I have never wanted to focus on just one type of issue. Whether it is sports, personal life, or political issues, I have wanted to keep my options open for writing. I try to cover anything and everything. As long as I find it fun to write about. I know I do not have a huge reader base so anything that goes on here reaches mainly family and friends. Unless you are someone who stumbled across this, in which case, welcome!
I think I need a jar of ideas for when I want to write, but cannot think of anything at the moment. Occasionally, I just peruse the news stations or websites to see what is going on to get ideas. I am not the biggest fan of doing that because I am just following the trend like everyone else and can get lost in the shuffle of the topic. So if there is something I find interesting, I give it a few days or weeks to write about. This is where a jar of ideas would come in handy. If I forget about the topic, I'd find it eventually.
As far as topics, I find sports intriguing. Of course it would be too easy to just write about teams that I enjoy watching or following, I want to touch on more interesting things. Players cheating is at the top of everyone's list. Anyone shocked by Lance Armstrong clearly had their head buried in the sand. I'm not shocked by players getting busted for cheating, I'm surprised when they pass their drug tests. I'll hit up the Super Bowl topic in the near future (before Sunday would be best, yes?) and the insane coverage it gets.
Politics is always fun, but frustrating. Like anyone else that does this, I do it to get my opinion out there so my head doesn't explode. The best place for ideas is on paper...or the internet. Political topics are tricky because people get very passionate about them. Passion occasionally turns into aggression. I like to discuss and calmly debate topics, not scream about them. Gun control and regulation can be written about every day if I wanted to. I covered it once, I might do another write up if the mood strikes me.
Personal life is really the only other topic. My life is kind of boring. I work, I drink, I travel home occasionally. My wife and I don't have any kids, we don't have to deal with home ownership, we currently live in the suburbs of the Twin Cities so we don't get into the metro area very often to experience the different things that are going on down there. I'm pretty boring.
Those are the main things I write about, but I don't think I can dedicate this blog to just one type of topic. It would be very limiting. Would it be possible to just write about politics or sports? Absolutely. There are tons of blogs that cover just those subjects. I just don't want to be one of them.
30 January 2013
23 January 2013
Pinching Pennies
In an attempt to keep our spending down, I have several things I do to help out. As it is with most people, the ultimate goal is to buy a house (and I would like to do so in the near future) and these are a few things that can help keep money in the bank. Are they going to help us get a house or pay off credit cards just by doing these simple things? No. But every little bit helps out.
Hair clippers. A couple of years ago, I bought some hair clippers. My wife has begrudgingly been nice enough to cut my hair for the past two to three years. It works out great because going to a barber costs around ten dollars. I bought the clippers for twenty dollars. After two homemade haircuts, they have paid for themselves. As long as you like the buzzed look. I do, my wife does not. Back in college, I went with the long hair look. Nothing too crazy, but it covered my ears. It was just one of those things that started with not having a barber I could go to in my college town and by the time I went home, I grew accustom to having the hair so I kept it. By the time I was getting ready to graduate, I was tired of it. So I went with the short hair. I just like the low maintenance short hair brings to the table.
Leaving lunch at work. I say leaving it at work because I have an office space and drawers in which to leave stuff. I buy bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Buying it all at once it costs around seven dollars (jelly is expensive guys!). Over the course of two weeks, you can eat lunch for seventy cents a day. The bread lasts about three weeks before having to go and buy a new loaf, so all in all, I pay about forty six cents for each meal, instead of going out and buying lunch everyday at the cost of three to four dollars. The only question is, how many PB&J sandwiches can one person eat before they get sick of them? As it turns out, a LOT. I do on occasion buy something from the store just for a change of pace, but it is not very often. Once every three weeks maybe. The thing that has really kept this going is having everything at work already. I don't need to remember to grab a lunch bag every morning, it is waiting for me. I have been doing this since last fall, August maybe, and the amount of money we are putting on the credit card has gone down.
Cheap beer. Of course the easier thing would be to not buy as much beer, but who are we kidding? I like beer. I like tasty beer, which usually equates to expensive so I save those for special occasions. You need to splurge every once in a while. What I have found is buying cheaper beer means thirty beers for sixteen dollars not twelve beers for fourteen dollars. Beer is beer and any kind will get you where you need to go. If you aren't too picky, there is no reason why you should be spending more money.
These are just a few small things that I have been trying to do. Again, these aren't going to grow the bank account a ton but I feel better about trying to save money. There are times when you need to spend money on yourself though. You cannot give up on getting out of the house and doing stuff. We went to the movies today (saw 'Lincoln'). For the tickets and food, we ended up spending twenty dollars. This isn't much if you aren't doing once a week. I've been trying to remember the last movie my wife and I went to see together and the only one that comes to mind is 'The Avengers', but I could be wrong.
Hair clippers. A couple of years ago, I bought some hair clippers. My wife has begrudgingly been nice enough to cut my hair for the past two to three years. It works out great because going to a barber costs around ten dollars. I bought the clippers for twenty dollars. After two homemade haircuts, they have paid for themselves. As long as you like the buzzed look. I do, my wife does not. Back in college, I went with the long hair look. Nothing too crazy, but it covered my ears. It was just one of those things that started with not having a barber I could go to in my college town and by the time I went home, I grew accustom to having the hair so I kept it. By the time I was getting ready to graduate, I was tired of it. So I went with the short hair. I just like the low maintenance short hair brings to the table.
Leaving lunch at work. I say leaving it at work because I have an office space and drawers in which to leave stuff. I buy bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Buying it all at once it costs around seven dollars (jelly is expensive guys!). Over the course of two weeks, you can eat lunch for seventy cents a day. The bread lasts about three weeks before having to go and buy a new loaf, so all in all, I pay about forty six cents for each meal, instead of going out and buying lunch everyday at the cost of three to four dollars. The only question is, how many PB&J sandwiches can one person eat before they get sick of them? As it turns out, a LOT. I do on occasion buy something from the store just for a change of pace, but it is not very often. Once every three weeks maybe. The thing that has really kept this going is having everything at work already. I don't need to remember to grab a lunch bag every morning, it is waiting for me. I have been doing this since last fall, August maybe, and the amount of money we are putting on the credit card has gone down.
Cheap beer. Of course the easier thing would be to not buy as much beer, but who are we kidding? I like beer. I like tasty beer, which usually equates to expensive so I save those for special occasions. You need to splurge every once in a while. What I have found is buying cheaper beer means thirty beers for sixteen dollars not twelve beers for fourteen dollars. Beer is beer and any kind will get you where you need to go. If you aren't too picky, there is no reason why you should be spending more money.
These are just a few small things that I have been trying to do. Again, these aren't going to grow the bank account a ton but I feel better about trying to save money. There are times when you need to spend money on yourself though. You cannot give up on getting out of the house and doing stuff. We went to the movies today (saw 'Lincoln'). For the tickets and food, we ended up spending twenty dollars. This isn't much if you aren't doing once a week. I've been trying to remember the last movie my wife and I went to see together and the only one that comes to mind is 'The Avengers', but I could be wrong.
21 January 2013
A Bit Cold
Today, it was cold. Bitter cold. It was because of the wind. The high for today was negative seven in the Twin Cities. That's not too bad. With the wind, the real feel was around negative thirty five. THAT was bad. The sun was out, it looked beautiful, until you got into the wind. It cut through my wool coat like it was a wimpy little wind breaker. Despite these facts, I was okay with it being that cold. It's what winter is all about. Even if it was too cold to snow.
With all that said, there was no point in leaving the house today (unless work was involved). I was surprised at the amount of people that were out and about. Just to go shopping. If I learned anything growing up in the Upper Peninsula, it's that going out in the bitter cold is no fun. Our parents weren't mean enough to send us out in the negative temperatures so I am not going to sit here and tell everyone how hardcore we were going out and playing in an environment that a tauntaun would shy away from. I will tell you I do remember having a lot of indoor recesses as a kid because of the cold. The last thing a school district wanted to deal with was kids having frost bite just because the teaching staff needed a little break from all the kids.
Maybe it is because I am much older and no longer a kid, but I recall winter being more hardcore. Snow hills are no longer as impressive as a thirty year old. We spent a lot of time sledding as kids. We lived by a Michigan Bell and every year they made two snow hills when they cleared their parking lots. And every year we went back there sledding. The great thing about it was that every year, the sledding runs were different. You had to make the sledding runs at the beginning of the winter. And if there was a huge snow storm, they dumped more snow and maybe would mess up the runs that were made. Then the fun started all over again as we tried to make new runs.
Because of growing up in the winter epicenter of Michigan (if not the WORLD!), I love the cold. Still love the cold and always will. Even if it means my car won't start and ice forms on my beard when I walk outside.
With all that said, there was no point in leaving the house today (unless work was involved). I was surprised at the amount of people that were out and about. Just to go shopping. If I learned anything growing up in the Upper Peninsula, it's that going out in the bitter cold is no fun. Our parents weren't mean enough to send us out in the negative temperatures so I am not going to sit here and tell everyone how hardcore we were going out and playing in an environment that a tauntaun would shy away from. I will tell you I do remember having a lot of indoor recesses as a kid because of the cold. The last thing a school district wanted to deal with was kids having frost bite just because the teaching staff needed a little break from all the kids.
Maybe it is because I am much older and no longer a kid, but I recall winter being more hardcore. Snow hills are no longer as impressive as a thirty year old. We spent a lot of time sledding as kids. We lived by a Michigan Bell and every year they made two snow hills when they cleared their parking lots. And every year we went back there sledding. The great thing about it was that every year, the sledding runs were different. You had to make the sledding runs at the beginning of the winter. And if there was a huge snow storm, they dumped more snow and maybe would mess up the runs that were made. Then the fun started all over again as we tried to make new runs.
Because of growing up in the winter epicenter of Michigan (if not the WORLD!), I love the cold. Still love the cold and always will. Even if it means my car won't start and ice forms on my beard when I walk outside.
20 January 2013
Books, Music, and Movies
Generally, I try to write with some purpose. To write something to ponder about. Something that will lead to a great discussion. Something that can lead to a heated argument. Other times, I just want to write to write. Kind of like a fluff piece, but better. Because I wrote it. This is one of those times.
Over the past ten days, our computer was being repaired. There was a cord that was getting pinched and was causing the back light on the monitor to occasionally go out. So we would move it to a different angle and it would light up again. It got to the point where it took a lot of time just to get the light to come on at a reasonable angle and we took it in for repairs. So for ten days, we had no computer. It was...interesting.
Having smart phones, we were able to access stuff like email, twitter, and facebook so there wasn't much to be missed out on. Not having a computer meant not spending as much time looking at websites created as time wasters. Personally, I spent a little more time reading because of it. While there is not much on TV, I would use the computer, but not having the computer, I went into the bedroom and read. I read a book in the time of not having a computer, which is a big deal for me because I am a slow reader. Since making my decision to re-read some of my books, I have gotten through two books in just about a month. And not having a computer at hand helped with this.
Earlier this week, I came to the realization that I still enjoy making burnt CDs, or if you want to go old school, making mix tapes. Of course there are no more blank tapes anywhere (are there?) and CDs are now just about as obsolete. I think that it is just fun to have a CD with nothing but music that you want to listen to. Sure, having an iPod and an auxiliary jack in your car gives you the same thing, but whatever. This is something to hold onto. Something that still links you to the past and where we are at as a technological society. There are people that still remember eight track players in cars and how that was the greatest thing. I remember the tape that you plugged into your portable CD player to listen to your CDs that way.
On my day off I went to the movies. By myself. It was great! I hadn't been to the movies in such a long time and it is too bad because there have been quite a few that have come out over the past year that I wanted to go see. We have been watching our spending recently, and cutting out movies is a great way to help with that. I finally got to the point where I wanted to splurge so I went to the movies. The nice thing is that the theatre that is here only cost four dollars during the day and six dollars at night. Super cheap compared to some. And this isn't a second run theatre, they show what is out now. So I went and watched 'The Hobbit'. I've only read the book once and that was back in college, and I really don't remember much about it so I will not be arguing with anyone about it. It was enjoyable. I went by myself because my wife had no desire to see it. She has never wanted to watch any of the Lord of the Ring movies. I don't know what is wrong with her either. After a very stressful few months at work, it was nice to get out and relax like that, alone. To forget about everything for a few hours. And because it has been out for a few months, there were only about a dozen people watching it, so that made it so much better. I do not like seeing movies in crowded theatres.
Over the past ten days, our computer was being repaired. There was a cord that was getting pinched and was causing the back light on the monitor to occasionally go out. So we would move it to a different angle and it would light up again. It got to the point where it took a lot of time just to get the light to come on at a reasonable angle and we took it in for repairs. So for ten days, we had no computer. It was...interesting.
Having smart phones, we were able to access stuff like email, twitter, and facebook so there wasn't much to be missed out on. Not having a computer meant not spending as much time looking at websites created as time wasters. Personally, I spent a little more time reading because of it. While there is not much on TV, I would use the computer, but not having the computer, I went into the bedroom and read. I read a book in the time of not having a computer, which is a big deal for me because I am a slow reader. Since making my decision to re-read some of my books, I have gotten through two books in just about a month. And not having a computer at hand helped with this.
Earlier this week, I came to the realization that I still enjoy making burnt CDs, or if you want to go old school, making mix tapes. Of course there are no more blank tapes anywhere (are there?) and CDs are now just about as obsolete. I think that it is just fun to have a CD with nothing but music that you want to listen to. Sure, having an iPod and an auxiliary jack in your car gives you the same thing, but whatever. This is something to hold onto. Something that still links you to the past and where we are at as a technological society. There are people that still remember eight track players in cars and how that was the greatest thing. I remember the tape that you plugged into your portable CD player to listen to your CDs that way.
On my day off I went to the movies. By myself. It was great! I hadn't been to the movies in such a long time and it is too bad because there have been quite a few that have come out over the past year that I wanted to go see. We have been watching our spending recently, and cutting out movies is a great way to help with that. I finally got to the point where I wanted to splurge so I went to the movies. The nice thing is that the theatre that is here only cost four dollars during the day and six dollars at night. Super cheap compared to some. And this isn't a second run theatre, they show what is out now. So I went and watched 'The Hobbit'. I've only read the book once and that was back in college, and I really don't remember much about it so I will not be arguing with anyone about it. It was enjoyable. I went by myself because my wife had no desire to see it. She has never wanted to watch any of the Lord of the Ring movies. I don't know what is wrong with her either. After a very stressful few months at work, it was nice to get out and relax like that, alone. To forget about everything for a few hours. And because it has been out for a few months, there were only about a dozen people watching it, so that made it so much better. I do not like seeing movies in crowded theatres.
09 January 2013
GUNS! (and how to regulate them)
I've debated back and forth in my head whether or not I wanted to write about gun control. Everyone on both sides of the issue are, for lack of a better phrase, up in arms about it. As they should be, this is a very touchy subject. People are very passionate about certain things, and guns just happens to be one of them. I would rather be writing about same sex marriage or legalization of marijuana or the fact that Spring Training is just several months away, but because this subject is what is dominating the news, this is what is on my mind. I'm not going to throw out numbers or statistics, just my opinion.
I grew up in a house with guns. The main purpose of these guns was for hunting. A few rifles, a few shotguns, but that's it. My mom doesn't like firearms of any kind, so when we were very little, they were tucked away somewhere in the house and we had no idea where they were. Out of sight, out of mind. They were kept where we physically could not get to them even if we tried. Dad brought them out once a year to go hunting. As we got old enough to go hunting, we took our firearm safety class. We were taught to respect the firearm. There was also a little bit of fear instilled into our minds that if you did not handle them properly, the end results could be injury or death. I feel that education about guns of any kind is the first and most important step. Education and respect. Along with this education, the gun owner needs to keep an open dialogue with their family. If you tell someone that they can't touch something like a firearm, their natural curiosity takes over. And without any knowledge of the firearm that is when you see horrible accidents happen.
The minute someone put out the word 'ban' along with 'gun' people lost their shit. Everyone has to understand that a total gun ban will never happen. With all the money that organizations like the NRA pump into Washington D.C. you will never see an all out ban on weapons. Ever. Or a partial ban. I don't think you will see a ban on assault weapons, which most people are calling for. The best way to go about any kind of ban is taking a look at clips. Restricting the size of clips. And that would be tough to do. One of the best arguments I have heard is 'what do you need a clip that holds thirty bullets for'? What are you doing that requires that many? When a sane answer to those questions is brought forth, I will listen. Until then, this should be the focus of change. The rifle I used when I went hunting this fall was my dad's. It holds four bullets. I didn't even need all four. My dad told me 'if you empty that clip, you shouldn't be in the woods.' And all I did was fire one shot. It would be difficult to restrict the number of clips people own, so the size of clips is the way to go about it if the politicians want to go with that fight. For people that want to go to the gun range, you still have your clips, they may just be smaller. And you still have your firearm.
If restricting the size of the clip wouldn't work because, well, you just never know when you will need those thirty bullets for your semi-automatic rifle, why not restrict the amount of ammunition you can have? I believe most boxes of ammunition come twenty to twenty five to a box. That is a standard size, I'm not talking buying in bulk. Just have a deposit on the bullets much like some states do for cans and bottles. Once you return all the spent casings, they don't go flying so far from the gun that you would not be able to find them, you can buy a new box of ammo. And use a database to track who has bought what ammunition. If you haven't returned the ammo you previously purchased, you cannot buy more. In order for that to happen, there would need to be a registration of gun ownership. If you are trying to buy ammo for a gun that you do not have registered under your own name, guess what, you aren't getting the bullets. Simple as that. If you have two rifles and three shotguns, all you need is five boxes. But good luck getting everyone on board with this whole registration thing.
In the end, you will not find a happy medium. It is just not possible because the left and the right are too far apart and neither one will compromise on their stance. Until they get together and hammer out something that people agree on, we will have this debate after every mass shooting. And that is the unfortunate truth.
I grew up in a house with guns. The main purpose of these guns was for hunting. A few rifles, a few shotguns, but that's it. My mom doesn't like firearms of any kind, so when we were very little, they were tucked away somewhere in the house and we had no idea where they were. Out of sight, out of mind. They were kept where we physically could not get to them even if we tried. Dad brought them out once a year to go hunting. As we got old enough to go hunting, we took our firearm safety class. We were taught to respect the firearm. There was also a little bit of fear instilled into our minds that if you did not handle them properly, the end results could be injury or death. I feel that education about guns of any kind is the first and most important step. Education and respect. Along with this education, the gun owner needs to keep an open dialogue with their family. If you tell someone that they can't touch something like a firearm, their natural curiosity takes over. And without any knowledge of the firearm that is when you see horrible accidents happen.
The minute someone put out the word 'ban' along with 'gun' people lost their shit. Everyone has to understand that a total gun ban will never happen. With all the money that organizations like the NRA pump into Washington D.C. you will never see an all out ban on weapons. Ever. Or a partial ban. I don't think you will see a ban on assault weapons, which most people are calling for. The best way to go about any kind of ban is taking a look at clips. Restricting the size of clips. And that would be tough to do. One of the best arguments I have heard is 'what do you need a clip that holds thirty bullets for'? What are you doing that requires that many? When a sane answer to those questions is brought forth, I will listen. Until then, this should be the focus of change. The rifle I used when I went hunting this fall was my dad's. It holds four bullets. I didn't even need all four. My dad told me 'if you empty that clip, you shouldn't be in the woods.' And all I did was fire one shot. It would be difficult to restrict the number of clips people own, so the size of clips is the way to go about it if the politicians want to go with that fight. For people that want to go to the gun range, you still have your clips, they may just be smaller. And you still have your firearm.
If restricting the size of the clip wouldn't work because, well, you just never know when you will need those thirty bullets for your semi-automatic rifle, why not restrict the amount of ammunition you can have? I believe most boxes of ammunition come twenty to twenty five to a box. That is a standard size, I'm not talking buying in bulk. Just have a deposit on the bullets much like some states do for cans and bottles. Once you return all the spent casings, they don't go flying so far from the gun that you would not be able to find them, you can buy a new box of ammo. And use a database to track who has bought what ammunition. If you haven't returned the ammo you previously purchased, you cannot buy more. In order for that to happen, there would need to be a registration of gun ownership. If you are trying to buy ammo for a gun that you do not have registered under your own name, guess what, you aren't getting the bullets. Simple as that. If you have two rifles and three shotguns, all you need is five boxes. But good luck getting everyone on board with this whole registration thing.
In the end, you will not find a happy medium. It is just not possible because the left and the right are too far apart and neither one will compromise on their stance. Until they get together and hammer out something that people agree on, we will have this debate after every mass shooting. And that is the unfortunate truth.
05 January 2013
No Resolutions, No Disappointments
Last year, I made something resembling a resolution to read a half dozen books. I was successful in accomplishing this and I actually felt great about it. Mainly because they were books that were sitting on the shelf for quite a while. I didn't look at this like it was a resolution because reading books is something that I do regardless of the situation. Maybe I didn't think of it as a resolution because I know what a joke resolutions can be? Who knows.
I look at the typical resolutions (work out more, eat healthier, drink less, etc.) and can't help but think that large goals like that just set people up for disappointment. How do you track drinking less? Well, I did it by only buying a case of beer once a month a few years ago. It kinda worked. I didn't drink quite as much at home, but found myself going out to the bars with friends a little bit more. Setting such a broad goal for a resolution is the mistake. Thinking to yourself, 'I'm going to lose weight this year.' is great, but how much? Two pounds? Fifty pounds? How are you going to go about it? You have to get yourself a plan. Let's throw the number twenty five out there. Let's say you want to lose twenty five pounds this year. All you have to do is lose two pounds a month (and three pounds in there somewhere). All of a sudden, losing twenty five pounds doesn't sound like a ton if you look at it like that. Two pounds in one month? Child's play. All you would have to do is keep it off as the next month comes about.
I have never really trusted myself with making resolutions. It has to do with follow through. I don't always have great follow through. In 2010, I wanted to lose about ten pounds. I finally lost it in 2012. Whatever. It happened. In 2011, I wanted to start working out. It lasted for a few months. Reading the books last year was easy because I always do it, but I don't read quickly. So I made a point to read six of them. Setting a goal on something I already do made it easy. No disappointment if I didn't meet my goal. So resolutions should be made if you know you are going to meet the goal, not if you are going to reach the goal.
No better way to avoid disappointment than by not going out on a limb.
I look at the typical resolutions (work out more, eat healthier, drink less, etc.) and can't help but think that large goals like that just set people up for disappointment. How do you track drinking less? Well, I did it by only buying a case of beer once a month a few years ago. It kinda worked. I didn't drink quite as much at home, but found myself going out to the bars with friends a little bit more. Setting such a broad goal for a resolution is the mistake. Thinking to yourself, 'I'm going to lose weight this year.' is great, but how much? Two pounds? Fifty pounds? How are you going to go about it? You have to get yourself a plan. Let's throw the number twenty five out there. Let's say you want to lose twenty five pounds this year. All you have to do is lose two pounds a month (and three pounds in there somewhere). All of a sudden, losing twenty five pounds doesn't sound like a ton if you look at it like that. Two pounds in one month? Child's play. All you would have to do is keep it off as the next month comes about.
I have never really trusted myself with making resolutions. It has to do with follow through. I don't always have great follow through. In 2010, I wanted to lose about ten pounds. I finally lost it in 2012. Whatever. It happened. In 2011, I wanted to start working out. It lasted for a few months. Reading the books last year was easy because I always do it, but I don't read quickly. So I made a point to read six of them. Setting a goal on something I already do made it easy. No disappointment if I didn't meet my goal. So resolutions should be made if you know you are going to meet the goal, not if you are going to reach the goal.
No better way to avoid disappointment than by not going out on a limb.
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