To light it up

Or

To not light it up legally.

By Julio Carrasco

To light it up or to not light it up legally? That is the question that if Prince Hamlet was alive today rather than holding a skull in Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1 from Shakespeare’s nunnery scene, he would hold a marijuana “fatty” and decide does he do it or not?

Well hello everyone. A happy almost end of the 1st Quarter to you! No it isn't 2019 it is 2020 so this isn't a repeat but a continuation from what we previously talked about. The legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois. You know I never thought Illinois would be quick to pass something like this but guess with it being a double edged sword in my own opinion I can see why. 

About 2 months ago on January 1st, 2020 in a historic precedence Illinois legalized recreational marijuana to be sold and offered to people here. Let's take a pause and deep breath at what has happened here. This has been a historic moment indeed. A lot of controversy leading up to days right to it but it has officially happened. 

I still make my case that I am not a fan of it or even like the smell of it because I don't like being off balance but for something that I saw throughout the news yesterday on TV was amazing. You know what that was? The amount of people lined up at the facilities offering the recreational marijuana. People lined up by the hundreds and even thousands in some locations. To get their hands on the very first legalized product that if you were caught with it in the past you would be in some deep trouble. Crazy right? Not to mention this. Many, many, and I mean many people being released or in the process of being released and having their charges expunged from marijuana possession related offenses. Wow! Crazy! How about what happened next? I touched about this a little bit on my previous post. It didn't happen to the effect I wanted but still something that happened alright.

The age to purchase tobacco products including recreational marijuana went from 18 to 21 years old. That may not seem like a big deal to some but in actuality it sure the heck was! I'm yet to see if people will start increasing more on what I think might happen which is smoking of it on the trains but I haven't gone out like I normally do. Maybe this weekend or next week. I'll ponder on it as I go downtown to an event. It amazes me though the amount of people in line. What is funny is that this is what I think of all this hoopla. 

Isn't that something? Now that's my opinion don't take it seriously. Take it with a grain of salt or do as you please. 

Now in I believe it was Michigan they came out with theirs December 1st 2019 and within 2 weeks made $3.1 million dollars. Wow. In Colorado the first day sales back on January 1st 2014 the very 1st state to legalize it was over $1 million dollars. On January 1st, 2020 in Illinois nearly $3.2 Million Dollars of pot products in sales generated... Hang on a sec Julio... My 2020 vision hasn't fully adjusted to what you just said... How much!!!? Yep. $3.2 Million Dollars with a M. It would be interesting if it were to keep a steady pace like that but I highly doubt it but hell if it averaged that by the end of the month that could be close to a $100 Million dollars... Well an update from that it has generated to date close to $40 Million dollars! Well not a $100 Million but hot diggity dog that's crazy right!?

Time to take that deep deep deep breath again Julio because good lordie that is insane!

Here's another thing about that huge amount of a figure. The part that not only frightens me but amazes me and hardly catches me by surprise...Taxes. Yeah. Let's delve on that a tiny bit. Now someone posted on Twitter what they had spent on their purchase of the recreational marijuana and I want to break down the Subtotal and of course the taxes. Look below:

The subtotal was $157 for 2.60 grams. Let's get into Julio's fun talk. Taxes. 

Recreational Sales Tax: $16.09

Illinois Recreational Tax: (Infused): $8.00

Illinois Recreational Tax: (THC >35%): $29.25

Total Tax: $53.34 💀

Total: $210.34

Loyalty Points Earned: 3.14 😆

Welp. Welcome to Illinois right? $53.34 in taxes. $210.34 spent on 2.60 grams. I am pretty sure the underground market dealers isn't to worried about that and would probably laughing right now. I'm like good lord. You know I could buy about 6 months of Ramen Noodles from the DollarTree with that $210.34. So yea. I guess were lighting it up for sure here in 2020 in Illinois. As I type this by the way nearly 2 months since legalized more and more dispensaries are being introduced to various parts of Illinois so yeah. I wonder will Illinois change the anthem to either Smoke Weed Everyday by Snoop Dogg or Because I got High by Afroman. What do you all think? Either way I could go on and on about the taxes but that image above speaks itself. One thing someone will have to fill me in next time is the loyalty points. That one is hilarious! 

Happy  1st Quarter of 2020 and let's see where oh where does this route take us here this year. Peace!

What are you reading in 2020 to expand your mind

I share this story from time to time but I think visualizations are even better. I was never into reading books when I was younger. I'd read maybe once in awhile goosebumps as a kid because I liked it. Then the shows came and I ditched the books and watched the shows afterschool.

When I was a teen I had to 2 books I liked even though it was required for school. One was a banned war book (Can't remember the name) and the other was The Giver. Anything outside of that I wouldn't touch. About 10 years or so probably 12 or 13 years ago because this one book made an appearance and I didn't touch it till 10 years ago because it was said I should read it. I was hesitant at first but then I was like okay. I read that book and I opened a new area of my life. It wasn't the Bible that was the 2nd book I have (in reality it's the 1st that encompasses all in this picture).

The book was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you want to learn something new you read a book thats 80 plus years old. That book lead to 3 books then to 4 then to many more. This isn't all the books and it's still got room for more. I have about 70 to 73 books so far. This is within 10 years of coming across that book which many of the top people in the world have this book in their collection.

I asked Damian J. the creator of FUBU and also hes on Shark Tank when he was in Rosemont with Tony Robbins what was one of the books he attributed to his success starting out and he said Think and Grow Rich. (True story he responded there to my Tweet when we were tweeting him online I was the 2nd Tweet he responded)

Whether you're a reader, an audible person, a YouTube podcast or however if you want to become successful you have to start within. Change yourself first.

Take it or leave it but know I'm gonna do more than you know. 

🔥

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
A story written by Julio Carrasco

Many of you have heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover right? Well how many of us are guilty of judging a book by a cover? What if that book was a person? Or the clothes of that person? I’m sure you can say yea I’m guilty of that Julio! Well… even I’m guilty of that and I work each day on not doing that but know just like everyone else I’m human. So that means I and everyone us are not perfect. We have to work each day on developing ourselves for a better human being and I’m a big advocate of self-improvement. Why do I begin with judging a book by its cover? Well I was the book on Wednesday April 19th 2017 in the afternoon heading downtown for my self-development leadership training. Let me share with you this story about me. So I am a bariatric patient. For those that don’t know that meaning I’ll say it in English language; I had the weight surgery 11 years ago.

I used to weigh 450 pounds. At the age of 21. Currently at 32 years old I’m 201 pounds however I’m not going to get too specific on the whole transformation, that’s on my other post you can read about. I had lost a lot but even though I did I still had excess skin that only surgery could fix. So I had a 1st part surgery after 11 years on Wednesday April 12th, 2017 at the University of Chicago. I had a Belt Lipectomy. A 4 to 6-hour procedure. Which was removal of excess skin around the waist and buttocks area. I got about 10 pounds of excess skin. On my road to recovery and healing because even though that amount of skin was removed I still had to deal with swelling. So coming home Saturday evening April 15th, 2017 I had no idea an interesting dilemma would occur. I had found out my regular clothes weren’t able to fit me so I had to buy temporary pants because my jeans and dress pants both a size 34 would not go over my waist and so I bought a pair of temporary pants which were a size 40! A 34 to a 40 I know that is something. Well this kicks off our story…

On Wednesday April 19th, 2017 I had to be downtown at my John Maxwell Mastermind were we go over John Maxwell’s books on Leadership and how to not only help develop ourselves but our organization that were apart of and take ideas back for our goals and our organization goals to be more successful. I begin my journey to the brown line from my home in Albany Park area walking down the street to Kimball Brown line carrying my umbrella or as I call it my “Puerto Rican Cane” because it was helping me walk since I had to walk slow still since I was still recovering from the surgery a week prior. Only thing I realized while walking with my temporary pants is that I didn’t have a belt and so it was difficult walking trying to keep them up so they didn’t fall off while walking and also making sure I didn’t trip since they were more big in the leg areas. In my leg areas they almost look like balloon pants I kid you not! Already I began to notice people beginning to stare at me and I hadn’t even reached the train yet because I in my own opinion felt people probably were like thinking I was getting ready to go to clown university wearing those pants since they were big in the legs even though they fit me temporarily with the swelling I had from the surgery. Finally arriving to the brown line I get on the train which takes me a longer walk than I am usual and I find a seat in one of the carts near the back that is a single seat. Dealing with the mild discomfort, I wondered to myself for a quick second why did I get on this train and decided to go downtown and not just skip it and stayed home, then my inner voice shut that doubt and said you made a promise you would show up and you are able to walk so don’t let that stop you from your own personal growth Julio. Sometimes if you have a positive inner voice speaking to you from your heart it will give you good advice that drowns out the negative advice. While heading downtown I noticed from the corner of my eye a few people staring at me but not fully stare but were they glance at you and eye gawk you for a second and turn the other way. I could only imagine what they might have been thinking when they saw me or whether they were thinking anything at all. Sometimes it makes you wonder you know? You get self-conscientious about yourself if you see yourself in a mirror and not like what you see.

As I got downtown at my stop was the next leg of my journey which even though it was about a 2 to 3 block walk it was going to be a slower one since I couldn’t walk as fast with what I had going on. Last thing I needed was it start raining and I have to use my umbrella and next thing you know my pants fall as I am walking. Thankfully that didn’t happen. However, as I was walking slowly I did notice as people walked past me some people gazed at my pants and I could actually hear some laughs as they walk past me. I can only imagine what they could have been thinking. I want to give a visualization of what I was wearing. My temporary dress pants were light khaki color, and I had a bright red dress shirt. Since I didn’t have a belt my pants had to go up pass my belly button and I probably could have pulled off the Steve Urkle look if I had suspenders and go “did I do that!?”. Getting to my location finally I was glad I made it because as soon as I got there it began to rain so I just missed the rain which would have been worse in my own situation. After about an hour at my weekly Mastermind group I made my journey back home which ironically as I left it had just finished raining so in a way I was glad but then I had to deal with the puddles around the streets. So slow and steady I made my way back to the train and back home. Once again I could get that feeling that people were eye gawking me and giving me weird looks and trying not to laugh at my appearance. In a way I felt I was being judged by my outer appearance and not knowing what was underneath me. It wasn’t as if I could just lift my shirt and say to people this is why I have to wear this so please don’t judge! I figured by writing this I can vent in a way that was more beneficial and also would heal me by writing how I felt about my day. So in a way this would be like my “Dear Journal”.

After making it home while being on the train and walking back I could probably say I had over 10 different people give me looks and a few laughs. Can I actually say that was towards me? No, but as a human being we all have that sense that others are judging us based on what we wear, how we look, the shape of our body, and more. So we start playing in our mind what could they be thinking about us? We start putting ourselves down based on what others think of ourselves. Self-doubting what makes us unique. Here’s the other side of that coin. We do the same thing to others as well. We will eye gawk them, and think in our minds or laugh and do exactly what they did or we think they did and not realize what we’re doing. We say we will never judge people by their looks, age, race, size, etc., but we still do it and many times were not aware of it. We become oblivious to it and just go with it our everyday selves. I’ve done that at times and I admit I need to be better at not doing that and hence why trying to self-improve myself each and every day puts me on a path to stop myself from judging people (books) by their outer (cover) appearance and to search their heart. Rather than give you the full picture of my body and scare some of you all I figure just from my stomach area you could see how the progress is going.

There is still swelling around my stomach area that will go down eventually. I have to wear a bind around it as well as compression type clothing to bring the swelling down. Not to mention after my surgery when I woke up and saw my stomach it was the first time seeing my belly button. My belly button was always an innie not an outie. Sometimes we have to take time and wonder what is the story behind that person and if there is one we should be quick to think and slow to judge because their might be something that we aren’t aware of. Rather than eye gawk and laugh why not give a friendly smile and say hello, good day, how are you? Have a nice day! Sometimes a smile and a compliment can go a longer way than you realize. So my friends don’t judge a book by a cover, judge it by its heart because that heart could be a graduate heart.

Yeah this book is a graduate heart because on Saturday May 13th I shall be walking across the stage at UIC Forum graduating from Wright College with my Associates Degree. For those that know me personally on here know that I’ve strived myself on being not only a goal seeker but a goal achiever. I’m the type of person that writes my goals and checks off after completing them and take myself for the next year to do better than the previous year. Summing up this post I’ll share a little bit here… From going to 450 pounds to 201 pounds to participating in the Lung Cancer Run in September of 2013 and also a 5k in Utah in the month before August of 2013 with Dr. Oz and also the Lung Cancer Run 10k in 2014 and as well the Chicago Half Marathon in 2015 to which in October of this year 2017 I plan on running the Bank of America Marathon I’ve come quite a way when it comes to achieving goals. I’m not bragging I’m living out what I was created to do and I hope through my becoming a goal achiever I can inspire people to write down their goals and do the same. It’s not just to say you want to do something you have to write it down. I learned that from a book that started it all for me called Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill on goal setting. That book has been around since 1937 so if you want to learn something new you have to read from something that is 80 years ago. That started me on this path and journey in my life and I truly believe that slow and steady always wins the race…Start today on you becoming a goal achiever and living out your own WHY or story but also when you are out on the street and encounter someone remember don’t judge a book by its cover… judge by its heart.

Failure of Success

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely”. Henry Ford said that quote. He was one of many famous failures throughout history that didn’t see failure as the end but as an opportunity to begin again. To create the engine for the very first automobile it took many setbacks for him and the people he had hired. He told them to keep at it till they got it right because he knew that eventually with each attempt that wisdom was going to open the right door that would change history for years to come… and he did. My name is Julio Carrasco and I’m not a famous failure yet but I am working on my path to that. What I am going to share with you may shock you but it has taken me 12 years to get my Associates Degree. If you count the part time status and the in between break in between it totals to 12 years altogether for what would normally take a person about 2 years or so to get it. You can say I failed many times to achieve it sooner but I had to endure through my own personal procrastination with achieving and completing something for a change. I had to grow personally both inner and outer and while many would have done it quicker like the hare from the Aesop Fables I wanted to take it slower like the Tortoise because I knew that eventually slow and steady always wins the race if you do it wisely.

I started at Wilbur Wright College in 2004 and my Major was Computer Information Systems which I was going for my IT Associates Degree. From 2004 to 2010 I slowly racked up credits, electives, participated in internships, and was also a Treasurer and Senator of Student Government Association. I built friendships there not only with the teachers and faculty but with the students I would see each and every semester I was there. Some classes I passed, some classes I failed, some classes I dropped, and some classes I had to change. I see my college change throughout those years I was there. For those entering there now they don’t realize that their used to be a bookstore there that you could not only get your books for class but also get apparel to support your school even though was a community college at least with the apparel it made you feel a unique sense of pride to wear because it showed you were making a name for yourself and were proud to represent it. Those days are no more of course due to cuts and funding and technology. You can order your books online and other stuff but to me that route just doesn’t feel the same. I prefer an actual book versus an online e-book. That’s just how I am.

Technology advancing is great but if we get too much it in my opinion desensitizes us and eventually we’ll end up getting rid of it. I am a millennial but I say I am the “Daddy Daycare” of the millennials after me. Watching over them and along with the Generation Z’ers as well. When I came back as a student at Wright during my time in between after 2010 I want to say maybe a year or 2 ago so around 2014 or 2015 I returned back to Wright as a student I felt that to eventually get this done I had to take a different route and change my major to just a General Education Association Degree. Some may say I just quit one route and chose another. I could agree with you on some levels but I also can disagree and say I moved my chess piece on a different move and changed the route in my life that would eventually get me checkmate because life is like chess. Each move you make can take you on many different paths and it’s up to you to decide which path is going to get you to win the game and say checkmate. Fall of 2016 I Julio Carrasco graduated Wilbur Wright College and in 2017 I plan on walking that stage because no matter what anybody says for me this is my own personal famous failure of Success to finally say I graduated and got my Associates Degree because even though it to me 12 years to get it, failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely… which I did. Thank you and Julio out (Mic Drop)!

Recommended Books to Read that Great Leaders Read

RECOMMENDED BOOKS TO READ








Want to know what the wealthiest people in the world read?

People like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, Donald Trump and some of the top Fortune 100 successful people in the world?

These are some of the types of Books Great Leaders Read


Beyond Positive Thinking by Robert Anthony


Compound Effect by Darren Hardy


Convincing them in 90 seconds or less by Nicholas Bootman


Developing leaders around you by John Maxwell


Developing the Leader within you by John Maxwell


Great Leaders ask Great Questions by John Maxwell


How to Influence People by John Maxwell


How to make them like you in 90 seconds or less by Nicholas Boothman


How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie


How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie & Associates


Mindset by Carol S. Dweck



Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill


Three Feet from Gold by Sharon L. Lechter & Greg S. Reid

Should we have a look into the Cook County Mayoral Election again

This post is really to share what had happened to me and I want to know if there were other Cook County voters that had this happen as well to them.

I requested for the Mayoral Campaign Runnoff mailing casting ballot right before they allowed you to request online to mail my vote for Rahm Emmanuel vs Jesus Garcia. So the story goes like so...

I hoping that I would get my mailing ballot in the mail before actual election day had my hopes up go in wonder because election day comes and so making sure my vote counts I go and vote in person and as I get there they were confused because in the system they showed I was doing the mailing ballot and so I told I never received the mailing ballot and so they attached a special card along with my vote so I could vote which makes me wonder because they were confused as well, did my vote actually count? Was I the only one that happened to or was there other people just like me that happened to?

This link makes me wonder below that talks about ballots getting pre-checked for Rahm Emannuel.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/17818/stories-circulate-of-voters-receiving-ballots-pre-checked-for-rahm-emanuel

Whether this is legit or not it made me wonder if something like this should be looked into and maybe offer the citizens of Cook County a chance to vote whether we should have a recasting of the votes and if there was fraud in it then have a revote again that way it is a fair election. Just like boxing we as those that pay to see it don't like to be cheated on and want a fair fight because it is the honorable way to do.

So back to the story with me...

I receive the Mail in Ballot on April 15th. And I ask when was election day again? Answer is April 7th. So was I the only one happened to? Are there any other people that this has happened to and they haven't come out to say this happened to me? Why? Fear of confrontation? Fear of being threatened? Guess they need someone to speak up for them that doesn't mind confrontation. That has a Leadership mentality. That's were I come in. Mr. Richlatino Fedora Hat Wearer. The Chicagorican that speaks Spanglish and not Spanish. Which by the way Richlatino means Rich Hearted. Having a Rich Heart that cares for others.

Stay tuned for more...

The pros and cons of the Social Media Digital Era in 2014 for everyone

Have you noticed lately more and more stores are closing, shutting down all operations, packing up shop and saying its been a good run but we unfortunately can't continue to operate under these circumstances?


Seems to be a reoccurring thing lately in this era we are in. Many blame the economy and how the internet and the digital era seem to take business away from them because now many of the clients, customers, consumers, the people that keep there businesses afloat can get alot of what they offer now online at a lower price and faster timeframe. Have you all heard that before or recently? Remember when Goldblatts, Venture, Circuit City were around just to name a few? Some of you probably were either babies at that time or never even heard of those places before. Like the cassette tapes for the walkman, the VHS movies, 56k modem for dialup internet with Americaonline? Remember the CDs you would get to have dialup internet on your Windows computer and the 56k modem and when you logged in the ringing it would do and the You've got mail sound? Remember that era?


My how time has changed and really it hasn't been that long of a timeframe but its far more advanced now than it was back then don't you agree?


Now my opinions on these companies and industries closing and laying off workers are on a 50/50 scale so when they say the internet and economy is reason for their closing, my answer is yes and no really and I will share with you why. It's amazing when your bodies internal clock wakes you up at a certain time and then that's the time you have your aha moment or lightbulb moment and that's why I'm writing this down on my online notepad so I don't forget and can post it later. It's 245A.M. CST Saturday March 8th, 2014. (Updated on Monday April 7, 2014 at 10:25A.M. CST)


Now I want to post this disclaimer before I share my opinions and I want to all those who are reading I am not a project analyst and the only compensation I get if any is more from the monetization side I have setup with my Blogger account so any suggestions or advice I give I do not get paid from those that I share in this post and I do not criticize, condemn, complain or bad mouth any company or industry that is falling into this category or may fall into this category. This is just my opinions nothing more, nothing less. Fair enough? Okay let's begin.


It's 2014 and society and technology has far more advanced than it was 10 or 20 years ago. With what I call the Digital era many people in the world are turning to the internet for just about everything (food, jobs, clothes, paying bills, buying stuff). Many companies are trying their best to compete with the Digital era and many accept it more and make the modifications to meet supply and demand and grow to a new level than they were 10 or 20 years ago. However, some companies can't keep up with the pace and the way the economy is and end up closing shop. Just look at the news recently. Staples closing, Radioshack closings, Sears closings of locations, you name it more and more are either closing completely or laying off workers and shrinking their facilities. They blame the economy the way it is, how the digital era changes the game.


I agree and I disagree on that and while many parts the facts can say yes these companies are right about their views. My opinions on this is this. Yes and no. Let me cover the no part.


Why I don't agree on this is this. If you want to change the way a company is structured you have to change the way you think. Meaning getting outside the corporate mindset and outside the micro management and into the leadership mentality. A true leader. One that takes the blame rather than blame someone else and that treats their worker's with a leadership mentality rather than a micro manager mentality and demonstrates it to their workers in a positive way rather than negative way.

Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. To develop the leaders within you and around you there is some training you have to go through and it doesn't happen overnight. You aren’t born a leader right from day 1 you have to develop the skillset and to develop the skillset takes time, work, effort, and determination. Read books, listen to audio, watch videos on leadership or even attend events with leaders and motivational speakers and learn how they do it. My favorite is John Maxwell. People have a different way of internalizing these types of skillsets and methods it all depends on which one works for them. Just one final thought knowledge is power was a quote said by Albert Einstein. Many people know that famous quote but not many know that the only way knowledge can be power is if you apply the knowledge you acquired. If you just get all the knowledge and don’t take any action with what you learned it really isn’t power is it? So to revise the quote knowledge is power only if you apply what you’ve learned.


So will you be applying what you learn and make it powerful or will you let it slip away? Doing the same things over and over again is what we call insanity. If you want to have a leadership mentality then you have to take the tips from those that are leaders and applying it to what you currently do. Whether you are the owner of a big corporation or the owner of a small business with 1 or 2 employees or even if you are just a male or female that wants to learn how leaders do what they do and how they become successful then I suggest surround yourself around those already doing it and those with the influence. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.