My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: Too Much and Never Enough-How my Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man

Friday, July 31, 2020

Too Much and Never Enough-How my Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man

I just finished reading Mary Trump's book-Too Much and Never Enough. I enjoyed the book very much and recommend it to all readers, Pro or Anti-Trump. It is a must read. Thank you David III for buying it for me.

https://youtu.be/TyynkloSbSY

The book confirms that Potus is deceitful, obnoxious, narcissist, arrogant, liar, dishonest, tactless, racist, uneducated, misogynistic and pompous. If you don't agree read the book. Here's a summary from Wikipedia.

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man is a tell-all book written by Mary L. Trump, a niece of Donald Trump. It was published on July 14, 2020, by Simon & Schuster. The book provides an insider look to the Trump family dynamics, reveals details about financial dealings, including the author's work as the anonymous source who revealed the suspected tax fraud to The New York Times. The Trump family launched a lawsuit in an attempt to stop its publication but was unsuccessful in delaying the release of the book.

The book's author, Mary L. Trump, a clinical psychologist is a daughter of Fred Trump Jr., and a granddaughter of Fred Trump Sr. She has taught graduate students in the subjects of trauma, psychopathology, and developmental psychology. She has written a dissertation on stalking victims, conducted research on schizophrenia, and written parts of the prominent medical manual Diagnosis: Schizophrenia. Mary's father died in 1981 at the age of 42 from a heart attack due to alcoholism.

Following the death of Fred Sr. in 1999, Mary and her brother, Fred III, contested Fred Sr.'s will in probate court, claiming that Fred Sr. was suffering from dementia, and the will was "procured by fraud and undue influence" by Fred Sr.'s other children, Donald, Maryanne, and Robert. A week later, Donald, Maryanne, and Robert terminated health insurance coverage for Fred III's son, William, an 18-month old with epileptic spasms. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Mary said that her "aunt and uncles should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sure they are not." The suit was settled, with William's health insurance reinstated. Donald in 2016 explained his actions: "I was angry because they sued."

After her uncle's presidential campaign, Mary Trump came into contact with The New York Times, and provided boxes of tax documents from the Trump family as an anonymous source. The documents were used for a 2018 article that detailed financial fraud by Trump that won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for David Barstow, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner.

Barstow pursued Mary Trump with an offer to ghostwrite a book for her. He introduced her to Andrew Wylie, his agent, who offered her a multi-million dollar advance for her participation. Craig and Buettner were angry when they found out about this, and the editors of the Times forbade Barstow from writing the book, as they felt that his involvement would breach the Times ethical guidelines. Mary Trump ended up working with Jay Mandel of WME, and sold her book's publishing rights to Simon & Schuster in an auction.

Here's a couple of reviews from readers:

1. I listened to the audio version of her book and it confirmed, and also provided some interesting info I was not aware of, of how twisted the family is. To this day I’m still trying to wrap my head around how people thought electing a fraud and reality TV guy with zero experience would be a great choice for President.

As someone who is still in therapy recovering from dysfunction in my own family, I was told that it’s usually the sensitive and observant member of a dysfunctional family who seeks out help and tries to figure out the family dynamics. They recognize the issues and see the pattern and want to ensure they don’t suffer from the same, and even protect others from succumbing to the same abusive behavior.

I don’t think Mary’s sexual orientation is a factor in her recognizing how things were amiss. I believe she is a sensitive, caring person who picked up on the toxicity at an early age, particularly seeing the ill treatment her father received and sought to find out why and how not to become the next victim of their horrendous behavior.

Mary Trump’s book, of all the books that will be written of this failed leader will be at the forefront of “must “ read for historians now and in the future. Bravo Mary.

Just finished this book last night! It validates what I had already ascertained as a clinician. Hope others make sure to read this!

Meanwhile, enjoy these photos of my okra and ampalaya( bitter melon) just starting to fruit:

My ampalaya ( bitter melon) and Okra just starting to fruit!

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Friday, July 31, 2020

Too Much and Never Enough-How my Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man

Meanwhile, enjoy these photos of my okra and ampalaya( bitter melon) just starting to fruit:

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