Friday, October 31, 2008

When to walk-a thought for the family especially Heidi

When we have found our path, we naturally want to start to walk down it. The reverse isn't true despite what you believe. It is quite futile to learn how to walk when you don't know which path to walk upon. This may seem obtuse to you, and yet it is true. It is desire that creates aptitude and not the reverse.

Heidi-Commander of the Universe

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Family Picture


It's that time of year again. When the whole gang gets together to freeze frame a slice of pandemonium from the ever rushing stream of Life. No one grumbles and drags his feet more than I. But some of my most cherised pictures are those frantic slices of time.

Friday, October 17, 2008

CHICKEN OR LEMMING?

Next Friday marks the anniversary of “Black Thursday,” October 24, 1929. I wasn’t around then (no matter what my kids think about me sailing with Noah,) but I was raised by parents who were 10 years old at the time it happened. Their parents lived right in the thick of it. The difference in opinion in what was “sufficient for our needs” was a real study on life. Grandma Atkinson could not physically throw anything away. She could put her hand over the trash but couldn’t force her fingers to let go. Nor could she waste a morsel of food if her life depended on it. My parents came out of the Second World War (essentially the end of the Great Depression) as if they were shot out of a cannon.
The American Dream looked a little different to every young couple, but they all had the same mantra: spend, spend, and spend some more. It was the road to happiness. It was handed down to the next generation as the pursuit of happiness. I was 15 before I knew a credit card was accompanied by a bill someone somewhere had to pay.

Many rumor that we are in “the worse recession since 1929. Is the sky falling?

Here are a few thoughts on the subject:

You do not live or die by the stock market. The reason it is in trouble is a combination of greed and fear. If you aren’t participating in the greed, you have nothing to fear. One way we participate in the greed portion of the equation is by the speculation of debt. Living beyond our means on the belief tomorrow will be better than today was and after all, we deserve it. Now. Just ask our parents.

What to do? Wring our hands and wait for the government to do something? News flash: We are the government! What are going to do? Here are some basics from grandma:

Keep a positive tongue. If we talk enough bad, we will soon be acting badly.

Make the best income you can. You work to make money. No matter how cool & fun your job may be, if you can live on the proceeds, get a new one.

Avoid debt, or buy back debt. Spend a dollar less than you earn.

Don’t buy a new one, fix the old one.

Shop the bargains. A dollar saved is two dollars earned.

Enough of the rambling of an old man. Think about it… Dad

Thursday, October 16, 2008

No More Calls

When our kids were young, a favorite sport was pestering each other. When they got to the end of their latest clever repartee they would cap it with "no more calls" or if a physical pestering: "no tap backs." I would guess this was to insure there would not be an instant change in their status.

As they matured and put on their "grown up shoes," in order to step into responsible adulthood (or at least wander off in that direction,) I am sure some have noticed this talisman against a reversal of fortune has become even less effective than it was in childhood.

Life does not come with a rewind button.
Not even a pause.
Stay tuned to your life today. It's what is happening to you while you make other plans. Love more. Laugh more. Worry less. Enjoy what you have. You might lose. But more important, you might win.

Dad