Sunday, February 24, 2008

Good Job 1 of 2: An Interview of the 2000 Decade

Today, it's a blog double shot because my department finished our Q2 FY08 report XD The first blog is an interview discussing the 2000 decade. The second blog is being depressed cleaning the house.

I had a dream I was interviewed on the 2000 decade on TV. I'm a novice talking about current events; however, I'm on TV which means I'm an expert and my opinions are strong, LOL

Q. How was the 2000 year decade? Remember or forget.

A. It depends on who you asked. Victims of the dot com bubble and/or the housing market crash are likely to forget the 2000 decade. The recession in 2002 was mild and quick and the recession in late 2008 was longer than anticipated.

On the other hand, the 2000 year decade opened new opportunities and new knowledge for people who recognized and welcomed the beginning of the Information Age. Technology is part of our lives whether one person likes it or not. Unfortunately, there are many people who still stay away from technology; although, at least 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 plays video games, so technology is spreading to more people rather than the just the young generation during the early 2000 decade.

And those who became wealthy with technology remember 2000 and look forward to the 2010 decade with more technology innovations and keeping their eyes open for more opportunities.

Q. Was your 2000 year decade remember or forget?

A. Remember. My bad years were 2000, 2002, and 2004. My good years were 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It took me years to realize we are living in the Information Age. I failed to adapt to how we live today—I was living like it was the 90s. I had the wisdom of a 21 year old in a 30s year old body. 2004 was the year I woke up and realized I must take control of my life. I had to earn my achievements and my successes. I had to learn from my mistake from failures. The most important lesson I learned in the decade was never stop meeting people.

Q. Speaking of wisdom, do you think we are really taking advantage of the Information Age today?

A. Well, I think of the Internet as a teenager. The Internet started to influence our lives in 1996. Taking 1996 and 2010, the Internet, the Information Age, is 14 years old. Our lives with the Internet and the web are in the teens. Expect more mistakes as we continue to live in the Information Age's adolescence years. At the same time, expect more success as we learn from our increasing failures. The key for the 2010 decade in the Information Age is to keep moving forward and improve technology and use technology to improve our lives in front a computer and not in front of a computer. It's a matter of time when the Information Age matures and we take full advantage.

Q. Is the Middle Class going to disappear?

A. The Middle Class was never doomed. There is always going to be a Middle Class. It's just that the recession in 2008 forced many families to adjust their incomes and spending. As we begin the recovery and people are purchasing homes, we see incomes for the Middle Class go up and spending increase. It's getting more expensive to raise a family and I expect wages to go up, too. I'm optimistic we see more people in the Middle Class than ever before in history.

Moreover, speaking about getting more expensive, the Middle Class has a challenge to keep up with the ever increasing higher costs of living. The true Middle Class must find ways to keep their lifestyle or else make some tough economic choices. The Middle Class that find ways to bring more income has a chance to be Upper Class. Higher wages is one component; however, taxes are the biggest expense.

Thank you for joining us.

Good Job 2 of 2: Cleaning The House Depresses Me

Earlier today, my Mom asked me to clean the house. I vacuumed all the downstairs rooms and cleaned the main bathroom. I don't mind cleaning the house. I like to live clean. Nobody wants to live in a dirty, cluttered home (or apartment).

If I don't mind cleaning the house, then why am I depressed when cleaning the house? The reason is my house has too much junk. Walk around the living room, family room, dining room, and kitchen and there so much junk. My definition of junk is useless items. In my kitchen, there are pots and pans everyone including in the living room and dining room. Why are the pots and pans not in the cupboards? The reason is there is junk inside my family never used to cook *sniff, sniff* There are lots of newspapers in the house my family and I rarely read. I told me Dad to stop the newspaper subscription.

My Mom buys so many useless items the items are everyone in the house, in the garage, and in my room. My Dad has some useless junk; in particular, outdated technology hardware. When I vacuum the house, I think about all of the stuff in the house and how difficult it is to clean the house. I stop cleaning the house now because there is so much stuff. I clean the house when I'm asked only.

In fairness, there are some items which belongs to my deceased Grandmother. However, most of the items not my Grandmother don't belong in my house. LOL, if you want people to not visit your home, make the home messy. One of my life values is to get rid of junk. If you have junk in your residence, get rid of it. Junk is also a waste of money.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Perfect Drive To Work

Since December 26, 2007, I have been driving the expressways to work instead of driving the freeway. On Friday February 15, I drove from home to my turnoff without stopping. A perfect drive. A perfect commute. I said "Perfect!" after I passed the last intersection. Now the bonus was making the left turn without stopping on a red light. I stopped. The next perfect drive must be all greens. No red lights.

Moreover, the work day was perfect. I took a break from working on my department's quarterly report and I work on my other assignments I delayed completing. I completed most of the assignments and I must finish on Monday. Monday is President's Day, and even though I have to work *sniff, sniff*, I expect a slow day.

Speaking of quarterly report, my department should be happy we should finish in three and a half weeks. The last quarterly report, our first time using a new format, took eight weeks.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Raising Children Is Two Full Time Jobs

The week of January 28, 2008 my sister-in-law visited New York for a family emergency. My brother and his 16 month old son stayed at my house for the week for help in watching my nephew. My brother telecommuted to his workplace and my Mom watched my nephew.

My brother was prepared for the week visit. He brought clothing, baby supplies, and food. Someone watched my nephew everywhere and every time. Full attention must be given to my nephew including talking, feeding food, staying away from the cleaning chemicals, and reading. In addition, the extra house work. For example, the dishes. I live with my Mom and Dad. With three people in the house, and my Dad and I work five days a week, dishwashing is minimal. We washed dishes every two to three days. With my brother and nephew, dishes needed to be washed everyday. Another example was walking around the house. My nephew’s toys were everywhere. It was hard walking around and finding table space to eat. And my nephew’s potty training and bathroom bare necessities were all in the bathroom.

The last example was grocery shopping. My Mom and Dad were sick and I had to buy groceries two consecutive days. I spent $80.00 in groceries in the two days. Unbelievable. The grocery bill was higher if my brother has two children. $80.00 was one aspect. The second aspect was finding time after work to go shopping.

Last week gave me experience and knowledge about raising children. Raising children requires knowledge, wisdom, financial resources, and time. I’m not a father. I say for the record at the moment I’m not ready to raise children. I know when a person becomes a parent, life changes permanently.