Busy Bee

Been putting in 12 hour days at work. It's tiring, but I like it. I've never been so challenged before in my life. For the first time, I get lost in work. I can easily spend a 12 hour day at work and not notice the difference; however, this work is taking it's toll on me. I'm so tired by the time I get home, I just want to veg.

Truth be told, I'm getting a bit of a donut around my abdomen. It aint pretty. Chubby Meta is not attractive or very alpha. Instead of being a fighter pilot, I became a desk jockey.

It's 10pm, the gym is closed now. I can't go anymore, because it's closed. I guess I don't have to work out! But wait... I don't want other people to use this as an excuse to hurt the pocketbooks of other Americans. How does it hurt others? Well, my lack of good health will cause me to eventually pay for more medical procedures. since doctors and medicine are limited resources, my demand will reduce supply and raise health care costs. Therefore, I will do a patriotic duty and stay fit.

Besides, let's toe oneself up against a student today. This graph below shows my work schedule against a students.



And here's one for the average joe who works 8 hours a day.



Seriously, for a guy working 8 hours a day, is it really that different from what we ask of a student? I mean, students have to go home and do hw, which I don't even include in this model. The Jesse Spano's probably puts in about 12 hours a day already.

I'm just saying, we all have a lot of time to waste. It's no excuse to be lazy.

What can you do with one month's rent?

Assumption: Rent = $800

For $800 you can:

1) Buy 5 ipods
2) Buy 2 VERY well loaded desktops
3) Buy 5 22" LCD monitors
4) Buy 3 round trip tickets to new york
5) Buy 334 Gallons of Gas
6) About 80 articles of clothing at Old Navy
7) About 16 articles of clothing at Banana Republic
8) A year's gym membership
9) About 18 steak dinners
10) About 8 courses at a community college
11) 800 songs on iTunes
12) A weekend for two in Vegas + spa treatments
13) 16 brand new computer games
14) 17 Ryanair flights through out Europe
15) 3 Unlimited train passes in the EU
16) One month's rent.

All These Things

Old Goals:

1) Discipline act of 2009. - Passed! Averaged about 2lb loss a week. I highly recommend any thing soupy like pho or potato soup.
2) Get a REAL real estate job - Done! I was hired last friday. You now know Meta M, Jr. Developer.
3) Meet more people with a common interest - fail... however, my application to join the Urban Land Institute is approved, so I'll be fraternizing with other real estate professionals soon.

New Goals:

1) Work my tail off - Time to fly.
2) Pay off my debts - You guys know who you are.
3) Roast a Rabbit - Heh, this will be fun.
4) Read a new fiction - Been reading too much non-fiction lately

Decisions, decisions.

"You're still live at home???"

So, after a month of recording actual cashflow, I've come to conclude that I can afford my own apartment... again. And once again, I'm faced with the decision of moving out or residing in the nest. Decisions, decisions.

This time last year, I could've made a 20/80 down payment on a home, bought a nice yuppie car, and rolled through uptown clubs like a choochoo train. However, I didn't want the highlight of my mid-20s to be a liquor-soaked evening of striped shirt dive bars. There was an opportunity cost to consider.

I continue to receive a few off-handed remarks about living at home, especially at the ripe old age of 26. A man must move out and mark his own territory! Go pee in the bushes! Find your alpha!

I completely understand the notion; however, I think I played it right. Perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned from my father lies in the ability to forgo glamor. Do notice that everytime we do get something of glamor, it's motivated by a certain textile industrialist's daughter. Since all her pink collar friends drive a Lexus and get free coffee and car washes at the dealership, she wants one too. Nevermind the nice house or credit line. Anyway, I digress.

Life is good where I am. Work is 6 minutes away (just 4 traffic lights), my gym is one stop sign away, and I save on rent. I have all the amenities of a luxury apartment, steam shower, massage chair, tub, etc. Call me foolish, but I can leverage more in my life this way. I bit the bullet from May 06-July 08, and I saved quite a lot.

If I paid rent & utilities (say $800/month), multiply by 26 months of living at home, that's $20,800. Add a new car @ $18,000, and I saved about $38,800 after taxes.

"That's nice and all, but is that the price of your freedom?"

I'm sorry, but what'd you do last year? Maybe I'm missing something here, but living at home allowed me to live abroad for a year. Car payments, rent, cable, and utilities are all shackles that keep you nailed to the ground.

"You still live at home."

Yea... so I could get a master's degree, internship in London, live abroad for a year, see 10 countries and 17 cities, make friends internationally, and be recruited by BofA within a month of job searching (who btw offered full-time employment after our 5-month contracts are up).

So why am I staying here now? Because I'm saving up for something bigger than fast cars, drunk evenings, flashy apartments, and trendy clothes.

Quotations.

"Only the man who does not need it is fit to inherit wealth -- the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him."

"The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of Joy. Then all things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach, not an acheivement, but a reminder of shame."

"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will. One of us will win, but both of us will profit."