It dawned on me the other day that although this is my worst year, financially, in the last 4, that I stand a shot at making as much money as my best earnings year when I was an employee. I wasn't the highest paid guy around, when I worked for Parker, but I considered my compensation to be adequate, bordering on comfortable.
So, even if things didn't improve in the business, I really should feel pretty good, all things considered. A lot of folks are really sufferring right now. I'm fortunate that I'm not one of them. Folks who know me might mistakenly think that I don't like my franchisor: Servpro. I have my issues with the franchise system, but I am thankful all the time that I bought into this franchise system. They've really done well by me. On balance, the relationship is overwhelmingly positive.
It's not all peaches and light in my life. I've got some things on the personal front that are pretty trying right now, but even the bad stuff in my life could be a lot worse. I'm a fortunate guy.
This week, I head down to Fort Worth for another visit. Jamie Basler is hosting a get-together Saturday night again. I knew her in college and we took some classes together. It never ceases to amaze me how generous some people are. Jamie is a peach for letting us invade her home once a month for the past 2 months.
In a sort of interesting twist, one of my biggest pet-peeves about the Navy reserve is going to be resolved in a couple of months. The Navy, due to its history and heritage, has this bad habit of thinking that everybody could and should live with a minimal amount of living space, and no privacy, usually with room-mates, and if you're lucky and conditions permit, just one. Fortunately, we drill at an old Air Force base. So, the officer bachelor's quarters aren't doubled-up.
In Fiscal year 2012, though, all E-7 and above will be entitled to a private room while at drill. So, that's one pet peeve off the list. Really, that's my biggest pet-peeve and one of very few with the Navy reserve. It's such a significant pet-peeve that I used to pay for my own hotel rooms in downtown Cleveland or stay an hour away with relatives, rather than deal with a room-mate. In fact, on this trip to Fort Worth, I'll be using my Marriott Rewards points to stay at a Courtyard, rather than double up because of a shortage of housing availability.
I can't say often enough what a positive experience the Navy Reserve has been. I look forward to drilling and enjoy each drill. The people are great, and it feels good to serve again. I also got a great benefit when they decided to let reservists buy military health insurance. That benefit, alone, probably saves me at least $500 a month.
Arabic is going well. We have a quiz tomorrow and I think I'll do fine. I don't know if it's open book or not. I'll be studying. It's to the point now where we're memorizing vocabulary. I continue to be impressed and relieved that Arabic is such an orderly language. It is much easy to read and write than English, and although I'm not into the grammar very deep, it seems no worse than English in that regard.
The biggest value of the class, though is that it has opened my mind about the Arabic people and the Arabic culture. Although I try to be fair-minded, in the years since 9/11, I have accepted some stereotypes and views regarding Islam and the Arabic nations that I'm not particularly proud of today. This broadening of my perspective is worth every penny of tuition money and then some.
The changing of the weather has me sort of depressed. This Summer was a good one, with Logan's travel baseball and all. I am in no hurry for this kid to grow up and leave the house. I know I have a long time to worry about that, but I just wish I could make time stand still a little longer. I want to spend more time with my boy. So many things I envisioned doing, but now, life is what it is, not necessarily what I envisioned.
Not that things are bad, but I just thought raising a kid would mean a lot more time with them. For the first 6 years or so of Logan's life, he and I were inseperable, but he's at an age, now, where he doesn't dislike being with his Dad, but he enjoys relating to kids his own age so much more.
An interesting note. As folks who know me know, I'm a big believer in nature over nurture. I honestly believe that most of what we become is predestined genetically, and that the bulk of what isn't genetic is probably determined in the first few years of life.
Recent studies have shown that how thrifty a person is can be determined genetically and that attempts to modify this proclivity, behaviorally, are difficult and with mediocre results at best. The reason I say this is that I recently e-bayed off all of Logan's old baseball bats. I bought a lot of them last year in the search for the perfect bat.
He's outgrown them all, now. He'll probably outgrow yet another one before the next season.
He lost his DSi. I think it happened when we were at a tournament in Columbus. I felt bad for him, but didn't have the money to replace it.
My rule, with his bank account, is that I match everything he puts in, dollar for dollar. So, for instance, if he puts in $50 worth of birthday money, I match it with another $50.
With the $100 I got from selling his bats, I told him I would match the money and that he could use it either to buy a new DSi, or if he didn't want to, the money could go into his bank account for something he might want to buy later.
His decision? Save the money. The kid is a saver and that's a good thing. If ever a kid displayed virtuous character, it'd be my boy. He's honest, conscientious, and apparently also thrifty.
Like any parent, all I really want is to feel secure that when my son leaves my sphere of influence, that he will be able to make his way in the world, be happy and make good decisions.
He's only 9 years old, but every passing day gives me confidence that when the day comes that I can't protect him and provide for him anymore, that he will do just fine with things.
In the category of making good memories and having good experiences with him, it is now October. In November, we do the annual trip to Disneyland, which I look forward to all year. Also, the ski shop should have his skis in. I want to try and find another family to ski with us, though, or at least one other kid.
Skiing is expensive and a little bit dangerous. We took one of his friends last year, and it turned out very badly. The kid didn't know how to ski, and was learning, but couldn't really hang out with Logan all that much. Plus, I have hammered some of the safety aspects of skiing into Logan. The main one being to always ski in control and be able to stop. His friend didn't really subscribe to either of those theories.
Between rental and lift ticket, it's a $75 afternoon for a friend, and throw in meals and snacks and it's probably closer to $100.
So, I'm hoping that we can find one other family with a kid about Logan's age that we can do our day-trips up to Brighton with. There's one other kid on his baseball team who skis. I mentioned it to his Dad, but they don't like Brighton. In any event, if we have to, we'll go ski, just the two of us. However, I hate to admit it: Logan has more fun when there's other kids to interact with.
This is going to be a busy week. I have a full schedule. I hate to admit it, but although I often fantasize about returning to school, I really shouldn't. It's expensive and I will be better served to focus on my business and try to make it grow.
There are a lot of things that are interesting to me, but in the long run, my life ended up with me doing exactly what I should be doing: leading a small business. I have the Navy as my somewhat interesting part-time distraction. Other than that, I just need to focus on being a father.
If the economy picks up, or the weather starts cooperating, I'll be trying to expand the business, again, by diversifying into an unrelated enterprise.
Until then, I need to farm the farm. The grass is no different anywhere else. I need to just water the grass where I am.
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