Finally It Is Friday

“Fading faster and faster until it was goneFound out I was losing so much more than I knew all alongBecause everything I've been working forWas only worth nickels and dimesBut if I had a minute for every hour that I've wastedI'd be rich in time, I'd be doing fine”

-Jack Johnson

I heard this song this morning on the way to work. This kind of stuff always bothers me. Because I know it’s true. All these signs I keep seeing keep pointing to “Consume Less, Live more”. I’m so confused. Are the guys that make ridiculous amounts of money and drive their Porsches to their million dollar homes…are they really that unhappy? I don’t understand. I mean that’s the point that I want to get to right? Work hard and save and give up happiness now for greater happiness later?

I really want a motorcycle. I want to learn how to ride very well, get my license, take classes, the whole 9. Wanting this so badly…has it caused me more pain than if I had never wanted it in the first place? Is working for material things you want pointless? Because if you had not wanted in the first place, you wouldn’t have had to work, and would’ve had more time to live instead of just working?

I was talking to my manager about retirement the other day because we had a 1 on 1 question time regarding how the 401k here will work. I told him my plans of early retirement. His father at 67 years old is still working. He could retire at any time. But he doesn’t want to. The only reason why he doesn’t want to, is because he enjoys having a schedule. He enjoys having something to do. I think once people are done raising children, they kind of run out of tasks…and when your #1 is suddenly self sufficient, what are you going to do to fill your time?

I feel so bad for Michelle’s parents. The whole “empty nest” syndrome really hit them hard. My parents feel partially the same way, however my sister is still at home with her boyfriend who frequently sleeps over. So it’s like I never left anyway, have two kids in the house. I can tell since I moved out that my dad misses me. He invites me over for dinner every Sunday night, and half of the time I have to decline. I am really afraid of how I will react when they finally pass on. Some people really don’t have that great of a relationship with their parents. I tell this to all of my friends and they agree that my parents are really cool.

Today is very slow. These are the kind of Fridays that I enjoy. Just nothing to do. Paid for sitting, or standing. Paid to eat my oreo cookies.

I have enough money for Vegas. Ideally I’d like to bring $5K. But that is a little overblown. I’ll be able to bring $3K, and still have a little bit of money in my bank leftover. Michelle likes to gamble with my money. She’d never put up any money to play. No. That’s just be against her. But when she loses my money, it’s not that big of a deal to her. *sigh*

Speaking of losing money…my Roth IRA, that was doing so well, up 10% over the past 2 months, is now minus 4%. This is one of my biggest fears. That the money I am putting away for my retirement will not only lose to inflation, but also lose it’s initial investment value. Now, there’s been a huge sell off in the past week, so I’m not worried about it. It’s just the market tanking due to rising gas prices along with slowing home sales due to the rising interest rate with the Fed trying their best to fight inflation.

Enough about money.

Tonight we’re going out for one of my best friend’s birthday party. I always forget when birthdays are. In fact, the only ones I remember are my sister’s, Michelle’s and sometimes a few other people. But I couldn’t name many off the top of my head. I am a horrible friend like that. Tonight I am getting him an awesome birthday present. After being fucked over by the referees in both the Superbowl and the sweet 16, I’m getting him a blow up doll and putting a referee jersey on it. That way, he can literally fuck up the refs. I just called around to get pricing, and it’s going to be about $75 to put it all together. Crap.

I am really praying that our dog gets better. We’ve had her for over a week. She’s gotten really good at peeing on the puppy pads, or going outside. But, she’s had a problem sleeping through the night and also likes to bite our furniture. I really don’t think Michelle realized how big of a responsibility having a dog was. I definitely was not ready, and it caused a lot of heartache having her for the past week. I am learning to deal, and I know it can only get better from here on out. The dog is 2 months old, so I need to learn to give it some leeway to make “mistakes”. Michelle is paying for obedience training so hopefully that helps.

Other than that, not too much else going on here.

I need new clothes to go out in. I need somewhere between business casual and casual. Because that’s what party attire is…so confusing.

Finally it is Friday. I am excited.