Almost as much trouble as a horse

This is what my Dad used to say whenever I would complain about car repairs. This weekend's activity was centered around the failure of the battery on my Passat. The car was getting more difficult to start and finally G decided to look at it. Turns out not to be easy -- the battery is under this big piece of plastic that has to be taken out in order to get to it.

G opened it up on Saturday and found that the battery was bone-dry. The electrolyte level was -- GONE. Because of the undisturbed dust and the fact that the screw that undid the port to check the fluid level was pristine (had never been turned), it was obvious that the fluid level in the battery had never been checked in the nearly 8 years since I bought the car new.

He filled it up with water and we drove the car out into the country looking at some 5 acres to charge it up, hoping to resurrect it -- but it was not to be. Yesterday it didn't get driven because we were out in His car looking at farms. This morning it started but took a while -- wheeawheeawheeawheeastart -- so we took it to the mechanic that we trust here in Corvallis, who put in a new battery this morning. Lucky they were open today.

This vehicle has been completely maintained by the VW dealer here in town, even at a little extra expense, and I relied on them to perform the routine services they were supposed to. VW does say that the battery shouldn't need maintenance under normal circumstances, but the service manual states that at the 20K and 40K mile services, the electrolyte fluid levels should be checked. THAT never happened.

This opened up a whole other line of inquiry and it looks like the brake fluid has NEVER been changed even though it is supposed to be changed every 2 years. So next week the car is going back in to our new mechanic to have a few things checked over . . .

Prisonesque view of personal finance

This was on the blog of "Money-Grubbing Lawyer." I thought it was fascinating.

Prison Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Personal Finance
January 8, 2009

This is a guest post by Roger, a former client of mine and self-described “jailbird”. Roger is an inspiration to all who know him- he’s cleaned himself up and now spends his time helping others do the same. I am delighted that Roger has agreed to make a contribution to this site, and I encourage all my readers to leave comments letting him know what you think.

Let’s get the nastiness out of the way- I’m an ex-con. I’m 34 years old and have spent 10 of the last 16 years behind bars for crimes ranging from drug possession and common theft to things much more serious. I’m not proud of the things I’ve done, but I am proud that I’ve put these things behind me.

I’m not a financial expert and I’m far from wealthy but money and business has always been something that I’ve been interested in- unfortunately, instead of investing in widgets and stocks I chose to invest in less acceptable industries. Trying to get on my feet after my last release has been tough, but the lessons I learned in prison are helping me recover and start a new life. I hope you never find yourself having to learn these lessons first hand, but feel free to learn from what I’ve got to share.

1. The only person looking out for you is you - Correctional officers, cellmates, friends, financial planners- they all pretend to want to help you, and many will try, but when push comes to shove everyone looks out for themselves first. Take control of your life and your finances, and don’t trust others to take care of things for you. It’s your money, and it’s your life.

2. Debt costs you more than money - Debt is bad. Simple, eh? But it’s not just bad because it costs you money, it also costs you opportunity and can weigh heavily on your soul. Walking around the compound knowing that you owe somebody something is draining, frustrating, and leads to stress you just don’t need, wondering if your debt is going to be called in or your creditor will settle things with a shiv. Get out of debt and set your mind at ease.

3. You’re not smarter than the system - Prison is full of guys who thought they were smart enough to not get caught, but weren’t. Everybody thinks they’re special, or that they’ve got an edge. They don’t. You can’t reliably beat the market, and you can’t get something for nothing. Stick to index funds; if you want to gamble, go see Slick in East Block for a game of craps.

4. Your assets are only worth what someone is willing to pay - The trade in goods and services is as vibrant inside the prison as it is outside, and just like on the outside, what you’ve got to offer is only worth what someone is willing to pay. A carton of Marlboros is worthless is everybody wants du Mauriers. Too many people get caught up on artificial values on their house, their car, and even their investments. Just because you think your house is worth $300,000 doesn’t mean it is- it’s worth what a willing buyer is going to pay.

5. Don’t punch above your weight - The best way to get yourself in serious trouble is to take on things you can’t handle. Know your limits and accept what you can and can’t do. If you can’t handle credit cards, cut them up. If you need an all cash budget, make it happen. If you need help, ask for it.

6. Bid’ness is Bid’ness - It’s easy to get emotionally involved in things, even when logic would tell you to cut your losses. If your goal is to make money, make money. Drop the losers, sell when your target is hit, and be strategic in your moves. Don’t wait for the next bounce or just a little more increase- make a plan, and stick to it. Be as cold as ice when it comes to your investments.

7. Your greatest asset is your future potential - The most valuable thing you’ve got is not your house or your trading account or your savings. It’s your ability to work, to earn, and to advance. The reason so many people (including me) keep ending up back in prison is because we don’t have the skills to do anything other than the life that got us there in the first place. Work hard at your job, show your worth, and keep improving yourself. Your ability to earn a living is the best thing you’ve got- don’t squander it, and never stop trying to improve yourself.

8. There’s beauty in simplicity - My time locked up has taught me lots, but the greatest lesson is that simple is beautiful. Happiness isn’t about material possessions, or drugs, or money, or even love. It’s about self acceptance and inner peace. Free yourself from materialism and learn to accept who and what you are, because the happiness you’re pursuing can only come from inside.

9. The only person who can help you change is you - I’ve seen all kinds of rehab and social adjustment programs, and they’re all useless. If you want to change your bad habits, whether its overspending or oxycontin, you’ve got to want to change more than anything else. All the self help books, counseling, prayer, and training don’t mean anything if you’re not willing to change deep down.

I thank Money Grubbing Lawyer for letting me share my experiences with you. I wish you all peace, happiness, and every success.

White Elephant gift

Because the "Arctic Blast" storms made the roads so dangerous in December, our Corvallis holiday party at work was postponed until today. Things are pretty somber at my worksite because of the looming choice people have to make between being laid off or moving to Texas. In fact, a lot of people have already left for jobs elsewhere. Our senior leadership (in Texas), however, reassures us that everything is fine and our organization is "world class."

I ended up with this, whereby someone used their gift selection as an opportunity to make a subtle editorial comment:

Nothing like going back to work . . .

. . . to take your mind off of your troubles and broaden your perspective. There are two main themes to my work experience today. One social and one technical.

People like to talk, so when I mentioned that my Mom died over the holiday break they would launch into stories about the deaths of their own family members. "How old was she?" they would ask. This helps people to gauge how shocked and horrified to be. "She was 86" I would say. This seemed to be considered an acceptable age to meet one's destiny. Somehow I found it so comforting to hear people describe the details of what was notable about their own experiences, realizing that it's all a part of life.

Then the technical issues. My PC was having trouble connecting to the network in the office and it took until 11:00 to run through the script with the support tech and finally convince someone to fix the problem with the dns server. 3 hours to prove it wasn't my machine. It was nice though; it gave me an excuse to go and shoot the breeze with people because there was no hope of working.

Finally the best error message of my entire career. This afternoon Outlook was still having some issues. I had a meeting at 2:30. It had a meeting reminder that popped up at 2:15. Outlook lets you set a "snooze" delay until it reminds you again -- the default is 5 minutes before the meeting starts. So I clicked on the "snooze" button and Outlook could not do it. I have never seen this error message before but here is what Outlook said:




Snooze Operation Terminated

It perfectly expresses what working does to your afternoon siestas. I am so bummed that I didn't think to get a screen capture of it.

Gampa spotted in natural habitat

Tomorrow it's back to work. So this weekend contained a lot of 'housekeeping' type activities in the house and yard and concerning our cars. Both of them got washed and spiffed up, and Greg's Mitsu had a tire fixed last week. (It had a screw embedded in it. He drove it that way to California and back last month.) In the morning it is going in to have a checkup including brakes.

Last week also had a lot of car-related tasks-- Mom's Camry went into the shop on Wednesday morning and didn't get finished until Friday afternoon, after a complete suspension rebuild including shocks, struts, boots, and control arms. I didn't even know cars HAD control arms. On Friday afternoon I drove it up to Clackamas where it passed its DEQ test, then Sarah met me at the Powell Street DMV (a full-service DMV station) where we got the title transferred to her. Now she is working on selling her Chevy Cavalier, which Greg found for her and which she has had for at least 5-6 years and which has been a great car but is getting WAAAY up there in terms of the miles. Here is a link to her cute ad: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/987856203.html

Speaking of Greg, aka Gampa, here is a picture of him in his natural habitat aka Home Depot, where he is looking for some fertilizer / moss killer for our neighbor's lawn and some regular fertilizer for ours. We appreciate Mom's neighbors taking care of her and we try to do the same for our neighbors.

Birthday

Yesterday I had the best birthday -- gorgeous miniature roses from my dear Sister -- phone calls from my precious daughters -- and even my own birthday blog post by Mary. Plus I got a Greg's Famous Tacos dinner completely prepared, served, and cleaned up after by -- NOT ME! Thanks everyone.

Tree Trimming in progress

Today the tree trimmers decided to come out and they are working hard. Here is a puzzle: find the tree guy in this picture:

Everything changes

There has been a break in my posting because my Mother had a sudden stroke on December 18. Although there was a brief period of hope where we thought she might recover, she declined rapidly and died on December 26.

Her family and friends rallied around and Hospice was there to bring comfort. Since I don't know what else to say, here are some pictures of my Mother, Mary Scrivner, who I miss very much.