2011: The Bad

My life is like the reversible belt I find myself wearing today (hey, “practicality and frugalness over fashion” I say). In essence things are never always black or brown (stay with me, I think I’m going somewhere with this) but rather are dictated by the things I do, or the color family of clothes I decide to wear on any given day.

Thus with this I present the second act of my three act play — “The Bad” — knowing well and good that bad things happen in my life based on the decisions I make, but that my life is not always black or brown, but a combination of the two.

Okay, much like the belt I’m struggling with this metaphor, but I think you know of what I speak.

The Bad
The 300 Pound Gorilla In The Room
Some of my years have been dictated by singular bad events which have changed my life (see also: being carjacked at gunpoint, and having my house broken into), and 2011 unfortunately will be categorized in this manner. No doubt my debilitating car v. bike accident on February 27th which sent me to the hospital for the first time ever (and in hindsight I was released too soon as I was unable to walk under my own power for the following five days) was the single-most year, and perhaps life, changer which occurred in this year.

I’d love to report that all has been settled, lo ten months later, but the issues still linger — unsettled settlements, pain and popping of my right hip, borrowed goods unreturned. It could have been worse, much worse in fact, and I acknowledge that.

N-E-G-L-E-C-T
It’s a little-known false fact that Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” was originally penned as “N-E-G-L-E-C-T”. Don’t believe me? Plug those letters into your AltaVista search engine and check. You’ll see that I’m lying.

Neglect is the best word I can use to describe my attitude toward my house (three years running!). The end of this year has brought hot water heater woes [note to self: either watch YouTube videos to learn how to shut off, flush, and restart a gas water heater or hire someone to replace the thing!] in addition to the … (I could list the numerous projects but my computer may run out of electrons if I try).

I’m in the process of constructing a budget for 2012 which includes funds for house repairs. If the Mayans are right I only need to plan for the first two months, but I’ll probably plan for all twelve just in case.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted
Tune in again tomorrow to see the fun things, remember today is “The Bad.”

This year saw me cancel more plans than I created. In January I bailed on a fantastic(ally cold) photography trip to Tennessee during the ice storm. My return to the Twisted Ankle Half Marathon was disrupted by the 300-pound gorilla. Pressing work schedules forced me to cancel at least one camping trip.

In the aforementioned budget will be cash for real trips in 2012 (I’ve already signed up for Colorado InviHash in September). In addition to the three weeks of paid vacation, I’ll have an additional three days for being a fifteen-year employee, and the four days I was unable to use in 2011. Wait a minute!!! This is “Good” shit, I should be saving this for tomorrow!

Missed Opportunities
I did better at going to concerts for which I possessed tickets, but this year I was disappointed to have missed more than one theatrical performance for which I possessed a ticket.

And I should have probably included the night I was insistent that I had purchased a ticket only to find out that I was mistaken in yesterday’s “The Ugly” post.

I Live In A Cluttered, Disorganized Space
One of my missed goals this year was to declutter. One of my unpublished goals was to regain a passion for keeping organized. Too many times this year I nearly shit my pants for fear that I missed a payment to someone (and in fact, I did miss a Visa payment in June which caused me to cancel my Visa account in July).

I have a “system,” I just need to pay attention to my system more often.

Today’s Unrelated Thought
Dear Organizations Which Solicit Financial Support:

Make the donation process easy! Don’t hide the “Support” or “Donation” links. Don’t required my to create an account in order to give you money. Don’t automatically sign me up for your SPAM newsletters. If at all possible don’t tack on a fee which is passed along to some other agency.

I understand these are still financially shitty times, during which I have been blessed with an income and some intelligent investing. Help me, help you, because I refuse to jump through your hoops in order to support you.

Thanks,
Me

Tomorrow: THE MOST EXPLOSIVE “INSIDE THE PERIMETER” EPISODE EVER!!! Oh wait, that’s a “Kitchen Nightmares” teaser. Tomorrow will be “The Good” for which I’ll probably be showing the brown side of the belt to prove that all is not black in my life.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]