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scaredyclassic
Participant[quote=Escoguy][quote=scaredyclassic]18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, 21-22 NIVhttps://bible.com/bible/111/ecc.3.18-22.NIV%5B/quote%5D
My father was a Baptist minister in Texas in the 1980s.
When I learned of Ecclesiastes, the word used instead of meaningless was vanity (all is vanity).
A friend of his who grew up in the former USSR, came to me shortly after my mother died when I was 17. He said, “what you father teaches is true and useful”.Needless to say, my life took some odd turns from 1986 to today and I lived in the former GDR (Berlin) for 5 years and 5 former USSR republics for 15 years.
It was a range of projects:
German Ministry of Privatization (energy industry)/liquidation department
World Bank in Moldova
Soros Foundation in Moldova (even met George personally once)/USAID
Built a factory in Ukraine with a German company, did the same in Kyrgyzstan when we traded with Mongolia/Afghanistan (pre 9/11).
Helped launch the first Nasdaq listed company from RussiaLived in SoCal a few years
Round 2 of former USSR: non-proliferation of bioweapons/bio-threat programs in Russia/Azerbaijan
Topped off with a stint in oil field servicesNow back in San Diego, mostly have been working in Oncology as an administrator, now in Orthopedics.
The point of all this: our lives can have an impact, things like the breakup of the USSR and German unification are not daily occurrences, but neither is a cure for cancer/mRNA vaccines.
If our lives are focused too much on our own desires and pleasures, then the phrase of vanity/meaninglessness is relevant.
But good life purpose can be found even if one is well off by finding a path to serve others and make a positive contribution.[/quote]
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.
W. H. Auden
Participant[quote=Escoguy][quote=scaredyclassic][quote=flyer]Esco, creating generational wealth for your kids is a good thing, and that is something you are definitely on track to do, should you choose to.
I remember when our parents, and most of the family got into the real estate game. As kids, my wife and I had no idea then, what great decisions they were making, and, at the time, I don’t think they could have realized the full potential of their actions either. Of course, we continued to build on their gains, so it’s worked out well for all of us, just as it should for you and your family.
Interestingly we know many families who have done the same, and most of their stories are very interesting. One involves some good friends of my parents who started out buying tons of fixers and building the portfolio–with Dad and 5 sons doing all of the work themselves–fast forward to an empire that includes mega apartment complexes, shopping centers, etc., etc. Impressive for a guy who moved his family of 12 (10 kids + Mom and Dad) out to San Diego from Wisconsin where he was a milkman:) Sure, over the years they have had to fine-tune their business based upon changing market conditions, but all of them are still doing well.[/quote]
What if he’d moved to Utah? Phew.
I am very jealous, although I could never have done it and might all be meaningless, I applaud u.[/quote]
As an accountant, I think of equity in two pots (booked and unbooked).
Booked is the amount I think I can plan on regardless of how bad the economy gets etc, unbooked is a reflection of market prices above that.In some ways, I’m still at the casino, no chips have been cashed, the night goes on.
Oddly enough, the ‘success’ doesn’t really change my life that much, I can be more relaxed about things but with good mental training, that is accessible to anyone.[/quote]
I meant meaningless in the Ecclesiastes sense if “hevel”, not meaningless like it will all fall apart.
Ecclesiastes says it doesn’t matter how rich you get, if you’re gonna worry about money you’re gonna worry.
Personally I don’t think you should worry.
Ecclesiastes 5:
10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. 13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, 14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. 15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. 16 This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? 17 All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. 18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 NIVhttps://bible.com/bible/111/ecc.5.10-20.NIV
I’m starting to really come around to this viewpoint. Enjoy your food, enjoy your spouse if you have, take pleasure in everything G-d gives you, because if the Jews are right, there’s nothing after here. Nothing. Just emptiness.
Participant18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, 21-22 NIVParticipant[quote=barnaby33]Dude never read any of HST’s good stuff. I mean it puts the bible to shame:
I have a theory about the truth, it is never told between the hours of 9 and 5.
If there is in fact, a heaven and a hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix — a clean well lighted place full of sunshine and bromides and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy, except those who know in their hearts what is missing…
There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It’s a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die.
Josh[/quote]
I believe that sentiment is expressed in Ecclesiastes.
I thought I was a book of job guy, but I think I’m an Ecclesiastes guy.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 9:7-10ParticipantAmerican novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote: “[O]f all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth—and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.
Participant[quote=flyer]Esco, creating generational wealth for your kids is a good thing, and that is something you are definitely on track to do, should you choose to.
I remember when our parents, and most of the family got into the real estate game. As kids, my wife and I had no idea then, what great decisions they were making, and, at the time, I don’t think they could have realized the full potential of their actions either. Of course, we continued to build on their gains, so it’s worked out well for all of us, just as it should for you and your family.
Interestingly we know many families who have done the same, and most of their stories are very interesting. One involves some good friends of my parents who started out buying tons of fixers and building the portfolio–with Dad and 5 sons doing all of the work themselves–fast forward to an empire that includes mega apartment complexes, shopping centers, etc., etc. Impressive for a guy who moved his family of 12 (10 kids + Mom and Dad) out to San Diego from Wisconsin where he was a milkman:) Sure, over the years they have had to fine-tune their business based upon changing market conditions, but all of them are still doing well.[/quote]
What if he’d moved to Utah? Phew.
I am very jealous, although I could never have done it and might all be meaningless, I applaud u.
ParticipantCHAPTER 2
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. 12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? 13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. 14 The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. 15 Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” 16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. 24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-24, 26 NIVParticipantIt gets worse…
The Bible, sure can sneak up on a guy…
ParticipantCHAPTER 1.
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” 3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. 11 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. 16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, 13-18 NIVParticipant[quote=Coronita][quote=Escoguy]They were discussing some pretty steep assessments to get the building fixed.
Apparently there was some pushback due to the amounts 200K per unit and up.
I think there is much more to this story than many will want to come to light.
If this can happen with a 40 y.o. building then???
Are older buildings structurally sound?
What kind of maintenance program is needed to prevent this?
How to prevent condo boards from delaying needed repairs?
How will lenders react?
What will this do to insurance rates?
Is the Japanese mindset of tear down the older property more appropriate?I don’t think they will find any survivors.[/quote]
balcony failures are not uncommon… But something of this magnitude, doesnt happen often.
Thanks for this. My wife thinks I’m irrational for being terrified to go on any balcony. Now I have an explanation more rational than I’m afraid I will fling myself to my death.
June 27, 2021 at 12:42 PM in reply to: San Diego drastically outperforms Bay and LA on rents #822297Participant[quote=svelte][quote=scaredyclassic][quote=svelte][quote=scaredyclassic]
What’s the point of earning a lot of money if you have to live in a crap location.[/quote]
Doesn’t have to be a crap location, you can probably get a condo in Surfside, FL pretty cheap about now.[/quote]
No way that tower fell on its own. FBI plot.
The other towers prob. Cheap now.
Making me reconsider downtown SD highrise[/quote]
Look at this! The penthouse, which is now a ground level pile of rubble, sold for $2.8M seven weeks ago!
From the ad: “This condo has endless potential for one-third the price of new construction units in area!”
That has to be the worst timing ever.
That’s funny. On the bright side, if you were out playing golf and had great insurance, you’d feel like everything’s gravy
June 27, 2021 at 11:47 AM in reply to: San Diego drastically outperforms Bay and LA on rents #822294Participant[quote=svelte][quote=scaredyclassic]
What’s the point of earning a lot of money if you have to live in a crap location.[/quote]
Doesn’t have to be a crap location, you can probably get a condo in Surfside, FL pretty cheap about now.[/quote]
No way that tower fell on its own. FBI plot.
The other towers prob. Cheap now.
Making me reconsider downtown SD highrise
June 27, 2021 at 11:44 AM in reply to: San Diego drastically outperforms Bay and LA on rents #822290Participant[quote=Coronita][quote=scaredyclassic][quote=gzz]“ also prompted the high-earners to pick low-cost, low-tax areas ”
Citation needed.
You do sound increasingly bitter and engaging in confirmation bias reasoning to justify your decisions.[/quote]
What’s the point of earning a lot of money if you have to live in a crap location.[/quote]
true. some people might really like locations other than san diego. however, those that do usually dont come back and constantly keep trying to pester others how bad san diego is long after they relocated, because normally they are really happy with the move and could care less, let alone take the time to actually continue comment on a place they no longer live in. The times when people do that are usually when they move and have some sort of regret, possibly they main reason for moving had nothing to do with the economic or political reasons, and those reasons are only aftermath rationalization of their move for other reasons, that might not be completely their 100% desire..that or they are so bored with their new life at their new place they have nothing better to do…[/quote]
Im kind of bored with life generally. Have a strong urge to upend everything and start new. The rational move is to stay put and stay the course.
But there’s something to be said for just resetting everything.
I’m just too damn petty…relocation costs, home sale costs, higher tax rate. How can a person so dull and calculating ever move and try a new gig…I am in a post covid torpor…realizing, like everyone, that my life may be stuck in bad routines
Participant[quote=gzz]“ also prompted the high-earners to pick low-cost, low-tax areas ”
Citation needed.
You do sound increasingly bitter and engaging in confirmation bias reasoning to justify your decisions.[/quote]
What’s the point of earning a lot of money if you have to live in a crap location.
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