My Kids Are Self Deporting

This is truly a sign of our current state.

I've watched and read all about the boomerang kids who bounce from school to job to home in an endless circle, but I'm now coming to the realization that this effects all of us - not just someone else.

For a long time I was smug in the knowledge that both our kids were well educated, had no debt, and both wanted to get out on their own as soon as they could. We encouraged it, and pretty much thought our job of parenting was done.

Kathryn was adventurous right from the get-go, and has traveled and lived all over the world - more travel in her 27 years than I've done all my life.

Dave was less so, but still has spent time in Europe and two separate stints in Korea.

But now they're both gone (or, more correctly, going). Kath was transferred to Brisbane Australia with her job in late 2012, and David will soon leave again for another year teaching English in Korea.

Both are affected by a common virus. We educated them in Canada, gave them the best we could, but then provided no ability for them to get ahead in the city they both called home. Vancouver is priced out of reach for both of them.

Dave's subsistence living, working two minimum wage jobs and paying all of it back for food and rent, is endemic in Vancouver.  He's self deporting so he can get ahead again. So South Korea gets the benefit, we bared the cost.

Although Kathryn is better off, it's mostly because of Travis. He's got a great job in a demanding industry. But even with him, they could never dream about anything other than renting a flat in Vancouver. In Brisbane, they're already talking about owning some land and building on it.

For everyone that thinks that they should just buckle down and take those jobs, give your head a shake. Dave would work at 4:30am in the morning, after finishing his other job at 11:30pm at night - with bus rides in between. No time to look for anything better. How long would you last doing that, knowing that there's likely no light at the end of the tunnel (or, worse still, the light is a freight train)? His physical and mental health was in jeopardy.

These kids all followed the rules. Got good grades in school. Went on to post-secondary education. Work hard. Are conscientious.

And we have nothing for them. Not even a living wage.

The Seventies

Late in 1971, Led Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven.

It was all great (well, mostly great - there was some bad disco in there too) for the rest of the decade.

This video put on Facebook by my cousin Matt, says it all...

First World Problems

Laura said she'd explode if I ever said "first world problem" again, but since I'm writing it - not speaking it - I assume this is OK.

We've had a helluva couple of weeks with things breaking around here:

Our oven stopped working after a self-clean cycle. We had the repair guy out, and he worried that the cost of repair would be 2/3 the cost of a new oven. Regardless, I had him go ahead and order the suspected part. When I hadn't heard from him in almost a week, I cancelled the first repairman and called a different repair company. This one refused to attempt the repair, not knowing what the first guy had done. This is now two full weeks without an oven, approaching Christmas time. I fell on my sword, called the first company back again, and asked them to please re-order the part. He called back on the weekend and told us we need to go see what's available at the local stores - the prices for new appliances are even lower as it approaches Christmas. So we bought a new oven. First world problem solved by money.

Laura was sitting on the couch last week and her iPad fell onto the floor, and promptly stopped working. After several attempts, and a visit with Apple repair, she bought a replacement. First world problem solved by money.

While we were travelling to the Apple store, we were running a bit late for the appointment and it was raining, so Laura (driving) dropped herself off at the front doors of the mall while I searched for a parking spot. Because of the particular way she stopped the car and got out, the remote opener for the car stopped working. We thought this was another expensive repair, but it finally "healed" itself after a couple of start-stop-restart cycles of the car. First world problem solved by patience.

On Sunday, we put Kathryn on an airplane for a year (minimum) in Brisbane, Australia. Travis will be joining her there in a month or two - he has a job now with Virgin Australia. We're sad to see her go, and it was awfully nice to have both kids on the same continent for a while, but she has a life to live and I'm jealous of the one she has. She'll have a great adventure. First world problem solved by money (ie: buy a plane ticket and go see her and talk to her whenever we want via Skype).

Seems to me the only first world problems not solved by money are health issues - been there, done that. So maybe first world problems aren't really problems at all - they're attitude and perspective.

I'm proud that both kids have asked for us to donate some first world cash (Kiva.org and Covenant House are the current choices) this year in lieu of any gifts. This is a first world problem we should be happy to have.

The Low Carb Diet - Day 292

I started eating this way on February 11, so that makes today "day 292 on the low carb diet". I thought it was about time to update my progress.

The primary change has been the elimination of almost all non-fruit/vegetable carbohydrates. I'll still eat the odd potato, but won't have that cracker or slice of bread. When I was a vegetarian, almost all my calories came from breads and cereals, and as I've written here before, I now attribute that diet to my cardiovascular problems. Too many carbs cause too many insulin spikes which cause too much damage to the inside of arteries. Too much damage results in heart disease and stroke. I'm two for two on that count.

Today I'd estimate that I eat twice as much fruit and veg as I did as a vegetarian. Since I cannot get the extra calories I need from grains, I have to compensate with produce. I could just eat more meat and fish, but it has an interesting effect of filling you up rather quickly - so you can't consume the calories you need before feeling satiated.

My "dessert" items now are a piece of dark chocolate, a bowl of Greek Yogurt with blueberries, or an apple with some cheese. A far cry from a big slice of pumpkin pie.

So what are the noticeable results?

1. I have lost, and kept off, about fifteen pounds of weight. I didn't need to lose it, but I did.
2. My blood profiles, last time I checked, were very good - but the more I learn, the less I care. My previous obsession with cholesterol levels and ratios now seems naive. I don't care what my levels are now, I just know that they're better now then they ever were on drugs. And I don't think the medical community really knows what a "good" level is anyway...
3. I'm off all the drugs and vitamins. No more statin, no more Co-Q-10, no more niacin. I still take a baby aspirin every day, and top up with a Vitamin D supplement in the winter.

Most importantly, as time goes on I find my attraction to sweets and grains is getting lower and lower. I now find it takes no effort at all to say "no" to dessert. And I don't think twice about not making a sandwich. Mom's not even making me peanut rolls for Christmas - this will be the first time in about fifty years!

Overall, this has now transitioned from being an experiment to being a lifestyle. I don't think it's a diet anymore...

Serendipity

Could this be the place?

We got off the ship on Sunday morning and took a shuttle to the Tampa Airport. I was conned into "upgrading" the car from a Ford Fusion to a convertible Ford Mustang ... in hindsight it seems pretty frivolous, but you only live once and there is a lot of sunshine in Florida.

We had reservations at a hotel in Fort Myers, but by the time we disembarked, rented the car, and drove an hour or so south of Tampa, it was nearing lunchtime. I also wanted to check the exit number for the Holdway's (my manager at Agilent more than a decade ago) because I wasn't sure it was as far south as Fort Myers.

Turns out I was right, and our lunch (at exit 213) was near the Holdway house at exit 195. Fort Myers was another hour south (about exit 120) and would have been a terrible overshoot to have to check in and drive all the way back.

Regardless, there was another Marriott hotel across the street from our lunch place, and the price was OK so we decided to stay there instead - and cancel our reservation further south. We had a nice visit with the Holdways, and got back to this new hotel late last night.

Today we ventured out into Sarasota and Sunset Beach - which is near the new hotel. It was so attractive to us that we've decided to stay another couple of nights here and forego any trip south to Fort Myers.

This place is what Palm Springs (my previous "best destination") could be if it had an ocean. I'm liking it a lot.

I can now understand the attraction of Florida for anyone living in the North East USA or Central/Eastern Canada.

Maybe these people have got it all figured out.

Now what to do about the hurricane problem??????

Proper Cruise-ship Etiquette

As I'm a huge hypocrite for constantly saying I'll never travel on another cruise-ship  but continue to do so, I have collected these tips on proper etiquette. I thought they might find use if you should ever find yourself on a floating hotel....

• If you ever have to travel either one deck up or one deck down, it's prudent to wait patiently for the elevator for the five or ten minutes, instead of expending the three calories it would take to move your butt on the stairs,
• Since you've already paid for the food, it's best to take at least twice as much as you could possibly eat, and leave half of it on your plate when you pull away from the table.
• If you eat in the dining room instead of the buffet, it's considered proper manners to order two of everything - two appetizers, two main courses, and a minimum of two desserts. Again, don't eat most of it.
• Even if you don't even walk around the block at home, you should take up fitness on the walking track, the stair-master, or a stationary bike while on the ship. Everyone will be impressed with your 225lb body on a 5'6" frame. They can tell at a glance that you are a jock.
• Wear spandex whenever you can. It looks extra good when you're on that exercise bike. 
• All women, especially those over 50, should wear a bikini. Men over 50 are required to wear a Speedo.
• Travelling by cruise ship is all about one thing - shopping. Shopping needs to be your priority in every stop, so you can tell everyone at home how wonderful the port-of-call was. 
• Whether you're shopping or touring (when the stores are closed), it's important to travel as a group. The larger the group, the better. Optimal group size is 400.
• If an ignorant local person doesn't understand what you're saying, just say it louder. Maybe say it slower, but definitely louder. People that don't understand English just haven't heard you speak it.
• The staff that work on the ship need to be given outlandish, extravagant, mean-spirited instruction from you on what you'd like done. They're all overpaid anyway. They prefer to be called "boy".

I've probably missed several other tips on cruise ship survival, but it should get you to thinking...

Dispatch from the First World

This is a short update on our NYC-Washington-Boston-Cruise-Tampa-East-Coast-Extravaganza-Tour travels. We've only been gone for a few days, but there's much to tell. Most of it, unfortunately, is made up.

New York

We arrived at Newark International Airport a little over a week ago. As Laura chose to check her 348kg "carry on", we had to wait till the next day to fetch in on the luggage carousel, all the while being harassed by New Jersey cab drivers: "you gotta ride?", "you wanna ride?", "you don't wanna ride with dat guy, he's from Jersey City". Eventually, after exploring the mostly vacant airport (it was close to midnight on a Wednesday), we caught the shuttle to our hotel in Rahway, NJ. As it turned out, the hotel was a great deal (about 1/3 the cost of Manhattan) and they offered a free shuttle on-demand to the commuter railway station about a half mile away. As it also turned out, the hotel needed to offer a shuttle because it was close to absolutely nothing but the NJ Turnpike. I appreciated the non-shopping opportunity. Laura did not.

The train to Penn Station took about 40 minutes, and was filled with people going to work, shopping, or on a contract hit for someone. We had a great few days in Manhattan, did a bunch of touristy things, and had wonderful (warm, sunny) weather. One of the highlights was a visit to the school Dave would like to attend - the New York Academy of Art. Even for a "finer things neanderthal" like me, I was impressed. I figure if he can get in, he should go - if only so I can see the guy painting with roofing tar and portland cement again.

We were in NYC for 4 full days, and my legs hurt from all the walking. I was also "Art Galleried Out" and wanted to regain a piece of my personal bubble again. So, off to Washington on Monday via train.

Washington, DC

Laura's wonderful new carry-on/backpack/bag-with-wheels has it's limitations - whenever it's moved. We took Amtrak from Rahway to Washington and had to lift her new bag into the overhead space. Easy enough if it weighed, say, 20kg. Not so easy when it's 348kg. They don't weigh your luggage like an airline. Bruce would appreciate all the people bringing car batteries on board, getting ready for Hurricane Sandy.

Our place in Washington wasn't upscale, but it reminded me of the place we had in Istanbul - clean and well run - so that's all we need. But to give it two stars would be generous. Good thing Laura has a sense of humour. The location was great - only 8 blocks down the street to the White House. I had to decline dinner there, as I had to do a blog post that evening, and it would only be Michelle and the kids anyways (awkward!). We spent two days walking up and down "The Mall" and spending the requisite amount of time at each of the 4,325 Smithsonian Museums. On the last day, we rented bikes and took in the attractions that you couldn't easily walk to (at least not me). Arlington Cemetery and the Kennedy Grave Site (man, there's a lot of Kennedy grave-sites), The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial (who knew that a drycleaner in NYC could get his own memorial), the WWII Memorial - I was too upset to do the Vietnam Memorial (flashbacks).

Up at 6am on Friday to hail an Ethiopian cab driver - who pulled a U-turn in the middle of a busy intersection (his choice) to pick us up and take us to the train station. Then another 8 hours on the train to Boston, with stops in Houston, LA, Seattle and Chicago (I got a cheap fare). At least the trains now have WiFi - circa 1985 WiFi, but I manage (one of the sacrifices I make). Pulled into Boston at 4:30pm, and caught a cab to our VRBO. 

Boston

Boston was a hard place for me to find a room for less than $3500/night and within 400 miles of the city. I did find a small one bedroom place right beside North Church in the North End (actually, very central). Because we arrived late in the day, they left the keys for me in their Reality Office mailbox. So I grabbed them, ripped them open, asked the guy next door where the address was, walked to it with all our luggage, and then discovered I had taken someone else's keys. 

Trudged back to the office, got the envelope with my name on it, and actually found the right address. It's tiny - I'm sure the Airstream has more usable space - but it's OK. Again - location, location, location. And our location is right by a laundromat - and Laura needs one today (I've, of course, been hand washing for ten days in a contact lens container). Bought a cup of coffee (Americano - but had to explain just what that was) at the coffee shop beside the laundry, and can now resolutely say that Boston has no idea what coffee is. Tea, maybe (they have a history), but not coffee. Laura tried another Boston Coffee later in the day - same result. Something like discount Maxwell House instant with too much water. Yumm.

We keep monitoring the interwebs for news on the cruise (RCL Jewel) leaving Sunday. So far, it still looks OK. Weather here in Boston should be alright until Tuesday, and the ship should be well out to sea en-route to the eastern Caribbean by then. 

This morning it was bright, warm, and sunny .. but by 2pm the wind had picked up and the temperature had gone down - so the big storm is really on its way.

More later, if Laura lets me....

In A New York Minute

Laura and I are in New York.

Actually, we're in Rahway, New Jersey - but more on that in a minute.

We arrived here three days ago, and spent two full days in New York City. The first day was wonderful, the second day - less so.

I could fill you in on all the sordid details, but I won't. Instead, a few observations from a guy who was last in NYC in 1984.

• In 1984, there were only 3,568 people living and working in Manhattan. Now there are 123,345,874.
• There are only 3 public restrooms available to service all of them.
• There are three excellent restaurants at the Met Art Gallery. There were 1,239,758 people at the gallery today. The restaurants comfortable seat 32. In total.
• The walk from midtown to downtown is only a couple of kilometers. There are 5,349 pedestrian fatalities every 50m in Manhattan. And these are mostly the people that actually wait for the walk light.
• The Empire State Building is a 102 story captive-audience-sales-opportunity.
• There are 38 NYC police officers at every intersection in the city.
• Why is it that the 45 year old woman with a cell phone in her ear can walk straight into an oncoming FedEx truck and not even flinch. And not be a statistic.

Laura insisted that I add a couple of her points as well, and that the advice you get about visiting NYC is worth paying attention to ...

• We're staying in New Jersey, and taking the train into Manhattan every day. If I had to do this again - I would. The 40 minute train ride gives you some decompression time, and forces you to stay out and about all day. It's really the same as a commute at home, only you aren't driving.
• Use a washroom whenever you see one (we've been told that there is one, but haven't found it yet). 
• Take food with you if you don't eat junk. 
• Wear really comfortable walking shoes. Even if you do, your legs will ache after day one.
• Figure out the subway. It's worth the effort.
• If you're functionally literate, figure out the train schedule too - it will save you hundreds.

Payday

 Gisela Giardino via Compfight

As most of you know, I've been trying to commercialize my sleep blog (BuildBetterSleep.com) over the last several months.

I started the blog in November 2011, with the expressed intent that I wanted to

• have a forum to write about everything I learn about insomnia
• journal my own experiences from sleeplessness to sleeping well again 
• see if I could turn this experiment into a stream of income ... if I could, I'd replicate it with some other interests I have (Minimalist Travel is one of them)

An overall theme here is to create work for me that's location and time independent. This means I could do the work from anywhere, at any time. I've been very lucky to have a couple of friends in tech (Dave K and Mark N) who've also offered up some part-time consulting work.

Years ago, Dave K was the one who said "my ideal job would be a whole bunch of part-time jobs" - and that's what I'm aiming for... with a twist. 

All of this is neither here nor there! The point of this post is that the commerciality of BuildBetterSleep.com is starting to pay off. I've received my first cheque from Amazon.com, with another small one from SleepTracks.com in the hopper. They're both very small at this point, but it's a start.

Maybe this whole internet thing isn't just a fad???

The Redneck Antenna - Phase II

Many of you know the grand experiment last fall with the home-made redneck HD antenna I made. It worked pretty well, until I accidentally lodged one of the "whiskers" into the back of the TV and blew it up. So in all, the antenna cost me $5.00 in parts and $750 for a new TV. Let's say that Laura was less than impressed, and our $150/month subscription to Shaw cable was renewed.

But that was a year ago, and with the looming lack of a hockey season this year, Laura agreed to give it another try. This time with some more commercial solutions.

While we were on vacation in Oregon, I found a commercial HDTV antenna at Costco for $30. It looks good, has a very small footprint, and is now stuck unobtrusively in our living room window. I get about 11 channels off the air, with all three local networks (CBC, CTV and Global) coming in very well.

Because we're now relying on the internet for most of our on-air entertainment, I got a US-based proxy service (this means that for all intents and purposes, it looks like we live in Seattle as far as our internet connection is concerned). This provides us with all the benefits that only a US resident could appreciate.

So far, this US-based proxy has given us access to:

• HULU, which is a service which puts all of network TV and cable TV at your fingertips.
• The Netflix feed, which looks at your location and then decides what programs you have access to. We now have access to hundreds (thousands?) of additional programming over our old Canadian feed. I watched reruns of Adam-12 off Netflix last night.
• All those YouTube links that don't work because you're not in the USA. They now all work.

With this proxy service, we can use hundreds of worldwide locations as our "point of presence" for the internet feeds. An interesting aside to this is that I can "look" like I'm in London, England, and have access to all the local BBC programming (like live feed of BBC news). I can also look like I'm in Amsterdam or Africa or Australia or ....

The proxy service costs about $65 a year, and has the important benefit of anonymizing everything you do on the net. Shaw now knows nothing about what I do, including any streaming or torrents I might be viewing. You become invisible.

We've cancelled cable TV again, and our bill has dropped from $150 to $70 a month (I have a very high end internet connection - you  could probably get by with much less).

It's early days, but I think it will work well this time. So far I haven't blown anything up.

BC Depreciation Reports

If you don't happen to live in a Strata (Condo) Property in BC, this post will be of no interest to you.

At dinner last night, we had a conversation about BC's new "Depreciation Report" Legislation for strata properties. Basically, it's now a requirement that any strata property with more than five units (so small properties are exempt) must now:

1. commission a regular engineering report detailing the estimated repair, maintenance and replacement of all the components of common property in the strata (things like roads, roofs, common buildings, painting, fences, etc) for a thirty year time period (ongoing)
2. fund the expected costs of these items through their monthly strata fees

This legislation will parrot the same laws in most other jurisdictions, with the intended outcome of adding predictability to the strata housing market. A new market will be created where you'll know about the long term financial commitments of a strata property, and the funding for those commitments will be in place.

I have no problem with the intent of this legislation, I'm only concerned with the unintended consequences of its adoption.

When I do an online search for "BC Depreciation Reports" the only hits I get are from Engineering firms (doing the reports) and Strata Management Companies (commissioning the same). There are no "anti" or "against" opinions. It's like the legislation only has as upside, and no downside.

The law does give us an out - with a 3/4 vote at regular intervals, a strata can "opt-out" of the reports and the funding.

The Argument For
The basic argument is to analyse two otherwise identical properties. One has a funded depreciation report on file, and the other doesn't. Which one would you buy?

The industry maintains that "of course, you'd chose the property with the report - as a matter of fact, the mortgage provider (banks) will demand it".

The market will provide higher selling prices for those properties with reports.

The Argument Against
Same scenario. Two identical properties. One with a report, one without. The one with the report has strata fees of $500 a month. The one without has strata fees of $200 a month.

The non-report property has decided that major cash infusions will be handled the way they are now - by a special assessment levied against each home owner. That way, you're not paying for repairs that may be needed years after you leave the strata. You pay for the repairs the same way you would if you owned a house. As they happen.

The non-report property has decided to take a "wait and see" attitude. If the market truly does start to differentiate between report and non-report properties, they will opt in. Same if banks start requiring a report (currently, my conversation with mortgage specialists at banks is that they don't know anything about this).

My Opinion
I think the "wait and see" strategy makes the most sense. Sit on the sidelines until you see how this whole thing shakes out.

Currently, this legislation looks terribly pro business (engineering companies and strata property managers). A change in government here in BC (likely next year) might change political will.

Let the market decide if this is important or not. Let the "bulge" of people commissioning engineering reports make its way through the system. Let the "price gouging" that's going on now work through the system.

I don't think now is the time to make a decision which could affect your strata for decades. Now is the time to sit back, vote against the depreciation reports for the time being, and see what happens.

Tell the Strata Property Managers and Engineering Firms

"Thanks, but no thanks, for now. Come see me in a couple of years and I'll tell you if I've made a different decision."

People Watch What You Do ... Not What You Say

Remember the old adage our parents would tell us:

"Do as I say, not as I do"

Seems to me that this is exactly backwards.When I look at all the "advice" dolled out by friends and neighbours, I clearly see that almost none of it is ever considered, much less enacted.

But if we look at children, who are just small adults (ie: their world is ruled by emotion and so is ours) they do a curious thing 100% of the time.

They will take the path of least resistance (the easiest road) to any objective regardless of what you say unless there is a consequence. And the consequence has to be real. Not the fake "wait till your father gets home" or "if you do that you'll be grounded for a week" nonsense. Kids know if you will really follow through. If there's a greater than 50 percent chance that you won't, they'll do the forbidden thing.

It's almost like they have a built-in odds-counter. And so do we. Why do you think people grow pot? Because the odds of being caught multiplied by the punishment that occurs if they get caught is far outweighed by the profit possible. Other factors, like being shot by your competitor or having a life expectancy of 25 years, seem not to enter the equation.

But every once in a while, you'll see someone who doesn't tell you what to do. They just do it.

Those are the people I pay attention to.

I have some examples of people that do what they say, but unnerving to me is that most of them are twenty years younger than me. I find very few examples of someone in middle age who hasn't been compromised by life:

Tynan
Colin Wright
Ramit Sethi
Gary Arndt

Cold Turkey

I wrote a post yesterday for my other blog, BuildBetterSleep, where I talked about what health really is, and how to attain it.

The crux of the argument is, barring something serious like cancer, good health can be achieved by following some very simple rules:

1. Make room in your schedule for sufficient sleep every night. 7-9 hours is what most of us need. 
2. Get some sunlight (not too much, but not too little) every day. Let your body manufacture the Vitamin D you need.
3. Eat well. Nothing out of a box. Best if it was living and breathing a short time ago, or it was pulled out of the ground or off a tree or bush.
4. Exercise every day. Take a bike ride. Take a long walk. Take the stairs.

I truly believe that's all there is to it.

I've been trying to "fix what's wrong" or "find a shortcut" to good health for over a decade. I now think the "secret" has been there all along. Rest, Get Outdoors, Eat Well, and Exercise.

As of today, I'm going to throw out all the vitamins and supplements I've been taking (with the exception of an 82mg aspirin every day).

No more Niacin. No more Fish Oil. No more Resveratrol. No more Vitamin D. Just food, sleep and exercise outdoors.

How We've Failed Our Grandchilden

We've basically screwed our grandchildren.

Unless you are part of a small minority, the legacy you are leaving your grandchildren is a standard of living far below that which you enjoy.

nAnd a standard of living below that of your children.

Here's my thinking.

My generation - the boomers - had parents that likely came from nothing. Through good fortune, good timing, and hard work for many of them they were able to give their children a leg-up in whatever they decided to do. For the most part, it was "hands off" parenting.

Boomers benefited from cheap education, easy opportunity and plentiful money. And we knew far better than our parents ever did how to raise our children. No "hands off" for us. They wanted for nothing, and many of us made the mistake of never saying no to our children. Our kids grew up as the most affluent generation that ever lived.

Now our kids are in their 20's and 30's, and many are having a tough time - for the first time in their lives. A tough time finding a job. A tough time establishing long term relationships. A tough time moving out of the house. Most are amazed at the stage of life their parents were at when they were the same age. When I was 27, I had two kids, a good job, a house, and a wife that stayed at home.

Our kids will be OK, because mom and dad are wealthy. The boomers will die, and leave lots of money, real-estate and expensive stuff for them. Some can help out before they die.

But if the economy continues along much as its predicted to (think Japan like stagflation), our grandkids will face the same lack of opportunity their parents did. Only this time, there won't be anything left because mom and dad (our kids) have had to use all of it to live on.

What do you think? Am I all wet on this one?

We're All Getting Poorer - But Corporations Are Doing Just Fine

In a recent The Atlantic Magazine, they show two graphs about how well Corporate America has fared over the last several years. This would be in stark contrast to how "Average Joe" would have fared during the same period. Take a look:

This one shows Corporate Profits as a whole. Highest it's ever been.

Even as a percentage of GDP, Corporate Profits are higher than since Eisenhower. I wonder why this is???