The Carpenters Bench follow up by Author years after original writing

Authors Follow Up

  In the last couple years in my attempts to rebuild my income earning abilities, new bureaucratic frustrations should be noted since this is a story that will never be over.  Aside from those life realities, I have tried to reconnect myself to things that bring me personal happiness.  I recently returned to California, to Santa Barbara. I am experiencing off grid living - no electricity, no running water, no TV - in a 150-square-foot cabin with a sleeping loft, a small lake and the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets not more than a quarter mile from a 3000-foot mountain Hang Glider launch. I started flying again with old and new friends. There was no Hang Gliding during the Federal lawsuits. I helped out at the training hill carrying gliders and watching people learn to fly. Seeing the good side of people doing their very best is an unexplainable pleasure and inspirational experience.. I am enjoying soaring new fly sites, sharing with new pilots, learning from the old ones and enjoying everyone in the sport. The flying is as good as it gets helping to center me, ground me and bring back a true feeling of self that all pilots feel when they fly.

        I have tried to start new ventures on old and new ideas with new people.  I have had time to work again on this story, and my next one, Grasshopper Praying Mantis.  But what I thought was worthy of noting was that since my life exposure was so high, the IRS decided to audit me for 2 years in a row in what seemed to all involved as excessive, unreasonable, and an experience I refuse to write a manuscript on. Having had bank accounts from Pittsburg, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Hong Kong to China and having my passport stamped across the globe including Pakistan, to money being wired into Brazil monthly for two years for prototyping and opportunity-building, to crossing the US-Mexico Tijuana border - the busiest border crossing in the world - for several months several times a week as I built my house in Mexico, all cash and carry, pay-as-you-go, no debt no blueprints, no building department – just a line drawn on the ground and some workers, I think I hit every red flag in the new Homeland Security system, as all of it is linked together now in one giant computer program looking for profiles. Was that an audit or a new form of Homeland Security inquiry into what is this person doing? How much money did they spend on auditing me? Fifty thousand dollars? A hundred thousand dollars? More ? That stuff is expensive.

    

After a year long process my CPA, his accounting firm and I prevailed over the IRS in their demands from $60,000 down to $2300.  The auditor refused to acknowledge tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills documented by checks and itemized bills from the law firms, including the settlement amount in this story, as legitimate deductions.  The IRS appeals court disagreed with her baseless and arbitrary interpretation of the rules.  But again, I had to pay to defend myself.  You can imagine for yourself the cost, time, frustration and all that was involved. This is why I wrote this story.  Believe it-Its believable. It would make more sense to Audit the Federal Reserve and then -- get rid of it -- and make them pay all the money back.   http://www.auditthefed.com  ------  HR 459. S202

The Carpenters Bench Review by David Wright

                               THE CARPENTERS BENCH   Reviewed By David Wright

There are times in life when happenstance matters. Running in to Joe Carpenter is one of those times for me. An author, entrepreneur, and prof T ound humanitarian, we sat anonymously across a café table in Summerland, CA. Eventually we shared an ‘hello.’ We began to chat, and we weren’t into our conversation for more than a minute when the topic of his new book, “The Carpenter’s Bench’ came up. Joe rattled on about the journey that led to his decision to write this work of the heart. I became fascinated by what was clearly a compelling storyline. As a writer myself, I can easily discern literary passion when I see it. I can also appreciate the time and dedication it takes to bring that passion to fruition. I was hooked; I had to get a copy of the book and read it. I’m glad I did.

‘The Carpenter’s Bench’ represents a common man’s point-of -view regarding not only the struggle to survive in a rapidly changing economic climate, but the consequences of that struggle as one tries to maintain a sense of dignity and perspective amidst the chaos and near ruination of the workingman’s culture. At the heart of the argument Joe so brilliantly lays out his conundrum that reasonableness and being right are not enough any longer to protect one’s rights. It now takes money- too much money- to wrestle with the power elite. In essence, the average citizens’ rights have not been abrogated by the lack of access to legal defense or representation of the law in the court system. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights still all stand as clearly definable hallmarks to the quest for fair play amongst the citizenry of Americans. But it is the way in which the system itself supports these hallowed guidelines of democracy that render it dysfunctional. And this dysfunction hinges not only on baseless and clever tactics performed by those that can afford to make a mear sideshow out of the justice system, but along the way, the relevance of argumentation that is so much the driving force of true justice becomes irrelevant as well. It is a tragedy when logic its self is actually lost in the fervor and phlegm of the power elite prostrating their dollars like spoiled children who demand yet another toy to pile on top of their already over-filled closet of unnecessary distractions.

Joe is a simple guy. He cares about others. He has an uncanny ability to see the big picture. He is a person that cannot acquiesce to the injustices perpetrated against him as a willing victim. Snarled in a labor dispute with an unreasonable client, he decides, “ no “ and he is propelled into action. He initially has an inherent faith in the system and even in the end still has some left.  After all, from his studied analysis, he is only asking for fair compensation for a job well done. On one level, what is at stake is a mere $4,800.00. On the other, is a looming sense of contempt for what is happening to the working class in our country today. “The Carpenter’s Bench” details this court proceeding, and reveals the heart of a good man struggling, not just for himself, but for us all. What Joe learns along the way says much about his tenacious character. He fights with reason and compelling facts, which are ignored. He fires back again and again until his money can be stretched no further. From a reader’s point-of-view, we understand that although he loses the technical battle, something much more important is won.

This book is a timely reminder to us all that we do not live in a fair nor just world; not yet, anyway. We see struggles all around us now: occupy Wall Street; millions of people struggling to save their homes; all in a time where poverty and despair are on the precipitous rise. For those struggling in today’s world, please, read Joe’s book. It will help you, give you strength, and make you believe in the prospect of a better tomorrow.

 

Introduction to The Carpenters Bench by Joe Carpenter

Introduction

T

he events in this story took place before the Obama election, before the collapse of the U.S. banks, before the collapse of the real-estate market, before the collapse of the U.S. stock market, and before the multitrillion dollar public bailout of a failed, under regulated, under enforced, unsound monetary system. This story was written during a time of blind euphoria fueled by the most sophisticated rationalization system ever known to mankind.  All this was based on:  “It works for me; therefore, it must be working for everyone”. This story was also written and titled before the fame of Joe the Plumber and the popular understanding that what is missing in today’s world is the common sense of the working man that solves real problems, in a real way, in the real world.

This story today in 2010 represents an era of time that is now being studied and dissected by the same know-it-alls who perpetrated the greatest act of generational theft and systemic betrayal of the public trust in U.S. history.

This is a story of the working man in America.  This is a story that every working man and working woman understands.  This is a story that symbolizes what went wrong in America and in the soul of many Americans.

Today, the writing of this story has turned out to be one of the most meaningful, educational, cathartic, and life-preparing experiences I have ever had.  Today this story of how it is not supposed to be has given me the strength not to indulge in this luxury of free association and broad cultural integration as a resolution style for bringing emotional closure to my last encounter with the judicial system and the way it is at large.

Today, this story is more meaningful than ever.  Today, after three million dollars in legal bills on all sides: 100 million dollars of global sales, royalties paid on thirty million in U.S. sales; after being named by Consumer Reports as being one of the top 100 products of 2009; after lawsuits and lawyers in multiple jurisdictions from U.S. constitutional law, to Napoleonic law, to Queensland law, to China law, to International law and treaty; to being sued, personally, my company and my partners by 34 Chinese factories, the Chinese Bamboo Society, Essentially the Chinese Government, funded by more and all prosecuted by a paid U.S. law firm representing a nine person front company; after having the federal judge get it wrong  (the marksman ruling that said the exact opposite of how all the original prototypes that were made by me personally and were documented,  all the industry development and industry recognition) because he was not informed correctly because it was too expensive to do it properly or worse.

Today after having this all destroyed simply by strategically positioning the same human weaknesses and propensities described in this story, I know now why more than ever what motivated me to write this story.  My 17-year-old product utility patents in 12 countries have never been litigated and everything that has been done to date is appealable if someone has between 25 and 100 million for legal fees because that is what a patent lawsuit costs on the open market these days, and it can go on for up to 25 years.

This story contains a seemingly inconsequential, timeless, seamless, boundary-less, metaphorically diverse chain of events that can create the basis of many life lessons.  My greatest hope is that this story will give strength of confirmation to whoever reads it that we are not alone or imagining it all and that unfortunately it’s totally real.  Believe it – it’s believable, that’s the start.

The section breaks were added after the original writing for ease of reading and clarity. Some spelling, punctuation and minor editing were also done after the copyright date. An Addendum has been added showing additions or substantial changes to the original writing specifically the legal disclaimers and the corrections after the first copyright that clarify and document the fictional nature of this work. Legally there can be no confusion or doubt that this is a 100% fictional work. This manuscript is a complete fabrication of my imagination where all characters, their behavior, their conduct or their intentions have no connection to any actual course of events in real life. Any overlap between the author’s life and the events in this story are only happenstance for artistic continuity.

The original draft was handwritten on 12x14, lineless art paper at Starbucks in Pittsburg.  The hand draft is currently being kept for safe keeping with my six grade spelling mentor, Cathy, who I think of whenever I am faced with grammatical challenges of any magnitude. This story was basically written, once off the top, in less than two months over morning coffee.  My thanks to everyone who was inspirational, helpful and put forth effort in the typing and editing of this story. This entire process has been a huge learning experience for me.  I have done my best to maintain the flavor, momentum, style and rawness of the first original hand draft.  Not one single word has been changed without my attention, discussion or consent.

Authors request: Please, this is a story that needs to be read not skimmed.  If you are a skimmer this is not a story for you, and you might as well let me summarize it for you as a “rant” by a confused, disgruntled man, because that’s all that can be skimmed out of it. There is more to this than the bad habit of poorly timed, to or at, the wrong people, inappropriate, over the top, disconnected venting. Actually that’s part of how they got and get away with it. They simply employ the trick to refuse to acknowledge anyone’s objections as being legitimate.  They are defined here within. Life is so much more than that. 

The New Book found on Amazon

"The Carpenter's Bench" is a

Story About the Working Man in

America During a Time of

Institutional, Economic and

Intellectual Breakdown

"The Carpenter's Bench" is a story that every

working man and woman can understand. The

assault on the working men and women, the

middle class of our country, the back bone of

America is causing hardship and despair for

millions of Americans.

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Aside from superstition and false reasoning that

crippled human development for centuries,

hypocrisy and arrogance stand shoulder to

shoulder with corruption of process and corruption

of reasons as instruments of control by echelons

of élite's.

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