Archive for February 2008
20 Things…
Here is a nice little list of things that things that many people hear, but ignore. Including myself. I am currently working on at least 3 of them right now.
- How to control impulse spending. If there’s anything that got me in trouble financially, it’s impulse spending. Buying clothes when I don’t need them. Buying gadgets because I gotta have them. Ordering stuff online because it’s so easy. Buying that new shiny SUV because … well, because it was going to help me with women. I’m not proud of any of that. I’ve learned to control my impulses, at least a little better. Now, I give myself some time to breathe. I think over my purchases, see if I’ve got the money, think about whether it’s a need or a want. That would have been a useful tool 15 years ago.
- You gotta stay active. I was in track, cross country and basketball in high school, but once I started college, the running and basketball began to slowly fade away. Not right away — I played pick-up basketball for years after high school. But even that went away, until I became sedentary. Playing with my kids outdoors winded me. And I began to get fat. I’ve reversed that trend, and am very active now, but I’m still trying to burn the fat I gained in those inactive years.
- How to plan finances. I always knew that I was supposed to budget and track my spending, when I became an adult. I just was too lazy to do it. And I didn’t have a good idea of how to actually do it. Now, I’ve learned how to plan, and how to stick to that plan. Sure, I deviate from my plan, but I’ve learned how to handle that too. Maybe that’s not a skill you can learn from book reading. You just gotta practice. Well, I hope to teach it to my children before they go out on their own.
- Junk food will come back to bite you in the butt. Yeah, it wasn’t just the sedentary lifestyle that got me fat. It was all the damn junk food too. I would eat pizza and burgers and Twinkies and sugar cereal and desserts and donuts and … well, you get the picture. As someone used to being able to eat whatever I wanted, it never seemed like it would be a problem. Bad health was something to worry about when you got old. Well, my jeans began to get way too tight, and to my horror, I climbed several pants sizes and developed a gut that only now is going away. I wish someone had shown me an “after” picture when I was young and downing the Big Gulp sodas.
- Smoking is just dumb. I didn’t start smoking until I was well into my adult years. I won’t go into why I started, but it didn’t seem like a problem, because I knew I could quit anytime I wanted. Or I thought I could, at least, until several years later I gave it a go and couldn’t do it. Five failed quits later and I realized with horror that my addiction was stronger than I was. Sure, I eventually beat the habit (quit date: Nov. 18, 2005) but it took a piece of my soul to do it.
20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life | Zen Habits
Wine, Wii and a haircut…
It was a busy weekend. Friday night=date night. Saturday was the Wine and Wii party:
We all had a good time. Wario: Smooth Moves was the life of the party. I highly suggest playing it with 8 or so friends.
Sunday was Super Sunday and I decided to cut my hair and Molly decided to try and dye hers red:
I immediatly shaved my head after that last picture.
Blogged with Flock
on the inside…
So starting Monday I will have a new position and job title at Jet Specialty. From now on I will be purchasing manager, head of purchasing, buyer, big money spender whatever you want to call it. Basically I will be the one who orders all the parts and materials from our vendors. At any given point I will be responsible for maintaining inventory on over $1 million in parts. Fun huh? Plus I get to move inside and I actually have my own office. For now. Goodbye heavy lifting and cut hands . Hello carpal tunnel syndrome.
Here are some pics of my office. Click for biggie. Look I have a window!
Well thats fun. Time to get ready for the Wine and Wii party. I’ll probably have some pictures of that that I’ll try and get up here.










