Tag: ladder

Hello 2009!

Random Thoughts

Welcome 2009.  I am really glad to see you, as long as you turn out to be better than 2008.  Sure, 2008 started off well enough, there were even several pleasant points, but then like the bitch that she is 2008 turned on me.  Fuck you 2008!  Fuck!  You!

So, 2009, since 2008 has left me unemployed and broke, I’m hoping you can help me out.  Speak sweat nothings to me, 2009.  Tell me that everything is going to be alright…

Anyway, looking back at the start of 2008, I did indeed write less checks, I did continue to play betas and not buy MMOs, I did play more console games, there were more superhero books, and business did look good right up until the train wreck that has been the last three months of the year.  Looking as my resolutions… well, I did rake the yard once and I bagged some leaves because Georgia didn’t lift its burn ban, but right now the back yard is nothing but leaves.  I did not build the bar, mostly because I never had the extra cash to buy counter tops.  But I did manage to buy a lot less crap this year than I have in previous years because Netflix is awesome.  With their streaming service and our media PC, and now using the Xbox 360, we’ve watched tons of movies without buying very many at all.  Essentially, for the price of one new DVD a month ($15), we get to watch unlimited streamed movies and rotate 2 physical discs through the mail.  We did buy more books this year than previous years, but we spent far less on books that we would have on DVDs.

Oh, and Fred Thompson did not become President, so I did not eat my hat.

Where do I see 2009 going?  Well… I’m still looking for work, so I’ll be spending all of January trying to find a good job.  If I make it to the end of January without finding a good one, I will find a bad one.  2009 looks like its going to be a rebuilding year, like 2001.  After a period of unemployment, I’ll wind up taking a job I don’t want that I’m far overqualified for and begin to slowly claw my way back up the wage ladder.  My first ladder climb lasted 4 years… this one lasted 8… so maybe my next climb will last 16 and I won’t be unemployed again until I’m 50.  Or maybe I’ll do something else… we’ll just have to wait and see…

Hey You!

Random Thoughts

Yeah you! Look, if you have to refer to yourself as a “Good Christian” frequently, there’s a pretty good chance you aren’t one. I’m not saying there aren’t good Christians out there, but they don’t go around telling everyone they are one. In fact, good Christians tend not to really think about it at all, they just are. You know, I realize its hard. The Bible doesn’t mention corporate politics at all. There are no ‘Thou Shalt Not’s for the business world. But just because there aren’t specific words for it written down, that doesn’t mean that lying, cheating and stealing in the name of upward mobility on the corporate ladder is excused. Its still lying, cheating and stealing, and by its nature, if you do it, you aren’t a “Good Christian”. So please, stop saying it.

Money

Random Thoughts

As they say (or sing in this case), Money don’t get everything, that’s true, but what it don’t get I can’t use.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a fireman. If there was a ladder set up, I ran up it. I would pick things up and run up it. I would run up them, get stuff from whatever was at the top and bring it down. I used to volunteer to water the lawn because.. it was on fire, and I had to put it out! My imagination was and is quite vivid…

Of course, I also wanted to be an astronaut. And a policeman. And a racecar driver. A doctor. A computer hacker. A superhero. Etc, etc, etc…

See the one thing missing up there? Not once while I was growing up did I actually think to myself, “When I grow up, I want to make money!”

I have to admit, I’m pretty well off in some respects. My family is fairly normal. No divorce or discord. I drive a car that I always wanted. A Jeep Cherokee, 1998, before they started making them all rounded and bubble-like. I have a woman that I love.

I still, however, also have many problems. The issue I have with my problems is that they can all be solved with one thing.

Money.

I don’t have any esoteric, emotional, philosophical, mental, relationship problems. I only have bill paying problems.

That being the case, when people tell me, “Money isn’t everything.” or “Money isn’t the most important thing.” I get a bit upset, because, well, to me, money is the only thing that can solve the problems I have. And of course, people only say those things when they mean “I’m not going to give you any (more) money.”

Oh well… this is my random thought… back to humming “Gimme some money” by Spinal Tap.