Waiting on computers again… (Part 3 I think, although I could be wrong and I am too lazy to go back and check.)
Once again, I am babysitting a computer. This time, it is running a complete set of diagnostics to see if there is a hardware fault that is causing a blue-screen (BSOD) fault. (BSOD is Blue Screen Of Death. Not much for me to do, just hit OK every now and then. So I find myself doing completely unproductive things like surfing the web. What has ever happened while surfing the web that has ever been beneficial to me? Just off the top of my head, not much. NANOWRIMO was one, but nothing else comes to mind. Now think of all the times I have gotten into trouble or at best wasted time that could be devoted to productive pursuits. So now you understand why I write these “Waiting For Computers” pieces.
My exuberance over the possibility of entering into a multi-million dollar real estate deal has cooled somewhat. I still think it is something that I would be capable of handling, but I no longer believe that my friend and I could possibly come up with the money to get it kicked off. At a minimum, we would need around $600,000 to get started, and if we both sold everything we owned we could not come up with half that much. Plus, if the whole thing collapsed in our laps we would be fighting over cardboard boxes in an alley to put our families in. So, no I will not be the newest real estate magnate in the greater Dallas Fort Worth area, at least not this week. My imagination is still sparked however, and I will keep my eyes open to similar (much smaller in scale!) opportunities to jump into a new way to earn a living.
Meanwhile, I continue to sell my soul to my employer for at least eight hours a day. It is not really a bad life, and I don’t wish any of my loyal readers to mistake this for a complaining session. As far as wage-earning jobs go, mine is right up there with the best you can possibly have. I realize this, and am grateful for the blessings which a higher power has provided for me. However…
I still pine to leave this grind for the freedom (or captivity as some have told me) of self-employment. I have been warned before that self-employment is even more confining than otherwise, since you cannot be fired. However, the idea that all of my trials and tribulations are of my own volition and not at the whim of someone else simply because they sign my paycheck is an irresistible dream. Perhaps I have been indoctrinated in the capitalist doctrine of my homeland, perhaps I am a foolish dreamer. The dream remains nonetheless.
Reading books by the likes of Robert Kiyosaki and Suze Orman promote this dream. They preach that money should be the servant, and not the master. In my current situation, I do my best to make this so. I give generously to my church both because I believe it to be a commandment of God and because I realize that giving money away willingly gives me power over money. I try not to stress about the material things I don’t have that are not neccesities and I do my best to differentiate between the two. I spend my money and invest it in ways that I am comfortable with, not because someone else tells me to or because it is what everyone else is doing.
However as my friend and I re-discovered in our dream to invest in real estate, sometimes you have to have money to make money. Bottom line: My intake right now is absolutely sufficient for the neccesities of life. It is not however sufficient to move upward or to expand my financial position, at least not rapidly. I am moving upwards slowly, my 401k is growing nicely, my mutual fund is not losing money, and the stocks that are losing money seem to have bottomed out even though the one that is up has also seemed to level off. Given twenty years, I might conceivably have a comfortable portfolio. Right now, I could sell everything and not have enough to buy a car. Oh well, I don’t need to be Warren Buffett, I just need to keep the babies in diapers and the kids in new clothes as they outgrow them.
I really am grateful for all that I have. It may sound like I am a whiner, but I like to think of myself as more of a dreamer. The trick will be to get the dreams up and running instead of rotting in the back closet.
Rotten dreams in the back closet of your mind is probably a good indicator of the old age disease of crotchetiness and overall grouchiness.
I want to be one of the old folks that sees life as a party, and the loss of my memory just means I can’t stay mad at anyone for long.
Not quite a thousand today and the computer is only eighteen percent of the way through the hard drive integrity check but I am out of words.
Friday March 23, 2007 - 03:41pm (EDT)
© 2007 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved
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