Life Lesson #2

Never gchat with Larry when you want to level something. You will purchase and subscribe to many more games that you can play.

Yep folks, I am once again a SOE Station Access member. Any other takers? We are starting low level and will work our way up through the dungeons of the Shattered Lands.

(and with that I have broken my monthly posting record)

Hold on America! It's time!

The Dow was up 7.73% this month. That is the largest increase for a 1 month period over the last 6 years. Your rewards for investing during the low period shall be reaped. Hold on or you may get whiplash from watching your 401k's!

I should be a-okie-dokie

I like budgeting. In as much that I usually keep a minimum 6 month projected budget. In reviewing it due to recent events, I found that I would be alright if I lost my job. I currently have 6 months of cash-on-hand reserves and another 6 months of investment assets. That's if I pay the minimum of everything on-time. Even after the year, I still have 90 days to get my stuff in order before banks get possessive. How did I get here?

Like dieting, no single budget is going to work for everyone (which is why there is such a market for all those books and seminars), but I have found a way to become a millionaire over time. The cornerstone principle is realizing that the experts have it bass-ackwards. Stay with me now; they tell you that you must pay off your debt before saving for your retirement. But how many people have the discipline to actually do this? How many of us sprint towards having zero debt for 1 or 2 months before falling back for another year? It is extremely difficult to escape the draw of debt. Debt is sold to us on TV and on billboards. Debt has become a solid pillar in our economy. So now, we are always chasing zero balance AND since we never get there we never start saving for retirement. Or maybe you do get to zero for a few months and then decide to buy a shiny, new, 2007 Nissan Frontier truck with your newfound cash.

So the plan that has worked for me for years is to accept that I have debt and to start saving to be a millionaire at retirement...RIGHT NOW. First thing. Open an online-only savings account and get $1,000 in it. This is your cushion and does wonders for your finanical peace of mind. Just having $1,000 in savings makes a huge psychological difference. Why an online account? If your savings is at the same brick & mortar bank as your checking account, transfers between the two are immediate, as quick as a mouse click, instantaneous. See that new iPhone...Hmm, I do have $1,000 in savings...WHERE'S THE INTERNETZ?!? Transfers between online and brick & morter banks can take days and gives you time to evalute whether you want to have your money in bank limbo.
Next, work your way up to $400+ per month (start at $100/month and work up) in investments and make it AUTOMATIC so that you don't see or think about it. It is also important that you build your savings account. Get enough for 1 month, then 2 months and on to 3 months as soon as possible. What's left, take care of your shelter/food needs and then spend what's left on your debts.

One side-effect of this is that I stopped using debt because I knew those balances were not dwindling quickly anymore.

EDIT: A second side-effect of this is you can plan to take out large portions (but less than 50%) of your savings at regular intervals to pay off & close huge chunks of debt while still being protected by your left-over savings.

The Layoffs Begin

I got up at 7:59 am to discover we had an 8 am emergency conference call. I made it in just under the wire to hear that one of our team was being lay'ed off. An Engineer in Florida, in addition to 800 other employees across the organization, were cut today. All morning, familiar names have been coming across email with "Today is my last day. It's been fun. I will miss you all.".

How I still have a job as the new guy is beyond me. A vastly experienced Specialist (the counterpart to an Engineer) was cut from TN and I suspect an entire level of Implementation Management. I talked with my boss and he tells me that my job is not in danger. He even encouraged me to take my vacation. My fear is that this is a company PR line. Regardless, the financially responsible thing for me to do now is to keep all of the cash I have saved for flight training in the bank. It was a fortunate confluence of events (discovery of and aggressive savings for my Sport Pilot License, scheduling conflicts and delays, tax refund and vehicle overpayment) that got me into a good financial position if I am next to be let go.

And if I am kept on through the tough times, then it all works out. Next year, I'll have enough money to train locally for a full pilot license with the ability to take more than 1 passenger and to fly at night time...maybe even with dual engine and instrument ratings...why stop there! Let's go Commercial!

You know what I'm doing tonight..I'm relaxing for the first time in 4 months and leveling something..anything..in some MMO!

Ugh, My Eyes are Bleeding.

Ugh. 692 questions completed.

I just finished studying for my Pilot's Knowledge Test. Out of 692 questions, I got 85% right. I need a 70% to pass. It all depends on the luck of the draw since the real test is 40 random questions.

Although my brain was mush, I was brave enough to take a practice test (of 40 random questions) without reviewing and I got a 72%. I was surprised it was that high.

I've got to work my butt off for the next 3 days to get a consistently higher score. I guess I'll review the books tonight and then take test after test after test until the answers make sense.

Red Letter Day

Since I first saw that title in Half Life 2, it has been fun to use it to describe various personal events. Today, was a red letter day. Jen, Steve and I cycled more than 20 miles today! My final tally was 21.18. So tired now. Tonight will be a well deserved, blue Z night.

Of Staple guns and mop water

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND! Steve and Jen deserve a golden globe for opening their home to host yet another successful, "all-weekend" party.

Friday - What do you mean it's too cold for a bike ride?
It started innocently enough. A Friday night bike ride, a spaghetti dinner and the movie Lakeview Terrace. I had an early morning Saturday taking my sister to the airport at 4 am, so I was in bed by 1 am...and up 2 hours later. (Fun Factor: 100%)

Saturday - Staplegate and Turning Spilled Mopwater to Lemonade
Just as I got home and had settled into my plush, oversized chair to reply to a friend's email, I get a "Jen says it's breakfast time" text message from Steve. Over the last week, Steve had found many (...many) local bicycle shops and we were going to start our visits with Bikes and Moore in Hopkinsville. But first, we need an Ihop...or a Waffle House, you know what, we'll settle for a Shoney's. (Fun Factor: 120%)

Jenn, a different Jen, was coming up from Murphresboro Saturday night so that she (Jenn) and Jen could visit an Irish bar. Not to be outdone, Steve and I decided we would have a dude's night in that would consist totally of talking trash about playing Monopoly. Before they knew it, Jenn, Jen and Steve's party of three became 7 as Colton and Melinda joined us. A cookout ensued, mopwater was spilled and the alcohol flowed.
(Fun Factor: 140% )

Sunday - Is that..Yes, it is another BICYCLE STICKER!
As I was in no shape to drive from outdoing one another reminiscing over youtube Michael Jackson videos and Filipino Prisoners Thriller (don't youtube it, I implore you, do. not. youtube. it.), I crashed on a futon in their spare bedroom. Comatosed from all the drinks, food and laughter, I had the best night's sleep that I've had in quite a while. The next morning, Jenn, Jen, Steve and I had a great time talking over a home cooked breakfast and Mmmm...coffee. We next took a 8 mile rails-to-trails mountain bike ride in Ashland City, picked up Jen's brother nephew from Wil's tattoo shop in Nashville, visited bike shops at Loveless Cafe and another called Halycon Bikes. (Fun Factor: ∞)

There are so many other fun things that happened this weekend, but I just can't get my head around them all!

Quality of Life

This working hourly at salary pay is brilliant. I've discovered that workloads can be heavy at the start of the week since everybody is re-energized due to the weekend and lighter as it approaches the end of the week. Which, i'll say it again, is brilliant.

Take this week as an example. On Monday and Tuesday, I had two 9.5 hour days. After talking with my boss, we decided that I should take Wednesday afternoon off. I had enough time to visit my colleagues at APSU, visit my mom and sister, shop the local bicycle center, build a bicycle caddy for my truck and get 3 miles in before the sun set. Thursday I worked 9 hours and so today I again have to make up some down-time. Hence the 10 am post. I get to take a long break from 10 am until 1:30 pm today. What a great time to clean house! I'm not exhausted from a days work, my mind is still fresh from a night's sleep and, with it being Friday, my email should be light.

Life is good.

Bonus: It struck me while I was out running personal, Friday afternoon errands that I am saving the company money by not working. I deserve a raise.

Cutting Cookies

No matter how many times it happens, I still find it jarring as more and more often I come to the realization that big studio music and movies are complete and total shite. They are made to take my money and leave in its place a sick feeling of being robbed. There is very rarely such a thing as a mass appeal, original idea (Spiderman and LOTR being the exceptions that come to mind). Music stations all play the same top 20 songs on infinite repeat. Movie studios create sequel after sequel which in all likely hood are floor edits from the original. Dramas warn you that "any likeness, real or implied is completely incidental" and then proceed to "rip storylines straight from the headlines" because they can't make up stuff any better than real life.

I'm tired of being a sheep. Independent labels have earned my support.

Your game is not hardcore...

I'm considering playing Darkfall for this one reason...

Mounts in Darkfall are much more a privilege than a right unlike what we have seen in a lot of the MMOs in the last few years.

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[When summoned, your] mount will appear wherever your crosshair is pointing. This caused a great deal of confusion at first because if you are looking across town, that's where the mount will appear. This means that if your sights are not pointed at the ground very close by, you could accidentally summon your mount 50 yards away. The issue with this is that once your mount is summoned, anyone can jump on top of it and ride off.

Darkfall Mounts and links to various other articles

Hilarious. Well the first time it happens...to someone else...that I don't know...

Besides that the game features PVP with full looting, a game map at least 20 times larger than WoW, ship and mounted combat, skill-use based advancement (including skill based stealth), player built cities and no zoning or invisible walls.

CERTIFIED-ABLE!!!

I am now job certified as a Cardinal Health Engineer! I got a 99% on the second half of my engineering training. Procrastination paid dividends much better than I deserved since, as you'll see from Steve's blog, I spent all of my weekend riding my bicycle instead of working on my exam.

Amok Time

We spring our clocks forward this weekend. In the past, I despised Daylight Savings Time. Mainly because I was forced to get up an hour earlier to leave for work. I hated driving, bleary eyed, at 0-dark-30 in the morning. Well, that's no longer an issue, so, over time, my hate morphed into tolerance and then further into indifference. And today, I officially love Springing Forward! The extended afternoon has special meaning this year. It marks the unofficial start of bicycling season!! WooHoo! I can finally do some riding after work! /happydance

... and really that's a commentary on advancing our society. Hate turns to tolerance, tolerance to indifference and indifference to respect. Peace and Love.

I think I'll keep him

You have a good boss when he equates what you do for a career as going to war and that we are his special forces team. I think I got a compliment (or is that commendation) this week when he said that I "dropped bombs on a site and had hospital IT quakeing in fear of my awesome skills". Yeah. He's a good boss.