It's been a long time since I posted again but this time I have a relatively good reason for not having been posting on a regular basis. I have been on vacation! Yes vacation, I know it's hard to believe it's been about 10 years since I've been on vacation. But all of a sudden about a week ago no it was about two weeks ago I got the opportunity to take a trip to a Caribbean island with three days notice.
There was a friend of mine who had booked this trip months ago and then at the last minute something came up and he was not able to take the trip. So I got the trip for pennies on the dollar if I would just go in his place and take my family with me too. You should have seen us when we decided that we were going to go. Not only were we crazy out of our head happy but we had three days to get everything ready for a weeklong trip to the Caribbean.
Do you think that you could do it? If something like that were to fall in your lap and I said to you three days from now you can be on a plane to the Caribbean if you will get everything in your life put on hold for the seven days following. In our case we all had to make major sacrifices and to rearrange many many things. I had to reschedule clients my wife had to get approval for the time off. We had to talk to the teachers and counselors at the kids school so that we could get their approval based on the fact that our children probably would not have the chance to do this again anytime soon.
Well, I have to tell you that it was definitely worth the effort. once we were on the plane and our troubles were left behind it was like 1,000,000 pounds was lifted off our shoulders. I saw my wife laugh and relax like I haven't seen her do in years. As I watched and observed the transition in my family it made me very sad at one point because I understood that the stress in our lives is what creates the weight that we carry with us every day. And at that point while we were basking in the sun on that Caribbean beach I made a commitment in my heart to do everything possible to eliminate that weight from my wife and children no matter what it might take.
Does anybody besides me have trouble with your teenage children? And no, it's not a joke. But I can certainly understand how anyone with a teenage child would think that that question is a joke. I think the definition if you were to look it up in Webster of a teenager is trouble. And you know what the truth is I remember being that age. And I remember feeling the way that my children are acting now. Feeling so self-righteous and mistreated and now I look back on it and to be honest I am ashamed. Ashamed that I acted that way and gave my parents so much grief.
The truth is the way I remember when I was a child that I was pretty spoiled but I certainly did not act like I had priviliage. I acted like most teenagers act. Like the world owes them something and they get mad and pout if they dont get it.
I wish there was someway to go back and change things but I suppose most all parents deal with the things that they did as children and get retribution when they have their own. I certainly feel like I am getting my fair share in payback for the things that I did when I was 13 to 19 years old. I can remember being so defiant I can't even remember I think knowing that I was wrong and yet was determined to even try and fool myself into believing that my point of view as a teenager was correct.
I can see my own daughter doing exactly the same thing. I think it's the fact that I know that I did it that causes me to get so upset with her. I know exactly what she's doing, I know exactly what she's thinking and I know exactly how she's feeling. I also know that she knows she's in the wrong because when I was her age doing exactly the same thing I knew I was wrong.
But what are you going to do? Teenagers will be teenagers and parents will have to to learn how to deal with it just like it has been for generations on top of generations.
The truth is the way I remember when I was a child that I was pretty spoiled but I certainly did not act like I had priviliage. I acted like most teenagers act. Like the world owes them something and they get mad and pout if they dont get it.
I wish there was someway to go back and change things but I suppose most all parents deal with the things that they did as children and get retribution when they have their own. I certainly feel like I am getting my fair share in payback for the things that I did when I was 13 to 19 years old. I can remember being so defiant I can't even remember I think knowing that I was wrong and yet was determined to even try and fool myself into believing that my point of view as a teenager was correct.
I can see my own daughter doing exactly the same thing. I think it's the fact that I know that I did it that causes me to get so upset with her. I know exactly what she's doing, I know exactly what she's thinking and I know exactly how she's feeling. I also know that she knows she's in the wrong because when I was her age doing exactly the same thing I knew I was wrong.
But what are you going to do? Teenagers will be teenagers and parents will have to to learn how to deal with it just like it has been for generations on top of generations.
We got a new washer the other day cause our old one finally gave out. It had been working fine but started to leak and considering it's age it was not a good value to fix it. So we went out and started shopping for a new one. Man washers are expensive and they certainly are a lot more than they were 10 years ago when we bought the last washer. Our dryer is still in good shape and so there was no need to buy a new dryer. Besides it's out in the garage and the washer is in the bathroom so they didn't have to match.
So we ended up buying a really nice washer and of course the salesman did a good job selling us on the washer. We spent almost $1000 on washing machine. Oh my God! I could buy a car for that. Granted it wouldn't be very much of a car but I can guarantee you that I could buy a car for $1000 and get at least a year's worth of transportation out of it before it started to fall apart totally. The reason I know is I've done it before. Yes we used to call it the hoopdy.
But anyway that's another story. Back to the washer. This washer has to be the most beautiful piece of machinery in existence. It's got about a zillion buttons and it is so quiet we didn't even think it was working when he first turned it on. And here's the best part, our clothes are so much cleaner it's unbelievable. We never knew! We never knew that our clothes were getting that clean.
So here we are with a washing machine as expensive as a car and the truth is our whole family is excited about it. you are not going to believe this but we actually sat around it and watched the first load as it went in, washed, rinsed and then came out. The close were so clean and so well spun that parts of the garments felt as if they were already drying. Our old washer sometimes spun the close so badly that they were dripping when you tried to take them out and you would have to re-spin the clothes.
Needless to say, we're pretty happy about our purchase and with any luck this one will serve us for another 10 years. But just be prepared when it's time to buy a new washer and dryer be ready to dip into your savings because they don't come cheap any more.
So we ended up buying a really nice washer and of course the salesman did a good job selling us on the washer. We spent almost $1000 on washing machine. Oh my God! I could buy a car for that. Granted it wouldn't be very much of a car but I can guarantee you that I could buy a car for $1000 and get at least a year's worth of transportation out of it before it started to fall apart totally. The reason I know is I've done it before. Yes we used to call it the hoopdy.
But anyway that's another story. Back to the washer. This washer has to be the most beautiful piece of machinery in existence. It's got about a zillion buttons and it is so quiet we didn't even think it was working when he first turned it on. And here's the best part, our clothes are so much cleaner it's unbelievable. We never knew! We never knew that our clothes were getting that clean.
So here we are with a washing machine as expensive as a car and the truth is our whole family is excited about it. you are not going to believe this but we actually sat around it and watched the first load as it went in, washed, rinsed and then came out. The close were so clean and so well spun that parts of the garments felt as if they were already drying. Our old washer sometimes spun the close so badly that they were dripping when you tried to take them out and you would have to re-spin the clothes.
Needless to say, we're pretty happy about our purchase and with any luck this one will serve us for another 10 years. But just be prepared when it's time to buy a new washer and dryer be ready to dip into your savings because they don't come cheap any more.
One of our dogs is going into heat now and I always hate it when that happens because what that means is for about two weeks are male dog is absolutely maniac. He won't stop no matter what. You can tell he is absolutely exhausted by their something that drives him that if we as humans could harness we would probably be able to solve our energy crisis.
He is so driven to mate that nothing matters except that. It doesn't matter what time, it doesn't matter if he's eaten, and it certainly doesn't matter if he has slept. Because by the time the two weeks is up he really hasn't slept all that much and he is exhausted.
I was calculating today that because we have 3 female dogs and they go into heat about twice a year, we spend about 12 weeks dealing with my male dog being a crazy dog. That is 3 months of the year or 1/4 of the whole year. It is no wonder I am going crazy sometimes. I am creative in part of what I do for a living and I need peace and quiet and that is not possible when there is a female in the house in heat and my male dog within sniffing distance.
What is the lesson here? Well, first think twice about raising dogs when they are house dogs. Second, think twice about getting multiple dogs if you are going to raise them because that compounds your problems. You will lose sleep and you will get frustrated because you feel the female dogs frustration from being chased around and not being let alone. You have heard the phrase from Nike "Just Do It", well I am telling you "Just Don't Do It" or at least if you do think about it long and hard.
He is so driven to mate that nothing matters except that. It doesn't matter what time, it doesn't matter if he's eaten, and it certainly doesn't matter if he has slept. Because by the time the two weeks is up he really hasn't slept all that much and he is exhausted.
I was calculating today that because we have 3 female dogs and they go into heat about twice a year, we spend about 12 weeks dealing with my male dog being a crazy dog. That is 3 months of the year or 1/4 of the whole year. It is no wonder I am going crazy sometimes. I am creative in part of what I do for a living and I need peace and quiet and that is not possible when there is a female in the house in heat and my male dog within sniffing distance.
What is the lesson here? Well, first think twice about raising dogs when they are house dogs. Second, think twice about getting multiple dogs if you are going to raise them because that compounds your problems. You will lose sleep and you will get frustrated because you feel the female dogs frustration from being chased around and not being let alone. You have heard the phrase from Nike "Just Do It", well I am telling you "Just Don't Do It" or at least if you do think about it long and hard.
We went to Sam's Club yesterday and stocked up on everything we need for longtime. I think there's a part of us that is concerned about the state of the economy and has shifted into a sort of survival mode. I was recently listening to a lecture online talk about mentality of the generation that grew up during the depression in the 30s. And his comment was that these people had a scarcity mentality because it was necessary for their survival time and it caused me to wonder if that has not begun to take over in our society because of these present state of the economy.
It would make perfect sense, since in many respects we may very well see conditions that reflect life in the 30s when it comes to not being able to buy so many things that we're used to. So we may fall back into that scarcity mentality that so many of us in the baby boomer generation grew up on. Because our parents, were the ones growing up during the 30s depression.
It makes me sad that we may see a sliding backwards of the progress we have made psychologically moving away from a scarcity mentality towards a abundance mentality. I must admit it is more difficult to maintain an abundance mentality when so many people are losing their jobs and their homes. But the truth is the abundance that we are is not dependent upon external circumstances because the abundance, is from within.
We are abundant that is the fact. Whether we choose to live from that place is a total different question. But because we are abundant it's a matter of remembering that we are abundant and not just mouthing platitudes about it. for me it's a matter of training training my mind to be disciplined enough to not go where it should not be. To always keep in the forefront that which lends itself to abundance. To feed my mind on that which encourages me to think about abundance. I heard another speaker recently talk about the fact that she believed we should not watch the news. Because the news is based on sensationalism and what is most sensational right now is the downward spiral of the economy.
In the end I think that the economy for each of us is a personal economy to back that he probably don't hear much about it but there are certain people are doing quite well right now in this down economy. Those that have cash and are those that know how to provide what this economy needs. The choice is ours to make it an abundant one or two have the herd mentality and make it a scarcity time.
It would make perfect sense, since in many respects we may very well see conditions that reflect life in the 30s when it comes to not being able to buy so many things that we're used to. So we may fall back into that scarcity mentality that so many of us in the baby boomer generation grew up on. Because our parents, were the ones growing up during the 30s depression.
It makes me sad that we may see a sliding backwards of the progress we have made psychologically moving away from a scarcity mentality towards a abundance mentality. I must admit it is more difficult to maintain an abundance mentality when so many people are losing their jobs and their homes. But the truth is the abundance that we are is not dependent upon external circumstances because the abundance, is from within.
We are abundant that is the fact. Whether we choose to live from that place is a total different question. But because we are abundant it's a matter of remembering that we are abundant and not just mouthing platitudes about it. for me it's a matter of training training my mind to be disciplined enough to not go where it should not be. To always keep in the forefront that which lends itself to abundance. To feed my mind on that which encourages me to think about abundance. I heard another speaker recently talk about the fact that she believed we should not watch the news. Because the news is based on sensationalism and what is most sensational right now is the downward spiral of the economy.
In the end I think that the economy for each of us is a personal economy to back that he probably don't hear much about it but there are certain people are doing quite well right now in this down economy. Those that have cash and are those that know how to provide what this economy needs. The choice is ours to make it an abundant one or two have the herd mentality and make it a scarcity time.
Well we put off the purchase of our car last weekend and we decided to revamp the one my wife has and I would take it for my car and give my wife the one I have. This make a lot of sense since I hardly drive maybe 5000 a year and we can get a least 5 or 6 years at my current rate so we will stretch our auto dollar a lot further by keeping it.
My car is only two years old and barely has 10,000 miles on it so it is virtually new and with just as little as $1500 I can get hers all fixed up for me to drive and it will serve me well for a long time. We are very fortunate that I dont drive many miles since much of my work online via the internet even for my local business.
My wife and I are very good drivers and we take really good care of our cars and I do most of the maintanice on the cars too so we are lighter than most on the cost of cars. I have only had 3 cars in my entire life and my wife only had 2 so for our age we have not had many cars I don't think.
We also like to get good value for our money so we shop a lot when it is time to get a new car and we keep them for at least 5 years so we get the value from keeping the cars. The other thing we like to do is at least put down half of the cost of the car and that helps us keep our cost of driving down too.
We hope to pay for our next car cash next time so we won't have a payment at all. It is just a matter of weather we would be better off having the money in a savings or putting it in the car. We ar pretty diciplined so what ever is best will work just fine.
My car is only two years old and barely has 10,000 miles on it so it is virtually new and with just as little as $1500 I can get hers all fixed up for me to drive and it will serve me well for a long time. We are very fortunate that I dont drive many miles since much of my work online via the internet even for my local business.
My wife and I are very good drivers and we take really good care of our cars and I do most of the maintanice on the cars too so we are lighter than most on the cost of cars. I have only had 3 cars in my entire life and my wife only had 2 so for our age we have not had many cars I don't think.
We also like to get good value for our money so we shop a lot when it is time to get a new car and we keep them for at least 5 years so we get the value from keeping the cars. The other thing we like to do is at least put down half of the cost of the car and that helps us keep our cost of driving down too.
We hope to pay for our next car cash next time so we won't have a payment at all. It is just a matter of weather we would be better off having the money in a savings or putting it in the car. We ar pretty diciplined so what ever is best will work just fine.
It has been a bit since I was able to post here, I'm really sorry about that but things have been busy as usual around our house. We have the kids both of which are teenagers in all their activities both before and after and during school. And we have course our work that keeps us very busy in the rest of the time. We also attend church on Sundays and Tuesday nights. so needless to say we have pretty busy lives.
We are going to try and get out and look at cars this weekend. We need to replace my wife's car as it is getting quite a few miles on it. And I really don't want to take a chance on having a problem because she commutes about 25 miles each way every day. The miles really rack up quickly when you're commuting that far to five days a week.
I think she has about 82,000 miles on the car now so I really want to trade it be for it reaches 85,000 miles. I just think 85,000 miles is too close to 100,000 and I don't want to have the dealer or whoever ends up buying the car from us to perceive the car and the hundred thousand mile bracket.
I think a car with that many miles tends to be overly discounted because in my opinion 100,000 mile car is not really that old or used up but according to my market research most people feel that way. I could be wrong and I could certainly have the wrong opinion but it seems to have been the right thing for me to do if I trade the car around 85,000 miles so that it avoids that perception.
We are looking to get a car that is fairly good on gas and safe at the same time so I have a lot of research to see what the best care for us to get of what is currently being produced. We will see what we come up with.
We are going to try and get out and look at cars this weekend. We need to replace my wife's car as it is getting quite a few miles on it. And I really don't want to take a chance on having a problem because she commutes about 25 miles each way every day. The miles really rack up quickly when you're commuting that far to five days a week.
I think she has about 82,000 miles on the car now so I really want to trade it be for it reaches 85,000 miles. I just think 85,000 miles is too close to 100,000 and I don't want to have the dealer or whoever ends up buying the car from us to perceive the car and the hundred thousand mile bracket.
I think a car with that many miles tends to be overly discounted because in my opinion 100,000 mile car is not really that old or used up but according to my market research most people feel that way. I could be wrong and I could certainly have the wrong opinion but it seems to have been the right thing for me to do if I trade the car around 85,000 miles so that it avoids that perception.
We are looking to get a car that is fairly good on gas and safe at the same time so I have a lot of research to see what the best care for us to get of what is currently being produced. We will see what we come up with.
The work I do is a little bit unique in that I have several different kinds of work that I do. Some of it is online and some of it is not. I have a little local business that I have had for about a year that does well on and off. I have another business that also is very steady but very small. So you can see my income is coming in from a lot of different places and actually in this economy that is a good thing. Oh one more thing we have Yorkies that we raise so that brings them a little bit of extra money too.
All in all we do okay it just seems that you never quite know for one week or one month to the next exactly words can come from but fortunately somehow it always comes through. Thank God. We have been very blessed in that the last couple of years since I have been laid off we have been able to one way or another pay our bills and at least as of today we are current so I know there are many people that are struggling or even worse after losing their jobs for much shorter period of time.
My hope is that someday soon I will be able to primarily support myself with my online business but at present my brick and mortar business is actually bringing in more money so I'm thankful for it and hopeful that my online business will take off very soon. It seems that a lot of my problem with my online business is not so much how to do it but what goes on in between my ears. What I mean by that is the mental part of actually disciplining myself to do the work that I know is necessary sometimes is a difficult thing for me.
It seems I find so many things to distract me being in an environment where I'm totally in control of what happens from moment to moment. Least I say that's the case, more often than not I feel like I'm not in control. Let me explain, what I mean is I Emma pulled a way by the children or the animals or my wife or phone call or the house and on and on. I think you can see what I mean it's so easy to get distracted when no one is there to tell you you can't be. I guess I'll just have to keep working on that
All in all we do okay it just seems that you never quite know for one week or one month to the next exactly words can come from but fortunately somehow it always comes through. Thank God. We have been very blessed in that the last couple of years since I have been laid off we have been able to one way or another pay our bills and at least as of today we are current so I know there are many people that are struggling or even worse after losing their jobs for much shorter period of time.
My hope is that someday soon I will be able to primarily support myself with my online business but at present my brick and mortar business is actually bringing in more money so I'm thankful for it and hopeful that my online business will take off very soon. It seems that a lot of my problem with my online business is not so much how to do it but what goes on in between my ears. What I mean by that is the mental part of actually disciplining myself to do the work that I know is necessary sometimes is a difficult thing for me.
It seems I find so many things to distract me being in an environment where I'm totally in control of what happens from moment to moment. Least I say that's the case, more often than not I feel like I'm not in control. Let me explain, what I mean is I Emma pulled a way by the children or the animals or my wife or phone call or the house and on and on. I think you can see what I mean it's so easy to get distracted when no one is there to tell you you can't be. I guess I'll just have to keep working on that
My wife has been very sick lately and to be honest I am quite concerned about her health. She had a bout with a rather serious illness a few years ago and I thought it was pretty much taken care of but of late she has had some of the symptoms again. I have been kind of ignoring them hoping that it would be a situation that would remedy itself but at this point it does not appear to be getting better.
I really don't want to discuss the specific problem that she had on this blog but suffice it to say she was in bed for the better part of a year and during that time spent much of it in a great amount of pain so my concern is probably not over blown because of the serious nature of her problem that she had.
We have discussed briefly the fact that she needs to go back and have some more tests run just so we can no where she stands but between our denial and busy schedules we have put off doing what we know we really need to do. It is my hope and prayer that somehow we can avoid her being sick again. It is so taxing on our family not to mention a difficult time we are having financially right now. She brings in the majority of our money currently since I got laid off almost 2 years ago. I have found some work in between then and now by most of the time I have been unemployed.
So you can see it is a difficult situation for us on many levels and one which we would rather not have to deal with but I think it's getting to the point now where there is no denying that we need to find out for sure what's going on with her
I really don't want to discuss the specific problem that she had on this blog but suffice it to say she was in bed for the better part of a year and during that time spent much of it in a great amount of pain so my concern is probably not over blown because of the serious nature of her problem that she had.
We have discussed briefly the fact that she needs to go back and have some more tests run just so we can no where she stands but between our denial and busy schedules we have put off doing what we know we really need to do. It is my hope and prayer that somehow we can avoid her being sick again. It is so taxing on our family not to mention a difficult time we are having financially right now. She brings in the majority of our money currently since I got laid off almost 2 years ago. I have found some work in between then and now by most of the time I have been unemployed.
So you can see it is a difficult situation for us on many levels and one which we would rather not have to deal with but I think it's getting to the point now where there is no denying that we need to find out for sure what's going on with her
I've got a few minutes before the kids get home and I thought it would be a great time to write my first blog post. I've been wanting to start this blog for quite some time and just keep putting it off and putting it off even though I think it will do me good to set aside the time and the mental discipline to write occasionally just for the pure pleasure of writing.
Sometimes I am inspired and other times I have been as dry as a bone. I suppose every writer be they professional or want to be, has their times when nothing comes out at all. No matter how much you struggle and no matter how much you want to write it just does not happen. I find my best times to write or when I'm stress-free of course having a wife and two kids and dogs sometimes leads to a pretty stressful life. So there may be gaps, large gaps, and my posting but hopefully I can get on some sort of schedule and post on a semi regular basis.
So basically if anyone is listening or reading I would like to welcome you to my blog and hopefully over the next weeks and months I will have something interesting enough that you want to come back from time to time and check it out. I'm pretty sure I've got the RSS feeder set up properly so if you are so inclined you could also subscribe to this blog some day. So for now that's it. Maybe next time I'll have more to say.
I'll have more to say.
Sometimes I am inspired and other times I have been as dry as a bone. I suppose every writer be they professional or want to be, has their times when nothing comes out at all. No matter how much you struggle and no matter how much you want to write it just does not happen. I find my best times to write or when I'm stress-free of course having a wife and two kids and dogs sometimes leads to a pretty stressful life. So there may be gaps, large gaps, and my posting but hopefully I can get on some sort of schedule and post on a semi regular basis.
So basically if anyone is listening or reading I would like to welcome you to my blog and hopefully over the next weeks and months I will have something interesting enough that you want to come back from time to time and check it out. I'm pretty sure I've got the RSS feeder set up properly so if you are so inclined you could also subscribe to this blog some day. So for now that's it. Maybe next time I'll have more to say.
I'll have more to say.