It is my contention that while there is a lot of luck involved in choosing your life partner, that is one of the most important decisions you can make. I found my wife on a blind date and from the first she talked about the plans she had for the future. It was easy to see me in those plans and clearly she set the course for our life. Listen to your dates. If they have no plans or idea what the future holds, run! Better yet, if she has money in the bank for good reasons, she's got a lot of good knowledge.
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| Smart, Loving and good looking, What more could I want? |
I think there a lot of people out there that want a lot of what I do. The problem is that they let their desires cloud their visions. We could do things different but at what cost. Did our own desire to make things equal in the 60's cause us to take the desire to provide for ourselves? Did our desire for everyone have the same thing cause us to lose the black communities? Did our development of communal housing kill the desire/ability to own their own homes? Are we victims of ourselves?
In my humble opinion, there is a need for a strong Military. But, in the words of one of the best Generals, Dwight David Eisenhower, we need to fear the Military Defense Establishment. In my perfect world, we would have a Military for several good reasons. First it is one heck of a good program to teach our kids about service. It is where the Government needs to spend money to help out the economy. In my memory other countries don't attack stronger Countries. It is designed to protect us not attack others. The Military guys I know are the ones that hate wars the most.
I think there is room in our economy for a hand up, not a hand out to our poor. Programs that lead to gaining skills and Education and supporting people while doing/educating something is the answer. Just feeding a man or woman does nothing to build their feelings of being worthwhile. While Maslow's rules aren't always the best way to run the train, it does have some basic things worth listening to. Food and shelter are basic needs and do not motivate. I can think back in my life the great feeling when I got a new job or completed a training requirement. I think our young people feel the same regardless of their color, race or ethnicity. Pride in who you are goes a long way to making you want to belong to something better. It is hopelessness that is our enemy.
Did you read that spending on Education is a heck of a lot better than the alternative? Read it here and believe that I feel strong about it.
One thing I learned early and often was that Barb was a better Dave Ramsey than he was back early days in my life. She had goals and used investing as a means to that end. Income had to be bigger than outgo! We had a 30 year Mortgage and she paid it off in 15. That new car was not as important as having basic transportation. She didn't see well without her glasses so swimming was just not her thing. Getting a boat was a way to go swimming so same thing to her.
Not everything the Government wants you to do is a good thing. We saved early in the 401(k) type programs. Now they want us to take that money out and pay taxes on it. Just when it is clear that we should leave it invested, we are forced to take a part of it out. The really sad thing is that once we take it out, there is just no place to invest it with a good return. Yes, we will probably just use it to pay taxes Stupid me...
I know that as a landlord, this will sound kind of counter productive. Renting might seem like a better way but you have no benefit from the growth of the value of the house. That is the way we moved up in where we lived. I won't even talk about the advantage tax wise to be able to deduct the interest from your taxes. If you want to send me a dollar, I will be glad to send 30 cents back for you to pay your taxes. Don't even think for a minute that owning a rental doesn't have a lot of responsibilities. Tell it to the roofer that put a new roof on one of my houses in December. It was over $8,000 that I can not deduct.
Support whomever you choose for any political position. Just don't try to tell me that your choice is better than mine. How do your tell when a Politician is telling less than the truth? When his lips are moving. They have as their primary motivation to get elected and stay that way. Why would they support what you want when there are people out there willing to pay big dollars to get their vote? Take the money out of politics and see how soon we would have to draft people to represent us. Being in a government position should be a responsibility not a right. Heck, a lot of you don't even bother to get out and vote let alone serve your friends and neighbors. The most thankless job is the school board. Do you even know who they are?
When I was in the Military, I had a Top Secret clearance. It was my job to make sure that every classified document was properly handled and stored. Every time my boss wanted to put a document in his desk drawer overnight I was the one person that would go get it and put it in the safe. I can not imagine that the Secretary of State didn't have a staff that felt the same way. Setting up a home computer that handled extremely sensitive material was more than stupid, it was criminal. Hillary was in violation of some pretty serious laws. No excuse. The Law is the Law.
I am involved in a law suit in another state. Clearly the parties didn't consult a lawyer and follow his advice. In fact they continue to do things that aren't what the law intended. If you find yourself in a mess, consult a Lawyer. Failure to learn or know the law is no excuse. Failure to follow that advice is criminal.
Along those same lines, I have made mistakes in my life. I have had to go into my bosses office and admit my failure. Commission or omission are the same in my book and I have done both. When I did, I told the truth and never tried to sugar coat or lie my way out of it. Telling a lie to cover a mistake is what gets you fired. I hope your boss understand that you like him are busy and the more things you do the more things can happen that are not the way you would do them if you had more time or less things to do. Mine did. (well there was one guy that didn't fully understand that if it was illegal, it would not have my name on it)
Sports is entertainment not the reason for life. Win or lose, celebrate the young men and women for their victories. For every person that is sad for KU, there are people that are happy for WSU. I don't understand why if Kentucky has such great bourbon they would care about basketball, but they do.
On a final note, sitting at your computer can waste a lot of time and isn't the way to get your taxes done. Me neither.
MUD
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