Smart Consumerism

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that America runs of consumerism. The multitudes buy, buy, buy from the very few of those that are smart enough to figure out a demand. From clothes to cell phones to vehicles we are constantly consuming. All day everyday we are bombarded with Advertisements telling us that we need to buy their products. Television shows are strictly dedicated to selling-QVC. I have a iPhone4 that still works perfectly but I badly want the new Samsung Galaxy S4 because all of it's advertisements tell me that I want it. I know that I'm supposed to be smarter than most but I'm human just like anyone else. In today's world your either selling or buying. With the being said it still doesn't stop me from checking out all of the reviews of the new Samsung. To buy the Galaxy S4 would make me a huge Hippocrit. And to that end I can't buy it, at least until another year. I want to buy a set of sport rims for my car and I could justify that as a much because sport rims would provide a smoother ride for my truck. It would also allow it to carry more weight and to better handle rough terrain. Still when I look at everything strictly from a financial standpoint I can't justify that purchase either. So what's a hardworking person to do. I was always raised to believe that you should save money for a rainy day. What good is a brand new Samsung Galaxy if I can't pay my bills or have my water heater fixed when it breaks. My childhood upbringing is constantly in conflict with my adult self whom wants to give into the consumer the whole country wants me to be. I want to buy a RGIII jersey because he's not only my favorite player but the Washington Redskins are my favorite sports team. I think that they should seriously consider changing their name but that's another story all together.


I'm not against consumerism. In fact I'm all for consumerism because it's what drives the economy. I just think consumerism should be mixed with a pinch of common sense and restraint. I guess what I'm trying to say is that when you spend be sure that it's because your either really need it or wanted so badly that the thought of owning it consumes you. You should never buy something just for the sake of impressing others. Because you will never impress everyone, never. You'll go broke first. And when that happens it will be those people you're trying to impress that laugh at and talk about you behind your back. But let me reiterate that I'm all for consumerism. Buy, buy, buy. If everyone were like me the economy would probably come to a grinding halt and that would be a terrible thing for everyone. Even now I'm watching this advertisement for the Samsung Note and now I want that too. I fear that one of these days I will give in to my primal consumer urge. I think that every advertisement should have the slogan "Spend Responsibly" stamped across the bottom.

Wellness

Greetings fellow humans. I hope that life has been treating you well. More importantly I hope that you have been treating yourself well. Which is something I'd like to discuss with all of you. Now bare with me because all three topics are hand in hand so I will be as methodical as possible. In today's society the stress that most of us feel on a daily basis is incredibly high. Stress due to our jobs, relationships or just trying to stay afloat financially. Just those three aspects alone is enough to consume all of our time on a daily basis. Things like physical fitness are easily shelved because they require extra time and effort that we don't feel like we have. When in fact it is during these times that we need exercise the most. Perhaps exercise is the ultimate stress reliever, it works for me. It relieves the stress that causes bodily pain and weight gain. Vigorous activity also release endorphins into the brain that gives us a feeling of well being. An added benefit is that you will start to look good and when that happens you can't help but feel good. Talking to someone you trust is also a great way to relieve stress and it also allows us to verbally work through our problems. But don't fall into the trap of voicing your issues to everyone you know because it makes you appear weak and it may serve to annoy those close to you. Dwelling on a problem won't solve anything, in fact it will only lead to more unhealthy feelings of doubt and worry. I find it helpful to write down on paper whatever it is that's bothering me and then I read it aloud. And sometimes it just helps to scream, trust me on this one when I tell you it works. Increasing our understanding of the world and people around us is important to mental wellness. Whenever the mind is fully engaged in something it isn't able to focus on whatever it is that troubles us. Having a hobby is great for stress relief also, like building model cars or finger painting. When you accomplish a task, no matter how small it gives you a feeling of accomplishment which can do wonders for our confidence. A good book is great because it allows you to lose yourself for a few hours a day. It's free as there are thousands of books at your local library. But enlightenment starts with a better understanding of yourself and when this is achieved you may come to realize why you're in a particularly bad situation or when you keep finding yourself in the same situation. Regardless of whom you seek solace, guidance and strength from- God, Budda or Ali-none of it matters if you don't have the discernment required to better understand what your particular god is trying to tell you. Read everything that you think can help you, especially if it pertains to your current situation. This leads me to my final topic of change. If your not willing to change than none of this will much matter to you. If your not able or willing to change then don't be surprised when you keep falling into the same traps. So many of us were never taught how to think critical and many of us still don't know what it is. Learning how to think critically is paramount in today's society. Change your behavior and your thinking will follow.

Bugus OTA reports

Like millions of other fans I'm reader for football season to begin, life is truly better in those months of gridiron action. Like many of you I have been reading the reports that have come out of OTA's and found myself shaking my head. Not to talk bad about any of the local reporters from their respective cities but a grain of salt can be taken with anything they write about. Let's be honest, every team looks great during OTA's, even the Colts, Dolphins, Jaguars. I say this because there was one particular report that grabbed my, stamataneously grabbing my attention and irritating me. This particular report came out of Jacksonville and it said that Blaine Gabbett looked good. I took that article with a grain of salt and you most likely would as well if you saw the young man play last year. I always thought that he was drafted far too high and wondered why Jacksonville reached for him. He's still at least another two years away-if at all-from being that franchise quarterback they envisioned him to be. It'a not that I don't like Gabbett, I just don't believe in the guy. But I have been wrong many times before and time will tell if I am about this guy.

I'm also hearing all these good things about Buffalo and how their revamped defense lead by a fully healed Mario Williams will put them in contention for the AFC title. While I don't doubt the amount of talent this team possess-because they are tremendously talented- I don't particularly have faith in their head coach Chan Gailey. Looking back over his career his numbers are so-so, not bad but not good either. Ideally when you pick a head coach for your franchise, and terrible one at that you want that coach to have excelled at his previous jobs and this just isn't the case with Coach Gaily. He did lead the Cowboys to the playoffs two years straight-98,99- but one could argue that he just managed the talent assembled by another coach. Don't get me wrong I think the man was a decent college coach but he doesn't strike me as having that special quality that all the great coaches have. Is charisma the word I'm looking for? Whatever it is he doesn't seem to have it.

Now let's talk about the Dolphins. How they didn't finish 0-16 is beyond me. But unlike the rest of the 29 NLF teams they got worst in the off season. They traded Brandon Marshall. They traded Brandon Marshall. Take a moment and allow that to sink in. Undoubtedly one of the five best receivers in football and he was traded away for a couple of third round picks. Now try and name another receiver on that Dolphin roster, I dare you. To further add to their self inflicted injuries they overreach and take Ryan Tannehill with the eighth pick in this year's draft. While he seems to have all of the physical tools to play at the NFL level the question is if he has the mental makeup. With just more than a full season under his belt as a starter at Texas A&M he showed a frightening lack of good judgement and that's not something that all of a sudden get better at the pro level. So the Dolphins not only traded away their best player, they spent their first round pick on a guy who won't help them this year and probably won't next year either,if at all. And don't even get me started on the Chad Johnson signing. That signing alone should get some front office personnel fired. I think it's safe to say that any reports that come out of training camp that Tannehill looks better than Matt Moore or David Gerard can be taken with a grain of salt.

Bioware, what were you thinking?

There seems to be a divide among the millions of gamers that have already played Mass Effect 3. There are those who liked the ending and then there are those who absolutely hated the ending. I fall into the latter category and I'll tell you why. Three years ago when I played Mass Effect and thought it was the greatest game I had ever played with Commander Shepard being the Archetype for all heroes that follow. It's deep storyline, vivid visuals, and rich character development made me a fan for life. I found myself a little upset when the game ended but satisfied as well because the story had come to a natural conclusion and we all knew that there would be a second one. And when Mass Effect 2 finally dropped I was lined up at midnight to purchase what I was sure to be even better than the first and I was not disappointed. Mass Effect 2 had not only lived up too it's expectations and surpassed it's predecessor but it went even bigger in scope and scale, introducing us to new characters and story lines and all the while it never shorted us on the action. We got to see Commander Shepard evolve into more than just a battle hardened leader who would do anything to see the job done. He became a protector of the universe, a guiding force for good who inspired loyalty from his crew all the while never caring about his own self interest. The end of Mass Effect 2 was more than I had hoped for, a tightly knit crew embarking on a suicide mission-to take out a Collector base-with the fate of the universe at stake still leaves me speechless sometimes. Once again Mass Effect 2 left us feeling a little sad but satisfied because it ended the only way it possibly could have. Needless to say big things were expect from the next and final Mass Effect 3 and for nearly the entire game it lived up to it"s expectations. I was bombed out about not having Jack, Jacob or Rex rejoin my team but I was more than happy to have Ashly back. Things began to take a turn for the worst as soon as Shepard and his team run into the white beam that subsequently killed everyone but him for some mysterious reason. At this point I was still onboard because people die in war, even the ones we like. I'm going to skip ahead to the part where Commander Shepard meets what most people have began referring to as the God Child, the one whom created the Reapers. If you haven't played this game you probably won't have any idea of what I'm talking about and this blog isn't for you. So Shepard is presented with three choices, all of which entail the destruction of the Mass Relays. Which is odd because in the first game it was explained that if a Mass Relay exploded it would take out an entire solar system. And there was never a reason given for why the Mass Relays had to be destroyed nor for the destruction of all synthetic life in the universe. And perhaps the most ridiculous choice of all was to have Shepard take over the Reapers. WTH?!? Why would he choose to become one with the things he hated most. What happened to the rest of Shepard's crew?
What happened to the rest of the Victory Fleet? Without the Mass Relays they were stranded in our solar system. What happened to Earth's survivors? How would the universe be now that the Krogans no longer suffered from the jenaphage? What happened to the Arachni Queen? Depending on if you allowed the Quarians to wipe out the Geth or allowed the Geth to upload the Reaper Virus how did your choice affect the universe. None of our choices mattered because Bioware failed to address any of it! And perhaps the biggest injustice of all was the lack of reverence to Commander Shepard. He deserved a universal memorial service for his tireless effort and ultimate sacrifice but he didn't get anything. There should have been a scene where a statue in his image was erected in all the major cities on earth and on every planet in the galaxy. And for that Bioware should be ashamed of itself. Commander Shepard deserved so much more than he received. Bioware, in the future I hope that you think twice before shorting changing all of your paying costumers again.

greetings

Greetings Readers
I'm taking a break from my writing to fill you in on my life. It's already the fourth month of 2012 and time is just flying by, that happens when you get older. I remember when I was very young and always wishing I was older. Now that I'm older I don't see what the big deal is. Oh well, live and learn. Ok, my car is broken and I have to make a major life decision of ditching it or spending $300 or more to have it fixed. The problem is my car is 24 years old and it's not going to get better. The real problem is that I won't be able to replace it anytime soon. I don't want to fool with a car payment and I don't want to keep throwing money into a vehicle that's falling apart. Besides that little problem my life is peachy. I'm accomplishing a lot, improving at my writing and working out at least 3 days a week. I've only had insufficient funds in my banking account once this year and that was my fault because I actually had the money. I'm not a stupid person but I do suffer stupid moments. Things are going well on my job, I work with some clowns. Sheba, my pet dog had another surgery to remove a another lump. The lump was cancerous but the Doctor said that it doesn't necessarily means that she has cancer but if she develops anymore lumps to remove them immediately. So I remain vigilant and so far there hasn't been anymore lumps. I find myself sleeping less now that the weather is improving which means I will get more accomplished-I hope. I had a lovely time with my mom this weekend and it seems I will be spending some time working in her garden this weekend. I don't have anything inspiration to write but I just wanted to touch base with you loyal reader and let you know that I'm still here. Oh my god how I love auto correct and spell check! I don't even know if I will or should post this blog because it's way more personal than I intended it to be but no point in letting a somewhat decent entry go to waste. This is really a warm up for the blog to come later, I hope :-)
Talk to you guys and gals soon.

Be Smart Financially

Blog

I know three nights ago I proclaimed that I would post on this blog no less than ten times a day. Clearly it was wishful thinking on my part and I'm fairly sure the caffeine played a role. The fact that I have posted two days in a week could be considered a small victory. How about I just aim for something much more manageable like one blog per week. I assume that for those of you whom blog, the subjects that you write about resonates with you on some level. And because it does you do your best to get your point across to your readers. Can we all agree on that? Ok let's move forward. At least that's how I do things. Today I want to talk to each of you about the growing problem this world faces, and it's the growing Stupidity Problem. There's such a board range of stupidity but I would like to talk about stupidity when it comes to our finances and life choices. Everyday more and Americans make stupid decision about their finances, diet and education. Our stupidity as a whole is a big reason that America is in the giant financial debt hole. What's worst is that most of the Stupids-that's what I will refer to them as from now on- believe the government should bail them out. I say why reward them for being stupid in the first place. If you were only making $30,000 a year then you had to know there was no way you could afford a $200,000 home. Some of the Stupids weren't even making $30,000. The best lessons are the hardest learned and most of us still glutton for punishment by unnecessary purchases like new cars, clothes and dinning out. Somehow we managed to justify those purchases by telling ourselves we deserve it. Or convince ourselves that they need it, Stupid.

The main thing that I have noticed is that most people don't understand how money really works. Its one thing to walk around with money in your pocket but unless you're about to spend all of that money at the grocery store, etc it isn't earning you any additional money. A long time ago banks used to pay out interest for allowing them to keep our money but now its the exact opposite. With the economy in its current state its difficult to find any high-interest baring accounts but there are some out there if your willing to do the research. I don't believe that walking around with all of your money in your pocket is very smart. Because at the very least a tiny bit of interest is better than none at all. Now back to my point about purchasing things that aren't necessary-and I'm really just generalizing here. Ladies, you aren't going to die if you don't buy those $125 pair of six inch hills. Guys you really, really don't have to spend $60 on every new video game that comes out, especially if the bills are piling up. But I'm nothing telling you guys anything that you don't already know. But just because you can doesn't always mean you should. Even if you can afford that new ride you've had your eye on for a whole doesn't mean you need to go into debt to purchase it. Especially if you already have a vehicle that works just fine.

While I have done no real research to back up this claim I believe that mental wellness and physical health go hand and hand. A healthy mind equals a healthy body and vice versa. So if you eat like garbage you will most likely feel like garbage. And when you feel like garbage you don't always make your best decisions or do your best work. Getting plenty of rest is vital to any operation. You don't see doctors performing surgery after going on a bender. Track and field participants don't party all night before a meet. Nobody performs at their best when they haven't had the proper rest. So just be sure to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and cut out the sugars, starch and fats. And a little physical activity wouldn't kill you either- a short walk after a med to light dinner. A apple or banana for desert as as supposed to a banana split. You see what I did just now? I grouped in diet with physical health. It wasn't hard because the two go hand and hand.

Continuing to make the wrong choices makes your stupid. You can get mad at me all you want but it doesn't change the facts. This is something that I do know for certain and have researched, so to speak. Educated people can be stupid as well. After all they tend to accumulate a higher amount of debt than the uneducated. Why? Because they have higher paying jobs which means they tend to spend more on homes and vehicles. Not even they fully understand how money works and it's not entirely their faults. I blame it on the Money Changers who intentionally make the concept of money so complicated that most of us become so frustrated that we give up trying to learn. But that is another blog for another time. Using myself for example, the more I learn about money the more I realize that I don't know hardly anything about money. Please allow me to get back to the subject at hand which is education and lifestyle choices. You may not believe it but those two really do go hand and hand. The more you know the the further you can possibly go. Or at least that's the working theory. The parents should teach their children about the value of money at an early age. And what's taught at home should be layered upon in the schools by the teachers. Instead of home economics they should have classes that focus on financial planning/money management. Most of these kids honestly get it, they understand the simple concept of money-you work, you get paid etc. Unfortunately too many of our young men and women come into the real world armed with no knowledge of how money works or the importance of a good credit score. These are almost always the ones who find themselves living from paycheck to paycheck or on the welfare system. I understand that everyone can't be millionaires but we should all have a small degree of financial independence. That should be the real American dream. Not everyone is meant to own a home and most people shouldn't because it entails more responsibility than they are ready for. And everyone can't drive a fancy car or wear the latest and hottest thing that fashion has to offer. Remember that it's the advertiser's job to sell you on whatever it is they want you to buy. When you see that guy or girl with the nice car, motorcycle and big house don't be jealous or envious because you don't know what they had to do or sacrifice. For all you know they could be living from paycheck to paycheck just like you. But if your smart you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. So education is supposed to lead to better lifestyle choices. Let me add one more thing. If you're going to the clubs every night and spending money on booze you probably aren't saving very much. And if your already stupid, booze makes you even more so. Nobody ever became smarter after they drank. In the end I guess what I'm trying to say is be smart. Be smart in all phases of your life. Be smart with you finances and your health. And if your already smart than be smarter.

For Reals

Hey everyone! This will be very brief. Because I have been so inconsistent with my blogging I'm going to start posting every opportunity I get which means you may get up to ten post per day for the foreseeable future. Maybe it's the caffeine or maybe motivation or maybe a combination of both but I feel the overwhelming need to express myself. This year is already three months old and I have made some very important strides. However I still have a long way to go so stay tuned. Sheba, my dog had surgery this past Friday to remove a knot from her right thigh. It's her second such surgery in two years. Last year we had a knot removed from her chest. Her blood work will be back in a few weeks, I hope and pray that it's not cancer. I don't know what I'd do without my baby sister. It's amazing how pets can ease their way into our hearts. I'm not a animal person but I love my dog! Well that's all for now, I have to get back to work.