The Northwoods Is No Place For A Pink Flamingo
work
Summertime, and the living is easy….
Jun 19th
For those who don’t have to work anyhow.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update on this blog. Life is crazy for me right now. Work, Work, Work, sleep, sleep, sleep. It’s a redundant cycle that won’t end until late August it seems. All things considered, this is turning out to be a pretty decent summer. The weather has been SO much better than last year, temperatures have remained fairly consistent in the upper 70′s to 80′s. Right where it should be. The boat is in the water at the cottage and the folks are keeping very busy building fences, making cookies, and keeping up with the neighbors (as much as they can stand it anyhow). Looks like sister Sarah and nephew Christopher are going to be making a trip up to the northwoods as soon as this next week. Sounds like Sarah might need a break even before their road trip in August. Looking forward to seeing them, especially Christopher. I’ve only seen pictures since last Christmas, I’m sure he’s growing fast and will eventually be in shock to discover a new sibling draining some of the attention away from him. First born’s tend to get the best and the worst of things. They are of course always FIRST, but the loss of devoted attention when a new family member arrives is a big step for any child to deal with. Most do just fine and I’m sure Christopher will too. He’s got great parents.
Things have been fairly busy on the national news front lately. Of course the BP oil spill is the consuming story. It has been interesting to follow things as they have developed. It sickens me that our government as well as BP seem to think that an escrow account with 20 billion dollars in it is going to help solve this massive environmental disaster. It doesn’t even matter any more when they eventually cap the flow of oil out of the hole in the ocean floor. The damage has already been done. Millions of gallons of oil and thousands of tons of methane now displacing what once was crystal clear waters in the Gulf will be killing us slowly for decades. News came out today that oil and gas is now seeping up through the ocean floor near the well which is presenting another issue. Could it be creating a sink hole due to pressure? Nobody knows but if that is occurring, the worst of this disaster is not even close to being over yet. We’ll see what happens.
In other news, the Prop 8 trial held closing arguments this past Wednesday. Once again, proponents of the ban on gay marriage in California sputtered and shouted but in the end produced absolutely NO evidence to support their position. This is a hugely significant case that will eventually make it to the supreme court. A decision is expected in a few weeks and then it’s off to the appeals process. I don’t have the energy to recap the whole thing, if you want to know about it more than visit the Prop 8 Trial Tracker web site for a full re-cap of all the arguments. It really has been a pleasure watching one of the most successful lawyers in this country defend my right to exist and it amazes me that in a courtroom, where politics is NOT the key element, all those who are so intent on upholding discrimination against the GLBT community simply fall flat on their faces. It’s been amazing to watch.
I have been able to keep up a little bit on my photography. I’ve uploaded a few new galleries to leelanauphotography.com since my last entry. Please be sure to check them out. I’m looking forward to eventually having some time off this summer to really do some exploring with my camera, perhaps in places I’ve not been. So, until my next entry which might be tomorrow, or several weeks from now, enjoy this picture of early summer in Leelanau.
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Waiting
May 22nd
Got an email from my Realtor tonight telling me that the owners of the house I want to buy have dropped their price another $2000 as of this morning. It’s killing me because I have to wait until at least June 7 before I can run my credit report again which will then indicate whether or not I can obtain a mortgage. I’m stressing about it because it’s a great little house that would be perfect for me, in a great location very close to work and no further from the folks than I am right now. It’s a 2 story (something hard to find up here in the northwoods) Colonial styled but contemporary home on a corner lot in a nice area and it’s just the right size for me and Gavin the Wonder Dog. It’s been on the market now for 89 days and has not sold yet although at this point I am starting to ask myself why but that might be beside the point. My Realtor continues to tell me they are very motivated, the short of it is, I want this house but I have about 3 weeks yet before I will know for sure if I can get a mortgage for it and I have made the decision not to pursue anything until I have a guarantee on financing, something I still realize may not be possible at this time. Stay tuned, you can be sure I’ll be writing about it here if I end up buying a house this summer.
On that note, with this pursuit of home ownership, I have in many ways now officially committed myself to living in this area for at least the next 5 years or more. This of course makes the parents happy but at the same time they are not necessarily the reason I’ve chosen to stay up here. Regardless of all the bitching I do about the people around here, I do actually like this part of Michigan. It has done amazing things for my photography skills and I like the fact that pretty much my entire extended family lives up here even though I don’t get to see them all that often. I’m not the type of person that just randomly goes out and makes friends with people and knowing that, it’s important to me to have family near me so that I don’t cocoon myself which I would be very prone to doing if I lived in a city where I did not know anyone. That’s not saying I don’t have friends, but it is saying that I place more emphasis on my immediate and extended family than I do many of the other random people that I know. I deal with the public 50 hours a week which is more than many people have to deal with people in a month. It’s nice to be able to go to my folks house and not be forced to make small talk about stupid shit. I can have quality conversations when I feel like it. So, even though my boss at work has started pushing me again to promote with Menards and move into store level management, at least for the next 5 years I’ll be working on my management skills here in Traverse City. I refuse to buy a house and not live in at least long enough to make a little money when I sell it. Lord knows, I’ll need a profit if or when I decide to take that next step at work which I think can happen any time I want it to. It’s a nice feeling knowing that you have a steady job with very little chance of loosing it unless I fuck up in a big way and I’m just not the type of person to do that anymore. I’ve become old and careful before my time and it’s paying off.
So tonight is Saturday night and I’m home enjoying a couple of cold beers and a little internet time before I head off again to work tomorrow. It’s going to be in the upper 80′s for most of this week which means it’s going to be CRAZY busy at work. Tuesday is my day off and it promises to be the hottest day of the week. It’s of course the day I am acquiring new furniture from the relatives but oh well, free shit is worth a little sweat.
Anyhow, just a short update, you know in the summer it’s very hard to find time to write or post things. Most of you reading this follow me on Facebook anyhow and thats about all I have time for right now. I’ll leave you tonight with a recent picture taken this past week.
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I’ve Had It
Apr 28th
Ok, I know I rant and holler and bitch and whatever else all the time about Charter, my Internet provider and yet I continue to use them. Well, I’ve finally had it with them. I won’t say where I’m getting the connection right now to write this blog post but it’s not coming from Charter, all I’ll say is there are some pretty dumb ass people living around me. So, likely this next Tuesday I will be making phone calls to AT&T, Verizon, and any other DSL service provider I can locate in town to see what kind of deals I can get for Internet. Any way I look at it, the new service I find will mean shittier speeds meaning I won’t be able to watch as much video in as high a quality, and I won’t be able to download things as fast, I won’t be able to stream music as flawlessly and it will just all around suck donkey balls. The cable TV is going away entirely at this point, perhaps if I decide that I really do need TV in the future I will get satellite service. The folks down at the Charter office are going to get an ear full from me, I’ll say my peace and just be done with them forever. I suppose if living up here means being able to sit on a boat in the summer, it also means putting up with the fact that this town is not set up for geeks like me who actually understand how to utilize technology to our advantage rather than just putz around looking at porn and reading blogs. It’s no wonder at all to me why there are no significant tech companies located in Northern Michigan. They would simply collapse given the lack of understanding people have about the Internet and how it works and how it could work SOOOOOOO much better up here than it actually does. Charter has this region by the balls and they are not going to let go for any reason. My best choice is to rid myself of their horrendous services before it just drives me fucking nuts.
To top off my day today, I came home and received a summons for Jury Duty. This is just the qualification questionnaire at this point so I’ve not actually been selected but shit, this could not be a worse time to have to do that. I am buried up to my eyes at work right now and my team is a mess mainly because of their inability to live up to my standards. I’m pissed off at most of them right now for various reasons and they know it which makes working with them rather tense at times. All I want them to do is do their fucking jobs. I want them to work the hours I schedule them, sell things to people when there are people there to sell to, and put stock away when there are no customers. The job could not be simpler. I can’t leave them for a single day without walking back into a disaster. Thank GOD it’s just an internal one and they are so far not pissing off customers. The sad thing is, most of them are so comfortable in their positions that they don’t understand they can be replaced at the drop of a hat….for that matter so can I. 300 applications a week STILL coming in from people looking for a job. It’s unbelievable how big the prospective employee pool is at this point but yet, those who are applying? Out of 300, maybe 5 are potential candidates AT BEST. When you aren’t even qualified to work as a stocker in a big box store there is a problem not only with the economy but with the entire job pool. I digress. So lets all hope I don’t get called to sit on a jury right now. I really just don’t have the time or the patience to put my life on hold in order to determine someone else’s fate.
I have been able to do a little photography lately. So click on over to leelanauphotography.com and take a look at the gallery. I’ve been adding to it recently.
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Spring Time
Apr 3rd
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done an update via the old blog here. This is my busy season at work and I’ve been swamped, putting in about 50 hours a week or so right now. The 12 hour days are taking a toll on my legs but I’ll only need to do this for a couple months and then it will slow down again and settle into summer.
So, tomorrow is the day of reckoning for Jesus Christ and the Easter Bunny. I’ll be headed out to the lake to have dinner with the folks and hopefully Gavin the wonder Dog will have a chance to run for a while. It has been raining all day today so he’s been stuck inside…not that he would not go out in the rain but because the smell of wet dog is heinous. It looks like the family is finally set up on Skype and everyone finally has it installed and working. If you are not a user, you should try it. You’ll need a web cam and some basic knowledge of how to install software. That’s about it. One of these days I’ll get to have a conversation with nephew Christopher although I suspect he has little interest right now.
So, aside from work and warmer weather lately, I’ve not nothing much else to say! I’ve put a few new galleries on my web site, you can check them out by clicking HERE. This was taken using my new camera.
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Lowered Expectations
Feb 19th
If there is one thing that I can tell you first hand it’s that in retail when it comes to employees, you tend to get what you pay for. Generally speaking, if you have made it into management (either through schooling, or through several years of climbing the ladder and kissing ass), you are typically paid pretty well for the job that you perform. 98% of my co-workers either have degrees, or they have 2-4 years of a collage education, all are high school graduates.
In some areas of the country, well I won’t even continue. Just read the article.
I’d rather make myself rich working for myself but for now at least I’m content making a living working for someone else. It happens to be a big box, but in all, I am currently making more money than I would be had I actually finished school and received that education degree. I have a LOT less stress and do a LOT less work too (that is of course a matter of opinion to some). I’m happy having made a decision to work for a company that has provided me with advancement opportunities that do not depend on education but rather on performance. Many people won’t ever be as lucky as me and sadly, because of the job market that exists, many people are having to lower their expectations of what they can accomplish at least in the short term. It saddens me that Walmart is trying to capitalize on a huge problem however if those without work are able to put their ego aside and accept a job with an income (any income), Walmart (and many other Big Box stores) can offer a steady income and the potential for growth. Never in my life did I ever think I would be a person to promote a career in sales, especially retail sales, but just as an example, when I moved up to TC with Jirar 5 years ago, I had quit my job, I had no savings, and no prospect of a job. Jirar had a job but it was no way, no how, going to support both of us for any length of time. My economy sucked in much the same way everyone else’s did with a poor job market and slim opportunities. It’s a matter of motivation and perspective. Within a month of moving up here I had a part time job for minimum wage, within another 3 weeks I found a second job. Within 2 months I was part time at Menards, within 6 months I was full time. Within 1 year I was an assistant manager, within 1 1/2 years I was the department manager. I went from an income of less than $100 a week to a $45K+ a year carer because I was willing to put my ego aside and take a job I didn’t think I would like because I needed an income, ANY income. I’d do it again too if I had to, and yes, I would work at McDonald’s flipping burgers if that was the difference between having a job and sitting around doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself all day. Yes, the job market is bad right now but it would not be so bad if people would give up the “i’ll never do that” attitude and actually took a step to better themselves. ANY income is better than none at all.
On a sad related note, we currently have a “begger’ loitering in our parking lot. He sits out by the curb all day, every day with a sign asking for money to help pay for a surgery for his daughter. A sad story indeed but worse, he’s been asked why he’s not yet come into the store and asked for a job application (he’s been out there nearly 2 months now). We are in fact hiring people. He needs the money and clearly he can commit himself to something since he’s been sitting on a bucket with a sign now for 2 months. His response? He won’t work retail because he’s got an education (spoken with a snotty condescending tone of voice). Clearly that education is doing him a world of good sitting out there on the corner, in the snow, in the cold. His problem? He has too much of an ego, he’s too good to work for a company that takes in billions of dollars a year in profits and is the #1 Home Improvement center choice by consumers in the Midwest. He won’t “lower” himself by doing work he think’s is beneath him. Sadly, he’d be making more money with a job than he’ll ever get begging in our parking lot. A good entrepreneur knows 1 thing. Location, Location, Location. Sorry buddy, our parking lot is never going to do it do you. He ought to know better than to beg from the locals. It’s the fudgies who have the money up here and they are all vacationing in sunny warm places right now.
So now, after that rather depressing post, I’ve got the weekend off from work and I think I may take a drive up to Northport this weekend with the dog and take some pictures. I’ll have to see how the weather is. Hope you are all doing well, sorry I’ve not written much. I’ve been just too busy and too tired and it’s only going to get more crazy as we head towards spring.
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Mid-Winter Blues
Feb 7th
Finally, I’ve had a reasonably relaxing weekend. Of course tomorrow I head back in to hell for what will likely turn into a 6 day work week. We begin a major re-set in my department tomorrow morning, there is a ton of work to be done and only 1 week to do it. I’m going to have to be a cheerleader most of the week and that is indeed exhausting work.
Today I packed up the dog and headed out to the lake. The sun has been out for the past few days, something exceedingly rare this time of year and I figured I would take advantage of it today by bringing my camera along. I ended up going down to a beach I had not been to in quite some time. It was further south than I usually go but still on Good Harbor Bay, just down the road further. It was quite nice. There were a few people out today but because of the Super Bowl and my complete lack of interest in sports, it was pretty quiet overall. Gavin was able to run around off the leash for a while and I spent some time trying to capture a few good pictures. I’ve uploaded a new gallery at leelanauphotography.com, just click the picture below to check it out.
The folks are off to Iowa for about 6 weeks tomorrow morning. They’ve decided to spend some time away from here this winter since it’s easy to get really stir crazy this time of year. We still have a good 3 months of shitty weather before spring starts to hit, I really hate this time of year up here. Luckily, my job keeps me quite busy so it’s hard for me to care much. Mom and Dad will be staying with Sarah, Brian and Christopher and I’ll be interested to hear how that all works out. I love my folks to death but given the choice, I would not choose to have them live with me for any extended amount of time. I’m pretty sure my folks would say the same about me. Our family dynamics are a bit much to tolerate day in and day out. And, at my age, and their age, that’s the way it should be. Christopher will be spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa for 6 weeks, and, that’s the way THAT should be too! He’s a lucky kid, even if the only words he can say are “doggie” and “LOOK”. We’ll see if Grandpa can teach him a few words during his stay.
I have made a new purchase since my last entry in this blog. Last week, I broke down and bought a Wii so that I too could join the ranks of 30 something’s who are sick of being out of shape but who don’t want to join a gym. I have always enjoyed video games even though I suck at them and I like the concept of being more involved in them rather than just sitting on a couch with a controller. The Wii promises to at least get me off my ass for a little bit each day. Eventually I’ll buy the Wii balance board and Wii Fit Plus game so that I can actually start getting in shape. Sadly, they are sold out nearly all over the country and it’s going to be several weeks before they get back in stock. Oh well, I’ll be busy enough at work.
Bonus time at work is fast approaching. Profit Sharing checks are handed out Feb. 16th and my Managers bonus is due in mid March. Crazy thing about my job is that I make more in the first 3 months of the year than I do the next 8 months of regular work just because of bonuses. It’s nice to get big fat checks but it’s also dangerous because it’s easy to just go out and spend it. If I had this job at any other time in my life, I’d be broke all the time but fortunately I’ve learned how to manage my money in much healthier ways so I’ll be able to save what is necessary but I’ll also be able to go out and get a few toys to play with. This year I am buying a keyboard and I’ll write more about that when the time comes. So for now, enjoy the new gallery.
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Yearly Equality Index
Jan 25th
Every year the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) publishes an index of the best and worst companies to work for in the United States based on their level of of equity towards the GLBT population. Factors included in the ranking include whether or not the company has any anti-discrimination policies protecting GLBT employees, whether or not said companies offer health benefits to partners of GLBT employees, Corporate structure and political activism by said companies (what they support politically through monetary donations etc.) and the overall perception of GLBT employees of their employers. There are many other items that go into the rank, you can find them all here. I thought you might be interested in seeing how my company ranks as well as a visual of the worst employers in the country for GLBT people.
Keep in mind the rank is on a scale of 1 -100. 1 being the worst, 100 being the best.
In 2008 (the most recent year published) Menards Ranked 43 – From my perspective this is pretty accurate. Menards is a pretty quiet company when it comes to politics. Their primary objective is to make money, end of discussion. That said, they do have anti-discrimination policies and anti-harassment policies that well exceed other companies I’ve worked for in my lifetime. It is nearly impossible to have a successful retail business and not be somewhat tolerant and supportive of diversity. Menards does not go out of it’s way but they do not actively contribute to a hostile climate for it’s GLBT employees.
Below is a list of the bottom of the barrel. You’ll notice that Meijer (a company that I worked for several years ago and the company that Jirar worked for) received only a score of 20. 2 of the worst 10 companies in the country are Michigan based. Michigan isn’t all bad, in the top 20 where companies such as the big automakers (GM, Ford), and Dow Chemical ranked with in impressive 100 score. You can say what you like about HRC (they are a politically movtied and very active group) however their rankings do have significant importance, particularly to those companies that value the contributions of their GLBT employees. Most of the Fortune 500 companies in this country far exceed private companies when it comes to fairness, all Fortune 500 companies exceed our Federal government when it comes to fairness and equality.
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Holy Day From Hell Batman!
Jan 22nd
I have a problem. I like to think that most of the time I have the mindset of someone in their mid to late 20′s. You know what I’m talking about….I’m an invincible jackass, I can do anything sort of thing. Trouble is, when you are in your mid 30′s your body has unique ways of sharing with you the fact that you are most defiantly not younger than you really are. I had one of those days today.
Start with the fact that I got about 4 hours of sleep last night for no apparent reason, about 7:30 this morning, while putting up a new price sign at work, I managed to put all my weight back down on one foot and my body said FUCK YOU and fell out from under me! One big problem that I have at work is that I am on my feet all day long (10-12 hours at a time) and on hard concrete floors. Over the past week or so I’ve been having some mild discomfort in my lower legs which is something that is not terribly unusual for me considering what I do and that I tend to work about 50 hours a week. Well, today my leg just decided to give up on me and I pulled the hell out of my lower calf muscle. The timing could not have been worse.
Right about that time and after limping around the store trying to get my job done whilst being the laughing stock of my peers for being gimpy, it was announced that the head office was on the way to the store and we were going to get a surprise inventory audit. My day just got a LOT longer. Because I’m the manager, I have to be there, but because of my leg, I’m in a LOT of pain. Well, be a man dumbass….so I was (like a dumbass) and stuck it out for the next 4 hours waiting for my turn to be audited. Luckily I passed and the bonus I get from this audit will pay for the bullshit that happened next in my day.
As soon as my audit was over, I left work. I was given multiple recommendations for what to do about my leg (heat it, ice it, use Epsom salts…), I decided that a doctor might be better equipped to diagnose the problem and recommend appropriate treatment. So, it was off to Urgent Care. After waiting only 45 minutes (must have been a record for an Urgent Care facility), I was able to see a doctor. She was friendly, took my history, felt me up (my leg that is) and recommended that I go get an ultra-sound to make sure it was not a blood clot. Because this injury did not happen all at once in one fell swoop but sort of crept up and then exploded, she was worried that perhaps there was a bigger issue at play here. So off I went then over to the hospital to see the Radiologists. I’m not a big fan of radiologists, not because they are not nice people but because my experience with them in the past has resulted in having to drink nasty fluids. Not so much for an ultra-sound. I was in and out in 20 minutes and (because of my obvious limp and pain) I got to ride around the hospital in wheelchair so I didn’t have to walk. Well, no blood clots. My veins are just fine. I just have a really badly pulled muscle. So after that it was back to Urgent Care and the doctor went over some exercises that I could do. She offered me drugs, I declined and informed her that I could get by on Ibuprofen (also acceptable in her book). I’ve got this thing about taking pain drugs. Certainly there are times when they are needed but there are many undesirable things that can come out of taking them, one of them being dependence and I really don’t want to even go there. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and the less medication I have to take the better. So all this consumed about 4 hours of my afternoon.
I was going to write a bit about the Prop 8 trial but at this point I’m tired, still in a bit of pain, and really just looking forward to going to bed and sleeping. I don’t have to do anything tomorrow and I really don’t think I’m going to.
SO, those of you reading this who like to think you are younger than you actually are, DON’T BELIEVE WHAT YOUR HEAD TELLS YOU. Your body is quite a bit meaner than your head and will have no problems seeking revenge on your ass.
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The Season for…
Dec 3rd
Well, I made it through the crazy Black Friday madness at work and things are settling down now for the Christmas Holiday. I spent my day off today out at the lake decorating the parents Christmas Tree and enjoying some meatloaf. Really Mom, you ought to make that more often. It was good and it doesn’t appear to have taken any more effort than a frozen Lasagna. I’m preparing now to head off for the annual trip to Eau Clair Wisconsin for my company’s yearly training seminars. I’ve always got mixed feelings about these things. On the one hand, I am thankful that for a huge company they still take the time to make sure their managers know about the products they are selling. On the other hand, it’s all crammed into a 2 day period consisting of 16 hour days each day. By the end of it I am whipped and as the years go on, I don’t come out knowing anything that new or exciting. Oh well, it’s 2 days away from the rednecks up here I guess.
Lots of interesting things going on in politics although I don’t have the energy to report on much of it. Eventually I’ll get around to writing another prophetic post blasting the religious right and the drag your heals left. It’s exhausting. I’ll leave you with a couple pictures below. Hopefully I’ll find more time to write soon.
Santa Times 2
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Gathering Dust
Oct 13th
Boy this blog has just not been a priority lately for me and I’m feeling a little guilty about it. My creative enthusiasm has been rather blocked lately. Work has been crazy this past month or so and it’s been consuming most of my free time. I’ve been struggling daily with a sick bunch of employees (from sniffles to flu) and I’m apparently the only one who doesn’t get sick. They keep telling me my time will come but I just don’t have time to get sick. In the course of my life, I have called in to work for being sick only once that I can remember and that was because I was in fact too sick to even get out of bed. My immune system must be fairly strong…or I simply understand better that if I don’t show up to work, I don’t get paid. I suspect that latter is my motivation for staying healthy.
I finally have a day off today, the sun is actually out (although not for long) and I’m trying hard to come up with a plan for the day. My house is a mess, Gavin the wonder dog is drooling to get outside and play, but my little home is in desperate need of some TLC and a deep clean. I don’t know if it’s the change in weather or not but I’ve got a fly problem at the moment. Something hatched somewhere and I’ve had to kill off a whole swarm of these creatures. I need to find out where they are coming from today because they are driving me NUTS! So, I think today I might try and go for a hike and take some pictures of the fall colors (which I’ve largely missed this year due to my work schedule) and then spend the rest of the day cleaning.
Good news is on the horizon though for me in regards to my finances. I’ve decided to go CABLE FREE and I’m in the process of getting myself set up to return my cable box and cancel my over priced subscription services to cable TV. I have successfully hooked up a computer to my big screen TV and I am now able to watch all of the shows that I would normally watch on TV for free via multiple web sites that stream television shows for free. One such site is Hulu.com and it is fast becoming a worthy alternative to paid TV service. Granted, nothing there can be seen live (all the shows I watch are available one day later than the day they air on TV networks) but I’m OK with that since 99% of the time, I am not around to watch live TV anyhow. The only aspect of going Cable Free that I am going to miss is the High-Def aspect. Everything on the Internet is in good quality but it’s not truly a High-Definition experience. That’s OK though, I’ll just save that for my movies where it actually matters. The most exciting thing about doing this is that it will save me over $100 a month which is a tremendous savings considering that at best, the value I got out of my cable subscription was worth at best about $20.
I’ve been pretty impressed with myself in regards to my finances. I’ve been able to find ways to cut costs this year by being creative and as a result, I’ve been able to spend my extra money on things that actually have meaning to me, like electronics and other fun toys. I’ll be the first to admit that my expenses have not gone down at all but I have managed to re-prioritize my spending habits to better suit my lifestyle. The next goal for me is to re-evaluate my credit reports and finally start to repair the damage I did to it years ago when I was young and stupid with my money. Fortunately, I’ve had several years now of positive impact on my credit score, nearly every dumb thing I did in my early 20′s has dropped off my report, and I’ve been able to stay on track with debts and bills for several years now. All of this is in an effort to eventually purchase a home at a good rate. I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve not had a credit card now in several years and I have no intentions of trying to get one in the near future. Credit cards are simply bad for me. They work for some people but they don’t for me and I’m OK with that. If I don’t have cash, I don’t spend money and right now, that is an appropriate rule for me.
Hopefully I’ll write a bit more in the coming days and weeks. Just about a month now until Black Friday and things are going to be crazy at work leading up to that. I have 2 more vacation days that I have to take before December 5 (or I lose them) and I’m thinking I might take a couple of day trips around the area to take pictures in places I’ve not been before. We’ll see, most of that will depend on the weather which has not been very good lately. Well, off now to motivate myself to take a hike.
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