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Dec 21, 2005 6:45 pm

I’ve had several hours to think about this (I played golf this AM. Beautiful day, good round, need work on the scoring irons) and I’ve decided what route to take.

I’ve been “outted” , but I feel no need to run. In fact, that’s what the pathetic excuses for human beings that posted personal details wanted me to do, and I have no intention of giving them the satisfaction. So, I’ll simply correct the record. I left the service after almost a decade, moved to a city I picked from some “100 Best places to live” and got a job at ML. That was 1991. I loved it. I didn’t know a soul in town outside of the people I worked with. I burned up phone lines (no DNC list then) and opened accounts. The manager that hired me was a prince of a man. 25 years of distinguished commissioned service with the Marines and then 25 years with ML. The most positive, happy guy I’ve ever met. He never, never pushed product and I think he took great personal satisfaction with my success. I finished the PDP program of the time before the 24 month limit. That required, if I remember correctly, 150k in production, 10M in assets and 100 accounts. I collected the total of $23k in bonuses and visited the Princeton campus three or four times. Loved the bar there (Henry’s, Harry’s?) and enjoyed the stock woman who headed up trading and who had won big bucks on Jeopardy.

Then my manager retired and was replaced with, well, a shmuck who forced product with a shovel. He had been a senior backbencher who mumbled negative crap during meetings he became a Nazi in the manager’s office. Then I made the biggest mistake of my career. Flush with confidence with my ML success, I decided to take a big check (more money than I or any one in my family had every seen at one time). I’m talking about buy a 3000 sq ft home with a pool (which is just what I did) money, to help open an office for a regional firm that had never had a presence in my state before. It was an unmitigated disaster. There was a TRO on the fax machine at the new office before I could drive over from the ML office. It kept me and the three others that went with me (a senior guy from another firm I knew well was our manager) on the sidelines for 90 days. My new firm refused to pick up the tab for the “deal” that ML offered to let us go to work. By the time we settled I was lucky to bring 40% of my book with me. I was amazed how few people I counted on moved with me after almost three months of the old office bad mouthing all of us and the zero name recognition the new firm had. The office blew up less than a year from our start date, due to fights between various levels of management. Contrary to what was posted, the firm was NOT part of a bank. It was years after I left that they were bought out by a bank.

Dec 21, 2005 6:48 pm

I jumped from there back to a major wirehouse. At this point I under five years in the business and on my third job, but having been in a military family and in the service myself, I couldn’t have cared less about changes and moving. I liked the new place, as did my clients. I got back to reestablishing a network and a book.

I was making fine progress and loving life, then I made the second biggest mistake of my career. I accepted a check and joined a friend how had just left ML to go indy. He needed me even though he was better than 20 years in the business, because he had a checked U-4 (mine, to this day, is perfect) and the B/D he wanted to clear through (no longer in business) wouldn’t allow him to do it alone. Later they changed the OSJ procedures, they required me to get the Series 24 and monitor his trades and his phone calls in addition to his written correspondence. Having my name with his to open the office was one thing, having to take supervisory responsibility for him, while I had no authority over him and FOR NO PAY, was another all together. I was very, very unhappy to say the least, and worse yet, he felt like all checks on him were gone, he went wild. A couple of factors came together, my dissatisfaction with him, and an illness in the family, caused me to resign and move.

I took an offer at a major bank. Not a bad deal, but I’ve outlined my concerns in other posts about banks. When they took my assistant from onsite, and mover her to a call center, I took an offer from another bank where there was a sales assistant right outside my office. Neither gig was bad, I wasn’t all that interested in taking clients from one to the other, but some favorites did move with me. Again, if you’re curious about life at the banks I worked for, you’ve seen my posts.

I then took an offer with a major wirehouse where life is good. The books growing, production could always be better, but it’s moving. Oh, and while I have looked into buying a book, I’ve had no luck with it. I’m still interested if I can find someone who can find an agreement that’s beneficial to all concerned. Especially a broker thinking of retiring, but I digress.

A career summary; don’t take a check, I don’t care how big, until you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what you’re getting. Don’t allow yourself to be put in a position of sacrificing your U-4 for someone else’s benefit. Muddy that thing up and your days in the business are limited. I've been registered 15 years now and have been in all three channels and 7 firms. If that means something awful to you, well, such is life.

Oh, and for the creeps who feel like they tire of having their heads handed to them on a plate and seek revenge or whatever else they need by violating someone else’s privacy, you couldn’t be more cowardly. You got help, no doubt form that weird little fella in Wichita who runs a website and used my IP address from when I logged in there in his stalking efforts. Perhaps I should post again his “match.com” add, it was a classic. Just because I and others have slammed you on your mistakes about the annuity you hawk, you didn’t have to join up with that multi-internet personality (he plays about three parts on his own website) wack-job. Be careful who you make friends with, and be careful who gets your IP address,. Cross that nutcase and you’ll be next.

If you’re still curious, here are some additional facts;

My golf handicap is a UGA 13.9 (short game sucks)

I’m 5’10” and went the holidays are over, I need to drop the 15 lbs I’ve picked up since Thanksgiving.

I wear a size 11 shoe, a 44 reg jacket and 38 reg slacks. Boxerbriefs. If you need to know more than that, you’ll have to buy me dinner first.

Dec 21, 2005 6:49 pm

One last thing, I have to go ring a bell for a couple of hours for the Salvation Army this afternoon. I can hardly wait to get howm, get back here and see what the cockroaches and the normal floks have to say about my story and just what sort of pond scum stalks people on the internet. 

Dec 21, 2005 8:13 pm

That doesn't sound like much fun but sounds like you survived it in good shape...I would have found a new career after all that.

I would like to know who was stalking you and what they wanted.  There are some odd ducks out there.

Dec 21, 2005 8:46 pm

Well, I have no beef with ya, mikey, but if people do, they have to at least appreciate your honesty. 

Dec 21, 2005 9:51 pm

Mike- Thanks for your posts! BTW, you are right about the Lifetime Income benefit… I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.

Dec 21, 2005 9:59 pm

good for you mike. 

But, I too would like to know how your "buddy" figured out who you are.

Dec 21, 2005 10:21 pm

[quote=exEJIR]

good for you mike. 

But, I too would like to know how your "buddy" figured out who you are.

[/quote]

Thanks for the kind words. It's pretty easy how he did it, really. He runs a website and when I logged on from home and then later from work with the same screen name he just tracked down my IP addresses. Once he had that he did a simple google search.

The guy's one sick mofo and anyone who visits his website is a potential victim.  He has also hacked into this website in the past. 

Dec 21, 2005 10:22 pm

Hey "Mike"...I think your secret's relatively safe since as was predicted by another, the "outting" thread was subsequently deleted.  You have my assurance that I'll not repost anything I saw on the thread as I view anonymity on this forum as a sacred cow (how else can we feel free to say what we really think without threat of reprisal?!!!)

...I can only imagine the "oh sh*t" feeling I'd have if Ronald(?) posted my bio on this site...and I'll give you credit for handling it with a good amount of grace...after your first response.

...if I get real bored this weekend, maybe I'll go archive-surfing and see if I can find that match.com post, assuming it didn't get the heave-ho also...

I still reserve the right to disagree and occasionally give you some sh*t...Merry Christmas...or whatever you celebrate...

Dec 21, 2005 10:26 pm

[quote=uwec86]

That doesn't sound like much fun but sounds like you survived it in good shape...I would have found a new career after all that.

I would like to know who was stalking you and what they wanted.  There are some odd ducks out there.

[/quote]

My guess is the wackjob from Wichita (he runs a website that's often mentioned here) was either the poster or he pm’d the info to some other coward here. His intention was to intimidate me into disappearing. He’ll come up for air to inject himself whenever one of his beloved insurance products gets dissed.

This isn’t the first time he did it. The last time I was concerned for my job, so I talked to management. They said not to sweat it so long as I don’t tout a stock or a product or the firm and don’t access the board from the office. They were pretty cool about it. So this time when the cockroach surfaced I didn’t care.

Dec 21, 2005 11:19 pm

Whatever happened to that other website?

Dec 22, 2005 1:01 am

Wow, take the day off to and all heck breaks loose.  What happened?

Dec 22, 2005 1:03 am

[quote=Indyone]

Hey "Mike"...I think your secret's relatively safe since as was predicted by another, the "outting" thread was subsequently deleted.  You have my assurance that I'll not repost anything I saw on the thread as I view anonymity on this forum as a sacred cow (how else can we feel free to say what we really think without threat of reprisal?!!!)

...I can only imagine the "oh sh*t" feeling I'd have if Ronald(?) posted my bio on this site...and I'll give you credit for handling it with a good amount of grace...after your first response.

...if I get real bored this weekend, maybe I'll go archive-surfing and see if I can find that match.com post, assuming it didn't get the heave-ho also...

I still reserve the right to disagree and occasionally give you some sh*t...Merry Christmas...or whatever you celebrate...

[/quote]

Thanks, Indy. Say, I bet if you search with a Wichita zipcode and use the keyword "Jayhawk" or some such, you can find his add. Great stuff. He's not shy about putting his mug on the net, so he's easy to match. As for me, I know who he is and couldn't care less. He's a troubled boy.

Dec 22, 2005 1:05 am

[quote=menotellname]Whatever happened to that other website?[/quote]

I don't know, but I wouldn't go there for love or money. He'll track IP addresses and stalk you if he has a mind to. I suspect that website is how he makes his money these days.

Dec 22, 2005 1:07 am

[quote=SonnyClips]

Mike, glad you didn't back down. I think your goddam right the guy went way overboard. You can be a little harsh on the Clips from time to time you keep in interesting, product knowledge isn't bad either.

[/quote]

Thanks. Fun is fun, but stalking is just psycho stuff.

[quote=SonnyClips]

 You don't know sh*t about politics though. Cars, yes- politics No.

[/quote]

[quote=SonnyClips]

Cheers, and have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year,

Sonny Clips

[/quote]

Same to you, my friend 

[quote=SonnyClips]

PS should we all reveal our identities as a sign of solidarity or is this just the liberal in me.[/quote]

Nah, no need. A screen name is a great thing and we should all have the comfort of it.

Dec 22, 2005 1:12 am

[quote=babbling looney]

Wow, take the day off to and all heck breaks loose.  What happened?

[/quote]

Like the first posts in this thread say, our occasional stalker/lurker/website “admin” guy and hacker used my IP addresses (from his hack of this site and tracking IP addresses at his own) to stalk me and “out” me. Of course he got the story wrong. He thought he could scare me. He’s a pathetic little creature as is any coward he sued here to help him. He got tired of me trashing his beloved insurance products.

Much hilarity ensued

Dec 22, 2005 3:55 am

Can we call you Steve now?

Dec 22, 2005 1:15 pm

[quote=skeedaddy]Can we call you Steve now? [/quote]

I suppose if we call everyone else by their real name. This will pass, I'd just as soon be called by my screen name, unless you care to give us all the details about you and your career 

Dec 22, 2005 1:54 pm

OK, I haven't been following this, but I smell Put Trader.  Which one of these guys is Put Trader?

Hey, we are supposed to be helping each other here, right?

Dec 22, 2005 2:34 pm

MikeB, I just want to add to what the others have said.  You handled this exceptionally well – very mature, very professional, very honest.  Thanks.