Transportation

How many of you, as adults, ride your bike?

I've been riding all my life, on and off.  It's a lot of fun and you can do it for a lot more than just once a week for exercise.

Burley makes great trailers for bicycles.  I am talking cargo carriers.  With them you can go grocery shopping with your bike.  You can carry all sorts of things with you if you have a trailer. You can go CAMPING too!  But even without a trailer you can get baskets or just carry things in a backpack.

This picture is of my mountain bike and bike trailer.  My dog and I went on a camping trip.

I say, think about it.  Ride your bike more often than you do.  Use it for simple errands if you can.  Use it to commute to work.  While 5-miles may be ideal, anything up to about 10-miles is bikeable from a commuting perspective.  You will appreciate the exercise.  You will actually save time because you won't need to go to the gym any more!

This picture is of my antique racing bike.  I've kept it in pretty good shape.  I just bought new wheels for it.  Everything else is original.  Oh, I put on a new seat and bike lights - safety first!

Preparing for an Interview

Good preparation leads to a good interview. If you have not interviewed in awhile, it is useful to just practice interviewing. This can be through actual job interviews before tackling the critical interview or you can ask your friends to interview you.

That said, find out as much as you can about the job, the company, and even the person interviewing you (if you know this). Summarize your knowledge in key points that you can throw into your answers.

If you really want the job, try to communicate how much you want to work for that particular company - not just get any job. Be enthusiastic but not gushing. If you are the right fit for the position both you and the interviewer will know this. First impressions are important. Dress appropriately for the interview. Have a 2-min summary of your background and how it fits the job requirements (elevator speech).

Remember, in most cases the interviewer is not trying to personally trip you up. They are simply trying to identify the best candidate for the job. Some jobs are stressful. If you can't handle yourself in the interview then you probably can't do the job anyway.

Review the top 10 questions typically asked at a job interview (Google will help). Be certain you can answer the "what was your biggest mistake or what are your weaknesses" type of question. Answer in a way that demonstrates you learned something from the experience. Try to find and example of something that isn't that godawful a thing to have done, if possible. Everyone has something. The purpose of this question is not so much what you did but how you answer the question.

Have one or two intelligent prepared questions to ask about the job or the company - but these questions should be phrased to demonstrate your knowledge and interest with the company, not to point out some glaring inadequacy.

After the interview, immediately after, do a self-assessment. What were the tough questions? Can you clarify your response in your thank you note? And absolutely send a thank you note. I feel these days that an email is appropriate. However if the interviewer has done something extraordinary, then a hand-written note sent by mail might also be needed.

House Buying

I have bought a house or two during my life.  For those of you who have this opportunity, I would say do it if you can.  Owning a home is an amazing thing.  To begin with, it is quieter and your space is your own - pretty much.  I mean, usually you will be living in a city or an association so there are some rules.  But the advantages far outweigh those rules.

With a house you have a place to retreat from the world.  You can garden in your yard, relax in your patio, work on home improvement projects, and grow your family.  Do you want a dog?  get one (if you can care for it).  Dogs are amazing too!  I'll have to talk about my dogs some time.

In the long run, your house should cost you less than renting.  This is because houses generally increase in value (the past few years not withstanding).  Whereas your rent just goes to your landlord.

Of course, you will have to make house payments.  At first these may seem high.  But after a few years you will find that your house payments are actually less than the rent because they stay relatively constant.  Rent always goes up.  So just make sure that you have enough income to make those payments.  I think most experts recommend that your house payment be about 1/3 of your monthly income.  Also, try to make as large a down payment as you can.   20% at least.  This lowers your principle and also your payments - and you wont have to pay mortgage insurance.

There is a lot of paperwork to sign.  But don't be intimidated.  Just read it carefully.  Talk to friends who have been through the experience and can share the things to look out for.

But definitely, get yourself a house.

Recording

Do you know what you were doing, say, 10-years ago on this date?  I do.  I know everything I've done since the age of 12 - pretty much precisely.  I know because I've kept a diary.  My thoughts, hopes, fears, experiences, everything about me.  I laugh sometimes when, in the movies or TV someone brings out a dusty old book and says, "this was my grandfathers diary".  Obviously scripted by someone who has no clue that the diary of a life would requires volumes of books.

Regularly, I'll review my entries and there have been many times when I have said to myself, "that really was a good idea – why not go work on that tomorrow?" Or, "darn, I forgot to do XXX – better take care of that right now." Or, "YYY said BBB about me. What am I going to do about that?" It's useful to also review what's been happening over the past few weeks as well as periodically see what was going on a year ago or even 5-years ago. It kind of keeps you on track and centered, both short term and long term.

When I first started I used half-sized hard cover booklets with lined pages.  These were available in stationary stores for a few dollars each.  They lasted from two to 6 months depending on the intensity of my writing.  I've got boxes of these, carefully cataloged and stored in the garage. 

A few years back I went 100% digital.  I now record my thoughts in MP3 files.  If I write something I'll scan or photograph it so there is a permanent record.  The good pictures I take are similarly stored.  I'll even scan interesting news articles if I feel they have relevance to my thinking at the time.  Everything is stored on flash memory,  backed up by DVD (good for 50 years, I am told).

The recorders are inexpensive and simple to operate.  It's interesting to listen to your own words as well as the emotion you put into these words.  

Consider encrypting your entries - there is a lot of personal information in there that you probably wouldn't want anyone else knowing about if you should lose it.

Be diligent about making your entries or recordings.  Do it several times a week at least.
 

So, as you live your life, make sure you keep a record of it.  Written or digital - it's a valuable history.  It's YOUR history!

What's it all about?

This blog is about balancing your life.  Most of us have to work.  But do we have to work ALL the time?  And when we are not working, what do we do?  That's what this blog is about.  The outdoors, healthy activities, fun with friends and family - here's how to do it right, or at least, how I do it!