details: resolution #7

Lose 10 lbs. Isn’t this everyone’s resolution? But I’m planning on walking to/from work at least once a week, taking a dance class once a week, and hitting the stationary bike 2-4 times a month (I won’t be unrealistic by saying once a week - I hate the bike). I’m also committed to keeping the soda out of my diet. Now to cut out the other unnecessary sweets…

I think this one is pretty straightforward!

details: resolution #6

Learn to manage anger properly. Lots of deep breath. Counting to 10. Um, any help?

It’s taken me a while to get to this one, mostly because I’m still not sure about this.  I have an explosive temper, but one that fizzles out fast.  I’m hoping that practicing yoga and climbing more regularly will help with this one (in terms of getting out frustration, managing stress, raising endorphin levels), but other than that, any thoughts?

democracy took a blow today

Ironic that yesterday I talked about why I watch the news and specifically mentioned rioting in Pakistan (which was sparked by the mention in the post that I linked). With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto this morning, world news has once again hit the front page and breaking news sections of our news outlets.

For all her faults (specifically, corruption), Bhutto was Pakistan’s best hope for a stable democracy. And more importantly for those of us on the other side of the world, Bhutto would have been a key ally in our war on terror. It’s not a secret that the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a paradise for terrorism training. And while Musharraf paid lip service to rooting out these training groups, he did little (other than killing innocent civilians) to do so.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Bhutto would have been better (her first stint at PM didn’t do much to improve the situation of women). But she would have had the spotlight, and intense pressure to do something to address the situation. Her promises to alleviate poverty in the rural parts of Pakistan would have gone a long way to address the fundamental causes of terrorism.

More importantly, a woman in power in Pakistan now would have been an amazing opportunity to create wide-spread reforms. She’s served as PM before, but cold war ideology was never as misogynist as fundamental Islam. For her to have been able to do so this time around would have struck a blow to fundamentalism.

And finally, Bhutto was the only viable candidate in the upcoming elections. Musharraf will declare emergency again, and the elections will likely be canceled. And that bodes ill for us.

see it. film it. change it.

That’s the motto of Witness, Peter Gabriel’s groundbreaking organization fighting human rights abuses (now there’s a man who should win a TED prize).  The premise is simple - by filming and documenting human rights violations, they turn the spotlight onto this crimes and bring awareness to the world about these issues.

But there’s one aspect missing from this process - someone has to watch it too.  It’s not enough to film the event, there must be an audience as well - someone whose ire can be raised and who can then take the steps necessary to make “change it” a reality.

Which is why I disagree with posts like this.  In some respects I do agree - you can, of course, watch too much news.  And most of the “news” on the networks really is a waste of your time.*

But watching the news is important, even news of far-off events in countries you might never visit.  We’re all victims of the human condition, and we’re all interconnected in fundamental ways.  The rioting in Pakistan and Burma does affect us, because the former is a breeding ground for terrorists, and the latter is in a situation that we can profoundly affect. Understanding the rioting in Pakistan means understanding the political and ideological outlook in that country, which goes a long ways towards helping us better understand an effective course of action when it comes to rooting out terrorism.  And if you want to know how your simple daily actions can affect people you’ll never meet, Burma is an excellent example (Darfur is another).

And like Witness’s call-to-action, reading these stories in the news sheds light on these issues.  I think, generally, speaking, we’d all like to live in a world that’s free.  And luckily, most of us in the western world live in that world.  But with that freedom comes the responsibility of ensuring that others have that freedom as well, as well as the knowledge that no man is truly free until we all are.

And that’s why I watch the news.  Not the networks, generally, but sources like WSJ, the International Herald Tribune, Witness, and even Reporters Without Borders.  I read my City Paper, because it covers my local news - the information left out by the major carrier in my city.   Some of this is directly relevant, and some of it simply because my knowing means one less event shrouded in darkness.  It is also one more piece of knowledge that I have.  And all knowledge is worth having, no?   You can never know when it might provide some use.

*I can also argue that watching the drama unfold regarding Paris Hilton and her now-she’s-in-jail-now-she’s-not extravaganza gave me some interesting insight into how politics and the legal system operate in Southern California. Also, some interesting insight into human psychology.  But, in thinking about how I could have spent that time better, I can come up with several dozen ways.

merry christmas, y’all

I don’t celebrate Christmas, so I had no issues flying home tonight. But I do feel for the folks who have to work today when they don’t really want to. So thanks to the people who keep the airports and movie theaters open.

I had a slightly better experience flying home than I did flying out. At least I got on the actual flight, and we were only slightly delayed. What more can I ask for, I suppose.

lost life time

Dear Northwest Airlines,

You lost a good customer today. I have flown you for years, both domestically and internationally. I fly your partners (Delta and Continental) several times a year. But today, you pushed me over the line, and will now end up in the discard pile, like American Airlines did, so many years ago.

I will admit that I’ve never liked you. Ours has been a relationship of convenience mostly (much like the one I have with E*Trade). Your hub is Detroit, and my family is there. So, because you offer the cheapest flight to see my family, I suck it up and fly you. In addition, you offer good deals to India, so when I need to go there, I’ll take Northwest as well.

But no more. Today, you revealed your true colors, and the well of my disappointment knows no bottom.

I have some sympathy for factors (weather) that are out of your control. I understand that when the fog rolls in, your planes can’t land or depart. But no other airline would roll over and give up like you did - cancelling the flight a full hour before departure. No other airline would open ONE counter for rebooking customers, and offer a “hotline” that puts you on hold for 20 minutes. No other airlines would rub it in their customers’ faces by proceeding to depart other flights to other locations right under our noses. And most importantly, no other airline would go to such extremes to be as UNaccomodating as possible.

I should have known better than to expect anything else from you. But I’m a sucker who gives people a million chances to do right. But I watched as you sent one couple on the road to divorce (they’ve had 3 flights cancelled in 2 days, even after giving you the option to fly to so many different destinations, just to get to Madison). I watched an older couple try to explain in broken English why they needed to make it home to Korea at a certain time. And I listened as you told me that you would rather fly with empty first class seats (holding out to the last minute to see if you can sucker some fool into paying an additional $400 for that seat because he wants to be home for Xmas) than upgrade me.

Enough. The truth is, our domestic carriers are terrible. US-based carriers may have records for safety, but they certainly have none for customer service. Some of of the discount carriers are marginally better, but anyone who’s flown a foreign carrier knows what I’m talking about. If I could fly Cathay Pacific from DC to Detroit, I would.

So, tomorrow (and Tuesday) will be my last flight on Northwest. Never again, unless I have no other choice.

Next time, I’m taking the train.

budget with a vengeance

I spent a long time reading blogs about health and nutrition - particularly the comments. Then I moved onto personal finance blogs. One thing that strikes me over and over is how much this is NOT about food or money, and how much it IS about self-empowerment and will-power. Emotional eating, emotional spending, emotional whatever - it’s the bottom line with any major issues we struggle with. At some point, we realize life (and marketing campaigns) are running away with us, and that we are no longer in control. So we make a vow to take the wheel back, and do so with such intensity that we find ourselves glued to it, unable to let go at all.

When I realized that my spending was out of control - I did that too. You should see my spreadsheet(s) for my budget. Currently, we’re talking approximately 20 worksheets per document (one file per year). My checking account is tracked through the end of next year, as are my credit cards. Another sheet contains end-of-month balances for retirement accounts. Then there’s the one for the condo mortgage and assorted expenditures. Then there’s the yearly expenditure tracking sheet broken down by month, followed by 12 sheets for daily (but divided weekly) expenditures per month.

Confused yet?

It’s complex, but once the system was in place, it required little maintenance and with the click of a button I could view multiple pieces of information. Inputting my expenditures results in changes across all relevant sheets automatically. It’s really quite amazing, I have to say.

But it’s a little bit out of control. I don’t own my budget, my budget owns me. I’m a slave to this complicated system so meticulously laid out in Excel. On the one hand, I’ve always been better with externally-imposed discipline (even if it’s from Bill Gates). But on the other hand, who’s really running my life here? And isn’t it MY life?

All this was inspired by a post I read on another site, in particular, this comment: “I feel a bit guilty about going out for lunch. I didn’t really need to go especially as I’d eaten out the night before for free, and it wasn’t really cheap.” I experience this feeling of guilt a lot. Sometimes it spirals into shame that I can’t control my spending (which is what got me in the mess in the first place, eh?).

Until I take a step back and put things into perspective. At least I have a budget. And a lot of retirement assets. And some awareness of what I ought to be spending. At least my debt balance is heading in a downward direction, and my savings in an upward direction. At least I read the fine print on my credit card agreements, and pay attention to my credit report. And whatever mistakes I made before, at least I’ve learned from them.

And most importantly, at least I’ve learned to be flexible. Nothing is absolute, even a done deal. And when I’m lying on my death bed, what do I want to remember? That I scrimped and saved and made myself miserable by removing spontaneity in my life? Or that I took advantage of good opportunities as they came along and never regretted something I didn’t do?

details: resolution #5

Finish classes and my thesis and graduate! Classes are done in May, and I am aiming to complete my thesis by the end of August.

I have taken all the necessary classes by the end of May. Then I plan to write my thesis (which hopefully, will already have a basic outline) for the summer, and turn in a final version in early August.  Presentation is tentatively scheduled for August 20th. Now to pick a topic…

details: resolution #4

Take a vacation. A real vacation. Hopefully, my trip to Malaysia will work out, and I am also trying to find time to visit my brother in Utah and maybe even go to Hawaii.

It just occurred to me that this sort of contradicts resolution #2. But I’d like a real vacation (ie, not one where I have to work or travel with family). Cathay Pacific was offering a great deal on flights to various points in Asia, and I couldn’t pass it up. I’ll be a month late on my debt repayment goals. So, in March, this goal will be met!

Utah and Hawaii are doable with frequent flyer miles, and in Utah, I can at least stay with my brother. Hawaii… well. That might have to wait until 2009.

no man’s credit is as good as his money

Cash is king, so they say. But is it? We live in a credit society, and everything we do depends on it. Those savings you have in the bank are being loaned out to others to generate income for the bank (in order to give you that nice interest rate). The debit card you use is tied into the credit network, even as it draws on the “cash” in your bank account. If there was a run on your bank tomorrow, there is a very good chance that cash would not be as readily available as you think.

So why the talk about moving away from credit? Well, quite simply, most credit cards are evil. They prey upon the uneducated and push you to spend beyond your means. Ultimately, you end up in a vicious cycle of debt with them, forever trapped.

Or so they say. It really is possible to use credit wisely, much like it is possible to drink reasonably. But just like an alcoholic should generally avoid even the smallest amount of alcohol, so should the shopoholic stay away from credit. But if you’re like most people, you’re not at that extreme, and with time, you can manage to use credit wisely. Unfortunately, as is often the case, first you’ll learn to use it foolishly and dig yourself into that hole. But that’s ok, assuming you attempt to dig yourself back out eventually. Without our mistakes, we’d fail to see our successes for what they truly are.

So why should you use credit? There are a number of excellent posts on that topic, including this one I really like. Basically, using credit responsibly can yield some measurable benefits.

Why shouldn’t you use credit? My particular reason for trying to move away from it is because I don’t like the system. It’s unfairly harsh towards the least fortunate (who always get the short end of the stick). I’d like to not support that.

But for most, it seems to be about freedom, which is no small thing. Feeling unfettered and unrestricted is truly beautiful.

But there is one small snag - freedom is a state of mind. It isn’t about real masters, but the imaginary ones - the ones we create to shackle ourselves. True freedom comes from actually believing it, from making it a reality, as opposed to responding to the perception of reality we think we see. It comes from not allowing even those real masters who hold claim over us to actually claim us. A truly free man will find this freedom regardless of his circumstances, and even the heaviest chains won’t take it away from him.

So I question those who removed the shackles of credit and claim to be free - where did that freedom truly come from? Is it from the knowledge that credit will never bind you (even if you inadvertently find yourself trapped in it) or from the fear of letting it bind you again?