Tag Archives: money

Something Wrong With This Picture?

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I bought a car this week. Kelly and I now have two cars (ironically, the car I’m driving is in Kelly’s name and the car she is driving is in my name..). They are practically exactly the same, though I’ll post more about that probably next week after I take some more photos. But because there are certain things I like to have in my car, I have been wandering the aisles of the auto sections of stores grabbing the couple of things I really really like to have. While I was there, I noticed ‘racing pedals’ to replace (or cover) the ones that came with the car. Fair enough. What I don’t get is the idea of racing pedals for automatic transmissions:

This may just be my full-of-crap opinion, but I don’t think that using an automatic transmission to race should count at all, and to that end I think that racing pedals for automatic transmissions are off the horrible end of cheesy when it comes to mostly pointless car ‘upgrades.’

The Greatest Form of Flattery …

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From Wikipedia:

Flattery (also called adulation or blandishment) is the act of giving excessive compliments, generally for the purpose of ingratiating oneself with the subject.

Historically, flattery has been used as a standard form of discourse when addressing a king or queen. In the Renaissance, it was a common practice among writers to flatter the reigning monarch, as Edmund Spenser flattered Queen Elizabeth I in The Faerie Queene, William Shakespeare flattered King James I in Macbeth and Niccolo Machiavelli flattered Lorenzo II di Piero de’ Medici, ruler of Florence and Duke of Urbino, in The Prince.

They say that the greatest form of flattery is imitation. I hope so, because I’d like to introduce my brother, ZeKeSbRo. He started a blog recently, and the similarities between his and mine are remarkable 😉

I’m sure he’ll have some interesting things to say and things that bore the poop out of you, just like mine. Only time can tell.

In other news, my wife and I are looking at buying another car, probably purchasing on Monday.

It’s a 1997 Subaru Outback, it’s black, it’s a 5-speed manual, and ran great when I test-drove it. It is the limited edition – leather seats and a few other things I probably haven’t spotted. It’ll match our 1998 Subaru Outback nicely!

Diary, Model Railroad, 7, etc..

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This is really stretching out! Anyway, since the last post I’ve done little but prepared much. Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

What I’ve achieved: Completed painting both sections.

Yes, that’s all.

That said, I have ordered more ballast (since I have one pack of light and two packs of dark – not very close to meeting my requirements), I have ordered more terminal blocks (so I can rewire the second section much more cleanly), I have ordered a 20->24 pin ATX adapter and a 24->20 pin ATX adapter – this should give me both male and female sockets for 20 and 24 pin. I’ve also ordered DPDT switches and momentary on switches – enough to build a control panel. I’ve also printed onto paper some cardstock buildings, and I’ll be gluing those to the poster board that I also acquired at some point in the near future.

My coming plans involve forming a road (I’m thinking a paved road and a dirt/gravel road or two) through part of a section. The problem I’m having is deciding where. I thought I had left space in the track layout, but it seems there are some tight spaces where I’m thinking of putting buildings. It would also be cool to have a rail-in-road space somewhere, I’m thinking along the back where I was planning on putting a one-car container terminal, and building a fence around the facility for security etc. Lastly, I realized that I hadn’t made any account for uncoupling magnets, and I don’t like the idea of them being incredibly visible (unless they can be disguised as something else in some way?) Therefore I either need to lift pieces of track just enough to squeeze magnets in underneath (perhaps thin magnets?) or use stronger ones under the baseboard.

These problems and more to be found and hopefully resolved, soon. Here are some photos.

The messy module is seen above a Lighting Direct box (all the way from New Zealand). It is also the one with the least paint (although it is now finished – no photos as yet.) The other module is facing the wrong way, but is otherwise ready for the next step, whatever that may end up being.

Diary of a Model Railroad, part… 6?

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I think I’m up to part 6, at least. Anyway, there was a long period of no-development on the layout mostly due to finance. I now have a job (cheers, applause, etc, etc) which means in addition to being able to pay all our bills, we have enough spare money that I can devote a little more to the trains.

A while back I picked up a cheap terminal block on eBay, and will likely need another one soon for the other half. Also, I bought a sampler-sized pot of brown paint yesterday and I utilized both the terminal block and the paint this morning.

So today there were three things achieved, albeit small. Firstly I replaced a section of track that had been bothering me for a while, ever since I laid it and it didn’t really work out. So today it was removed and replaced with a better job. I’m yet to test it, but it looked fine to the eyes.

The second job was rewiring the underside of one module using the terminal block. It now looks a lot tidier, and I just need to run the master feeds back to the end and work out how I’m going to connect the two modules electrically.

The third and final task completed today was painting around the track with the brown paint. The idea behind this is that when I put down grass or whatever other scenery, if it becomes chipped or I miss a spot, it looks more like dirt than just a piece of real-sized hardboard. It probably needs a second coat, but that will have to wait.

That leaves my to-do list rather short: I need to figure out the electrical connections (20/24 pin ATX connectors?), I need to figure out how I’m going to cover or otherwise hide the turnout motors (long ones, sitting along the straight-leg of each one) and I need to actually wire the turnouts, even if they don’t go anywhere. I’m also planning on ballasting track soon, so my t0-buy list is slowly growing again: another pack of lighter colored ballast, another terminal block, some DPDT switches and some momentary switches for the atlas turnout motors.

My Old New Toy

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It doesn’t really make sense, does it? Either it’s an old toy, or it’s a new toy. How can it possibly be both? Well, dear reader, it can, and it is. My most recent recreational requisition (how is that for alliteration in context?) is an Olympus OM-10 SLR camera.

Designed in 1979, I acquired it a week ago on Craigslist. In fully working condition, it came with a Soligor MK32A flash unit, a 50mm lens, a 70-210mm lens, and another which I’m not sure of. It also came with an auto-winder (as yet unused) and a 2x telephoto converter. Just in playing around, I’ve gone through a roll and a half of film, yet to be developed. I also need to take apart the lens of unknown focal length, as the link to the aperture eye doesn’t work, so I probably have a couple of over-exposed photos having set the aperture below the max width and taken photos.

One might ask – why in this world of digital technology would you buy something so old? Two reasons. Firstly, it’s cheap. All of the above cost me $125. I would pay $600 for a worthwhile entry-level DSLR without any lenses. Secondly, it’s about going back to where I came from. You see, I learnt how to take photos on an Olympus OM-1 with a single non-zoom lens plus a 2x teleconverter when I wanted to get closer without getting closer. That was something like 10 years ago. Since then I’ve owned 2 SLR-like digital cameras, and used a few others. But it’s not quite the same. There is something about the feeling of manually focusing a scene and feeling the “thunk” as you click the trigger. My Fujifilm S9600, while it takes awesome photos, is also designed as a multipurpose camera (as it should be – it has a single non-interchangeable lens) and so the effects that can be achieved with different lenses are simply impossible. Adjusting the aperture gives a depth-of-focus effect, but nowhere near to the same degree as a true SLR – it’s one of the things I’ve been playing with the most with this camera.

Don’t despair, I’m not ditching digital. I realize that film is more expensive, especially in the way I use the photos I take (generally online) but I’m planning on enjoying the 35mm for as long as I can justify it.

Why Are We So Quick?

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Matthew 7

Judging Others

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Why are we so quick to tell people how to fix their problems without being fully aware of, or even considering, their circumstances?

A number of times recently I’ve noticed either myself or others commenting about lack of money, and someone else will be very quick to respond (because it is online) along the lines of “Well, you have an internet connection, surely that is one way you could save money!”

Three situations spring to mind where while money may be tight, cutting the internet would not be of any benefit. The first is of a work-at-home person who uses their home phone and internet connection for work. This is a great idea in my opinion, it saves gas, and if you can motivate yourself to get up in the morning (or whenever you need to work) to do your job at home with no-one watching over your shoulder or cubicle wall ensuring you’re on task, go for it.

The other is my current situation. The internet bill is not addressed to me, nor do I pay it. I use the internet connection in this house with permission (IE: I’m not stealing the neighbors), but this house is also not mine.

The third also applies to me, but more directly to others. A large number of employers are only accessible online. That is, you need an internet connection and an email address to communicate with them in order to have much of a chance at getting a job to fix your impending financial woes.

So, dear people of earth, just because someone has a problem, doesn’t mean you should fix it without asking them some further questions. Maybe your hastily and rudely given practical solution isn’t so practical after all.

Dear Mr. President

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Dear President Obama,

I am writing to you in this public form to appeal not only to yourself, but to others in power who may stumble across this.

Allow me to introduce myself quickly. I am 23 years of age and I live in a small town in Virginia with my wife of 20 months, our 1 year old Golden Retriever “Crash,” our 7 month old kitten “Olive,” and my wife’s family – her Mom, Dad, Brother, and their 3 cats.

Since moving to the United States in April 2008 I have held 2 jobs, one as a Camp Counselor at a Christian Camp and one as a Program Leader for a local Boys and Girls Club Unit. I have also done casual work for another camp in the area, hardly enough to call a job in most senses of the term and I am presently unemployed. My wife works at a Day Care Center as a teacher for 3 year old children, and enjoys it a lot.

However, we are stuck in a position where a lack of job openings in the local area as well as high fuel costs are preventing me from finding or accepting job offers. Just a week ago I had to turn down a well-paying offer to work in Northern Virginia because we couldn’t afford the gas to allow me to work the first day, let alone until the first pay check. I also stopped by the local Food Lion (supermarket) last night to inquire as to whether there were any open positions and how I could apply, only to be told that they are cutting their employees hours – they simply aren’t making it themselves.

I feel that “free” health-care, paid for by the taxpayer, is an important issue – especially having moved from a public health care system in New Zealand. I know that if our health insurance bill was lowered or indeed gone then my wife and I would be a lot closer to making our personal financial ends meet. I am also very much aware that the mainstream media have done a very good job of scaring us all with what might unfold if that were allowed to happen here. I feel that stimulating the economy is important too, especially because it seems a lot of people have little money to spend. I know if American products could better compete in price-wars against imported products then I would be more inclined to purchase the “home-grown” version. I am also very much aware that what most people are spending their money on are imported goods from overseas – simply because they are so much more affordable to them.

I wouldn’t mind if my job was providing technical support to a foreign organization that purchased a product from a US source, while I went to a store during my break and bought meat imported from outside the country for a meal, but from what I can tell there are very few things of worth being exported from the United States compared to the vast amount of things being imported. What the people need is employment to provide them with an income and the US economy with a profitable product, and what the economy needs is an increase in exports and a decrease in imports in order to create a balance.

Perhaps this means increasing taxes on imported goods intended for sale, or imposing limits on how much an individual or an organization can import every year. Perhaps this means increasing and reducing taxes on individuals and organizations who refuse to produce in the United States or who take the initiative to create jobs and products in America for Americans (and others). Whatever the solution, it needs to come quickly.

I am not an American, I am certainly not someone to tell you how to do your job or what this country needs. In all honesty, I don’t know. Maybe a start would be some form of inspiration to lower gas prices. To increase the desire of Americans to buy American. To foster the ideas of individuals or organizations who have something of exportable value and help them to bring dream to reality.

Kind Regards,

A Concerned Legal Alien.

Update on the Job Front

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To those of you who have been praying for Kelly and I with my job search, thank you! I have an update and an addition to this request, but it requires a little background so bear with me!

I live near Harrisonburg in Virginia, about 100 miles from DC via Interstates. In November I interviewed for a job near Dulles in the DC Metro Area and was offered it but I turned it down because a) at the time I had a part time job, b) it was working 5pm-1am and c) it was paying $36k/yr maximum. C wasn’t so bad, but B was the big killer, as I’m married and my wife works 9:30-6 and we would never see each other except on weekends.

On Friday I got signed up with a staffing agency and did a days work (one day assignment) yesterday, but future assignments aren’t incredibly hopeful based on the number of people they need to assign work to and the amount of work their clients have.

Today I talked with a lady who goes to my church who tipped me off about 2 positions with an insurance company and was also going to make calls to the Sheriffs office and the Courts (she’s worked for them before and knows people) to see if they have a need for an IT worker.

I also got an email from the company in Northern Virginia to say they had another opening from 7am-3pm, this time offering a $36k base salary with up to $6k in bonuses.

This seems, on the surface, like a no-brainer, except that for it to work several things need to fall into place, and this is what I’m asking for prayer for.

If this is what I am meant to do and where I am supposed to be, I am going to need to either get a car loan and find a car (not likely to happen because I have $0 for deposit and fairly bad credit), or find someone willing to lend me a car for a month until the first pay check comes in and my wife and I can sort our financial life out. I’m also going to need to find a room in Northern Virginia within 15 minutes or so of Dulles for when I am on call around one week a month, and again we have $0.

It is a rather bleak outlook at this point, but I believe that if this is the door that God is opening then the means to pass through it will also be shown to us shortly, and that if this is not the way then the door will be closed and I’ll continue down the hallway of life looking for the next door that is wide open (or slightly ajar..)

Yesterday Was a Long Day

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Wow. 8 hours is a long time to spend alone in a car.

I misreported on facebook via twitter that I had driven for 6 hours and gone 260 miles during my work day yesterday, while I visited 18 convenience stores on a list that had me testing (as part of the training program, rather than getting people in serious trouble) whether I would be carded when trying to buy tobacco products.

Unfortunately my tired brain was incapable of basic time-math and thought that 11am-7pm was 6 hours. No, it’s 8. I am aware of this now. My first stop was at 11:10am and the last one was at 5:10pm, but then required a nearly 2 hour drive from West Virginia over US-33 back to Harrisonburg and up to Broadway. This involved a near miss with a deer (a couple had run in front of me, and one stopped short of running into the side of the car while I was doing ~ 55mph), and several near misses with 25mph turns over 33, which when they said “25mph” actually meant “You should probably do 25mph, not the 40mph that you could do one the 25mph turns further down the mountain..” It was on these that I really felt the vibration of the brakes that really needs to be looked at soon, as well as the transmission error light that has been coming up for a couple of weeks. I really hope that is just a faulty sensor that needs replacing and not a serious transmission issue, but who knows. I’m about 75% sure that the vibration issue is a warped brake disc on the front left wheel, but it is too cold to try looking at it and even then there is no guarantee that I could spot it. With our luck recently, if the car breaks it is probably an indication that we are about to get a job or something to keep us barely-floating still, rather than providing a useful means to dig ourselves out of this hole we are in.

In better news, and still on the job front, I’ve been talking to a lady from church who knows a lot of people (IE: companies/organizations) who are or may be in need of IT people. She gave me one set of contact info and was going to call around today and tonight and give me another call to let me know if she came up with anything. It really seems to be a case of not so much what you know (although it certainly helps!) but who you know.

A Week Of Lists: Friday – Things I’d like to accomplish within the next 12 months

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These are some of the things I’d like to have achieved by the end of 2010. Most of these are material items, but some are also potential social tools rather than silly status symbols.

This list has some in-order, and then misc “Whenever money is available” items.

  1. Get a job. Definitely, number one priority.
  2. Purchase a second car for us, very close second. This will allow us to be independent in terms of transport, at least after number 3 has been achieved.
  3. The Subaru needs to be inspected by a mechanic, probably by the Subaru dealer, and investigate several small faults and see if there are any major or minor problems that will need to be worked on, determining whether we need to have the car repaired or whether we replace it.
  4. Pay off some of our higher-interest loans and the outstanding credit card, and pay down some of the other larger loans. I plan on using the credit card as I would my normal debit card (and nothing more!), paying it off every month for around 12 months before canceling, in hopes of improving my credit score.
  5. Move out!
  • Buy an XBox 360 and a Nintendo Wii. I have no interest in a PS3..
  • Replace, repurpose and/or otherwise upgrade my computer systems. If possible I’d like to start work on my rack-mounted wishlist.
  • At least begin saving for NZ trip, ideally save enough for Christmas 2010, or early-mid 2011.
  • Repair/replace my camera. I’d like another 2 cameras – a little point-and-shoot and a DSLR, not expecting both this year.
  • Acquire some equipment towards a home studio (small mixer, firewire in, etc..)