Ask Uncle Bill

Just Say NO

Winston Churchill said "Never, never, never give up."  I drummed this truism into my kids from day one and they never, never, never give up.  In fact, they have turned out pretty good, thank you very much. 

But I am starting to rethink old Winnie.  Mainly because of this stupid book I got myself into and some of the characters involved.  For those without the background,  I sent a book proposal in cold to a publisher and they decided to publish it.  It being the book that I am now trying to write.  And it is about the Texas Revolution of which most of you know nothing.  Oh, you know the Alamo and Davy Crockett and stuff but you don't know the whole story so here is a recap.

Spain takes over Mexico, along with most of the rest of the western hemisphere, including Texas.  Spain lets Anglo settlers into Texas.  Mexico revolts against Spain.  Anglos revolt against Mexico.  Mexicans send Santa Anna and kills everybody at the Alamo.  Sam Houston retreats, forms an army, catches Santa Anna in the suburbs of Houston, then a swamp, now a refinery and whips his army in 18 minutes.  Texas independence. 

There were a few more details but that is pretty much it except for Sam Houston.  Because I have developed a grudging admiration for Sam.  Which is not easy since he was a drunk, drug abuser, wounded Indian fighter, ex-governor of Tennessee and his teenage wife ran out on him either because of an ugly wound that would not heal or his, how do we put this?, his unorthodox sexual practices. 

But he did have his good points.  And one was a pretty good grasp of reality, even when drunk out of his mind.  Because the Texas government was not exactly a model of efficiency with one governor that was impeached, a lieutenant governor that couldn't make up his mind or give orders, the impeached governor  that took the seal of office and hid it and a congress that named not one, but four, commanders of the army.  And three of the commanders were idiots.  And, by the way, while all this was going on a Mexican army of 6,000 was marching on the place telling everyone they could find that they were going to kill all the Texans. 

So what did Houston, the fourth commander, do?  He QUIT.  Wrote all the governors a letter saying so long and quit and went to see his buddies in the Cherokee nation.  Basically went out drinking for a month with his Indian buds. 

When he came back, two of other commanders-in-chief were dead and the other had such a close call that he quit, for good.  With the Mexicans breathing down their necks, the congress woke up and made Houston the only commander.  And he took over and he won.

But he wouldn't have if he had stuck around and tried to work things out.

So the moral is quit when things are really out of control.  I am still a never, never, never quit kind of guy but sometimes it pays to look around and, if everything and everybody is screwed up and your neck is on the line, then it may be one of those few times when you just QUIT. 

It worked for Sam.  And Texas.

An Unabashed Commercial For Forbes

If you are going to read one magazine about business, wealth and management make it Forbes.  I dislike Business Week and Fortune,  the People magazine for  the business set.  I read Money and Kiplingers because I get sucked in by the screaming headlines (Cut Your Taxes by 60%) and then leave disgusted when the articles are worthless.  I absolutely love the Wall Street Journal.  Love it so much I could spend all day reading it which is why I don't read it.  But I do read Forbes.  Sometimes I flip through the whole thing without getting much out of it.  But not usually.

Steve Forbes is a bit loopy sometimes but, hey, he ran for president twice.  Give him a break.  I like the writers because they go in depth on a lot of personalities and industries.  They can even make the steel industry interesting when they find an executive doing something different and getting results. 

But the thing I like best is they are sensible.  A phrase in journalism, especially TV journalism, sums up most reporting--If it bleeds, it leads.  Thi is bad news trumping good news.  Finally, sound bites don't result in analysis that is worth much so most news is pretty depressing and people mope about thinking the world is coming to an end.  Only it doesn't and you have to go to work the next day and that is where Forbes can help.

A column by publisher, Rich Karlgaard, in the current edition is titled About That First Job.  Seems Karlgaard does commencement speeches and gets this "Given the dizzying pace of change in the economy, what careers should my kids pursue?" a lot. 

Karggaard's response is Security Guard.  I like that since he and I had pretty much the same background in college--he was low B, I was high B but both clueless about careers.  He went the security guard route which meant he could spend nights reading the authors--George Orwell, H. L. Mencken, Tom Wolfe,  and P. J. O'Rourke-he never got assigned in college.  He also recommends Playboy magazine.  For the interviews. 

I got tossed out of the house by my mother and moved to Denver and sold stuff door to door which was such a humiliating experience I was getting my MBA less than nine months later.  The key is the first job gets you going.

His second point about success is finding a mentor.  I hate the concept of mentors.  I hear the word and think of Karate Kid with some old oriental guy training the wimp to beat up the school bully.  Or some wise teacher coming to the rescue which never happened to me. 

But Karlgaard puts a spin on it that I like--in the career world the mentor ain't going to find you, you have to find the mentor.  And you don't have to tell them they are mentors.  From one boss he learned how to dress.  It is amazing in the business world how most people are fashion disasters.  I don't believe in Dress for Success but dressing like you are confident makes you confident.  Karlgaard didn't ask the guy for help--he just copied the shirt, tie, and even the amount of cuff showing.  I did the same thing.  Karlgaard sums it up, "Sounds trivial and even silly, but it helped me and gave me confidence."  It is also an example of a great business truism--don't reinvent the wheel.

He goes on citing standing outside the office of a successful consultant and listening to telephone conversations and then copying the style.  And meeting William F. Buckley and taking up the challenge of starting a magazine. 

But his best piece of advice is to Think Like An Owner.  In your first couple of jobs you will report to a loser.  Sorry but that is usually the case because you will report to someone "lower on the totem pole."  And that person may be bitter, stupid, complacent, happy as a clam doing what they are doing but "the company's big-picture goals may be blotted out by the narrower demands of the boss." 

He says it better than I can so here is the final pararaph.

"This is a dangerous time for the young careerist.  It's when destructive habits can be learned.  The worst of these mental habits is:  restricting one's vision to the internal view of the company--that organizations and jobs exist for their own preservation.  Actually, they exist to keep a customer and make a profit.  This ownership view can get lost in the bureaucracy.  I've seen too many talented people in their 40s and 50s who are stuck in their organizations, deeply frustrated.  Ask them what they do and you get a boring, task-oriented job description such as an h.r. department might write.  Even if your first job is sweeping floors, think like an owner."

He is absolutely right.  But just don't avoid the losers in their 40s and 50s.  Avoid losers no matter what. 

Look for the winners.  They are not hard to find--they dress well.  And start with the owner.

Or owners.  You can find them in Forbes.  $60 a year for two copies a month.  Well worth the money.

 

   

The Invisible Hand

Economics is truly the dismal science but Adam Smith, a British economist from the 17th or 18th, well a long time ago, coined the phrase the invisible hand for economic activity that happens because the market place dictates it.  You just don't see it, not right away anyway.  Smith's point was that the market, if let alone, would fix its own problems.  And it works. 

And I have proof.  My e-mail is basically not spam protected because I don't know how to do it and I like getting mail and it helps me pick out trends, like this one.  So among the Viagra ads, golf club promotions, dating service ads and stuff from Pro Flowers I found the following:

Pacificare--States push for reduced Health Costs

$38 Health Insurance--Top Insurance Carriers at the Best Price

Club Coverage--Costco Health Coverage Now Available

Companies are advertising for medical insurance.  There are companies out there that actually want to insure you.  And its pretty cheap.  Maybe not as cheap as these teaser rates but cheap.

Because it is high deductible and if you are young and fairly healthy, jump on it.  The reasons why are all in Category 10 on the right hand side.

And they want you because Adam's invisible hand is at work.  A major cost of medical insurance is administration.  Just look the next time you are at the doctor's office.  A doctor, two nurses and people that dress like nurses but are really dressed up bookeepers and file clerks.  If you have high deductible insurance, there is no billing and no need for those clerks.  Go in and pay and tell your insurance company and when you hit the deductible, which probably won't happen because it will be like $3,000, they call and tell you they will pay.

So you pay for your flu shot but they pay for your heart surgery.  Which probably won't happen either and that is why your premiums are low.  You pay for something really horrible to happen to you and it probably won't so the amount you pay for coverage is low.  This has Adam's fingerprints all over it.

What to do then?  If you have insurance through your company, check out the price.  If you are single, it may not be bad and you might want to keep it.  If you are married then you will probably be on the family plan and pay a lot.  But you still might want to keep it as you may have a big expense coming up-kids.  And the hospital bill is only the beginning.

But if you want the cheapest insurance and are healthy and kids aren't in the seven day forecast, you might well be a canditate for high deductible insurance.

An added bonus is the portability--you change jobs, you don't have to change insurance.  And once you pass the basic health test to get in, they can't kick you out.  I don't think.  Maybe they can but I don't think so.  Well, that is something to check out. 

But if you decide to do it, do it quick and start saving money.  A side benefit is that you will take better care of yourself as well as you don't want to pay the doc.  The invisible hand is at work. 

Un-Savvy

Got this from good friend SaraJane.

"Because you audience is the un-financially-savvy, please clarify that you are talking about investing in mutual funds. You are not recommending we go without insurance. In fact, do you have a post about that because it's a huge problem among the 20-somethings... going without health insurance."

Hey, you audience, first things first.  We will stop, here and now, putting ourselves down as un-financially savvy or financial Luddites or just plain stupid.  Financial planners, insurance salesmen, car salesmen and high school dropouts who do car repairs love this kind of  behavior.  It is code for "I expect to get screwed."  So hold your head high and remember we are the Boss.  (I was going to say We is the Man but that is so lame.  I can't believe I still hear that at golf tournaments.) 

Because I am going to let you in on a little secret--being dumb is smart.  We all want to appear smart so when somebody starts jabbering away on some subject, we all nod our heads and say, yes, yes, even when we don't have a clue.  It's the natural thing to do.  But let's try a little honesty like reacting half way through a rapid fire sales pitch with "I was with you on term insurance but could you explain universal life just one more time.  Please."  Now you got 'em.  They have to think and explain it again which wasn't in their training class.  If worse comes to worse, just mention that Warren Buffett doesn't buy universal life.  I don't know if he does, probably not, but it will stop the pitch.  Or just walk away.  Henry Ford (not the original, one of his grandsons that was known for doing whatever he wanted) said "Never complain, never explain." 

Be like Henry and wear your stupidity proudly.

I will because SaraJane caught me.  I didn't explain the role of mutual funds in 401(k)'s very well.  Here it is-most 401(k)'s offer mutual funds like Vanguard, Fidelity, et al.  That is fine and nothing to worry about.  Go with the mix you want--see the category on investing.  The groups to watch out for are the plan administrators or consultants.  They are the ones that do the dirty work and provide lunches and football tickets and free golf to your HR department and charge YOU accordingly. 

If your plan offers funds like Vanguard or Fidelity or Dodge and Cox and IS administered by one of these, you are in good shape.  If it administered by a consulting company or any organization with names that include names in their title like American, International, Universal, Re, Consolidated, Surety or other words that sound impressive and you don't know what they mean, look real closely at your fees.  You are probably getting screwed.  Hope that clears things up.  If not, let me know.

As far as insurance, SaraJane wants a post.  Check out the category on insurance.  I think it covers the bases and it's pretty good since I wrote it.  Also, it checks pretty closely with what Jane Bryant Quinn wrote in this week's Newsweek.  I'm not a big fan of Jane but we agree on this so, why not?

To summarize my section on insurance--

Life Insurance--NO.

Renters Insurance--NO.

Medical Insurance--Your companies plan or high deductible.  Check your plan and your pulse, figure out your risk profile and pick.  Also, note high deductible is portable.  If you change jobs, it doesn't impact the insurance.

Car Insurance--High deductible, no collision assuming you own the car.

House Insurance--your mortgage company will tell you what you have to have.

What else is there?

 

401(k) Cost Review

Saw a pretty good article in the business section today by Walter Hamilton, Kathy Kristof and Josh Friedman of the Los Angeles Times.  Basically it was about 401(k) fees that most people don't see or don't pay attention to.  One guy did and figured he was getting dinged about $500 a year.  And since the fee is a percentage of the amount in the account he will get dinged more as the account amount grows.

In fact, this guy figured that the fees would cost him $316,000 over his lifetime.  The amount may have some sloppy math since he counts both the direct charge and lost investment returns.  Lost investment returns can be done in a lot of different ways and , believe me, I have done a few but even if the amount is half it is still a lot of money. 

The fees result because your Human Resource Department doesn't have Warren Buffett in the back room so they farm the work out.  Everybody uses mutual funds and those costs and fees are pretty well known. 

But administrative fees are what get you.  These are not the fees paid to Vanguard or Fidelity but the fees paid to the consultants and providers that package the plans.  If your company uses Fidelity or Vanguard as the consultants you are probably in pretty good shape. 

But if your HR department is lazy or understaffed (I never saw one that was) they will probably outsource the whole thing and that is where the money goes.  The article notes that consultants and providers charge a direct fee (but don't tell you about it up front) while "others collect a commission from insurance companies that run 401(k) plans."  I have a rule about insurance companies--if I know a product is offered by an insurance company, I don't buy it.  Period.  See variable annuities for an explanation.  Insurance companies are necessary, I guess, and there are some good ones but there are enough mutual fund companies out there so don't waste your time with an insurance company.

Also, the more you save the worse off you are because of the percentage thing. 

But the problem with this kind of article is that it doesn't give you a lot of solutions.  Because if this guy starts bitching too much, he's going to be labeled a troublemaker.  Nothing wrong with that if you are senior enough and can do something.  But if you are Joe Six Pack, you got a problem.

The solution is first determine if you are getting ripped off.  As noted, if your company uses Fidelity, Vanguard, Dodge and Cox, T. Rowe Price or somebody like that, you are probably ok.  Scan your statement for negatives or red numbers.  It may only be an investment loss if the market has gone down.  But if it is the $48 like the guy in the article look into it.

But the quickest way to find out if you have a problem is look for the adminstrator.  Again if it is the guys listed above you are probably ok.  If  it is something you have never heard of, like Consolidated Investment Advisors or General Life and Safety, you are probably getting screwed.  I made those names up but you get the idea. 

So why do companies allow this?  Because it reduces the companies direct costs as in employees and passes the cost on to you.

What can you do about it?  Bitch to your boss (he or she is getting screwed too) but don't make a big deal about it while you look for a new job at a company that doesn't pull this kind of stuff.

A Reasonable Proposal

Got this.  Makes sense.  Ain't going to happen. 

"How about this:
1) Open up ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf & the Rockies. Increase supply and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
2) Since the second biggest contributor to pump price is government taxes (40 cents on the dollar (behind the cost of crude)), let's actually cut taxes on gas. So, instead of members of Congress spending OUR money on their pet pork projects, we can mandate that the oil cos spend the money in R&D...
3) Eliminate some of the burdensome government regulations that prevent oil cos from creating and expanding refineries. Again, increase supply.

That's just 3 to get the ball rolling...anyone else?"

Let's go one at a time.  Open up ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf & the Rockies. Increase supply and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  For those out there with geography challenges, ANWR is the north Alaska wildlife refuge.  Talk about environmental buzzwords--wildlife and refuge.  This has been up a million times in Congress always to get voted down because it will wreck the place and cause global warming.  Hey, I thought, we already had global warming.  Well, anyway, it is easier to vote against something that might happen if you vote for it.  The last time we had something like this was the Alaska pipeline that was supposed to be the death knell of the caribou or reindeer or some animal.  Got built anyway and seems the animals love the thing and there are a lot more of them around now.  But again, it is easier to vote against something than take a chance and vote for it.

As far as the continental shelf and the Rockies-forget it.  You have a better chance of Ted Kennedy voting for a windmill on Cape Cod.  Nice try.

The second one makes sense--cut taxes.  The Democrats last cut taxes when John Kennedy was president.  Actually some voted for Bush's tax cuts but I'm sure they regret it even though it got us out of a recession.  The Republicans would love to cut taxes but have proved to be incapable of cutting spending so the second part of the suggestion is next to impossible.

Third--reduce government regulations.  Maybe but not likely.  Remember those ads Gore ran about the air quality in Houston during the first election?  I thought everybody down there had to wear gas masks.  Didn't see any when I was there but not many politicians are going to vote for cuts.

All great suggestions and all have one big problem.  They require Congressional action and since we vote for these people that should not be a problem.  Tell them to do it.  But it won't happen right now because nobody will take the risk so we sit.  And hope the market will take care of itself.  Which it should do. 

Any other ideas out there while we wait?

I'm Mad As Hell And...But Not Sure This Is Such A Good Idea

Got this in response to "I'm Mad As Hell..."

Why do you care? i wish it will $10\gallon...that will give us the drive to find green energy and then the middle east can drink thier own fossil fuel as much as they want...not to mention reducing pollution,smog and etc..

Not exactly sure about "Why do you care?"  Why shouldn't I?  I'm the one driving to Houston today.  That's going to eat up some bucks. 

But getting past that, let's see.  $10 a gallon.  Give us the drive.  Green energy.  middle east.  drink thier own fossil fuel.  reducing pollution, smog and etc.

This guy should run for Congress.  All buzz and no substance.  Power to the people.  Man the barricades.  If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.  Hey, hey, LBJ, how many....Whoa, stop.  Getting out of control. 

But I, too, have thought of $10 a gallon gas and, well, not a great idea in the short run.  Massive unemployment, stock market goes, pensions go because the stock market goes, the north goes because it gets cold up there, the south goes because it gets hot down here, the oil producers go because there is nobody around to drink thier (responders watch your spelling.  Bad spelling dilutes creditability.  Hope I spelled that right.  Another observation--my freshman rhetoric teacher, who almost flunked me, pointed out that writers use etc. when they can't think of anything else to write.  He called it intellectual dishonesty.  I agree.) oil.  A genuine mess.  And then people jump up and down and force the government into doing something.  Something that will probably turn out to be stupid.  But they will do something.

But the worse thing might be that oil spikes (signs of this already) and then collapses.  Collapses to what?  I don't know--$1.25 a gallon, $1.75?  If it does, we are right back to where we started--no incentive to fix things, trade in the Hummer for  a new one.  But at $2.25-$3.00 the pain is there and maybe we will do something.  And we is we, not We as in somebody else.

Because here's what I'm going to do.  Building a new house.  Way too big but 1) sprayed in insulation 2) attic fan 3) Certain Teed windows 4) maybe a cistern water collection system 5) solar water heater (which I will build and blow up myself) 6) geo thermal heat pumps 7) looking at solar electricity but pretty expensive.  That's what I'm going to do. 

What are you going to do?  Besides complain. 

I'm Mad As Hell And...

I am kind of mad.  Mad about gas prices.  I have to drive to Houston tomorrow and thinking about blowing three bucks every twenty-two miles has got me a bit steamed.  And if I'm steamed then other people must really be mad.

So I read a few articles and realized that I'm getting old (not mature, just older) because this is about the third time I've been through this.  And that $100 rebate deal?  How '70s is that?  (The idea was cooked up by Pete Domenici, senator from New Mexico.  I actually had breakfast once with Pete and his wife, very pleasant, but I think Pete was in the '70s then and that was 1997.)  So the $100 idea is a flop. 

What else can government do?  And not screw things up even worse.  Because that's what happened before when government jumped into the emergency.

Let's check out a few of the 'solutions' , many of which appear to be making a comeback.

Windfall Profits Tax--Boy, that just rolls off the tongue.  No wonder politicians love it and they actually passed one once, in 1980.  No politics here but try and figure out who was president and who controlled both houses of Congress.  Congress decided to tax the obscene profits and pass it on to the little guy.  First it was complicated (no!) with three grades of oil, all with different tax rates.  The tax was projected to raise almost $400 billion.  In the eight years (yes, eight years) it was around it raised less than a quarter of that.  And it encouraged exploration in stupid places that resulted in a lot of dry holes and tax write-offs.

Speaking of Tax Credits.  Congress gave a bunch of tax breaks to 'synthetic' fuels which included spraying coal with diesel fuel. 

There was some success with higher mileage requirements but those can only go far.  I mean if you really want good mileage, get a motorcycle.  But watch out for those semis.  Or get a bike but this ain't Holland and I'm not taking my ten speed to Houston.  Plus high mileage cars have been tough sells till recently.

How about wind power and geo themal?  Great.  Let market forces take over.  Put in a tax credit and prices go up by the same amount.  I saw this happen--there used to be a 10% investment tax credit for business assets.  It was repealed, prices dropped 10%.

Open Up The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Ok but don't expect anything for ten years but you have to start sometime.

Build More Refineries.  Ok as well but they don't go up overnight and then you run into NIMB or Not In My BackYard. 

Tax Oil Executive's Salaries.  Did that one already as well.  Still there.  Anything over $1 million is not tax deductible for the companies.  But it doesn't apply to somebody's bonus or restricted shares or stock options.  Just ask Ken Lay. 

So, Mr. Negative, what does government do?  I don't know, you think of something.  I'm just telling you some of the stupid things that happened when government did do something.   

Sympathy for Doris Kearns Goodwin

For those of you who don't know Doris Kearns Goodwin she is a historian that got caught in a bit of an embarrassment when she basically lifted a bunch of stuff out of one book and put it in hers and got caught.   A practice also known as plagiarism.  Seems like a lot of it is going around as some Harvard somebody just admitted that a good part of her book actually started out in somebody elses book.  And then there was that guy that wrote about his time in jail and mental hospitals that was basically made up and he spilled his guts on Larry King and Oprah supported him till he came on her show and  then she ripped him.  And Joseph Biden who got caught plagiarizing a college paper and ended up with the political cartoon showing him holding "Hamlet--By Joseph Biden."  Sure to be resurrected if and when he runs for president, again.  So this rant isn't about finance but about temptation

Because, boy,  can I relate.  Writing this book is getting hard.  Not too hard to do but hard not to just grab a bunch of old stuff and stick it in there.  Really speeds things up.  The problem with writing a history book is that there isn't a lot of new stuff out there.  In fact, there is no new stuff out there.  You're not going to go up in the attic and find the one and only copy of George Washington's boyhood diary or Abe Lincoln's musings on his inner self.  If they exist, somebody already found them and wrote about them.  Unless you are in Israel and comb the desert and find some manuscript that vindicates Judas just in time for Easter.  But 99.9% of the time you go through existing books and you try to rewrite the story to make it interesting all over again. 

But sometimes the guy that wrote the book a long time ago did a really good job and it's hard to rewrite the story 'in your own words.'  And then you see similar stuff showing up in a number of books and think "Hey, is that plagiarism?"  If it is, can I do it too?

No, no, no.  But if it can happen to Doris and Joe and the gal at Harvard, why can't it happen to me?  Heck, I don't even have a masters in history.  I have a BA in history and a MBA.  What do I know?

So maybe I can get away with it.  Just copy something.   Or if you're really lucky, find it on the internet, hit Edit, hit Copy, go to YOUR manuscript and hit Paste.  You can knock off chapters that way.   

But again, no.  I have come to a compromise.  There are shades of gray.  If everybody agrees pretty much that something happened at 3 o'clock, I will be happy to go along.  If everybody pretty much agrees that things happened 1,2,3 then I will not change it to 1,3,2.  And I will even use the same words and descriptions but give credit if I don't see it somewhere else.

What I hope to do to make up for these transgressions is make the less known characters a little more known.  Flesh out some of the people that have pretty much been in the background.  I like to know more about characters and their motivation so perhaps other people will as well. 

But first I need to know if any there are any copyright or plagiarism lawyers out there that can give me better guidance or at least let me know if this approach will keep me out of jail or at least away from Oprah. 

Anyone that gives me good advice will get the lowdown on "Three Legged Willie."

Sympathy for Doris Kearns Goodwin

For those of you who don't know Doris Kearns Goodwin she is a historian that got caught in a bit of an embarrassment when she basically lifted a bunch of stuff out of one book and put it in hers and got caught.   A practice also known as plagiarism.  Seems like a lot of it is going around as some Harvard somebody just admitted that a good part of her book actually started out in somebody elses book.  And then there was that guy that wrote about his time in jail and mental hospitals that was basically made up and he spilled his guts on Larry King and Oprah supported him till he came on her show and  then she ripped him.  And Joseph Biden who got caught plagiarizing a college paper and ended up with the political cartoon showing him holding "Hamlet--By Joseph Biden."  Sure to be resurrected if and when he runs for president, again.  So this rant isn't about finance but about temptation

Because, boy,  can I relate.  Writing this book is getting hard.  Not too hard to do but hard not to just grab a bunch of old stuff and stick it in there.  Really speeds things up.  The problem with writing a history book is that there isn't a lot of new stuff out there.  In fact, there is no new stuff out there.  You're not going to go up in the attic and find the one and only copy of George Washington's boyhood diary or Abe Lincoln's musings on his inner self.  If they exist, somebody already found them and wrote about them.  Unless you are in Israel and comb the desert and find some manuscript that vindicates Judas just in time for Easter.  But 99.9% of the time you go through existing books and you try to rewrite the story to make it interesting all over again. 

But sometimes the guy that wrote the book a long time ago did a really good job and it's hard to rewrite the story 'in your own words.'  And then you see similar stuff showing up in a number of books and think "Hey, is that plagiarism?"  If it is, can I do it too?

No, no, no.  But if it can happen to Doris and Joe and the gal at Harvard, why can't it happen to me?  Heck, I don't even have a masters in history.  I have a BA in history and a MBA.  What do I know?

So maybe I can get away with it.  Just copy something.   Or if you're really lucky, find it on the internet, hit Edit, hit Copy, go to YOUR manuscript and hit Paste.  You can knock off chapters that way.   

But again, no.  I have come to a compromise.  There are shades of gray.  If everybody agrees pretty much that something happened at 3 o'clock, I will be happy to go along.  If everybody pretty much agrees that things happened 1,2,3 then I will not change it to 1,3,2.  And I will even use the same words and descriptions but give credit if I don't see it somewhere else.

What I hope to do to make up for these transgressions is make the less known characters a little more known.  Flesh out some of the people that have pretty much been in the background.  I like to know more about characters and their motivation so perhaps other people will as well. 

But first I need to know if any there are any copyright or plagiarism lawyers out there that can give me better guidance or at least let me know if this approach will keep me out of jail or at least away from Oprah. 

Anyone that gives me good advice will get the lowdown on "Three Legged Willie."