O-Dark-Thirty

My brother's family has a joke. When things become a financial struggle, he shrugs and says that he'll end up "living in a van down by the river." I think the idea is that life would be quiet and peaceful and far from the daily struggles we all endure, but it's what he could afford. The question, of course, is what kind of van? I think this is what he has in mind: I really like this one (photo links to site). His lovely bride probably thinks of something else, more like this. (photo links to site) He might be able to afford one now, at least in his quiet dreams while sitting in the tree house in his fabulous back yard (he owns an amazing house with acres of trees). When he was young, though, this is what he would have been able to afford: I think he might have owned this one. He manages his money pretty well. I don't think a beat-up van is in his future. Is it in yours? # It is critical for you to manag...

At 18 years old you are a man, with the responsibilities of a man. You'd think I might have some wisdom for you as you reach this age. You'd be right. Here's the short version. There is no substitute for truth and honesty. Without truth there is only illusion. You cannot control your life. You can and should control your actions in life. Do so with wisdom and compassion. Be tolerant of the faults of others, for we each are faulty. Never be tolerant of wrongdoing. As Edmund Burke said "All this is required for evil to triumph is for men of good will to do nothing." Evil cannot and should not be tolerated. Always be truthful. Always be kind. Never quit. God does not promise you happiness - but He requires obedience. Be disobedient at your peril. Micah 6:8 - " He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. "

People often ask me what I do with my time now that I retired. I dig holes. Deep holes, to the center of my Minecraft world. Yeah, I still play Minecraft. Most people build things - but I feel like my building skills just don't match the ones I see on sites like Minecraft Maps . But I can dig holes. When the weather got bad a few weeks ago, I woke up with an idea for a hole in Minecraft. Not just any hole. I have big holes in the ground already that go down to the bottom of the world. One is about forty by forty. It isn't decorative, except for all the stairs I have to traverse the spaces. I covered it with glass. It's cool. I thought this time I'd make a simple upside down Ziggurat . How cool would that be? I'd start with a nice little 2x2 hole to the center of the world and go up and out, one rising step at a time. I traveled from my main city to a Snowy climate spot and decided it was a good spot to build. Sadly, I didn't think about the mountains ...

Joe Udo on his blog site Retire by 40 listed three paths to financial freedom . I think he nails them, by the way. Earn more, spend less, and do something amazing to generate passive income (like invent something or write some best-selling books). For twenty-five years I didn't pay much attention to retirement. I wish I had started earlier, like Joe. Divorce wiped me out - twice. So starting over wasn't a big deal to me. I was used to it. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I guess I was insane for decades.   I didn't start saving for retirement until I married Darling, but she put me back on a path to sanity, I suppose. She's frugal and so am I, so we managed to put a lot of money away over a very short time. God blessed us, as we say, but that's because we put Him first. You can look at it any way you want I made good money. Check. We lived frugally. Check. Do something amazing.   Hmmm. ...

I don't know about you, but the most frustrating thing about computers is the internet. Back in the days before internet (I was there) computers were relatively secure. When a computer virus infected your machine it was because someone inserted a disk that had a virus on it. Those were more common that you might think. Shared game disks were notorious. All you need to do today is access the wrong web site or install something without paying attention. I searched and found a disk cleaner the other day. As I installed it, I wasn't paying attention and I agreed to have Yahoo install as my search engine. Ouch. Every time I opened Firefox, the Yahoo search popped up. I just don't like when my computer starts doing things I don't want. First it's a search engine, then the computer takes over the world! Even though it wasn't a virus, it was persistent. I was frustrated enough to delete Firefox and reinstall it. Firefox saves settings, though, so ...