The new year is coming soon. Take down the old calender and put up the new one. A fresh start as the bold new year is upon us. Everything is going to change and we are going to mend our rotten ways. All of our bad habits will disappear. We are going to get rid of all of our debts and start a big savings account. We will have the body of an Olympian. Only eat the most healthy foods. Get all the rest we need. And of course be nice to everyone. That is the grand list we all start out with. Which has usually completely dissipated by the first of February. Just about you get a firm grip on the credit card bills from Christmas. The cycle repeats itself every year doesn't it?
So what are we going to change? Some things are just beyond the pale. Goals that will never be able to be reached. So why think that you can? Make your goals achievable. Realistic if you will. Setting goals that are unrealistic causes failure and gives you an excuse to forget the ones that are. In the old days we would call that a cop out. So let us set our goals in a more attainable manner.
I will never be a good looking model. I will never be a tri-athelete. So why think that I can become one. I can however get in better shape. Maybe exercise a bit more. Walk, ride the bike and maybe a bit of free weights. As after tearing out my rotator cuff a couple of times in the last twenty years my arms have shrunk a bit. I have a hard time lifting things over my head. I still do, but it is difficult. That is something that I can try to work out. As I already have free weights and just have to use them. This is something that I can do.
Now we can talk about debt. I do not make enough money to get myself out of debt in one year. The only thing that I can do is cut it down quite a bit. That means not buying things and paying down the debts that I have. I will not be able to get them all done but make a valiant effort to get some of them gone.
Smoking. I love to smoke. I do not know what it is. It is certainly an addiction. At one time smoking was considered civilized. I remember smoking in hospitals, stores, air planes and everywhere else. You could even smoke in class when I was in college. This seems so weird to the younger generation. As a lot of them surprisingly smoke. They are used to be treated as a leper and have to go outside and hide so they do not kill everyone around them as they kill themselves. Quitting smoking will save me a lot of money and I am sure that I will feel better.
Being sick. It seems that I catch everything that blows in the wind. I have never missed so many days of work as I have in the last few years. Maybe it is because I work with raw chicken so much. I am tired of calling in sick as much as they are tired of me calling in. Try to do better this year.
Debt is always on everyone's list. Unless I have some kind of windfall I cannot pay off my debt in one year. I just do not make that much money. But with a plan I can put a good dent in it. I can use that cigarette money you know. And my nerves may be better knowing I have less debt. No need to smoke then, right. Starting with the smallest debts first. Then when they are paid diverting that money to the next etc. The next thing is not to create any more debt. Which I have done this year. I have some stuff. But I also have a bill for it every month.
Using a bicycle to get around is something that I do. But not as much as I have in the past. Lately I have been leaning on the automobile. When I would simply just ride a bicycle there. Need to get back to that. I have been riding this week and my legs tell me that I have not been riding. And they did not tell me that before. Even when I was out of work for stints put in my legs. I was able to build up again. Need to do that. Riding around the area I was in touch with the surroundings. Got an opportunity to talk to people. Kind of set a goal for others as I see a lot more people riding bicycles. You know I was the old ugly guy who rode a bicycle to work to fry chicken. Fact is the other night on the rare occasion that my boss of almost two years did not even know that I had a car to drive. In a way I think that was kind of cool. He also realized that I did not have to stay at my job because it is close to home. And that I am a pretty good and loyal worker. Two pluses thank you. Got to be the bike guy again! What better way to be in and part of the neighborhood. Everything that I really need is within bicycle range. In the past I have went weeks at a time without even starting the car.
Maybe trying to be a bit more sociable. I have shoved everyone away over the last couple of years. But for the most part they do not miss me because I can be very negative and not much fun. And I have not found a negative and not much fun girl to hang out with. Being old and ugly this is not an easy task and will be low on the list as it will probably not happen anyway. There are so many hot chicks out there and I just want one. Again this is a pipe dream. I used to go to bars and would buy or force myself on people. Only to be talked about later. So that is why I gave up. That is OK as there are many people by themselves. So perhaps I should keep America beautiful and just stay home.
Taking care of the car I drive. I say the car I drive because I do not own it. I am making payments on it. Most people think they own a car that they are making retail installments on or leasing. Just like a house you do not own it until you have the title or deed. At any rate I am doing a terrible job of keeping that car clean. It has cobwebs on the inside. All dusty. The outside however is not that bad. I can wash it in the carport that I have. But the lawn maintenance people blow stuff all over it in the carport. But I can do a better job as I can wash it for free at home with a little effort. The wheels are free of brake dust and just need to clean the inside. With a little effort the little Nissan Sentra should last me the rest of my life. As it replaced a 1989 Chevrolet Blazer I bought new. I should have just kept the 12 miles per gallon Blazer as I do not need to drive that much. If you only drive two hundred miles a month. How does a good gas mileage car help you if you have to make a payment on it? Zero! But I like my little car and it should last 15 years. But if I would have kept the old Chevrolet it may have gotten by for at least another 5 years. I admit it was vanity and paranoia. As someone is probably putting a hundred miles a day on it with little problem.
Not getting so upset at work. I work a nasty job. It is not a job that a lot of people dream of. The people I work with are not MENSA candidates or members. I usually get stuck with training the new people and the first thing they figure out is to pick the lowest fruit from the tree. And when something isn't correct I get the blame. I am over it. If I am going to be the manager, pay me like a manager and tell the people I am in charge. Otherwise I will continue to be frustrated with things that I do have the authority to fix but have not been passed down to the new workers. Nice spot heh?
Eating better is on the list too. As I often skip meals. With my work shifts constantly changing it is hard to eat in some what of a regular basis. But I need to stick to some kind of a breakfast lunch and dinner schedule. Even if it does vary time wise. On days that I work the late shift I should still have some toast and juice to get going in the morning. Then some kind of lunch. On late shifts my dinner break can vary from 4-6 PM. So knowing this I should be able to figure out how to eat right. I may not make enough money to eat the most expensive foods. But I can eat well. Also moving to a more plant based diet may be healthier and less expensive. I waste a lot of leftover. Need to use them too.
I am going to try to grow a few vegetables on the patio again. Tomatoes, bell peppers, parsley and carrots. I may even try some onions and potatoes. Marigolds and some other kitchen herbs. Nothing all that big, just a hobby. If it pans out all the better. Also relating to the patio, I will to keep it clean and neat. Even use the grills I have. Which I have not used for a long time. I used to grill all the time. But with the work schedule I have not. The gas and charcoal is sort of a pain too. I have just been using the trusty iron skillet on the old stove.
Also keeping thing neat and clean. Check out the previous post. Nooks and Crannies. It is not that hard to do and what else do I have to do?
I would also like to get this blog off the ground. It is almost two years old not and needs to get rolling. I need input from the readers to help me make that happen. I do not feel that the content is that off base. Maybe I am wrong. I need feedback! I know that when I check it I get some decent ads. Also I am a bit confused as I googled something the other day. Well one of my posts came up showing over 900 hits on it. My dashbaord shows about twenty. I do not know the difference. Multiply that by the number of posts and what I have as a record of views that is a big difference.
All of us would like to make the new year the latest and greatest. There are things that are able to be controlled by us. Other things cannot. You know. The harder I work the luckier I get. The less stupid things I do, the less bad things that happen to me. I need to move more to a lifestyle of one of my grandfathers. He never seemed bored or depressed. He retired around 1960. I think he got around $300 a month in Social Security. He had what he needed and never seemed to be broke. For a long time it did not seem that he had all that much. But he really did. He had a nice house, health until he died at 96 years old. And what got him there. A great attitude.
