Today is my Anniversary of working with the boy scouts and of living in ND.
It's starting the thaw here, I know what is coming for work, and Vanessa still loves me.
Life is Awesome!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
These Economic Times
Hello Anonymous
I got a call from my dad today. During lunch, it's a good time for a phone call. I enjoy getting advice from my parents and I try to follow their advice. He thinks I should have gold and silver. For a hedge during tough times, or a financial down turn.
I do not believe in retirement. I do not agree with the idea that I should work very hard and squirrel away little bits of money for the next 40 years so that I can live "the easy" life when I'm old. I have a lot of reasons not to believe in retirement.
Reasons:
1. I have never met anyone who is currently enjoying their retirement.
My grandparents worked and lived long, hard, and important lives. Most of them are still alive living the longest and hardest parts right now. I can't say for certain what their jobs were or how much they made but they raised my parents and that is more important. It would not matter if they were rich or poor right now because they are old and sickly. That sounds rude, but it's true and no amount of money would make them not sickly.
2. Quality vs. Quantity, either way with a differed life plan you lose.
I remember an experiment with Marshmallows. But it's about how long you wait and what happens in the mean time. Olympians don't deffer practice in their sport until competition. And we should not deffer living until we are too old to do it. I was told that "you can do anything you want to do", and then I was told "you can't chose the consequences", and then I was told "go do the dishes". They may not have occurred back to back every time but generally that's how the conversation went. But I still believe it. I want to write this blog so I am. I want to help the boy scout movement grow so I visit strangers and ask them to donate money or to be a troop leader. I wanted a car so I got a loan and bought one... enter the consequences. And of course washing the dishes is the best way to think.
4. If I have no debts, I have no need for money.
5. The family is my insurance plan
6. I am my families insurance plan
For crying out loud, we're family of course I will help. I've got my first aide badge, and a spare room. Just ask because that's what families are for.
I took out some of the stupid reasons.
I got a call from my dad today. During lunch, it's a good time for a phone call. I enjoy getting advice from my parents and I try to follow their advice. He thinks I should have gold and silver. For a hedge during tough times, or a financial down turn.
I do not believe in retirement. I do not agree with the idea that I should work very hard and squirrel away little bits of money for the next 40 years so that I can live "the easy" life when I'm old. I have a lot of reasons not to believe in retirement.
Reasons:
1. I have never met anyone who is currently enjoying their retirement.
My grandparents worked and lived long, hard, and important lives. Most of them are still alive living the longest and hardest parts right now. I can't say for certain what their jobs were or how much they made but they raised my parents and that is more important. It would not matter if they were rich or poor right now because they are old and sickly. That sounds rude, but it's true and no amount of money would make them not sickly.
2. Quality vs. Quantity, either way with a differed life plan you lose.
I remember an experiment with Marshmallows. But it's about how long you wait and what happens in the mean time. Olympians don't deffer practice in their sport until competition. And we should not deffer living until we are too old to do it. I was told that "you can do anything you want to do", and then I was told "you can't chose the consequences", and then I was told "go do the dishes". They may not have occurred back to back every time but generally that's how the conversation went. But I still believe it. I want to write this blog so I am. I want to help the boy scout movement grow so I visit strangers and ask them to donate money or to be a troop leader. I wanted a car so I got a loan and bought one... enter the consequences. And of course washing the dishes is the best way to think.
4. If I have no debts, I have no need for money.
Really most of my money is spent paying bills. A few dollars are left over every month that get spent on dodads. Vanessa and I have spent as little as 200 a month on food maybe less, but I never really paid attention. If I stopped paying my bills I would lose some things, but things only make life comfortable, and a comfortable life makes you weak. (I read too much DUNE)
Second reason for not needing money: it's all a lie. money is a tool, like a hammer, a socket wrench, a voltmeter, c compiler, or word processor. just a tool to get a job done. Its a hassle trying to find the perfect trade and so we assign a dollar value to a good or service, but the value is always subject to change. ALWAYS. I would much rather have a thing or experience than the money.
5. The family is my insurance plan
You all know that I don't like insurance, and planning for the fictitious retirement is just another form of insurance. If I break something I should pay for it, but I shouldn't have to pay for it before I break it. As for real emergencies, if your last name is Lowe or Peet I'll be asking for help.
6. I am my families insurance plan
For crying out loud, we're family of course I will help. I've got my first aide badge, and a spare room. Just ask because that's what families are for.
9. I can live my life now.
I am already the master procrastinator. If I were a transformer I would be that flying repair bot that didn't leave the ship until 4000 years after they crashed on earth. Seriously? whats up with that? My problem is already not doing things, if I could use "waiting for retirement" as a valid excuse I would never go camping again.
I am already the master procrastinator. If I were a transformer I would be that flying repair bot that didn't leave the ship until 4000 years after they crashed on earth. Seriously? whats up with that? My problem is already not doing things, if I could use "waiting for retirement" as a valid excuse I would never go camping again.
I took out some of the stupid reasons.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Food Poisoning
I am blaming it on the the root beer.
NEVER buy home made root beer from a mall kiosk. You have been warned.
And I had a new experience tonight. I got to throw up on the side of the road!
NEVER buy home made root beer from a mall kiosk. You have been warned.
And I had a new experience tonight. I got to throw up on the side of the road!
Monday, February 28, 2011
miracle cure!!
Hello world! I am still alive!
I don't like to complain so I'll just tell you how I got better.
I stood on my head a had a spoon full of honey.
Upon going upright again I had a clear head and a smooth throat. To prove it I even ate some crackers before chugging a cup of water chased by four little ibprofins.
Time for bed now.
And vanessa just taught me about basal tempature.
I don't like to complain so I'll just tell you how I got better.
I stood on my head a had a spoon full of honey.
Upon going upright again I had a clear head and a smooth throat. To prove it I even ate some crackers before chugging a cup of water chased by four little ibprofins.
Time for bed now.
And vanessa just taught me about basal tempature.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A good reason to buy snow shoes
It was a beautiful day! Saturdays normally are because I have an excuse not to focus on work. So I took Vanessa to spend the day with Audra, while her husband, a couple of kids, and I went for a walk and possibly into a cave.
We were not in a hurry, and I had brought the camera along. I took some pictures and each picture had a conversation. If they are worth a thousand words then we may as well share the load right?
We had enough rope to play with on the way down the hill and a cliff just high enough to be real for the younger explorers. I brought my kite along. Something about kites makes me happy. I think it is because the ending of Marry Poppins.
And because I think he says it better than I can I present to you the thoughts of a crazy man:
Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are the things you should notice anyway. To live for only some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. ``Here's where things grow. But, of course, without the top you can't have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides. So on we go . . . we have a long way . . . no hurry . . . just one step after the next . . . with a little Chautaugua for entertainment . . . Mental reflection is so much more interesting than TV, it's a shame more people don't switch over to it. They probably think what they hear is unimportant, but it never is.
--Robert Pirsig, from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
--Robert Pirsig, from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Just to the left of center is the cliff we rappelled down.
That is me and my kite walking up the hill. Our fearless decision making leader is up ahead.
The Killdeer mountains were the sight of a "battle". The cave we had purposed to explore is the subject of many myths, I can't deny any of them.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mini Black-Out
I'm having a great day. Although Vanessa just got a scare. While she was in the shower suddenly the whole apartment got dark. I grabbed the flash lights and saved the day. Then I slowed down a bit and noticed that the wii light was still on, and a power strip was glowing a faint red in the living room. I cleared away the breaker box and sure enough we had just flipped a breaker. It's really an easy fix but this apartment is getting a little touchy about how much power we use at a time.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Lesson I was taught but did not learn while I in Argentina that I now wish I had practiced to the point of habit but didn't
That's a long title. I was thinking about calling it "things i learned on my mission but forgot" but that seemed too straight foreword. I'm writing this blog about how i should be working instead of working. thats called hypocrisy.
Lesson one: planing (3 parts) weekly plan, daily plan, appointments
Every week on my mission my companion and I would sit down in our Pinch (apartment) with a blank weekly planing sheet. (well to be truthful if we were doing a good job with part 3 of this lesson they weren't always blank). We knew that we had to be out doing "work" and so we would check our list of contacts, and investigators, and inactive families and we would make goals for conversations and lessons and baptism's and how many books we would sell ( yeah we sold them for 2 pesos(about 2 dollars, not really but close enough(nested parenthesis are cool))) we would block out time for each type of activity and sometimes we would even write in specific one sided appointments.
Each morning we would check the daily plan, fill it up if there was blank spots, and go and do the work we had set for our selves. Sometimes we had 4 hours of "walk the busy streets talking to families" but it was planed we weren't just wasting time. we planed it. Each evening we would review the day, and we would check the schedule for tomorrow add any appointments we had made that day to the rest of the week and make sure we were on making progress on our goals.
Making Appointments rocked! If we had a week with 0 appointments during our weekly planing session we knew that we would have a long hard week that would not be any fun. The successfulness of our time was directly associated with the number of appointments we had. Every morning that we woke up to a day full of appointments was a good day because we didn't have to make up things to do. It is so much easier to stay on task when you know what your task is.
Lesson two: Study
Every day I was in Argentina I spent 30 mins studying the Spanish language, and 2 hours studying the scriptures and such. Let's be honest: I watch more TV than that right now. I wasn't in school during my mission but I still studied. I felt the whole time that I was down there that I could never know enough and that everyone else knew more than me, I HAD to study or I would never be able to keep up with my fellow missionaries, and I wouldn't know the right words to say or how to say them if I was asked a question, or if I was asked to preform an ordinance. I was motivated to study for three reasons. First it was a rule and I like to follow rules, Second I am curios and just wanted to know some things, Third FEAR lots and lots of FEAR of Failure.
Lesson three: You can't stay home
The worst time I had in Argentina has to be when Elder Garrett was told to stay off of his feet for a week. I was stuck in side. I went crazy. I wasn't working, I couldn't work because I was in my apartment. The work only happens when we were out talking with people. Any people I remember riding elevators on purpose just to talk with people. The only people in my apartment are already on our team we don't need to spend all day in side.
That's all for now. Those are the lessons I know that I was taught but seem to have forgotten. There is some good news though. I'm able to change.
So the next time we talk ask to see my weekly calendar, or give me a call sometime and tell me I owe you a dollar if I'm in my apartment. Ask me what the requirements are for Pinewood derby cars or who the scout master is with the largest troop.
Good luck to everyone but especially me.
Lesson one: planing (3 parts) weekly plan, daily plan, appointments
Every week on my mission my companion and I would sit down in our Pinch (apartment) with a blank weekly planing sheet. (well to be truthful if we were doing a good job with part 3 of this lesson they weren't always blank). We knew that we had to be out doing "work" and so we would check our list of contacts, and investigators, and inactive families and we would make goals for conversations and lessons and baptism's and how many books we would sell ( yeah we sold them for 2 pesos(about 2 dollars, not really but close enough(nested parenthesis are cool))) we would block out time for each type of activity and sometimes we would even write in specific one sided appointments.
Each morning we would check the daily plan, fill it up if there was blank spots, and go and do the work we had set for our selves. Sometimes we had 4 hours of "walk the busy streets talking to families" but it was planed we weren't just wasting time. we planed it. Each evening we would review the day, and we would check the schedule for tomorrow add any appointments we had made that day to the rest of the week and make sure we were on making progress on our goals.
Making Appointments rocked! If we had a week with 0 appointments during our weekly planing session we knew that we would have a long hard week that would not be any fun. The successfulness of our time was directly associated with the number of appointments we had. Every morning that we woke up to a day full of appointments was a good day because we didn't have to make up things to do. It is so much easier to stay on task when you know what your task is.
Lesson two: Study
Every day I was in Argentina I spent 30 mins studying the Spanish language, and 2 hours studying the scriptures and such. Let's be honest: I watch more TV than that right now. I wasn't in school during my mission but I still studied. I felt the whole time that I was down there that I could never know enough and that everyone else knew more than me, I HAD to study or I would never be able to keep up with my fellow missionaries, and I wouldn't know the right words to say or how to say them if I was asked a question, or if I was asked to preform an ordinance. I was motivated to study for three reasons. First it was a rule and I like to follow rules, Second I am curios and just wanted to know some things, Third FEAR lots and lots of FEAR of Failure.
Lesson three: You can't stay home
The worst time I had in Argentina has to be when Elder Garrett was told to stay off of his feet for a week. I was stuck in side. I went crazy. I wasn't working, I couldn't work because I was in my apartment. The work only happens when we were out talking with people. Any people I remember riding elevators on purpose just to talk with people. The only people in my apartment are already on our team we don't need to spend all day in side.
That's all for now. Those are the lessons I know that I was taught but seem to have forgotten. There is some good news though. I'm able to change.
So the next time we talk ask to see my weekly calendar, or give me a call sometime and tell me I owe you a dollar if I'm in my apartment. Ask me what the requirements are for Pinewood derby cars or who the scout master is with the largest troop.
Good luck to everyone but especially me.
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