomfortable or requires you to give up anything you like.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I love the blinkeredness off the fundamentalists.

There's no evidence for creation, but that doesn't matter - the evidence-based option is silly and everything is Goooooooooooooooooooooood.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Bushie, what's your view on Pope Francis coming to speak to a joint session of Congress in September?

I'll be interested in what he has to say.  Personally, I'm pleased that he will be the first pontiff to address Congress in this fashion.  I'll be listening with an open mind with no prejudices.

     Are you aware that he rejects a literal interpretation of the Bible? Does that affect your opinion of the Bishop of Rome?

I know, and there's a Vatican observatory and most of the Vatican scientists accept evolution too! #fakeChristians.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Here's an idea: why doesn't Bushie volunteer at a Christian non-profit: it'll get him out of his apartment and hopefully up and moving, it'll be something he can put on his resume between jobs, and if he might even learn something. For example, if he volunteers at a soup kitchen, he might learn some basic cooking; if he volunteers to help build houses, he might learn how to use tools and do basic home repair, etc. It might also help him make connections with like-minded people that he might be able to leverage into a job later on.

This is a good idea.  Don't you think this is a very good use of your free time, Bushie?  If you want to, as you say, do "God's work on Earth", would this not be a decent idea?

I think that this is a good idea, Jeff. I enjoy doing work like this, and it is spiritually rewarding.

I have no idea what this means, but listen to your peers in religion, Jeff.  Who knows?  You might get a position with a non-profit... and at the very least make connections with people. 

Have you done bowling night recently?

We haven't gone bowling in a while.  I would really like to, though.

Who is "we"?  Your church friends?

Like he has any others...