Tax Credit for biking to work

Your company can get a tax credit when you bike to work, $20 per month per person in fact. It's not a windfall, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

Thanks to my friend Geoff for making me aware of this.

Story here.

I bet the guy in the story could cut his commute by a third just by adjusting his stem down to move his handlebars into a lower position.

Retirement Savings - SERIOUS BUSINESS

Most of us take our retirement savings too seriously. I have a few friends who are completely stressed out because their "net worth" (read: IRA, 401K etc.) has lost 50%. But then I look at their lives and NOTHING has changed. Maybe they stopped going to Starbucks or instead of going out to the bar on Saturday they have friends over, both of which are improvements in my eyes!

Then I look at friends who have no retirement savings accounts and they are still enjoying their lives. Their savings did not lose 50%. But denial is not the answer either, I am only saying you wouldn't be so stressed had you not been counting your eggs before the fat lady sings. But you were, you believed that the number listed beside your account balance was what you were worth. Not until you cash out, my friend.

Besides, you have many years of earning potential ahead, unless you've spent that already!?!

Compare our lives today with the 1950's, the most idyllic period of our recent history, or better yet try to live like it's the 1950's (except for the music of course!)

In 1950, the average home built was around 1000 square feet and that was intended for a family of four. The average car per household was 1.2. Today, people are shocked when I say we only have one car for the two of us. Or they say, "I wish I could do that." They can, but it takes rearranging or just recognizing priorities.

Why do we "need" so much more today? The one reason - MARKETING.

It's a marketing trick. Take a look at the REAL impact of these things on your life, today. You should be looking at the number forecast in the year of your retirement. Of course, we all want to retire now, so we look at today's numbers.

So stop taking money so seriously, and stop buying things that clutter your life without adding real value to it. If I am wrong when we are 80, you can laugh at me from your cozy home in the suburbs, while I am doomed to suffer peddling my paintings on the squares of Paris...

My New "Used" Ride

Here she is, my used new ride, a pea green Surly Cross Check. I now officially own 3 bikes. One for the trail, one for the road, and now one for traveling around town. As you can see on her website, she is very versatile. Someday she may turn into my randonneuring bike.

A friend recommended the Surly Cross Check a while back. I looked around for a couple months and finally found this beauty on craigslist. Of course, I could have bought a new one for around $1000, but that's not really my style (reuse is the 1st of the 3 R's.)

Anyway, I found this and bought it for $250 (most of that came from our change jar - the 5 gallon) from a fellow Texan living in Seattle. So far I've spend about $35 on new and used parts and she's almost tip-top.

We took her out on Saturday to the farmer's market and she rode like a dream. I can't explain why, but I had so much fun. I felt like I was 10 again riding my bmx. Maybe it's the simple shifting, just a single chain ring on the front and 9-speeds on the back with a friction shifter. Or maybe it's the steel; my other bikes are aluminum. Regardless, I was up and down the curbs and circling around trees. I got so distracted Jenn had to yell to keep me from hitting a tree... in a planter on the sidewalk!?!

Sorry for the poor photo quality. I took this with my phone in poor lighting conditions.

Leisure

lei⋅sure

–noun
1. freedom from the demands of work or duty.
(2. an act committed solely for the pleasure of the act itself, with no ulterior motive.)

With all this extra time on my hands, you would think that my life has become stress free. Well according to the knots in my back this is not true.

I realized yesterday that part of the reason is I never do anything purely for leisure sake. Can you imagine that? Most people that I know would be shocked by that statement. Many see my life as nothing but leisure and think that I need to settle down, buckle down or get to work!

Since college I have systematically, unwittingly been weeding leisure out of my life. When I do anything, I compare that act to my list of goals. Then if it doesn't forward my goals, I stop doing it. This is great for being effective, but not so great for my soul. Many of my goals get accomplished quickly. Unfortunately, some of my fun gets ruined for when I attach a goal my fun becomes a duty, which technically excludes it from leisure. In fact, as some of you have mentioned - I kill fun! For example:

• When I go rock climbing - I am working towards climbing 5.12.
• When I go biking - I am commuting or working towards my mileage goal.
• When I read - I am learning something new. (I can't read fiction!)
• When I go for a walk/run - I am trying to get in better shape.
• When I watch a movie - it must be historically or culturally significant.
• When I play the guitar - I am trying to learn songs.
• I get a new job doing something fun - To learn more about it.
• Etc, etc, etc.

The problem is that I do all these things with intent of creating joy.

I recently read a great book, "Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre" by Cecile Andrews. Sounds good, right? I was doing "research" for my goal of living a life of flow. Anyway, Cecile describes how people no longer allow time for leisure. I was nodding and agreeing that people fill their lives with too much to numb themselves... all the while not realizing that I had destroyed leisure with my goals.

So what do I do with this great insight... I make a goal, right? My goal is to bring leisure into my life by doing 1 leisurely thing each day>... WAIT, I'M DOING IT AGAIN. I CAN"T STOP. I'M ADDICTED TO GOALS. Okay, so my goal is to get medication for my addiction...

NO! I will resurrect leisure in my life by detaching goals from the things I once loved to do merely for the sake of doing them. Cross country ski touring on Saturday = fun.

My Definition

What is being underemployed?

Underemployed - 1. working at a job that is less than your "full potential," likely assessed by someone wanting you to work in an office or by someone believing strongly in the virtues of "hard work." 2. working less hours per week than the arbitrary standard set by a competitive work culture.

Happily - 1. By choice and loving every minute of it!

Ultimately, being happily underemployed is about living better, spending more time on exactly what I want. Even though I have loved my jobs for many years, I still don't want to spend most of my waking hours occupied with one task. I love variety.

Another reason my bike is better than my car

Cyclists are generally immune from traffic jams—they can simply dismount and walk through them.

Check out this article from U.S. News & World Report "50 Ways to Improve Your Life."
Bike commuting comes in at Numero Uno for improving your health!!!

Perfection of Design

You know you have reached perfection of design not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.

Antoine de Saint Exupery

Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.

Edwin Way Teale

Repairing my clothes

As part of my quest to simplify my life and become more self-sufficient, I wanted to learn to sew. For Christmas 2007, my mom gave me her old sewing machine, a Singer 2517.
















I have put off learning to use it all this time, but now, with my new found free time and the impetus of tearing an "L" shaped hole in my favorite shorts, it is time.

First, I learned to darn a sock. Yes I know it doesn't match but I prefer blue. Anyway, this photo is after one wash. Big hole in the heal of my beloved socks - history!


Then it was time to tackle the shorts. This was really easy once I learned to thread the bobbin and the machine. Maybe a hour learning and sewing. Next time it'll take maybe 15 minutes.

prefer... just-rightness to excess

I stole this post from hipmama.com. It's old but worth a quick read to get motivated. It's great example of how living simply doesn't mean doing without!
Link to entire thread here.

prefer living simply just-rightness to excess

I'm not sure how I manage to live simply. I think it has to do with my immigrant roots. My parents each came here with $20 and a suitcase, and built up their existence from scratch. They never overspent on anything, but got the most for what they could get; my mom worked at a thrift store and so scored the best furniture, clothes, toys, as they came in, then she worked at a radio station and got comps to the circus and ice capades. All our vacations were driving/camping ones, but we went places. My dad is an engineer and loves woodworking, so he's made all my dd's furniture and most of our shelves.