As I was standing in line today waiting to pay for my gas, I noticed an older man turning in two scratch off tickets. The total winning came to $25.00. That's a decent amount of cash. That would have been over half a tank of gas on this specific occasion. Instead of taking the winnings and leaving, he used the entire amount on more scratch off tickets. I could have used that cash I thought, and here he is leaving it to chance.
I left the gas station and began pumping the $40.00 that I just purchased in gas, I was still thinking about this situation. Thinking, people can never really be happy can they? He just won cash. Not a dollar or two, but twenty-five. I wonder if he won $100 if he would still choose to buy more tickets to see if he could multiply his earnings. At what point would it stop. At what point would he have said, I'll take the money and run? And why is lottery chance? Why isn't it merit or good will based?
As I closed the car door and drove away, I started thinking...what would I do with a million dollars? You hear all kinds of horror stories about individuals who win some fat cash and their lives go to crap afterwards. I've heard the stories about how they blow it all and then are in worse shape than they started financially because they have created this lifestyle that they cannot maintain when they expend the initial money.
So on my drive through Cumberland County, I created a plan of what exactly I would do with the money. For giggles, I'll share it...with the world!
For my created plan and for the purpose of this blog, I am indicating that one million is what I have in hand and the taxes have already been paid.
First off, I would put $100,000 in savings / roth ira accounts so I can actually retire one day. I would pay off my home and my vehicle and student loans. My current home, while I love it because it is home is not my "dream home", So I would use that home as a homeless rehabilitation home free of rent for homeless families to get on their feet and build my modest dream home. I project that this would be roughly $450,000. I would give $10,000 to my siblings and $20,000 to my parents, and $5,000 to nieces and nephews. I would use 10,000 to lavishly blow at my leisure. I would put $80,000 into a college fund for Noah and $30,000 into a savings account for him as well. I would take $100,000 and use it for tithing. I would then split the remainder. I would take $30,000 and be a random giving fairy and give money to those who I chose (whether I know them or not). $35,000 would go to cancer research. The reminding $65,000 would go into checking to use for living expenses, vacations, etc while still maintaining my normal job.
So while I still think it's crazy for someone to give up the cash in hand for a chance at more, and though I know there will never be a day the lotto gods shine down on me, it's fun to play around with what if's and it sure made my drive seem a whole lot quicker.
Now that you know how I would breakdown a million dollar winning, what would you do with that kind of cash?? Make it count!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Bad boys for the win.....er....or not so much
A few things happened in the course of the day which made me want to delve into a blog about said topic.
I didn't work...but I stopped by the office for a while anyway. While I was there someone mentioned about the Fed Ex guy being attractive. In which our secretary quickly said he is not the type of person wanted. That "he may be ok to test drive, but you don't want to buy him." Whoa ok, point made loud and clear.
As the day went on, I read a post on facebook by a friend talking about how girls, by and large, don't want the good guys. Don't want the hopeless romantics, who love with everything they have, who are caring and compassionate. That though they may speak these notions, evidence (at least for him) shows that this is not the case, that they will choose the bad boys, the jerks, the ones who legitamately don't care....every time.
So I have thought over the past few hours, and several times throughout my life about whether this indeed is the case.
Do women predominately choose the option that they know is not a long term option? The one who is going to ultimately treat them like crap? The one that can schmooze and say all of the right things but that's as far as it goes?
Unfortunately, I think I have to say yes on this one. Ugh, that takes some coaxing of my fingers to actually type that out for whoever to see.
But let me explain my rationale here. It will ultimately make sense.
Chicks clearly for the most part have a side of them who want the typical "bad boy". It's not that we want someone with felony convictions, or the wife beater type, or you name it. It is that so often, with time, the opposite of a "bad boy", seems to be a pansy. The happy medium has ceased to exist.
That medium is what we want...and all too often can't find.
The attraction to the "type" is simple. Someone who is a "man"...who speaks his mind, who can command the presence of a room, who can put us in our proverbial place if needed, who can have calloused hands because they aren't afraid to work. It just seems with these, there is also the tendencies to treat us like crap.
So the alternative is, those who are emotionally more sensitive than us, who manicures their hands more than we do, who would be completely content staying home and allowing us to be the breadwinner.
Women are complicated you say?...no joke...I'll be the first to admit that. What we say and what we mean when we say what we want in a guy are often contradictory.
So I'll make it simple.
What we want is someone who "could" put us in our place, but respects us enough not to. Someone who in public hides their emotions, but trusts us enough to let us in on a part of them that they don't show everyone. We want that person who does not have backwoods gender role expectations of women to be in the kitchen and not be in the workforce, someone who encourages our goals, our independence, and motivates us to be more than we are, but still makes us feel safe and secure being with them alone. We want someone who makes us continue to pursue them, but who knows we already have them...and vise-verse. We want someone who respects us and that we know would defend us, but allows us to handle most of our own battles. We want someone to be kind, considerate, respectful, and who wants to spend time with us, but not hover.
So it's not that we don't want the good guys. WE PREFER THE GOOD GUYS..WE WANT THE GOOD GUYS.....
We just want a good guy....with a bit of edge.
I didn't work...but I stopped by the office for a while anyway. While I was there someone mentioned about the Fed Ex guy being attractive. In which our secretary quickly said he is not the type of person wanted. That "he may be ok to test drive, but you don't want to buy him." Whoa ok, point made loud and clear.
As the day went on, I read a post on facebook by a friend talking about how girls, by and large, don't want the good guys. Don't want the hopeless romantics, who love with everything they have, who are caring and compassionate. That though they may speak these notions, evidence (at least for him) shows that this is not the case, that they will choose the bad boys, the jerks, the ones who legitamately don't care....every time.
So I have thought over the past few hours, and several times throughout my life about whether this indeed is the case.
Do women predominately choose the option that they know is not a long term option? The one who is going to ultimately treat them like crap? The one that can schmooze and say all of the right things but that's as far as it goes?
Unfortunately, I think I have to say yes on this one. Ugh, that takes some coaxing of my fingers to actually type that out for whoever to see.
But let me explain my rationale here. It will ultimately make sense.
Chicks clearly for the most part have a side of them who want the typical "bad boy". It's not that we want someone with felony convictions, or the wife beater type, or you name it. It is that so often, with time, the opposite of a "bad boy", seems to be a pansy. The happy medium has ceased to exist.
That medium is what we want...and all too often can't find.
The attraction to the "type" is simple. Someone who is a "man"...who speaks his mind, who can command the presence of a room, who can put us in our proverbial place if needed, who can have calloused hands because they aren't afraid to work. It just seems with these, there is also the tendencies to treat us like crap.
So the alternative is, those who are emotionally more sensitive than us, who manicures their hands more than we do, who would be completely content staying home and allowing us to be the breadwinner.
Women are complicated you say?...no joke...I'll be the first to admit that. What we say and what we mean when we say what we want in a guy are often contradictory.
So I'll make it simple.
What we want is someone who "could" put us in our place, but respects us enough not to. Someone who in public hides their emotions, but trusts us enough to let us in on a part of them that they don't show everyone. We want that person who does not have backwoods gender role expectations of women to be in the kitchen and not be in the workforce, someone who encourages our goals, our independence, and motivates us to be more than we are, but still makes us feel safe and secure being with them alone. We want someone who makes us continue to pursue them, but who knows we already have them...and vise-verse. We want someone who respects us and that we know would defend us, but allows us to handle most of our own battles. We want someone to be kind, considerate, respectful, and who wants to spend time with us, but not hover.
So it's not that we don't want the good guys. WE PREFER THE GOOD GUYS..WE WANT THE GOOD GUYS.....
We just want a good guy....with a bit of edge.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Social Work Doesn't Have a Timeclock
Truth be known, I never wanted to be in the social work field...(shh, don't tell my boss).
When I started my college journey, I started out wanting to be a journalist. I had a brief job opportunity at my local newspaper, researching, writing, editing, investigating, and interviewing. It was amazing. I loved it. After a couple classes, I quickly realized that there was not a high demand for the type of writings that I would like to be involved in.
I changed my major to education. That was my mothers wishes for my career. I worked as a substitute teacher the first two years of college on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help supplement college costs. I enjoyed teaching high school students. They knew the fundamentals (for the most part), they had their individual personalities, sarcasm was keen, and I liked encouraging the oddities that made them unique.
I remember being in an education class having to draw a pig to express our personality. "What the crap is this," is what I thought. "How is this going to help me teach a group of high school students?" I dropped the class that day and changed to Elementary Education, until I still couldn't get past that assignment and dropped the class a second time and changed my major for the fourth time to Sociology.
Now when I began this specific journey, I liked the more breaking, the areas that society felt were taboo. How each culture, ethnic group, and economic sector worked separately and together.
I had it! The most brilliant idea ever! I would be a social researcher. This was the plan for the duration of my undergraduate time....until I graduated, realized that I am more a family person than someone who would branch off and live a life of solitude. I knew that there was no demand for a social research in or around the area I lived, so I had to chose a field that my major was qualified for.
Enter Social Work.
I have been working in the field of social work for nine years now. I have worked with the elderly and disabled, as a provider agency for foster children, and now at the Department of Children's Services.
I love it. With the understanding that every job has it's bad days, drama, and moments of burn out. It's an emotionally unrewarding job for the most part. You find that glimmer of satisfaction when good prevails. You take the negative comments and cursings in stride and continue to try to find the positive in every situation. You take each person, each family, each child to heart. It does not stop at the end of the day, at the close of a case, at the end of the job.
There are some families that I will forever hold dear.
As a social worker, you put your all into each family and child. As a painter puts some of their-self into their painting, as a writer puts some of their-self into their writing, a social worker leaves some of their-self in the lives of the families they work with and visa-verse.
To in a sense hold their-selves accountable for the success of the families, the future direction of the children. To always in the backs of their mind wonder how each family is now, a year, five years, ten years down the line.
I definitely am that person who does. I become excited when I hear from families that I worked with that are successful now. I become saddened when their lives falter.
As a social worker, there is no timeclock. It is a life choice. A heart choice. It is my choice... and I wouldn't trade the experiences I have had for any other occupation.
When I started my college journey, I started out wanting to be a journalist. I had a brief job opportunity at my local newspaper, researching, writing, editing, investigating, and interviewing. It was amazing. I loved it. After a couple classes, I quickly realized that there was not a high demand for the type of writings that I would like to be involved in.
I changed my major to education. That was my mothers wishes for my career. I worked as a substitute teacher the first two years of college on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help supplement college costs. I enjoyed teaching high school students. They knew the fundamentals (for the most part), they had their individual personalities, sarcasm was keen, and I liked encouraging the oddities that made them unique.
I remember being in an education class having to draw a pig to express our personality. "What the crap is this," is what I thought. "How is this going to help me teach a group of high school students?" I dropped the class that day and changed to Elementary Education, until I still couldn't get past that assignment and dropped the class a second time and changed my major for the fourth time to Sociology.
Now when I began this specific journey, I liked the more breaking, the areas that society felt were taboo. How each culture, ethnic group, and economic sector worked separately and together.
I had it! The most brilliant idea ever! I would be a social researcher. This was the plan for the duration of my undergraduate time....until I graduated, realized that I am more a family person than someone who would branch off and live a life of solitude. I knew that there was no demand for a social research in or around the area I lived, so I had to chose a field that my major was qualified for.
Enter Social Work.
I have been working in the field of social work for nine years now. I have worked with the elderly and disabled, as a provider agency for foster children, and now at the Department of Children's Services.
I love it. With the understanding that every job has it's bad days, drama, and moments of burn out. It's an emotionally unrewarding job for the most part. You find that glimmer of satisfaction when good prevails. You take the negative comments and cursings in stride and continue to try to find the positive in every situation. You take each person, each family, each child to heart. It does not stop at the end of the day, at the close of a case, at the end of the job.
There are some families that I will forever hold dear.
As a social worker, you put your all into each family and child. As a painter puts some of their-self into their painting, as a writer puts some of their-self into their writing, a social worker leaves some of their-self in the lives of the families they work with and visa-verse.
To in a sense hold their-selves accountable for the success of the families, the future direction of the children. To always in the backs of their mind wonder how each family is now, a year, five years, ten years down the line.
I definitely am that person who does. I become excited when I hear from families that I worked with that are successful now. I become saddened when their lives falter.
As a social worker, there is no timeclock. It is a life choice. A heart choice. It is my choice... and I wouldn't trade the experiences I have had for any other occupation.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
"To thine own self be true..."
Have you ever been faced with a decision where there is a clear picture of angel on one shoulder, demon on the other?
I recently had a discussion with a friend regarding this very thing. There has been few times when this situation has come up in my own life. Call me boring , call me set in my ways... probably both true.
I had mentioned to her that I can't understand how people let their lives get so out of control. That so many people it seems have strayed from old fashioned morality and follow the masses of whatever is edgy and pushing the envelope.
Granted, I have always been that person to march to the beat of my own drum. That does not in anyway mean that I've not had my fair share of screw-ups. I'd like to think I've learned from most, if not all of them.
But what about the ones who don't learn, or those who are so far down the spiraling rabbit hole that they don't even notice the angel trying to help them out?
I've heard many people throw up cultural and moral progression. Because we are a progressive nation x,y,and z is now acceptable. Maybe so. But not for everyone.
Progression is also regression when in the hands of idiots. We can spout freedom of religion (which I agree with) but it goes too far to the extreme that now every religion except Christianity is free to openly discuss. Homosexuality used to be viewed as condemnable. Now not the case by and large which is great...but then society wants to chastise anyone who is anti homosexuality.
Freedom of speech and freedom of beliefs should not be confined to the extremities. It seems today that if a belief does not mirror societal progression of liberal antics then it should be dismissed.
So by that thought...so many people I know get stuck in this vicious cycle of doing what is edgy and though maybe socially deviant ....acceptable...even when they feel it is wrong.
What do I say??
To thine own self be true. Forget what others are saying is ok, good, acceptable, the new norm. Be true to you even if it's the complete opposite of the masses.
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