Update XX: A Darn Good Judge of My Financial Situation

[Indy Texas]

In the interest of getting a better handle on just what in the world is going on up in Tulsa, I call on Jeff Brown to release his 2014 income tax returns upon their completion and filing. What is he hiding from the viewers?

[Indy Texas]

Jeff, tell us what you've done to...

1. Become healthier.
-How much exercise have you done?
-What did you eat today?

2. Achieve professional success.
-How much have you practiced CADD outside work?
-How much effort did you put into looking for permanent jobs while working at your recent temporary job that you already knew was temporary?

3. Achieve financial stability
-How much debt are you in today versus four years ago?
-What is your net worth today versus four years ago?

What have you done, Jeff? You can't name a single thing except constantly saying you'll try to intend to plan on doing things to improve yourself. Instead, you take a nap and then go to church. That is your life.

[Indy Texas]

Jeff, why do you need to waste over a week indulging your moocher aunt & uncle? There is no reason for anyone to be anyone's houseguest - relative or not - for that long. Certainly not 4-5 times a year -- that is more than a MONTH a year. Do they not have jobs?

As I said, go up to OKC for one day. Have dinner. Say hello. A nephew does not owe an aunt and uncle who visit frequently any more than that.

Poor granny. RIP.

[Indy Texas]

Hey, folks, we're back from dinner.  We went to Ted's Café and Escondido for supper tonight.  It was decent, but it wasn't the best.  Anyway, Memphis, I will be teaching senior adults in their 70's and 80's.  I am just going to teach this Sunday, then try to find someone else to teach for me next Sunday so I can officially move back to Tulsa next Saturday.

I am also going to call the doctor Monday morning and see if I can get into see him about my dizziness and my potential sleep apnea.  While I don't have a job, it would be a good time to see him without having to take off work.  He's kind of difficult to get into see, so it may be a challenge, but I'm certainly going to call and try.

The doctor's just going to tell you what we've been telling you for years - that you need to lose weight and aren't going to unless you eat healthier and exercise. You'll never listen to him. RIP.

You can't have it both ways, Jeff. One minute, Granny Bushie is a hardy, vibrant woman who has no problem cooking and cleaning and "waiting on [you] some." Now, suddenly she's a frail invalid who is helpless. Why do Aunt and Uncle Bushie have to stay for so long to tend to her? Why can't your parents do that? They actually live near her and it's not like your mom has a job apart from managing Papa's diabeetus and drawing up a new "game plan" for you after the latest firing/layoff. Why weren't you doing it seeing as you've been living in her house for free? I don't buy this "they like to travel" BS. Spending a week in your elderly mother's house cooking and cleaning for her isn't traveling. Sounds more like they have to come in from out of town to do stuff that you and your parents ought to be doing. Whatever the explanation is for what's going on over there, it still has nothing to do with why you need to spend 4 to 5 days there.

You're teaching 70- and 80-year olds... what, exactly?

How far and how fast the Small Town White American Male has fallen in the 21st century.

[Indy Texas]

It's a shame that you're bothered by a simple question or unpleasant truth raised about your family on the Internet by a total stranger, but aren't at all bothered by all the way you've treated your family with regards to spending their money, eating their food and unloading all your debt and problems onto them.

[Indy Texas]

It's a shame that you're bothered by a simple question or unpleasant truth raised about your family on the Internet by a total stranger, but aren't at all bothered by all the way you've treated your family with regards to spending their money, eating their food and unloading all your debt and problems onto them.

It's a shame that you're bothered by an internet stranger's family that you have to condemn him and his family.

Not bothered. Just amused and bemused by the total trainwreck that is your life.

[Indy Texas]

I think the question is: why does the rest of the family still have to work hard taking care of grandmother if a 32-year-old man is living with her rent- and responsibility-free?

Just an assumption as to where the vitriol may be coming from ...

That is exactly where my vitriol is coming from. Most people Jeff's age work full time and have a spouse and kids to look after. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that Jeff could not have been working during the day and minding grandma's house in the evenings and on weekends. It seems like perfectly fair compensation for the free use of her living space.

And if she is in a state where she actually ought to be in assisted living or have some sort of aide come to help her, then it's even more despicable that Mama and Papa are still contributing to Jeff's expenses and debts for sake of an empty apartment and premium cable and new furniture and so on when that money could be used to get grandma the help she needs.

[Indy Texas]

Sleepover in the Train Room?

Of course, a mere sleeping bag would wreak havoc on Jeff's back. No doubt the Family Brown is making a trip to Wal-Mart to spend some money on an air mattress and electric air compressor.

[Indy Texas]

I sleep on the couch.

That must be quite a sturdy couch. My ~200 pound brother used to sleep on the couch and caused huge dents in it.

I expect the Browns have a couch along the lines of this - maybe smaller but still complete with built-in cupholders for the XXL Braum's to-go cups.

[Indy Texas]

Tuesday, I need to run by the post office and fill out a change of address form.

No you don't.

[Indy Texas]

bushie majored in e-commerce, still refuses to do simple tasks online.

That's a really good point. Crazy! Maybe he's aware of some especially frightening internet security issues the rest of us don't know about. Or maybe he's just being Bushie. Sigh...

bushie also prefers paper job applications and paper pay checks instead of direct deposit.

I'll bet he's one of those people who spends 15 minutes paying at the grocery store because he insists on writing a check. And the 60+ year olds he routinely hangs out with tell him there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

[Indy Texas]

Jeff, show an ounce of sanity and do your change of address form online. I would guess that you've been "up" at some point today, so the burden of getting up to get your wallet is a moot point. You'll pay more in time and fuel costs by going to the post office to fill out a paper form than you will the the $1.00 confirmation charge.

I know you wanted to make your week sound "busy," but aside from cleaning a house, you don't have much going on. Work smarter, not harder -- fill out the form online and use that valuable time on Tuesday to build a LinkedIn profile, continue the job search or reach out to some professional connections.

I'll do it online.  I don't know if I'll do it today or tomorrow or Tuesday, but I'll do it online.

I've already got a LinkedIn profile, but honestly, I do not know how it works, so I never look at it.

What are you doing right now that is so G*d damn important that you can't take five minutes to change your address at the link I basically spoon-fed to you?

[Indy Texas]

I think Bushie has a point. LinkedIn is the most useless networking website I've ever seen. There's occasionally a good front page article. That's the most you can get out of it.

That's a rather bold statement for opinion. I've gotten much more than that out of LinkedIn. It's all in how you use it and what you're trying to get out of it.

I haven't gotten anything out of it beyond knowing where people I went to college with are currently working.

[Indy Texas]

So many of us who respond to his updates -- whether we're genuinely trying to help or not -- portray only the best of ourselves. At times, the pages seem to be filled with comments from Olympic athletes who exercise non-stop, Fortune 500 CEOs whose employment records are flawless and culinary masters who never eat poorly, all giving Jeff direction. Still others have overcome some of his very same challenges, whether they be in social relationships, employment or matters of health. We try to share what we've learned and get incredibly frustrated when Jeff rejects what we know to be sound advice.

Oddly enough, it has become something of a motivator when I feel myself starting to shirk whatever I'm doing.

Don't want to go to the gym? Think of Jeff's obesity and the health problems it brings.

Don't want to pack a lunch for work? Already called out Jeff for eating too much Braum's and don't want to feel like a hypocrite.

Jeff may refuse to hold himself accountable for what he needs to do, but by calling him out on that, I kind of put myself in a situation where I have to hold myself accountable to not engage in similar behavior.

But there are also issues of equivalency. I might go get a burger and fries at Beck's Prime after work - I am also not overweight. I might sometimes buy myself frivolous things - I am also debt-free. It's not Jeff's actions in and of themselves that are the problem. It's that he does none of them with anything remotely approaching moderation, and he's allowed things to get so bad that the only answer at this point really is that he cut unhealthy food from his diet entirely and that he live a very modest, very frugal lifestyle for several years until he pays down his debts and gets back on schedule for things like retirement savings.

[Indy Texas]

Bushie, what did your 95 year old granny cook for the moochers yesterday?

I'm going to play devil's advocate and say I don't think Aunt and Uncle Bushie are mooching as much as it may seem. Their 106 year old mother is living alone and her only options for full-time supervision are Bushie, Mama and Papa. Papa is too busy working night and day to keep Bushie living the high life down in Tulsa. As for Bushie and Mama, well, if Granny were in their care, she'd probably be dead and buried out back next to JJ/Blondie by now.

Maybe "aunt and uncle coming to visit" is the polite euphemism for a regularly scheduled home visit from the Oklahoma Department of Health and Family Services.

[Indy Texas]

Accounting is incredibly difficult.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's also extremely competitive. Back in the old days, you could get a degree in accounting and make decent money just doing basic reports by hand. Today, programs like Quicken do a lot of that kind of stuff automatically and accountants do a lot more complicated things like ensuring that companies are in compliance with extremely complicated laws. A lot of simple jobs in every field have been replaced by computers. Everybody is charging full speed ahead, trying to be dynamic and innovative. And then Bushie's off in a corner watching 14 hours of sports.

AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!!

Actually, as far as most businesses are concerned, what you're describing - very basic tracking of cash flows and budgets - is really more bookkeeping than accounting. Technically, you don't even really need a college degree to be a bookkeeper - the stereotypical sole proprietor small businessman usually has his semi-stay-at-home wife do the bookkeeping; though nowadays they'd probably prefer an Associate's degree.

[Indy Texas]

I've always lacked drive, determination, and follow through.

Jesus, Jeff ... isn't this just horribly depressing to say? Don't you want to do something about it!?

It's definitely not a pleasant thing to say.  I am trying to do something about it.  I just don't know how to gain those qualities.  You can't just go to Walmart and pick them up on sale.  They take time to acquire and develop.  What would you suggest I do to develop those qualities?

Wow, that was almost meta. "I've always lacked drive, determination and follow-through. I'd like to do something about it, but it's just, you know, so much effort and time involved. If I could just spend some money to do it, that would be more my style."

[Indy Texas]

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

I hope Child Services is watching it like a hawk.

I'm more worried about their future reading and writing skills.  Dear god what a horror...!

They won't be able to read because the diabeetus will have starved their retinas of blood and rendered them blind.

[Indy Texas]

Everyone here is just a dirty liberal coast bubble who doesn't get why it's good that bubba feeds his kids this food. Read all about it here:

It all makes sense now. The Huckabees are just the Arkansas branch of the Clan Bushie.

[Indy Texas]

The median NWOSU E-commerce degree holder:

[Indy Texas]

LMFAO at actually printing out those bill confirmations.

Bushie, do you also read the full Terms and Conditions before downloading any program onto your computer?

He also bought $30 software that promised to "speed up his PC" that actually just sets your available memory to the maximum setting and empties your cookies every so often.

[Indy Texas]

LMFAO at actually printing out those bill confirmations.

Bushie, do you also read the full Terms and Conditions before downloading any program onto your computer?

He also bought $30 software that promised to "speed up his PC" that actually just sets your available memory to the maximum setting and empties your cookies every so often.

So he paid $30 for a worse version of CCleaner?

No, I did not.  He's lying.

$29.95?

I was being sarcastic. I'm not aware of Jeff buying such a thing, but the fact that it was being taken seriously kind of sums up the problem.

If he did buy it, it would still be a better investment than the time he paid $50 for a Post Office job application that he could have gotten for free online. (And I am not making that up.)

[Indy Texas]

I was being sarcastic. I'm not aware of Jeff buying such a thing, but the fact that it was being taken seriously kind of sums up the problem.

It's really not a good idea to just make stuff up like that, because people are going to believe it and start throwing it around as a real fact. Remember how half of Update believed (still believes?) that Bushie was listening to the radio at his Tulsa CADD job.

Didn't he admit to listening to the radio!

No, it was a reference to the movie "Office Space," in which a dorky character wants to listen to the radio (without headphones or anything) at work.

You're hardly the only one not to pick up on the reference though -- it must be a more obscure movie that I realized.

I love Office Space, I just don't recall Milton saying that. (I mainly just associate him with the infamous red stapler, never getting cake at the office birthday parties and idle threats to set the building on fire.)

[Indy Texas]

that was the funny part...someone made a joke about bushie playing the radio.  turns out he did play the radio at work!

can you confirm once again bushe that you listened to the radio at work?

Yes, I can confirm again.  I'm not shying away from it.  Many American workers listen to the radio at work softly and no one bats an eye.   When Bushie listens to his iTunes at work with headphones, he gets laughed at by a room full of internet strangers.  Double standard?

I'm not laughing; I think it's perfectly reasonable. I usually have NPR livestreaming at my desk in the morning. Some of my co-workers use Pandora or Spotify; one of the partners has a legit Bose setup in his office to listen to his opera music; someone else just listens to horrid Top 40 music on a radio. Granted, we all have our own offices with walls and doors so no one is interfering with anyone else. But if you're using headphones, I don't see why it would be an issue.

Bushie is right on this. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with listening to music at work if it doesn't impinge on others.

[Indy Texas]

Should cable companies be allowed to discriminate?

If, say, Comcast cut off Jeff's service because they decided they don't want to serve fats, would they be within their right?