Friday I Rode My Bike

Friday I rode my bike and rode it and rode and rode for 25 miles. It is the longest I have ridden a bicycle in 8 years and all I can say is that it sure felt like more than that.

It took me three hours on a mountain bike and it led to a lot of internal thinking. This time I thought a lot about how nothing great is acheived unless something great is attempted. I don't ride to earn miles, usually I just pick a destination in the city and just go for it. Well for Friday I picked a park quite a ways away just to see if I could do it. I tried not to think too much about it and just told myself to start out.

Now this isn't a great story or anything and I am certainly not a great cyclist either, but I like to push myself and without work this is the way I know to do this. So that long ride continues to keep me thinking of ways I should push myself. Should I start a business for myself? While I am young, but not too young (30), I definately have had my share of lousy bosses and if not them then it is my boss' boss that I dislike. I really like the thought of getting real money back for something I put time into. There are lots of appealing reasons to open a small business, but is this the economy to take a chance? I know I have the will power to figure this stuff out, but I always wanted to start something at a much more stable point in life. Why should I wait? What is a stable point? These are all good questions, maybe I will get them worked out on the next ride.

An Idea...(Notice: Rant Ahead)

Recently between working on my neighbor's house for money, wading through unemployment proceedings, attempting to refinance, signing up for COBRA, and oh yeah looking for a job, I am noticing a few trends:

1. Everyone has their own idea of what will get us out of this mess.
2. No sympathy for where public America is really at right now.
3. The ridiculousness of the comments I have been hearing on radio and TV.

So 1, all over the radio and TV is a number of people stating that their own idea of what will boost the economy, and the truth of the matter is that they need to take care of their own house, their own job, and their own money. By trusting some other jack@$$ in the first place, buying crap you don't need, and banking on rapid growth or some other prospective investment we have all fallen into a trap. We used 'fake' money, overspent on ridiculous stuff, and now want someone to help the sinking ship we all created. Somewhere in life, things went from buy what you can afford to buy now pay later, even if you can't. Stimulus plan may work, may not, but if we all start coming to the epiphany of what we can really afford then maybe we will stop the scariness of everything. End overbuilding, overspending, and think. In the past two years I bought a new 'used' car and a house. I put down more than 10% on each, purchased something extremely affordable, and they may both be in jeopardy now that I don't have a job. Okay not really, but they could if I am unemployed a year from now. I take that responsibility however, and it is my job to try and take care of things.

2 is the other common theme I hear. Please understand we are past the point of the housing bubble, that was a domino, and now a lot of people, more than what is being reported, have lost their jobs or may end up losing their jobs. Sure idiot bankers should not have sold 0% down loans to risky buyers and likewise buyers should not have thought that they could purchase these homes, blah blah blah, etc. Spending is frozen, lending is frozen, and no body is really producing anything besides gas, food, energy, and natural gas. A quick call to friends from past employers over the past two weeks report 20%-30% work force layoffs at every employer I have ever worked for, ALL OF THEM. To top that off everyone of them is producing at around 10% production of their yearly average. TEN PERCENT!!! Read that as factories, companies, employees, everyone is standing on that cliff looking over the edge. Unless something changes, i.e. lending opens up, people open up their pocketbooks, then bankruptcy and shutdowns at the least are going to begin to occur. It is going to be painful, heck it is painful. Start showing some sympathy for your fellow man, because you may be next one on the chopping block, and hope your neighbor isn't serving crow when you need help with your next meal.

And last but not least number 3. The bits of armor are starting to fall off of everyone, and we are hearing some of the most stupid comments I have ever heard from people getting worried. For example, today on NPR's Talk of the Nation, a gentlemen called in to the station to say that it has been very difficult to get his two VARIABLE RATE HOME LOANS on his current home and his VACATION HOME, and although he has hired someone to help him get them readjusted nothing has occurred. He wanted to know when the government was going to force these banks to do something. All I can say is, where is this guy and how else can someone make money off him. Then about a month ago NPR covered the fact that California may default on their bonds for the first time ever, a consequence was that student loan checks have been late, not that they weren't paid out, just late. NPR of course found some strapping young woman at Berkeley for comment. Her quote you ask? "It's not bad enough that I am a DOUBLE MAJOR with a MINOR, but now I am going have GET A JOB to make my payments." I don't know where to begin, first college is a privilege, second 2 majors and a minor what the heck do you need that much college for, third enjoy your debt for the next 25 years, and lastly YES YOU MAY HAVE TO GET A JOB.

These times are rough, and I am sorry if I am negative. The government is doing some positive things, albeit expensive things, to try and help. I will be one of the people in line for the help, and will remember this if I make it through this intact and reciprocate to someone else in need.

Good luck, evaluate yourself, and SAVE!

A few random thoughts while out on vacation

• There are only two types of public trash cans in Manila: Recyclable or Biodegradable. That's it. No generic trash. Think about that for a minute, is everything you throw away recyclable or biodegradable?
• What if instead of pumping more money into higher wages, stay with me here, and instead make cheaper more sustainable housing. Would the value of the dollar be greater? The thought is brought to you by the hardest working employees of fast food chains that I have ever seen in Manila. To quote a friend, "I would hire these people anywhere!" They don't make much, only 250 pesos or $25 a day, but they work really hard. It is probably cultural, but that is considered okay money, so they work hard. I am taking a guess that because cheap housing is readily available, then that small peso amount can be pretty valuable in that country.
• Up yours snooty people! As the world marketplace is becoming more global with more languages trying to speak and understand one another, the more basic English is being spoken. I can go most places in the world now and say, "Where is your bathroom?" and they will know exactly what I am saying or want to do. Now try to go to those same foreign parts of the world and say, "Can you please point me into the direction of the nearest toilet?" and you may get the same look from them that your dog gives you when you make a funny noise. So all those language snobs that over the years that have corrected your imprecise speech can shove it. I frankly never cared that it is "anyway" and not "anyways" and most of the rest of the world could care less too. I can only speak basic Spanish when I really need it, just as some other nationality can barely speak English. If we are both patient with each other then we can figure it all out. I am not going to tell a vendor in the Philippines about how "frugal" I am, I will tell them that I am "cheap". They understand that and no one is embarrassed.
• I'm going to start a paper company in the Philippines. I didn't bring a laptop and am writing on some computer paper that I bought at the hotel. I bought six pieces of paper for 25 pesos. Next time I am bringing a whole gross of legal pads. I'll make millions (of pesos).
• Filipinos love the sweets. Everything here is sweet or has some sweet aftertaste. Sio Pao (pronounced shoe-pow!) is the native sandwich. It is a sweet roll with some sort of pork or chicken in the middle, very good. There is also Tusino (pronounced like casino with a T) which is a sweet cured ham that is fried and served like bacon here, also very good.
• All of the national airlines in the Philippines have the throwback hot stewardess thing going on. I would say more but I have a GF that I love.
• I just wanted to take a moment to say that I am up ~35% since I bought into Baldor (BEZ) and ~8% with Herman Miller (MLHR). I am honestly considering though to becoming a Bogle-head and start purchasing shares of VTI, VEA, and VNQ for my Roth IRA. More on the strategy later.