I actually get mail. Very little of it is hate mail. That really pisses me off. I guess the assholes just put their bullshit in the comments.
I got an e-mail the other day where someone asked me what GOC Central was. GOC Central is my home in Beautiful Dunwoody Georgia. I sit at my desk in my library and pound away at my pc there. I have lived in my current house for almost 6 years. This will be the last house that I live in. I'll either die here or be dragged off to a nursing or assisted living home.
Someone asked the following questions a few weeks back:
Are you really a cripple?
Unfortunately, yes. I am a T12/L1 incomplete paraplegic. This means that I fractured the 12th thoracic and 1st lumbar vertebra. The incomplete means that I have some sensation and functionality below the fracture. I can walk (not very well) with crutches and braces.
Have you received any government assistance for your disability?
Aha! This guy wants to try and trap me about bitching about gummint handouts and thinks I am a recipient of same.
I have received absolutely no gummint assistance in regards to my disability. Nada. None. Zippo. I also have no one else to blame for my disability. I fucked up. I paid the price. I take sole responsibility for my own actions.
I grew up poor. My family got no gummint assistance back then. We did not get food stamps. I asked my mother once why she and my father didn't have more children. She told me (Slaps my head) that we couldn't afford any more children. Holy shit! What kind of thinking is that? Not having any more children than you can afford? Whoa! What a novel concept.
The only gummint assistance I have ever received in my entire life was the GI Bill for college. I got that because I served in the military from 1965 to 1969, and yes, I was in Viet Nam.
My mother taught both my sister and myself self reliance. We are both very well off. How did we get there? Hard work and education. She won a scholarship and, even though I flunked out of college twice (The first time was right out of high school and the second time, I actually dropped out in my junior year) I got enough of an education to back up the skills I learned in the Navy to get a job with TCIDNN (The Company I Dare Not Name) 31 years ago. I made it to where I am now by outworking my peers.
I'm coming to the end of my career and I have to admit that I am coasting but TCIDNN has got more than their money's worth out of me.
I do not get any gummint assistance, but I pay more than my fair share of taxes. Yes, I'm one of the evil rich who got a tax cut. You know what I did with it? I spent it. It paid for my ski trip to Breckenridge earlier this year. It's gonna pay for my dive trip to Cayman Brac later this year. I'm investing some of it so I'll get richer.
Yes, I'm getting richer. Do ya know why? Because I do the things that make people rich. I do not live beyond my means and I always pay myself first. Every month, some of my money is earmarked for investments. For almost all of my investments I have all dividends and capital gains reinvested. The 8th wonder of the world is compound interest. I take advantage of the 401K that TCIDNN helps fund. I plan to live very well when I retire. I do not expect my lifestyle to change due to lack of money.
That's all the time I have for tonight. I have to go watch Georgia Tech and see if they can win the NCAA National Championship.
Go Tech!