Kenny Fischer Consulting

So, on the first Christmas, we're married, Margie says we're going to her parents’ house for Christmas. I said what? What do you mean? Well, we have lunch there and gifts, et cetera.

OK. I could say that I was not in a good mood and the whole thing had me from embarrassed to pissed off. So we go to their house, walk in and there's this big Christmas tree with gifts all over it. Decorations and OMG my UPSET LEVEL just went up about ten degrees. Then we sit down for lunch and what do they bring out? Virginia ham!!  OH boy. So, I sat there and basically didn't eat.

Now we go into the living room, and they start giving out Christmas gifts. I got a very nice robe, and I smiled and sat back down, but I was still upset. After all the gifts were given out. Margie’s dad goes up to the tree and pulls out some envelopes for his sons-in-laws, and he called my name and he hands me the envelope.

Now in those days I was on the Executive Success Road. I was making 5,000 bucks a year which was damn good because lawyers only made 10,000 a year and gas was $0.21 a gallon so we were getting along just fine.

He hands me this envelope and of course I'm not happy about it. I opened it up and there is a check for $3,000 !! We're talking cash, no taxes. OMG, that's as much as I take home in a year!

OH boy. Christmas- Christmas -Christmas.

Counterculture

A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm.

Now, I'm not saying that married to someone from a different country automatically signifies a counterculture. Based on the definition above, it's not exactly true, but the expressions, the jokes, things that I take for granted, just don't come up for a person from another country like that. What am I basing it on? Am I  basing it on that I'm married to an Israeli? Not only is she from a different country, but she was born and raised on a kibbutz, which in itself is a different culture and a way of being.

I guess one of the biggest things I had to get used to was jokes. I mean, that's who I am. I'm always making jokes, trying to get people to laugh. People  come up to me on a daily basis and ask me if I have any new jokes. Well, the problem is when you tell a joke that has any kind of slang or anything that we have heard our whole lives,  somebody from another country just  doesn't give it. For instance, I told a joke about a  drunk. And as part of it I said, “ he fell off the wagon,” and an Israeli came up to me and said, what? What wagon? You didn't talk about a wagon? You get my point?

RETIRED?

I've done a lot of things in my life that I thought were difficult, but I never thought retiring would be one of them. It is and it's very confusing. I'm trying to get into it. But like today; my Wednesday meeting at Jewish Family Services was cancelled. I can't tell you how much I look forward to doing that  once or twice a week. Not only does it give me a lot of energy and know that I'm helping other people, but it's actually something to get out of bed for on that day and look forward to doing.

SCRAP METAL TRADING AND PROCESSING

In the 60 plus years that I have been in business as an employee, owner and consultant, I have never found an industry more complicated and more interesting and exciting than the scrap metal business.

Whether it is processing, chopping, or  trading, it really didn't matter. It was just so complex. It's so exciting. I spent more than a dozen years in this industry, starting off in the plant, then the foundry, then the chopping lines. Eventually in the office as a clerk and then a buyer.  Eventually moving to California and then back to St. Louis 7 years later.

And let me add that I have never found more fun loving, crazy, inventive guys then the scrap dealers that I did business with back in those days. Most were second, third and even fourth generation owners.

What brought this up yesterday was an email from Charlie Lardo.  Charlie is the stepson of my dear departed brother Ellis.  Ellis, Tim Spiro and Ronnie Polishuk ( all still working in scrap) worked together at Diversified at their processing plant and trading office in Cucamonga California in the early 70’s.

 Charlie worked for Ellis at Arrow Metals Trading until Ellis passed away. He then joined Kataman, which is the evolution of Diversified. Ben Fixman and Shig Katayama ( who owned  a vending machine company in Japan) were old friends and formed Kata (Shig) and man ( Fixman). Get it?  Anyway, Charlie asking me about the formative days at Diversified Metals is what got this started.

Finding the right opportunity.

Well, if you've read anything I've written before, you know I've been searching for the last few months  to discover what I really want to do since my retirement.  The idea of retiring and having nothing to do sounded interesting but has become  very boring.

Like I say, “How many Jackie Chan movies can I watch?”

I have been volunteering at Jewish Family Services once or twice a week for a few hours each time. This is very gratifying and especially when you speak to people and you see the services that are offered at JFS have helped them and they're moving forward in their lives.

It's hard to start  with a statement as strong as the above but let me tell you when I did today. I had lunch with my friend Ronnie Polischuk. We met in the eighth grade at Hanley Junior High and became good friends. We went to U. City High together where we were both members of the infamous Syndicate, a group of 13 guys who  thought they were the coolest. Of the thirteen original members, unfortunately, 6 of them are no longer with us.

So, after we finished high school, we were roommates in college at the University of Missouri, we were bunk mates in the Army, and we worked together at Diversified Metals in Cucamonga, CA.

 We have known each other for 70 years. Is that incredible or what? And what's really funny is we're both from Saint Louis. We both moved to California and back to Saint Louis at least twice. And, right now, Ronnie is still buying scrap metal for a company in Texas and his wife is a real estate agent. What we talked about was, amongst many things, that we both are weather freaks and we love LA especially since it was below 0 in the Midwest last week.

Having been friends for that long, there were so many things to reminisce about that lunch was not long enough. We do this every month or so or every other month, and it's just so great to catch up. I need to get back to Saint Louis to see some of the rest of the guys who  are still around.

CHEE, CHEE, CHEE CHANGES!

Do you remember Black Sabbath and Ozzy singing that song back in the early 70s?

I don't know what it is about me, but the older I get the less interested I am in in changes. Oh, you hear  about going out of your comfort zone and doing new things. You're never too old to do NEW things. Yes, I agree and I understand it. I just have never been into changes.

It's really funny because in  the first real job I ever had, I had  a discussion with my first boss, the guy named Bob Ballard, and we were talking about putting a roof on our new building. It was supposed to rain and then I wondered what we would do, etcetera, etcetera. Bob  looked at me and  said, “ Kenny, I don't know but  there's only one thing in this world I'm sure of, and that's things will change.”  Well, experience shows there's really no arguing with him. Things are changing all the time. Doesn't mean I have to like it, right?

The key for me is to look at change as a new opportunity. What is there now that wasn't there before, and how can I make that work or take advantage of that for our betterment?

It's about the only thing that gets me through changes, and guess what, it works. I look at all the changes in my life and there are many of them I am so grateful for.

What I need to talk about is retirement.

My wife told me a few months ago that at the age of 83, it is now time for me to retire. The word retire never even entered my thinking. I was brought up to make deals in  metals trading, income, income production, production deals, deals.

That was my whole life and when I went into the commercial real estate auction business, it was the same thing. I know I've said it before. I traveled 11 times in six months from Saint Louis to Washington DC to help convince the FDIC to let us auction their nonperforming real estate. That was then and this is now. I do not have the energy I had back then. I do not have the drive, but I do have a certain desire. And  desire is what's necessary if I want to make something happen.  I know that from experience in the past. The more I desire something, the more I'll work on it and guarantee you I'll get it done.

Since tomorrow is Christmas, I thought I would post my favorite Christmas story.

Circa 1965 and Margie and I had just gotten married. I came from a pretty orthodox home. We kept kosher and we kept all the Jewish holidays. Margie's family, on the other hand, actually celebrated Christmas, which I did not know at the time.

 So, on the first Christmas, we're married, Margie says we're going to her parents’ house for Christmas. I said what? What do you mean? Well, we have lunch there and gifts, et cetera.

 OK. I could say that I was not in a good mood and the whole thing had me from embarrassed to pissed off. So we go to their house, walk in and there's this big Christmas tree with gifts all over it. Decorations and OMG my UPSET LEVEL just went up about ten degrees. Then we sit down for lunch and what do they bring out? Virginia ham!!  OH boy. So, I sat there and basically didn't eat.

Now we go into the living room, and they start giving out Christmas gifts. I got a very nice robe, and I smiled and sat back down, but I was still upset. After all the gifts were given out. Margie’s dad goes up to the tree and pulls out some envelopes for his sons-in-laws, and he called my name and he hands me the envelope.

Now in those days I was on the Executive Success Road. I was making 5,000 bucks a year which was damn good because lawyers only made 10,000 a year and gas was $0.21 a gallon so we were getting along just fine. He hands me this envelope and of course I'm not happy about it. I opened it up and there is a check for $3,000 !! We're talking cash, no taxes. OMG, that's as much as I take home in a year!

OH boy. Christmas- Christmas -Christmas.

Wow, this is my favorite holiday. Do we only get to celebrate it once a year?

I saw a posting today about someone who lost their Internet connection and how crazy it made him. He went back through the years of pre-Internet and how much simpler it was blah blah blah.

So, I was kind of laughing at it, but then I remembered last week I lost my telephone. I left prayers in the morning, and I went to a food store to buy some things  for Rachel and they didn't have them. So, then I went to another store and finally got it. I went home and went upstairs to start my workday. I went to plug my phone in and it was missing. Well, I searched the entire house twice but it wasn't around. Called Rachel. She had no idea, but she suggested what I was going to do anyway, which was retrace my steps.

I went back to the Centre where I prayed, talked to people there, asked them if they saw the phone. They even had someone call my phone, but it didn't ring. Then I walked to the first store, checked where I went, asked the manager, nobody turned in her phone. I went to the second store, checked everywhere I went, talked to the manager, nobody turned in a phone.  I was crazed. I didn't know what to do. I started thinking, oh my gosh, what if I have to get a new phone? How about all the old numbers? How about all the old pictures? Honest to God, I made myself crazy. It was unbelievable.

As a last resort, I went back to the Centre where I prayed to check again because I had spent the most time there and used my phone the most there. I then went upstairs where I usually store my gear and there was my phone sitting on the table. OMG!  Thank you so much.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy holidays!

Tis the season to be jolly, as they say.

I have a new hobby. I bought a book called The Official Red Book, which is the 79th edition of a guidebook of United States Coins.

I have jars full of old coins that I've been putting away for no apparent reason. Plus, the Kabbalah Centre has a ( Pishca) where you can give coins daily for charity.

I'm taking all those Centre coins, keeping them separate, and I'm going to check their value and if any of them have EXTRA value above the norm,  I will sell them and give the proceeds to the Centre.

It looks like a fun new hobby, once I finish all 446 pages of the Red Book!

What are the chances that one of these old coins is a real find and has value?        I say it is going to be fun!

The frustrating part about making calls for Jewish Family Services is I only get to talk to someone on maybe one out of 10 calls. Most calls I leave word or the person only speaks Russian or Spanish and we have to call them back with a translator. Or the phone is no longer in service, etcetera.

However, the one in 10 that I get to talk to is so darn appreciative for what we have to offer and/or that we actually followed up on their needs, and tried to reach them again to  make sure that they were enrolled in the Cal Fresh program or any other needs that they've asked for.

It is also joyful to hear when they say that they were able to get a job and that they don't need the food stamps anymore.

I think this short volunteer program has really changed my life and my attitude. I am so excited and anxious to go there again and continue to make these calls. I know there will come a point in time when my 60 years of business experience will be able to help them or some of their people who have other problems. 

In recent talks with my wife and my teacher, we have all concluded that it's time for me to change my focus from business to volunteering.

Letting go of looking for a job is very difficult for me since most of my adult life I've worked. I love working, I love creating, especially something that didn't exist before. And since COVID,  I have been walking around in circles looking for something to do. I've had a couple of small consulting jobs. But when those are over, those are over and you must go find something new. I think I was on every internet job site out there. I was looking for part time remote work. But it's interesting that nothing showed up that I liked, or where they really liked me.  So maybe that was the message.

I go to Jewish Family Services several times a week to volunteer.  Basically, what I do there is I make phone calls to people who have come in and need help, and I send them in the right direction. I told the guy that supervises me yesterday that I love doing this and be glad to do it forever. However, here is my resume. Give it a look and down the line, let me know if there is somewhere where I can make a big impact on some person or company. He asked me if I would do this pro bono. I said of course, that's the whole idea. He said let me think about it, I may have one or two prospects.

Every couple of weeks I have lunch with an old friend of mine, Eric Bloom. Eric is 7 years younger than me. And yet we have no problem commiserating on all the things that we don't like about being this old. We talked about memory loss, medical problems, work problems, whatever I'm going through, he seems to be going through something very similar.

That's now. But I originally met Eric when I was his counselor at Camp Maccabee in Pelican Lake, WI. In those days. I was 18 and he was 11.

So, I don't think we had very much in common other than being at the camp and loving this incredible eight-week camp experience. This was a 200-kid coed camp in northern Wisconsin on Pelican Lake. It was one of the most wonderful times of my life, and Eric agrees.

Given that I'm still friends with him plus other people from that camp, it shows you how strong the ties are.

But the point of this is relativity between the age difference of 11 and 18 versus the age difference of 76 and 83. Since we're now grown up, we have so much in common, but back then we were like in two different worlds.

As we age, it's common to notice changes in our moods and energy levels. Sometimes, these shifts can make us feel more irritable or less patient than we used to be. Embracing these changes with understanding and humor can help us navigate this new chapter in life more gracefully.

The above paragraph comes from Google when I happen to type in the above. Getting old and cranky.

Here is a list that I sent to someone just recently; wondering if there was something I could do to change it.

If Shabbat lectures exceed 20 minutes, I fall asleep. The same with phone calls.

I can’t watch a movie for over 90 minutes unless it is non-stop action.

When people talk on and on, I stop paying attention.   I also don’t like to listen to gossip about others. I don’t like Small Talk.

My temper is shorter than usual.

I see more negativity than I used to.

My energy level is way down. I get up around 5 am and by 2pm I am exhausted.

If it is common with old age, then I guess I must fall back on my humor and understand that it is not just me.

All the best…especially to you old cranky people!

When I walked to the Kabbalah Centre this morning, it was what they call here in LA, raining. Back in Saint Louis, it would be a light drizzle.

In any event, we need the rain, and it's supposed to rain all weekend. The problem is we can't carry/open an umbrella on Shabbat, but we'll make it work.

Rachel and I were talking this morning about when things happen that don't look positive. You might say, “Why is this happening to me?” 

 You can adopt that consciousness, but it really won't produce anything positive or do you any good. Another possibility would be to appreciate and welcome the negativity as an opportunity, because if you think about it, it's something we'll have to go through. And when we go through it, we will come up with solutions,  some of which we didn't even know or think were possible.

So, as I look back on my life, I can see so many times when something “negative” happened, and I was so upset.  But when I worked through it, it produced an incredible  breakthrough, miracle, or new beginning.

So as difficult as it may be, try looking at every interruption, every negativity, every uncomfortableness in your life and say to yourself, what's the opportunity here? Because with that attitude and once you overcome it, you will see what it REALLY brought you.

It was a gift!

There was a recent Bible portion about blessings and curses. The explanation was very esoteric, and not easy to understand. But let's take a different look at it.

In my life I have seen that blessings can be curses and curses can be blessings. Think about it,  how many great things were you looking forward to that turned out lousy, and how many things that you just had no Interested in doing,  and that you finally did and found that there were some benefits?

We need to obviously have an open mind about the subject first. After that we can weigh the benefits and the stumbling blocks . We should appreciate the benefits.  Should we look to change those things about the subject that appear negative? Or should we take a deeper look and see if negative is just a reaction and/or can we change our prospective on that subject?  Sometimes yes and sometimes no but adopting a positive attitude seldom is a bummer.

I talked about a positive attitude before and came up with an interesting word change when the subject might be negative.   Instead of saying  “I have to do something.”  Consider saying “ I GET to do something.”