Wednesday morning thoughts

I have a couple of random thoughts I have been collecting through out the day…

I was walking back to my desk at the Titanic yesterday when I randomly commented to a young lady clearly on her way home that I hoped the roads were in good shape. She commented there was enough time to get the roads clear and she liked the fact we were at the end of winter. If you live in the Midwest, I would like to let people that because it is the end of February it is NOT the end of winter. How our memory leaves when not remembering the small little ice storm last Easter weekend which I braved (with a 360 I think before indulging) because I needed a few pops and I am sure at one point was shaking my booty. We still have March which can drop some of the worst that Jack Frost and Mother Nature have to offer.

I went to buy one of my two cups of coffee for the week yesterday. I went for the cash – before I got the cash register – and had $1 on me. I looked through searching the pockets and came up with nothing. I knew I had money and must left it in a previous set of pockets. I did what I dread doing – withdrawal from an ATM that I knew would charge me a fee. I thought, “Hey $1 will not kill me.” I put my card in there and it would not process my request. UGHH!!! I despaired for a moment until I saw another ATM. I put my card in but it wanted to charge me $2.50 for the transaction. Fricken Fracken. I did it as my coffee was sitting in the store chillin like a villain. As I sat their drinking the coffee I immediately tried to figure out what I was going to go without due to this unforeseen expense. Food for a week? Ride my bike to work in place of driving? We will see.

I will post some more in the following days...

Oh...What to do with the rebate?

Well, as of a few weeks ago, it was announced many – NOT ALL - tax payers will receive a tax rebate. The amount would be dependent upon your income and marital situation along with some other small factors. If you are married with no children and make less than $150K, you will get back $1200. If you have any children you claim as dependents, you will receive $300/child.

For the sake of this entry, we will assume you are single, no children, and make less than $75K which would give you $600. Where I fall in to all this is not important to this blog though it would not take a genius reading this blog to figure out where I stand with some of the factors.

I will not advocate a choice in this entry because I don’t think it is my role to do such a thing. I will try my best to point out as many options as possible. These choices are in NO specific order as I state again I am not advocating any choice.

#1 – SPEND IT LIKE A ROCKSTAR – This is money that you were not supposed to have to begin with so you will never miss it. You may have something you have not been able to get for some time and this is the opportunity to go get it. You want those new golf clubs and this is the time to purchase them. You are ready for a nice shopping spree to purchase some shoes and other fashion accessories that will make you look ever better when going to work or shaking it on a Saturday night. You can buy some nice items and then buy a few rounds at the bar with your old and new friends. In the end, it would be a good time.

#2 – SENDING MONEY TO CREDIT CARD COMPANY PAYING DOWN DEBT – If right now you are carrying debt on your credit card which includes interest, you can make an additional payment helping you decrease that debt as well as decrease the amount of interest you are paying to the credit company. Shrinking or having no debt is always a good thing as the interest ends up eating away at your hard earned money. If you are paying interest, take a look at how much of your monthly payment consists is interest versus the principle – the money that actually went toward the item you bought with the plastic. Sending the rebate money right to the credit card company and following it up with charging more would make end up falling number #1 and taking away any benefit for this point.

#3 – DO NOTHING – Put the money in the bank for a rainy day. Every one is not invincible. Bad things happen and better to have the money on hand than try to scrape it out of the regular income. It makes life stressful and possible for you to breathe easier.

#4 – INVEST THE MONEY – There are different plans out there. You might have add some additional money – like a small stipend from your 2007 Income Tax returns to get a total of $1000. Please do not quote this blogger on that amount. As for possible scenarios, you might invest in a mutual fund. I am not going to suggest one specific mutual fund because that is a completely different blog site I would have to start in order to get into which choice is right. I will make a HUGE assumption – the mutual fund you choose makes 6% annually over 30 years. If you let the $1000 sit there for 30 years, you will have nearly $6000. In other words, it went up almost 500%.

#5 – GIVE MONEY TO CHARITY – It was not money you were supposed to get and there are plenty of worthy parties who would make the most with that money. You would be helping out the economy at the same time. It is always smart to look into charities to see how they work and figure out where their money would make the best impact.

#6 – SPEND MONEY ON “BORING” ITEMS – I don’t think I would need to create a list of those items. You have your car which needs those items you have been putting off done here soon. You can spend it on your living quarters whether it is appliances or some other necessities – like an IRON. I digress.

#7 – ATTEND CLASS – This can include different things. You can attend class which will develop professional skills going a long way in helping your career and lifting your pay scale. You can attend some fun class which may include exercise or learn more about a hobby. You may even meet a new friend.

I am not advocating any particular choice. I just wanted to make sure there were not any stones unturned when you got that check in your mailbox. I am sure there are more choices.

DISCLAIMER – I am not a financial advisor. I am not responsible for the results of your decisions that may be influenced from reading this posting.

Follow up to yesterday's post

I received the text this morning - "no chemistry". Know this much - Midwest Gent always feels better with closure than without it. His brain is on over drive going through the 1001 different scenarios and thoughts. Did I have a booger hanging from my nose? Was my hair f'd up? Did my breath smell? Was I momentarily cross-eyed? Did I develop a brief period of Tourette's?

All calmness ensued upon the text and I realize I am just human with a standard set of issues. Good times!

I swear I will get back to non-personal issues soon.

Next - What to do with the tax rebate?

What am I missing??

I am writing about one of the fine mysteries of our land – attraction. This blog is done by someone who has just got done doing a small stint into the online world with a well known service. I sent messages to twenty women who I felt fit what I was looking in a woman and based on the information they offered up felt like it would be a good match. He received exactly one response. That response was to say they appreciated the message but for one reason – a good one I will agree – it would probably was not a good idea to even get started. It was refreshing to know at least one woman respected the effort.

The remainder of the women did not even respond to the inquiry. This could be for no other reason than they are not members. You need to pay in order to read messages sent to you for this service.

All in all, I am trying to figure out loud what it takes to succeed in this dating world? Women say they want someone with a job- check. Women say they want someone with education – check…check. Women want someone who has their own transportation – check. Women want someone who does not want to play games – check (I don’t know how to play them and if I ended up playing them I would not realize it and I am sure there would be a good reason for my actions). I don’t think women would object to anyone who owns their own home- right? I could go on for a while here but I think you all are pretty smart. The bottom line – what am I missing here? I will openly admit that I am picky but not off the wall. It is not like I am asking someone to be a model and I eat fatty foods all the time.

Through another service I met up with a woman last week. I thought we had a good time and after one phone call and one text message there has been no response. I am beginning to think it may be wise for a camera crew to follow me so I can watch the instant replay. I don’t think I did anything wrong. Oh well enough from me. I may come back to these issues at a later point.

Sign me up for some Cougars and something strange

I will start with the something strange. Along the way, and I am not sure when it happened, I think I have lost my taste for alcohol. I don't drink liquor. I have tried but the taste to me is terrible. My drink is beer and lately it all tastes bad. Weird.

On a rather mundane day which happened to be one where people wear lots of red I saw this video on the internet. SIGN ME UP!!!

Letter to the Road Commission

Dear County Road Commission:

I thought I would write a letter to let you know that your neighbor is making you look very bad right now. This has been happening for years but this morning I thought I would write you.

I have been living at my location now for twenty months. Every snow fall has been no different. I start out thinking my drive will be a rough one because of the shapes of your roads.

Your roads have seen ZERO work done on them. I see no effort to get salt on them. I for sure have not seen evidence of a PLOW. The only removal taking place on that road has been the tire tracks from previous traffic. After I travel one-half, I head onto roads of your neighbor county. It is like NIGHT and DAY! There is NO SNOW other than a little from the curb. The roads are for all matter of purposes WET. Needless to say it leaves me confused as to how there can be such a dramatic difference.

What are your ROAD CREWS doing with in the twelve or more hour time span? Do you have five or six people on staff? Are you waiting for the snow to melt? HELLO!!

Sure I could go on with my list of questions for the road commission in general which ranks right up there with my long list of questions I have once I get to the pearly gates of Heaven but I think this letter will stop for now.

Regards:

MidwestGent

Essay on life

I find myself pontificating again...
Do you ever ask yourself from time to time, “Who am I?” If your answer is reciting the information from your drivers license, I might tell you to rethink the question. Someone told me when I asked them the question, “I like to shop, boat, be outside and be 100% in a relationship”. Please keep in mind this has nothing to do with the responses of women as I know similar responses have been made by men.

We live in a world where I know a good portion of people define themselves by the car they drive, the house they live in, the hand bags they tote, the designer clothes and shoes they don and anything else in their possession. We all go out on the weekend and have a good time doing whatever it is that makes us happy whether it be shopping, bar hopping, or work on some hobby. The funny thing is none of those things will be brought up at your funeral. Please be clear that I don’t want people to live like peasants but to keep things in perspective. Can leasing the $500/month car/SUV make you happy? Will the 4000 square foot home make you a better person than someone who has 2000 square feet of living space? Does having designer clothes garner respect from your peers? (Please note - by all means wear clothes and don't turn to loin cloths especially this time of year!)

In other cases people use their relationships – specifically romantic - to define themselves and their worth as individuals. It is amazing to me how many people I know that have the same perspective of the woman above who is “100% into her relationships”. There is nothing but their romantic relationship and their job. I don’t mean to be crass but for some I am sure the job is only there to feed themselves. Otherwise they would only have the relationship.

Think about your life as two interlocking circles as pictured on top. Compare that to a relationship and even while you are it think about in terms of your life even if you are not attached right now. The middle section is what you share in the relationship with the other person. Where the circles don’t intersect is you alone and the other circle is your partner. If you are single think about the other circle as your job. Make sure you as a person does not completely cover the other circle. Make sure in anything you do you don’t completely cover it. You have plenty to give and to have it all go to one thing in the end is probably not good.

A person must be continuing to expand their horizons to not only improve their relationships with themselves but with friends, family, or spouse. If new things are not being discovered then life in general will stall and your relationships will not continue to advance.

People should always take inventory in their lives. They should to see where they have been, where they are right now, and where they are traveling to based on their current actions. Even before they do that, they need to continue to ask themselves the tough question like “What is it I want?” and “What can I do?”

Personally speaking I try to “take stock” in my life from time to time. I am not going to sit here and tell you I am living a fully purposed life. I am living a slightly self absorbed life but will admit my life needs a slight change. I am looking into it and now just looking to see what opportunities are available to me.
As you contemplate this more than a mouth full of words, I give you the poem I put into graduation and wedding cards from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Success
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter

The following blog is kind of all over the place. IT may get edited later….

Well just writing about Super “Fat” Tuesday, I thought I would follow up with Ash Wednesday. If people don’t remember what you did on that day and you live in the same metropolitan area as me, you probably spent your time in the car watching traffic truly go at a snail pace unless you were on the highway where you drove with pure white knuckles. My guess is many people did not make the Holy Day of obligation due to the weather. Of course on the other side, many people would not have made it if conditions would have been ideal for young and old alike. As for me, I will tell you I have been a Catholic all my life and attend mass pretty consistently. Despite that, I have NEVER been to church on Ash Wednesday. I am not sure why other than plenty of things got in the way of doing so and… oh well life goes on. I do make it to church about every other week.

For those who do not know, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent which is the period before Easter Sunday when Christians believe Jesus Christ rises from the dead. Most people use Lent to give up something or do something extra. Lent to Catholics is kind of like New Year’s resolutions but seems to have slightly more staying power. I have done a myriad of things for Lent. The past year or two, I have no done anything because I have become disenfranchised with the local Archdiocese. While most people do not attend church because they disagree with the teachings and standards, this was not my issue. It had to with some decisions that had taken place. I will leave it at that for right now. That is another ten blogs by itself. Do I agree with everything the Roman Catholic Church preaches to their people? Let’s put it this way – I don’t believe it is in my genes to agree with any person or organization 100%. Does the Catholic Church have its flaws? Absolutely! Do churches in general make me scratch your head? Sure – especially the ones that when you drive by they look like auto assembly plants more than churches due to their size. I have zero desire to join any religious place that would probably require some of your direct deposit to be sent to them. I may one day get started on non-denominational churches but that will be for another time.

I am not sure what I am getting at in this entry. I do know eventually I want to get back to going full time. I do know as I get older it will be important that if I end up getting married and having a family, I would like my children to be raised in the Catholic Church or something along those lines. I think in the end – like anything in this world – you will get what you want out of things if you put the time in and this is no different with church.

OF course the question I am sure those who are “Spiritual but not Religious” would argue that you don’t need to go to church to be close to God. I do agree with that but will tell you the reason to go to church is the ability to share your faith with other people. That in the end is the principle reason I hope to get my family involved because religion is so much easier to understand when you have to share with other people.

I guess the blog is coming kind of full circle. I will be using time during Lent to do some thinking. In the end the one conclusion I want to leave with is how to best share with people. Maybe it is in the church and maybe it is not but regardless some sharing needs to begin from here on out.

Joe must GO!! Joe must GO!!

This week, I was given the opportunity to see this team play at their facility. I go to a fair amount of events but I have not seen this team live in sometime. Now before you continue reading this, I do want to tell you I had a very good time and do feel great I got the opportunity especially since it was with in my budget - $0. Ok - I feel like I can go on with my entry here with people not accusing me of being a whiner.

My thoughts during the game as well as the next day were the place is a dump. I could hardly move in the place with concourse being about the width of a sewing needle. If that was not enough, I went to sit down in my seat and found it to be…very uncomfortable. I felt smushed in my seat and for sure stood up from time to time just to stretch. Sure it did not help I had my winter coat with me, but that should not be a big deal. Now know I am a pretty average sized guy. I am not overweight, nor am I “tall” or “short”. Now would I feel the same way if it was an older arena or like Wrigley or Fenway? Probably not because you are where history takes place but this place is new in comparison and just seems just as dilapidated as arenas that have been around 3 times as long.

I have heard plenty of talk of getting a new place but I think it needs to change from talk to action in a city well known for texting right now. (There is that Action versus talk reference again)

Super Fat Tuesday

Well, MG has been super busy all week and I have not had a chance to pen any of this thoughts. The following is a political one which I don't usually get comments on but I for sure like writing them. I hope that does not come across as soliciting for comments.

With all the talk going into Super “Fat” Tuesday, it ended up being anticlimactic since nothing real concrete came out of it. It was not until a few days later that Mitt Romney “suspended” his bid for the Republican nomination. Romney is a solid candidate but lacks the connection with the “real people”. He was much more into numbers and looking at running the country as a consultant rather than a leader of the people. Say what you will about the current Bush but he does a decent job of talking to the people leaving them with the feeling he genuinely understands what they are thinking these days. He certainly does not have the smoothness of Clinton. The point is Romney would go along way to learn something from the last two Presidents.

Of course the other thing is make sure that his initiatives are WAY more in line with the party he belongs to right now. When you see his effort for state wide health care in Massachusetts, it raises a series of flags to any member of the Republican Party, let alone those fiscally conservative ones. Whether it be the cost over runs with the process hardly even getting started or the reality that mandated health care will not work in the US let alone if done in each state. It is SO NON-Republican to force people to purchase health care when they have plenty of reason not to like...ummmm … say their right to choose. In other words, I will be happy when health care is no longer a topic. I have yet to see any solution that is remotely close to fixing the root of the problem. I will delve into the solution at a later point.

Know this much about Romney - the fact he was a Mormon had zero to do with the fact that he will not be getting the Republican nod. It came down to what he could offer the US in the position of President.

With Romney out, that means it is a foregone conclusion that McCain will represent the Republicans in the 2008 election. Sure Huckabee will hang out and spend more money but he is not much more than Barry Goldwater. He may win another state or two but he will for sure not enough delegates to overcome McCain.

Unfortunately for the Democrats there is not much to say with their side following Tuesday. It still seems like a dead heat between Obama and Hillary. The funny thing is one might ask whether it is Hillary that Obama is up against or both Bill and Hillary. That leads the next question – does it hurt or help Hillary the “interferences” from Bill? One would have to find out if Bill is as popular with the voting public as he used to be. Despite what you are lead to believe that he was a popular president it does bear repeating that both times he won the vote, he collected less than 50% of the vote. In other words less than fifty percent the voting public wanted him in office both in 1992 and 1996. It would be interesting to delve into the numbers more and try to get a clear reading what the country as a whole thinks about Bill and the Clintons as a whole. Of course, would this tell us how to measure the support for Obama? I am NOT that much of a number person. One thing is for sure – I look forward to seeing what will happen between these two as each will present a good challenger to McCain.

One last thing that probably did take place this week with McCain becoming the Republican candidate – there be no run for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His base would be drawing from McCain’s group making it very difficult to get a majority of the vote sin the 2008 election. Bloomberg’s chance with his political views would have a chance to win if Huckabee would have got the nod.

Things are not always what they seem

It has occurred to me that not only myself but many people in this world including a slew of retail management has made a grave error. That error is assuming that being a cashier is an easy task that does not deserve high pay nor does it take much mental capacity to perform on a daily basis.
This has all became pretty clear to me as a single man who goes through a lot of self check outs because I don’t buy a lot for myself despite not eating out a lot. It is absolutely brutal to see the brain cells that are being burned while people are perplexed with the act of scanning, and then placing their item in the bag. It appears to be a real mind bender when they are presented with produce which does not have a bar code. Something leads me to believe they may not even know the produce they are buying at that time.

A person blessed with the patience of a saint is the cashier who is responsible for answering the different questions of at least four stations. How tired is that person when they are done with their shift? People asking questions non stop like “What is this?” and “Why will this not scan?” or “Can you help me out because it will not let me scan this item?” You wonder if the cashier gets battle wages.
I would not think you would have to be a member of MENSA to be able to go through the self check out line but maybe that is not the case.

The lesson is simple – don’t evaluate someone’s job until you have been in their shoes because you may find out it ranks right up there with doing the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle.

Post Super Bowl weekend

Random points from the weekend –

I had an alcohol free Saturday even though I was healthy. That was weird. I am really not sure why I did it other than I had nothing to do – the first Saturday in 2008. Maybe it was because today was the Super Bowl but even then nothing real crazy took place. Maybe I am getting old as I came across the dreaded… gray hair. By writing this entry I will tell you I did survive an alcohol free Saturday and maybe I will throw all caution to the wind and have another one some time soon… or maybe I am getting ahead of myself.

I went to the mall Saturday to see if anything good was on sale. I went to an "upscale" mall because I thought they had a store where I purchase a good portion of my clothes and it was closest to where I live right now. The funny thing is I discovered my preferred department store where I find stuff is not at the "upscale" mall. LOL! Needless to say my shopping prowess leaves a bit to be desired but I continue. I did go to one department store that sponsors the New York Thanksgiving Parade. I will tell you that I don't have what it takes to be a metrosexual. I went in and the store was split into brand names. I am sure people would correct me and say it was split into "collections". Here I am just looking to see what is out there and I feel like I need a combination lock to figure out where the things are that I would like to buy. On top of everything I find it amazing what people are choosing to wear today. Men are PURPOSELY buying very wrinkled and not well made clothing. Am I missing something? The other thing that makes me chuckle is what people are spending on clothes? I saw some shirts for a $100. What comes with those shirts? Anyways, after spending some time trying to figure it out, I discovered I was not cut for it and need to probably leave. My head was spinning, I felt dehydrated and I knew I needed to go back to location where I usually go to the department store. While I walked out, I discovered the $100 shirt is midrange. I parked my car where I had to walk through another department store that must be located between fourth and sixth avenue. I saw I could get a tie for $250. If I got some expensive pants I could walk around in a mortgage payment. Anyways I will get back to my usual department store next weekend when I have gathered strength.

(Editor note - Please know the author is not cheap or low class and just poking fun at some of the luxuries in this world.)

For the purpose of full disclosure, I was going to blog before today’s game but ran out of time. I would have told you to take the points (Translation – Giants would have kept the margin of the Patriots winning under fourteen points). On the other side, I would tell you to bet that total for today’s game would have been – I am guessing what the Las Vegas total was – 45 points. That you would have lost. All in all, the lesson is simple – don’t wager your money.

As for commercials, I did not see one that would be considered great though putting jumper cables on one’s nipples makes you wonder about society. Yikes…

Media thoughts

Does anyone else find the local news coverage to be totally useless in the snowy weather. I mean really useless. I heard some reporter this morning asking the county road guy “Is the county alright on their supply of salt or do you think the county will run out?” I think the guy from the county was snickering at the question. Does anyone give you know what in a warm place about the how much salt the county has on hand? It is freakin salt – if they run out they will go get more.

This is of course in the middle of wall to wall coverage of the “storm” that ended up being nothing. Can someone tell me the reasons showing the local news channels choose to fill up their air time with reporters who have nothing to report on except a standard snowfall instead of the national shows? I live in the Midwest where it snows at least five times year so it is common in my mind. We see it EVERY YEAR without fail. Every year it comes around like hot days in summer, the Christmas shopping season and the occasional blue sky. Why is the drawn out, over dramatic coverage necessary? When I could be watching national coverage of that crazy Brittney?

Speaking of Brittney, it brings me to ask the question – is there anymore useless of a job – even more than the weather man – that these paparazzi people? Let’s face it - there are different groups of people you would like to go up to and simply tell them that they are complete losers. Their life has zero meaning and they should smell the fresh air. I think one of the leading group of public people would be the paparazzi. They sit and wait to take pictures of well known people. Actually that is not representative – they get in the faces of famous people and obstruct their lives so they can get a mug at every turn. Do any of the paparazzi realize we – Jane and Joe Public - know what celebrities look like? We don’t need minute by minute tracking of every celebrities waking moments. For those who are out there that need that minute by minute coverage I would encourage you to reach out and give someone else your time. NOW I am not damning anyone who reads celebrity mags or whatever other media but it just seems it is over the top and more. What is going on in the heads of these paparazzi? What made them want to get into the business? Do they have families? Do they have reasons to live? Do they have any admirable qualities? How do they rationalize what they do day in and day out? How would they like their lives under such scrutiny – of course more than what I am laying down on them right now?