“You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.” - Unknown
I'm sure you know Asoep's fable of The Grasshopper and the Ant. I think of my life this way sometimes and I hate that I identify with the actions of the grasshopper. There are some things where I have been the Ant in my life, especially when it comes to education and hard work. But I must admit, for the most part, I live the life of the grasshopper, enjoying my time and spending too freely, without properly saving/planning for the future. The winter has not hit, but we are all one life changing moment from very hard times. (Watch The Company Men with Ben Affleck and you'll see.) I don't regret all of my spending ways, mainly because I have priceless memories that I would not have had if I had always been doing the financially responsible thing since I turned 18. But still, for the most part, my hope is to take this year to turn my financial habits around and start focusing on this part of my life, especially since I'm picking up a mortgage now. I'm not going to become a super ant, as my grasshopper tenancies will always be there, but I'm going to search for a little more balance. My hope is that by the end of the year to have met with a CPA and a financial planner and have read a few more books on the topic. I pay way too much in taxes because I have not taken the time to plan properly. It is easy to think that my decisions only affect me, but they also affect my family and any future family I may have. Plus, since they affect me, I want them to be good ones.
I have started using Dropbox and think it is a great program. If you don't know what it is, it is a folder on your computer that you can sync with another computer or your phone. You get 2gb free online storage and let's say you are working on a brief for work, you can put it in your Dropbox folder on your work computer and when you get home, it will be there on your home computer. I get 500mb of extra space for each person that joins with my link, so I will shamelessly plug my link here: http://db.tt/QzaZU5s. If you don't like the program, just uninstall it, I get my extra space anyway. I'd appreciate the favor since I'm using it a lot now, especially as a type of backup for my files. I will say that the worst part is that I'm doing exactly what the company wants me to do, shill for them to my friends, but in this case I'll do it since I like the program, but I still feel a bit bad.
I recently saw the movie Source Code and I thought it was very good. It is one of those enjoyable movies where you feel good during and after, but don't really have a reason to watch again. One of the things I thought was interesting was that the male character falls for the female character in a just a few minutes of knowing her and is ready to embark on a relationship with this very attractive women without really knowing who she is as a person. And if you saw the movie, and saw her, you would totally understand how it could be so easy. But I wonder, if it was switched, and a woman had just met this guy/stranger on a train, if in the spur in the moment, she would be content running off with him. Maybe I'm biased by my thinking that men are more irrationally romantic than women. This will make more sense if you see the movie I think.
Along the same lines, I was thinking the other day about how I didn't tell women I had dated enough that they were beautiful. It wasn't that I wouldn't say it, but it became more rare as I got older. It wasn't because I didn't think they were beautiful/gorgeous/pretty, but I knew that each successive time you say it, it seems to mean that much less. Maybe I thought by saying less it would mean something more that way. The problem was that I got so used to not saying it, that I probably got to the point where I wasn't saying it enough and that I regret. This hit me when I was thinking how it would probably take me a really long time before I told a girl I just met that I thought she was beautiful. This didn't feel right and it made me wonder how I changed from the overly affectionate, ok I get it, you love me, to a more withdrawn, guarded person. Don't get me wrong, I can still be a wussie who shares too much too soon, but it is just not as usual. So, I'm not saying I want to be one of those guys who tells every woman she is beautiful and who says it so often that the words become as robotic and meaningless as saying the Our Father as a kid. I just think that you can't take for granted that people always know what you are thinking.
On Sunday, I had my second sailing lesson. This time I went on a bigger boat that went much faster and I had a blast. It is a great way to spend Sundays. Here are a few photos on Facebook. I'm testing out using Facebook public links for my photos to see how it works, but I still prefer Flickr. I hope to keep these lessons up. Abram went racing on Friday, something I have yet to try, but am looking forward to.
This weekend I also went to visit my good friend of mine from high school, Justin. He has been in the Austin area for as long as I have been here, but I've only seen him a few times because life gets busy. We knew each other through school since elementary and at one point as kids I found out that he was kind of my neighbor. We lived out in the country at that time, I'm using that term loosely. It was great catching up with him this weekend and meeting his wife and kids. It is so neat seeing how people have grown up when you have the memory of them from when they were younger. He is a great dad, runs a great business and gave me such great advice. I really enjoyed myself and hope to keep in better touch with more of my friends.
In other news, I bought my Dad an iPad 1 this weekend. He doesn't use computers, but is interested in the stuff that is on them. I figured an iPad would be easier to learn for him and give him access to a lot of information and entertainment. I take the internet for granted and to think he never gets to use it. So I found a used iPad 16gb for sale on craigslist, I made an offer and they accepted. When I got home with the package, I was surprised to find out that it was not just an iPad, but an iPad 3G, which is worth more than what I paid for it. I was happy to have scored such a great deal. I look forward to giving it to him when he comes to visit. Until then, I'll be setting it up for him, i.e. playing with it myself to see if I want an iPad 2.
In trying to be more responsible, I downgraded my cable. That was hard, but I went to the bare minimum and set up my TiVo with over the air reception to get the local channels in HD. That will help me save a few bucks which is cool. If you call the cable company to cancel, you usually get great deals they don't tell you about. I advise you give it a shot, but I guess you need to be willing to cancel, I was.
Construction is still happening on my house. Still waiting on final word on that loan. Here are some new photos of pictures of my house status on Facebook Photos. I was excited to learn that Memorial Day Weekend there is a tax free special on appliances, so I'll be buying my new fridge then. Not sure about buying a washer and dryer yet though. I have a long list of things I need to buy for this new house.
I get Good Friday off this week, so that is awesome. I haven't figured out yet how to best use my weekend. Easter did come fast this year.
everyone except you
