I have a new plan for saving money, and that is to not give myself access to my money. I am going to forgo my debit card. I have not had a credit card in years and that certainly won’t change. Not having a debit card has to be one of the biggest challenges one could face in their day to day lives. I already have figured out how to live without a car. This weekend will be one year without a vehicle. Amazing that I can go one year without a vehicle and still maintain a job, have a girlfriend, shop, and do whatever I need to. If I can go one year without one, I can certainly continue to go without one. Not having a vehicle has shown me what is important in life. If something is important enough, I will find a way to get to where I need to go, or someone will take me if they think it is important enough.
And now the same with the Debit card. If something is important enough for me to get, I will budget for it. I am going to pull out a set amount of money for my pay period and live off of it. If I run out, well that is too bad. I don’t drive so I don’t have to worry about gas money… only thing I have to worry about is eating, and I will make sure I have plenty of food at home. Heck, I have enough food at home to eat on for a VERY long time. Seems to be a hobby of mine to shop for groceries.
So, for now I am going to pay things with cash. I am looking for a good alternative in a reloadable debit card that I can put my fixed amount into but for now it is cash. This will help me value my money more. Right now, I spend money like it is water, probably because it seems as free as water but it isn’t. There are bigger things in life I want. I want to get into a house again, and this is the first steps of attaining that goal.
My goal is if all things go as planned, is to move in with Crystal next March. This will cut the money we spend on housing by $1000 a month (my current rent). After a year of that, we should have saved enough money to put a 20-30% down payment on a condo. That will give us an ever cheaper monthly living cost, as I estimate the monthly mortgage will be around $500/month. Then, after 2-3 years of more saving, we will have accumulated enough money to put a sizable down payment on a house between $250,000 and $300,000 and still keep our small $500/month house payment. If all goes according to plan this will allow us to choose between living in a ~$150,000 mortgage free, a ~$300,000 house for 500/month, or go so crazy as investing in an half million dollar home and still be able to live comfortably.
So today is the start of a long journey. But, 4 years in the grand scope of things is nothing really. I have told myself after this most recent financial collapse that I want to be back in a house at 35. This will more than surpass my goal… so keep your fingers crossed!
So back to the debit card. As I said, I spend it if I got it. By giving myself only the money I need, I will be able to save. And honestly, I will be giving myself plenty of money… probably more than most people consider as spending money so it is not like I will be in a bind. It just means that I won’t be able to go out and buy a new laptop or ipod, or decide to go spend a hundred or two dollars in an evening. This is a good thing… and Lord willing is something that will pay off in the end.
More on the moving in with Crystal thing in the future…
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Not to Derby! Yes, you must think I am crazy for choosing not to do anything Derby related this year. No, it is not some religious reason, and no it certainly isn’t any financial reason. I just want to take it easy this weekend. Over the years I have learned the hard way that I enjoy Derby far too much for my own good. Yeah, it is a ton of fun to go to all the parties, go to the Downs, gamble on the horses (which I may still do), but at the end of it all, I always ask myself was it worth it?
For many people, the answer is unquestionably yes. I have to admit that I envy those people. But I know my limitations and I know I have responsibilities and commitments that I tend to lapse on when it comes to events like the Derby. It is nothing for others to go out and have a few drinks, maybe even get drunk and have a good time. For me, there is no in between. I start out enjoying the day but by the end of the day I tend to ask myself, how did I get myself here since I usually can’t remember.
So, my Derby week is going to be low-key, enjoyable, and memorable. I am getting a new grill this week and am cooking out. Buying some big fat juicy steaks and maybe some corn on the cob. I’ll be playing tennis and probably spending some time with my family. That certainly isn’t what Derby is all about, but it is what I have found I enjoy best, the little things in life.
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So, I have decided that I need to make a change in direction in my life. My life is going pretty great right now, but can always be better. I tend to lose things, or forget things. In the past week I have lost my ipod, 600 dollars, and my ID’s… where they are I have no clue, I just lose things. Luckily I have not lost my phone lately, that used to be such a pain cause I would lose it all the time.
So what changes am I going to be making? For one, I am going to just simplify my life. If I do not have something to lose, I won’t lose it. Once I get my debit card and a new ID that is all I am going to be carrying on me. my MP3 player can stay home, as can my laptop. I tend to not remember things I did just hours before so I have to make sure that I do not lose anything…
On another note, I am excited about going to church Sunday. Last weekend I did not make it to church, so going this week is going to be quite needed. Yeah this post is short, but I just need to make changes to work around some of my personal issues. I already have decided no drinking anymore, now if I could just get to church more often I would be totally content.
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So I have been extremely busy at work…
Webpart: I have written as far as I know the first deployable web part in Sharepoint at Humana. This has been a huge undertaking as there are no standards or procedures in place. FINALLY got to the point of getting it deployed to production this weekend. I have my VP on me to get it out there, but there is only so much I can do because I am not really a part of the process.. I just wrote it (which I must say is a very cool thing I wrote)
IT Dashboard: So this is where the web part is going to live. I am single handedly supporting this website. It contains metrics and measures IT wide for Financial, Performance, Availability, etc. We want it to look perfect off the bat when it goes live on Wednesday and this has been taking a lot of my time getting everything to work just right. My biggest headache has been getting OBIEE to look just write in an iframe on the site.
Availability: For the dashboard I, along with a co-worker are tasked with getting the availability metrics onto the dashboard. For a long time we have been working on this, trying to get the database schema just right. I think we have figured it out, but we are behind schedule. Luckily I think a lot of what we have done will help speed along development on the other metrics we will have to do. Unfortunately we have spent a lot of time waiting on other groups to provide the data that we want, and provide it in a usable fashion with clean data. This has proven to be nearly impossible.
So, those three HUGE things have been on my plate and I have had to juggle them, because although they are all connected, different people are over each and they each demand my time… It has been a struggle to get it all right and keeping everyone informed and happy…
SOOO, outside of work things have been slower. I have been spending a lot of time with Crystal, which has been nice. My one big issue is that I haven’t checked my mail for a while and it stopped being delivered. I finally made it to the post office and they do not have my mail, they have returned it. This is a huge pain as I had a new debit card mailed to me, so I have money sitting in the bank that I can not access… smart me got a Schwab account, but there are no Schwab banks… so my money is sitting there.. could be a good thing, but one does need money to survive!
Also, found out that my son and his other family are moving to Georgia. This can only be a good thing as he will be much closer… I am excited about that, but it is still some time before that happens. BTW, everyone that looks at his pictures thinks he is adorable and I have to agree. They are all so happy that I got to see him, and I hope to be able to see him more and show more pictures of my growing boy!
Sooo, nothing here earth shattering or philosophical but just needed to write about where I have been and what’s up… Hopefully once I get a few of these things off my plate I will be able to breath a little bit at work.. but it won’t be for long. Once we make progress on the availability metrics we still have defects and performance metrics to work on… but at least that is interesting and something new. I like to think I know how to do the performance stuff as I am already recording this and Brian knows our defect tracking stuff like the back of his hand… All in all it is exciting times around work, keeping very busy, which should be a very good thing for job security.
One last thing… just wanted to say it is amazing who actually reads this blog. I find out all the time that people read it, and some people have found me due to this blog. Keep the praise, and at times criticism coming!
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Sorry about the last few posts… for a few days I did not have internet access readily available so I had to save all my posts as drafts. When I got home from Washington I decided to post the content, only to find that the posts were put up out of order and with a post time of now. I don’t feel like going back and guessing the time that I wrote them, so they will stay out of order for now…
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I was supposed to be in Seattle at 8:56 last night but that unfortunately did not happen. I got to the airport with little time to spare, had my flight out of Louisville been on time. Unfortunately, my 3:14 flight to Philadelphia was delayed until 4. I asked the agent at the desk if I would make my connecting flight, and without a word she graciously moved me to a flight to Charlotte to ensure that I made it to Seattle. She ensured me that although the flight to Charlotte was running behind, also leaving at 4, I would have time to catch the flight to Seattle from there. Boy, was she off! My flight to Charlotte did not leave at 4. It did not leave at 5… I estimate we got off the ground about 5:15. My new flight to Seattle was to leave at 6:10. See the problem here?
So, I arrive in Charlotte and hurry to the gate only to find that there had been no delays and the gate was silent and empty. Ok, I hoped there were more later flights? No go. All flights to the west coast look to end right around 6.. after that and you have to wait. So, as I wait in line to talk to their customer service people, along with scores of other I had time to be thankful. There were so many angry people, saying to boycott the airlines, complaining about everything. Do these people not know that the situation was out of our hands? Do they not know that the person they will soon be talking to has no super powers and is not the person to be mad at. Their job is to help us as much as the airline will allow. Ok, enough of that quick rant… on to being thankful. I became thankful that God blessed me with patience. Granted, I am not always a patient person, but my patience was certainly tested yesterday and by keeping a level head everything worked out as best as the situation allowed.
So, when my time to talk to the agent arrived I gave him my ticket. We didn’t speak much, but after some time he was able to get me on a 11:20 flight to Phoenix and from there on to Seattle, arriving at 4:40 or so. Although it is far from ideal, it was my best option. I took that flight, and also received $20 in meal vouchers and a free night at a hotel. The people that were standing with me in line were now yelling at the agents and I listened to their situation. They did not receive the same benefits that I got… although their actions shouldn’t have kept them from getting the same thing, it does go to show you that treating people with respect goes a long ways. Some people will never learn.
So after grabbing a bite to eat I hit the shuttle bus for the hotel. After that, I stopped in at a local bar and watched the NCAA games. All in all, it was an ok evening in a strange city. It would never have been as good as seeing my son, but we have to make the best of the situation.
So today, I am on this flight typing this. At the moment I should have already been in Washington for 12 hours. By the time it is all said, I will have missed out on about 20 hours of time with my son. This is when I can be thankful again that I was able to take an extra vacation day to see my son. Although I am not seeing him as long as anticipated, it will be longer than it will be in the future visits. We were supposed to go to Charlie’s Safari today and see Monster vs Aliens. I really wanted to do those things with him, and hopefully we will have time to this weekend. I am also going to miss the UL game. It will be on when I get to the airport, but I am sure that there it wont be on the radio on the car drive. Oh well, go Cards! I am sure they will win.
So that is where I am now. A day late, but no worse for the wear other than the fact that I had to disappoint my son, which disappoints me…. I will try to make it up the best that I can with him! I think I will be writing a post or two more while on this flight. I have encountered some interesting people and I just want to blog those memories.
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Yeah, you read it right.. I thought I met a murderer! As I am standing outside the Charlotte airport, smoking what will probably be my last cigarette for a few days, I met another man. He was an older man and we struck up a conversation. He is going to Seattle like me, but was only able to make it onto the 6:10 flight tonight, a full 24 layover for him.
So as he is smoking his cigarette we shared brief introductions on where we were going and our horror stories of travelling. Afterwards, he told me one of the most bizarre stories I have ever heard. I do not have time to type it all, but here is the abridged version:
In 1976 he was living in North Carolina. He was in a failed marriage, where his wife was cheating on him. This did not make him a happy person, and from what I could tell possibly made him a violent man. He never physically hurt his wife, but he was certainly not pleasant to her. One night the police were called. Due to him having a smart mouth, he told the officers that if he wanted to, neither of them could keep him from attacking his wife if he wanted to (but wouldn’t). So, to prove a point they took him out back, away from his wife and beat him while handcuffed. He sat in jail for 7 days and was being charged with felonious assault of an officer. Through an verbal exchange with officers at the hearing the judge actually asked this man to leave the state. He got off very lucky, because he was looking at several years in jail. Btw, the verbal exchange is where I thought I was speaking to a murderer. He told the officer that he would go to prison, serve his time and be good, but when he got out he would come and shoot the officer (I am saying it MUCH nicer). This put a little fear in me.
So, he somehow got to nowhere, USA. This is where his wife had moved to, with the man she was having an affair with. So you can see a story developing with this man, can’t you!? Anyhow, the police watched him for months and after confronting them, they stopped. He was involved in many fights while there, sending several men to the hospital. One evening he ran into the man his wife was having an affair with. He told him the town isn’t big enough for the both of them and said they should fight on top of this hill down the street and play King of the Hill. Well, it never got that far. As the man was walking out, the other man attacked him. After some time, the man I was speaking to got the upper hand and again put this man in the hospital.
This story would be so much entertaining if I felt like telling it all… he was a very intelligent man, even pleasant… but he definitely had a troubled past.
Soo… long story short, he actually re-married his wife the following year, had a few kids but then got divorced in 1983. He walked out of his wife’s life and his children. Apparently he wasn’t such a bad guy after all, it was the mother who was so horrible. He didn’t speak to her for years, but a few years ago started speaking again for his daughters sakes. His daughter became involved with a man who appeared violent. After talking she said, she should know about domestic violence, her nose had been broken 3 times, 2 times by him. He instantly hung up. The reason this man had moved so much, been in trouble so much, was because this woman had been fabricating lies about him this whole time. Alienating his daughters and everyone he knew. He just realized it… he had never heard her say that, and then he knew that it was due to his wife.
Ok, so whether the story is believable or not, I do not know. I have to say, I believe his story. The amazing thing about it? The man started to tear up. When he talked about his daughters and how he is now involved in their lives and how they talk everyday, it made him shed a tear and smile. This hardened man walked out of their life for the sake of his children so long ago, but the truth came out and the children saw it, and they set aside their differences and now he has a great relationship with his children.
I don’t know how, but I felt like I could relate to him. He suggested to never let the children be in the middle of any dispute you have. Do what is in their best interest at all times. Being around was not in his, but after they grew up, they realized that he loved them more than anything. It gave me comfort in knowing that although I am not around like I should be and certainly not around like I want to be, I love my son dearly. My son will grow up to learn, no matter what he is told, that his daddy loves him. I have been called a deadbeat dad, a horrible person, and I have had death wished upon me. I know that I am not what I should be, but by the grace of God I am what I am and I hope to make the best of what I have and the best of the time I have with Noah.
It is amazing the people you will meet, if you just take the time to listen… In the end this man was not a murderer… but I wouldn’t put it past him, so don’t cross him!
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Short and sweet. I met this wonderful lady. In fact, she is sitting in the same row on the other side of the isle. She is 80 years old and still going strong. We both stayed at the same hotel last night. I ran into her this morning, but I heard about her last night from the shuttle bus driver. We talked about things in the lobby this morning, sharing our experiences. I helped her with her bags to the car and we talked some more with the driver. Her cell phone went off, with a unique funky ringtone. It is so funny seeing someone of her maturity answering her cell. We talked about it for a moment. I told her I notice in my line of work, there is a generation gap it seems. Some people are cool with technology, but above a certain point, people seem to be stuck. For example my parents have not had a cell phone for very long and rarely use them. She told me that some people don’t want to learn new things. She wants to learn new things and always try new things, it keeps her fresh, invigorated and alive. This woman, in some little way inspired me. Not quite like the potential murdering guy, but just made me appreciate life. She is 80 and has no plans of slowing down…. So in my eyes, that gives me 50 more years of life to enjoy and cherish. I am not getting old I realized, I am only getting started. I have a long life ahead of me, Lord willing, and I hope that one day I am like her, talking into my holographic cell phone surfing the web at 1000 times faster than today. Til then, I am going to live my life and live it with fulfillment.
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Previous Posts
- Cupcake on G1
- Going carless has its financial gains
- Going green
- New T-Shirt design
- Couple of new pics of my son
- Jul 4th castration attempt LOL
- Maureen and I at the Waterfront and Backdoor on Ju...
- The problem with the detainees at Guantanamo
- Best grilled cheese ever
- B-Cycle