Worm Food

These thoughts were on my mind, and I jotted them down in my journal on Monday. I felt compelled to put them up here on the off chance someone might find them (useful).

I felt compelled to write these thoughts down. They are not empirical, but they do have a certain truthiness.

• Markets are more robust, lifting more people, when they are free from monopolies of any kind.
• The government itself is a kind of monopoly that can influence overall economic performance, either for good or bad. Therefore, regulation and stimulation, both of which will always have unforeseen consequences, must be carefully considered before being implemented.
• Unregulated markets tend to evolve into monopolies or oligarchies that maintain their status-quo by suppressing creativity, innovation, and overall economic growth. Everything becomes zero-sum.
• Every market has winners and losers. When the elites perceive themselves as losing, they will use any means necessary to protect their power. They will also convince themselves they are acting for the greater good. Some won’t care about the greater good so long as they benefit.
• “What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee,” but the bees are not very good at recognizing what is good for them—especially when what is bad for the hive is pitched as being good for it. The inverse of Marcus Aurelius’s truism is patently false. Otherwise, nobody would poison the common well for their own profit.
• Humans are remarkably immune to cognitive dissonance. Double think is a real thing.
• I believe Greenspan was correct when he said the biggest problem with the economy was that nobody took the long term view. When asked why, he said, “because in the long run, we’re all dead.”

We are all “food for worms.” Memento mori.

Do You Want To Be Rich?

This post originally appeared on the Hermit Haus Redevelopment website on 2020-02-04.

I think it is better to be wealthy than rich. Scales from Shutterstock

This T-shirt captures two popular memes. I can’t make up my mind if it’s brilliant or indecisive. Photo source: Teepublic

Oddly enough, people in the Self-employed and Business quadrants can have a harder time achieving financial independence than those in the Employee quadrant because of higher lifestlye expectations. Society doesn’t expect janitors to shell out for a new luxury car every couple of years. Electricians aren’t expected to have a collection of Lucchese boots. Doctors and small business owners often face those expectations.

I’m in the high-fidelity first class traveling set

I think I need a Lear jet

—Roger Waters

Only you can define your own success, and only once you have defined it can you establish the long-term and interim goals to get you there. So in that spirit, let me ask you a question.

Do you want to be rich?

Not me. I’d rather be wealthy.

When I make that argument, it’s not just semantics. I firmly believe being rich and being wealthy are synonymous only in the broadest sense of the terms. In fact, trying to become rich can be an obstacle to becoming wealthy. Here’s why, being rich is having the appearance of being wealthy. The price you pay for that appearance can prevent you from ever having actual wealth. In appearing to be rich, you spend money on things that make you appear rich. Since you can only spend that money once, it does not go to building your wealth.

In other words, appearing to be rich takes money out of your pocket. Being wealthy generates income, whether you work for it or not.

Spending money is a drug. It releases endorphins in the brain. Endorphins work like morphine or codeine, and they can be just as addictive. When you buy new clothes, the endorphins create a rush of good feelings. People can come to depend on that rush. But as with other drugs, that relief is fleeting and illusory. Soon, instead of making them feel better, people are shopping to get that rush just so they don’t feel bad.

Buying new clothes or accoutrements is not a problem. Buying them when you can’t afford them, or even when you don’t need them is. I know people who spend several hundred dollars a month on clothes. If their wealth generates that kind of income, more power to them. If their jobby job creates the income for this spending or worse, if they can’t afford it, it’s a real problem that can prevent them from ever accumulating the wealth that could make such spending sustainable. Looked at another way, a $500 a month clothes habit, amounts to $6,000 a year. Depending on your market, that’s a downpayment on a rental house every one to three years. The rental house could net you as much as $500 a month in ongoing income.

Cars have always been my weakness in this area. For most of my adult life, a Jaguar XJ has always been my dream car. I bought a used one in the 1980s, but I had to sell it when the cost of maintenance became unsustainable. When I finally bought a new one, I thought I’d finally made it. I felt great driving it around. But as Stephen West observes, “…what actually happens is you get the dream car…then it just becomes…your car at a certain point. Then inevitably…there’s something else that you’re desiring every day.” We are “constantly restlessly striving for things in a perpetual state of discontent.”

That is the real trap of things. They don’t make us happier. They just keep us from being independent. We get caught in the webs of excess consumerism and conspicuous consumption. That Jaguar is a perfect example. At the time, I could have bought a rent house for what I paid for it. In Austin, that rent house would be worth about 140% of its purchase price. If I were to sell the Jag, it would bring about 15% of its purchase price. And clothes are worse. Sometimes we can’t even give away old clothes.

Consumerism is the bonfire into which we throw our hard earned money…and our financial independence. Spending money on mere things may make us feel good at the time—it really does—but it makes someone else wealthy at our expense.

So when you go to the store and find yourself about to spend money, take a second to ask yourself, “What does this purchase help me accomplish?”

Do you need that Lear Jet, or just want one?

What Is Greatness, Anyway?

Very few dispute the goodness of Mother Theresa, but she is still not infallible. At least not semantically. Photo source: St. Josemaria Institute

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

—Mother Theresa

Maybe it’s the American Bias in me that makes me think all of us have the potential for greatness—whether or not we attain or even choose to pursue it. Maybe I have a semantic problem with the term “great things.”

What does that even mean? Does a thing have to affect millions or change the course of history to be “great”? Isn’t it a great thing if it changes only one person—no matter how transiently, even that person is yourself—for the better?

But I have no argument with the second sentence. We can all do small things with great love. Doing so should be a daily goal approached humbly and quietly. Wouldn’t that be great?

People Matter

Heart makes [the redevelopment] business rewarding. Money only makes it possible.

This post originally appeared on the Hermit Haus Redevelopment website on 2016-03-22.

We like to say we are “redevelopers” instead of “flippers” for a couple of reasons:

1. We are not dolphins.
   By the most common measures of animal intelligence (brain weight and the ratio of brain cells to body cells), dolphins are probably more intelligent than humans are. That would make Flipper smarter than me.
2. Flippers have something of a bad reputation.
   Deserved or not, many people think of flippers as preying on the weak or just taking advantage of other people’s misfortune. After all, we buy below market and sell at the top of the market.

While some do take advantage, most of us want to do good in the world. We will even walk away from a deal if we don’t feel we are doing right by the seller. To that end, I want to share a story from a fellow redeveloper, Cheryl Thompson. I met Cheryl though FortuneBuilders, an investor group to which we both belong. She posted this story on the group’s closed Facebook page and gave me permission to reproduce it here.

Last week I got an opportunity to spend time with a woman who was selling her parents’ home. Three bedroom/1 bath. Amazing hardwood floors. She walked me through the impeccable and memory filled home that her father had built in the 1950s. The property in top condition would be worth $90,000. My MAO (maximum allowable offer) would have been $30,000 – $36,000.

She told me how her father had died four years ago, and she bought her mother a condo that would be easier for her to get around in after she had a stroke two years earlier. Now this kind and love-filled daughter had to sell the house. For most, this is the OPTIMUM opportunity. She explained how she was going to use the funds to keep her mom comfortable and safe in her condo with nursing staff and how she was managing all this single-handedly.

As I walked through the house, my rehab hat was making a detailed list of items that would have to be done to the house to get top dollar. My heart hat was listening to the woman’s goals and knowing deep down that I had to use my knowledge to help her, not to fatten my own bank account.

I stopped in the middle of the basement and said to her, “I can’t buy your house. You have too much capital here to be able to take care of your mother with. I’m going to show you how to get top dollar for this house and put the money in your bank account for your mom.”

The tears in her eyes said it all.

We started the walk through again and I pointed out exactly what she needed to do to be able to list the property with a realtor. I told her what to pay attention to and what to let go. I gave her my favorite realtor team’s name and number.

She mentioned that even though her parents had had insurance with State Farm for over 50 years that State Farm had dropped her because the house was now vacant. I asked her who was insuring it…she said, “No one.” I panicked. An uninsured vacant house. At that moment I begged her to call my company, who insures vacant houses before the end of the day. She had 1 hour and 15 minutes to get it done…and $90,000 to lose if something happened to the house while she was getting it ready to sell.

When I was getting ready to leave, we hugged and agreed to stay in touch. I felt like I had run a victory lap knowing that this woman was going to be able to take better care of her mother for at least 1-2 years because of our 30-minute meeting. She would insure it, get it ready for sale, hire a realtor, and feel a little bit less overwhelmed because our paths had crossed.

This is one of the most beautiful things about FortuneBuilders. We have knowledge (lots of it) that we can put to work for great good.

I love deals. All kinds. But the best deal you can ever make is one that will make another person’s life a whole lot better.

Since we started Hermit Haus Redevelopment, I have not had the opportunity to help someone like this. The people we have talked to have many reasons for just wanting out of the house. Either they don’t have the money to do the rehab themselves, or they don’t have the time, energy, and patience an extended rehab requires. Giving these people what they want is not taking advantage of them. Sometimes they see the what’s in their best interest in terms other than financial gain—like my father did when he sold the house he and my mother had lived in for $20,000 less than its “as-is” value. He felt it was worth $20,000 to move out of a house with too many memories and move where he could begin to rebuild his life after Mom died.

If you know of someone who wants out from under a house that has become a burden for them, we are happy to help by buying that house. If you know someone who wants to know how to get top dollar for their house, we can help with that, too.

The Meaning of Life

The meaning of life … is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

— Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist.

Gardening Sadness

White Begonia

We can’t return, we can only look behind

From where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game

—Joni Mitchell

Today was a sad day in the garden, the first weekend after the first freeze. I spent a good bit of time trimming frost damage from some of my beautiful plants. Then to make it a perfect storm, this is also the day I had to cut the beautiful wedding flowers into bits for the compost pile.

I love finished compost, but it is always sad to have to put such beautifulness on the pile.

So, I’m posting a picture of one of the begonias to remind me that life is a circle. This white begonia is the only one in a whiskey barrel of red ones.

Some of these begonias became part of the compost pile today, along with the wedding flowers and other stuff from the yard. There they will slowly revert to compost, which will feed other plants and bring beauty back into the world.

Politics and the Feast

Two more weeks until I join the ranks of the unemployed again. I am a bit worried because the local economy seems to be following the national economy into the toilet. Thanks, Republicans. You took a balanced budget and turned it into something worse than the “tax and spend Democrats” could have done under Tip O’Neil. I have a new term: Don’t tax but spend anyway Republicans.

Hey! This wasn’t supposed to be a political rant. Let’s eat something. I think I’d like a fried Republican.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?

Like Suna, I prefer to think of myself as a realist. At the same time, I choose to be upbeat about most things that happen in my life. Every life has good and bad events that work together to shape who we become. Take away anything and we are someone else. Not that I like the icky parts. But I know they are inevitable. So why not cherish the growth that results from them?

Soup: What is your favorite color of ink to write with?

Black.

Salad: How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?

Uh…Never. I’m a guy.

Main Course: Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it?

Nope.

Dessert: In which room in your house do you keep your home computer?

My work computer is in the office. My home computer is in the entertainment center in the media room. There is an old laptop in the guestroom—mainly because the keyboard died and it can’t be used as a portable anymore.

Somehow, We’re Stompin’ Around

The “extra” geraniums Suna bought.

If I should go astray and say, “I lost my way,”

Nobody would know me

But if I don’t believe I can and still say, “Hear my plan,”

Somebody would follow just because it’s free

—Larry Byrom and John Kay

This weekend was mostly yard work—nothing very exciting. Saturday I dug a trench around where I want to put the new flowerbed that will replace the sage I killed last weekend. Suna bought some cilantro and thyme, that I planted today. She also bought one more hanging geranium because it was so pretty.

Aaron, our newly-ordained intern, delivered the sermon today. It was all about keeping up with change and not being so dogmatic that we can’t adapt to the times. We are a church that accepts all individuals as they are but challenges them to continue to grow and adapt to the new people who join. He thinks Unitarianism is exciting because we change, not because we’ve got it right.

Like the song says, “We’re all hippos rollin’ down river. Sometimes, we can’t touch the ground.” Nobody has a monopoly on Truth—not even me.

The Road Goes Ever On

It really was written as a single book. The publisher broke it!

Photo source: Amazon

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can

—JRR Tolkien

Suna has a job. She starts Monday at the University of Texas. WOO HOO! Now I need to make sure I have something by the time this contract ends.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Who was the last person you hugged?

Suna, this morning before I left for work. I thought seriously about being late.

Soup: Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

If you’re on a tight budget, substitute aloe vera gel for conditioner and moose.

Salad: What does the color yellow make you think of?

My mother’s kitchen in the ’70s. It was so yellow, it made me want to puke early in the mornings. I had to wait until I had been up for a while before venturing in there.

Main Course: If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

I don’t think I would want to specialize too much. If you spend too much time thinking about a gnat’s left earlobe, you miss the beauty of the creature and how it interacts with its environment. Landscapes can be breathtaking, but sometimes you need people in them. Portraits can be poignant, but sometimes it’s the setting that makes the portrait.

Dessert: What was the longest book you ever read?

• Longest read: The Lord of the Rings. You could sure get tired holding this puppy up. It went away with X1.
• Longest owned: Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. This one is courtesy of X1.

 

Circle Game

And the seasons go ’round and ’round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We’re captive on a carousel of time

…

And go ’round and ’round and ’round in a circle game

—Joni Mitchell

This is the time of year to reflect on what has happened. What, if anything, have I learned from my experiences this year?

• Life can be very painful. Even the good times can hurt.
• Things never go like you want them to. Even things you do to avoid hurting others (or, at least, minimize the damage), can end up hurting them more.
• It’s better to get things out in the open. If something disturbs the harmony of the house, delaying the disturbance does not make it go away. Cleanse the wound quickly before it festers.

Of course, I already knew all of these things. So that brings up my final ovservation:

• Even though you know something, your mind can still trick you into repeating the mistake through optimism. I knew that, too.

So, what would I change about the last year? Not really anything. I have always believed that even the icky parts of life shape who we are. We need pain to appreciate its absence. We need joy to survive the pain. The Wheel of Fortune is the most beautiful card in the deck. I still try to cherish all of my experiences—even those that hurt.

Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions are promise made to yourself, usually without the wherewithal or sometimes even the intention of keeping them. Here are mine for the upcoming year:

• To do my best to be happy and help others be happy
• To achieve a balance between work and life
• To work on making a charitable reaction to any stimulus my first one

These were written by columnist Lynn Ashby. I like them:

• In the coming year I shall never read any newspaper story that contains the names Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or Karl Rove unless followed by “was indicted.”
• Not to watch a TV channel that only tells me what I want to hear, that whatever the problem, it is someone else’s fault. I must think outside the Fox. (I wish everyone would try this one.)

Nostradamus

Ah, the more it changes, the more it stays the same

And the Hand just rearranges the players in the game

—Al Stewart

Do parallel universes line up in a series of infinite minute variations?

Original Painting ©1997 by Slawek Wojtowicz

So last night, I visited the parallel universe where X2 and I split long before I met Suna. In that place, we had never left the coast, and I was still earning my living through manual labor. I think I was still working at the Rice Factory. I know my boss at the Rice Factory, Old Easy, was in the dream and much older than he had been when I knew him.

(This was the second time people from that place—and Old Easy in particular—have appeared in my dreams recently. In both, they were older than when I knew them and their personalities had aged, too. That’s what makes me think I am slipping through to a parallel universe.)

It was interesting to note that X2 and I had the same problems as we had in this universe and the same results. The only difference was that I was alone, too. It was a much sadder place for me—not only because I was alone, but also because I knew I had wasted a lot of potential by staying on the coast.

This dream started me wondering. How much are we shaped by our experiences? How much do we shape our experiences? And how much do we simply shape our perception of our experiences?

Without everything that has gone before, would I still be me?

Photo by: Suna

Grateful Monday

So that brings us to this week’s Grateful Monday. I am grateful for everything that has happened to me in this universe. Things could have turned out much worse. I still feel that I have wasted a lot of potential and that I should have done more to help other people. I fantasize about joining the Peace Corps or something like it when I retire, but …

But even the icky stuff in life shapes us and makes us better people. So I am grateful for all the good times I’ve had—and for all the bad times, too. I hope I am continuing to grow and become a better person than I was.

Popcorn

I’m not the only one who likes movies and popcorn.

Photo by: RobynRenee

Happy little kernels of corn are we,

Wrapped up in our jackets of white;

We hop and we pop,

We’re so full of glee,

Hopping ’til we pop just right!

—Mary H. Howliston

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Which snack do you like to get when you go to the movies?

Popcorn. Except for the gobs of butter, it’s relatively healthy. I used to grab a pound of Reces cups and a gallon of soda—not the diet kind. Now I force myself to be content with popcorn and a small drink.

Soup: What year did you start using the Internet?

I remember using Prodigy as early as 1992. I was a late bloomer.

Salad: What is your first name in Pig Latin?

E-lay

Main Course: Name something you are picky about.

Less and less these days. The older I get, the less certain I am that I am right about anything. But I probably pick more nits over sentence construction than anything else.

Dessert: Fill in the blanks: I ____ ____ yesterday and I ____ ____ today.

I got paid yesterday, and I spent it today.