February 13, 2009
Living With Other People
After having lived in our snowmobile trailer for nearly a year in Las Vegas, I found employment which would secure us a place to stay. I took care of an elderly gentleman that had retired from the government. He had a really nice home in a really wealthy neighborhood. I assisted him with most of his daily needs. It provided a car to go and do things in other than our own. Our car had burned to the ground, and we were down a vehicle. My wife worked at a law firm, through the duration we lived in Vegas. Everything was looking up. Then suddenly my wife and I had a very unexpected surprise happen, we found we were pregnant with our first child. Our presence did not work for him with a child in the picture so it was back to our hometown.
Married And Living With Your Parents
We have met so many couples pushed into living with family by forces outside their control, and not completely from the recent economic developments. We tried it a few times, talked to some people, and came up with some conclusions.
Some families will simply not co-habitate at all!
Four people 6,000 square feet was still not enough space to keep our family conflict at bay! Communication has never been my Dad's strength. In the Fall of 2006 we told my parents we were going to need to move back to our hometown, and would need a place to stay. My Dad related to me that he was going to fix up a building my Mother had for some time into a living quarters, and we could stay there. Before we left Vegas we honestly believed we had secured housing for ourselves and were given the green light by my Dad, however he forgot his offer! It is a consequence of old age. When we arrived we were told by my Mother we could stay in the basement. It however, became immediately known that; my Father was "forced" into allowing us to stay, and that he had "never" agreed to it. Well that provided for rather difficult circumstances and relationships began to deteriorate. My Father did in fact build the mother in law home for my brother who was also in a financial dire strait. It took my wife and I some time before we could find an apartment within our budget, housing was scarce due to an influx of people who had moved into town. Finally an apartment was available and although, it would drain us a little financially, we moved because we saw living in such an unwelcoming and hostile environment was effecting the relationship between my wife and I.
Some families will simply not co-habitate at all!Four people 6,000 square feet was still not enough space to keep our family conflict at bay! Communication has never been my Dad's strength. In the Fall of 2006 we told my parents we were going to need to move back to our hometown, and would need a place to stay. My Dad related to me that he was going to fix up a building my Mother had for some time into a living quarters, and we could stay there. Before we left Vegas we honestly believed we had secured housing for ourselves and were given the green light by my Dad, however he forgot his offer! It is a consequence of old age. When we arrived we were told by my Mother we could stay in the basement. It however, became immediately known that; my Father was "forced" into allowing us to stay, and that he had "never" agreed to it. Well that provided for rather difficult circumstances and relationships began to deteriorate. My Father did in fact build the mother in law home for my brother who was also in a financial dire strait. It took my wife and I some time before we could find an apartment within our budget, housing was scarce due to an influx of people who had moved into town. Finally an apartment was available and although, it would drain us a little financially, we moved because we saw living in such an unwelcoming and hostile environment was effecting the relationship between my wife and I.
Another "Steel Box"
I have been working on this idea for some time, and recently found 
many sites offering living quarters in a shipping container. http://www.globalportablebuildings.com/
We are building one as soon as we can. We were able to single out some very distinct advantages to using this particular facility. It contains no motor. (I use to work at a car dealership.) Anything with very many moving parts is bound to have something go wrong. Engines are cool, but have a high price tag. For us the thought of an RV is out. We spend a great deal of time in cold weather areas, and need the additional insulation that an RV does not provide. Aside from these issues, to buy something this size like a custom coach would cost way too much for our concept of scaling back.
After every other living arrangement this has to be the most flexible setup we have found anywhere. This thing is virtually indestructible to weather. A chassis under this thing will afford us the flexibility to move to wherever the winds of employment blow, with the knowledge it's the same place we left. I doubt there is anywhere in the world one of these could not be relocated to for a fair sum of money, in a reasonable amount of time. It will need some conversion to black/grey/and drinking water storage, but we can live anywhere. Some would have issue with the space, but the unit is standardized for competitive rates from unlimited trucking companies. Most companies can give you a "power only" freight quote on very agreeable terms. Bottom line: cost-benefit analysis!
many sites offering living quarters in a shipping container. http://www.globalportablebuildings.com/We are building one as soon as we can. We were able to single out some very distinct advantages to using this particular facility. It contains no motor. (I use to work at a car dealership.) Anything with very many moving parts is bound to have something go wrong. Engines are cool, but have a high price tag. For us the thought of an RV is out. We spend a great deal of time in cold weather areas, and need the additional insulation that an RV does not provide. Aside from these issues, to buy something this size like a custom coach would cost way too much for our concept of scaling back.
After every other living arrangement this has to be the most flexible setup we have found anywhere. This thing is virtually indestructible to weather. A chassis under this thing will afford us the flexibility to move to wherever the winds of employment blow, with the knowledge it's the same place we left. I doubt there is anywhere in the world one of these could not be relocated to for a fair sum of money, in a reasonable amount of time. It will need some conversion to black/grey/and drinking water storage, but we can live anywhere. Some would have issue with the space, but the unit is standardized for competitive rates from unlimited trucking companies. Most companies can give you a "power only" freight quote on very agreeable terms. Bottom line: cost-benefit analysis!
February 5, 2009
Living With Your Parents
Maybe some parents teach their children about cost of living expense options, but mine did not. They expected me to carry on a lifestyle legacy in line with their own. I sadly venture to say that my Father became too arrogant to be taught basic leadership and business skills that translate into a well run family, or independant children. I consider his prior employment with the IRS to have lent him the foundation for his oversight and embodies the sum total of his exposure to the aforementioned skills. His example has taught me you can be good with numbers, but lack organization, and character traits to pull off some projects. I believe the absence of these skills contributed to a long learning curve for myself. He with the skills he possesed did the best could. For illustrative purposes I include personal examples. I do not fault him or many others for many of their shortcomings, but I have decided to include personal examples to lend credibility to the experiences I write about. Many times I may reflect on the emotion of the situation I felt at the time, but fail to include the resolution within myself of the conflict.
I have found there are a basic set of purchases that will take place in ones life. Occasionally my wife, overburdened by all of the details of life will hear "The Basics" from me, but they are what everyone overlooks when they are stressed, they are:
1. Food and Clothing
2. Energy
3. Transportation
4. Housing/Water (drinking, grey, black)
5. Education
The primary direction I wish to pursue is to explain the simple facts that surround the purchase of these items, the risk assessment in lifestyle, failures of, and the exploitation and failure of professionals in educating the general population of living (outside your means). I will write more directly to this point in the F&RM section of this site. In general, individuals do not value cash flow, and will leverage their positions until they are "comfortable" (that's code for: "Just at their income level"). This has become a generational problem. Parents view the economy as having no ceiling. In many cases the parent moves the child out too soon and without the proper tools for their long term survival. I do not relish the idea of living with my parents, but hear the arguement.
The individuals that control the helm of this great US ECONOMY know this one thing they really would care to keep quiet. The vast majority of the world at large, not only in our time but in history have lived 2,3, and 4 generations deep in a household. Now if you will, reflect on the economic battles that we are having with: 1. The former Soviet Union, 2. The up and coming country of China, 3 The middle east, 4 Other countries; you will note that we have developed multiple battle fronts. Some would like to dis-engage this conflict, and I'm not writing about the "war on terror." The economic war has a conventional element, but it is not the primary concern. Withdrawing from this war once it has been created has no instrument of disengagement, and all must wage it or give up their soveirgn position in the disengagement. Disengagement by any minor party will create a power vaccuum. Disengagement by any larger party a disaster for all.
The US and it's allies created this economic war to avoid greater numbers of conventional battle fronts. It is what brought the former Soviet state to it's status. If you take issue with this I encourage you to gain an informal education in Macro-economics, and foreign policy through whatever channels afforded to you. If you already do, then you have my ear. If you do not I would not trust anyone to tell you every view point, but see through the conspiracy theories to view what patriots, and traitors can see. You do not need to see it all to see what could happen to Government entities if those who are able to execute their will prevail. If you have a good broad understanding of the conflicts abroad, and a really good understanding, of basic accounting formula, it's application in the micro/macro environment, and currencies, take a good look at the entity structuring of the Reserve Bank, and how they are beginning to manage the US Currency. Every time they dilute the dollar by 50% the children in this country will DOUBLE the time they spend in the home after they are 18. They are using the dollar as the biggest weapon ever devised to provide for our national security, but it comes with a price!
I really wish someone had told me how this all worked. I would have, gone to school, lived in a tent, showered at the gym, and had a part time job. In the future I hope my children have that option! The point is that we all need to look at our Spanish speaking neighbors, and consider comments from members of the House and Senate directed at: "The next middle class will be minorities." If we as a nation in this "New Economy" are going to have the blue collar trade jobs our polititians are promising, (regardless of left or right), the sliding scale that measures the value of currencies will need to find a balance between the currency of China (the country that currently builds a great number of our consumables), and our service related economy moving back into manufacturing.
The bottom line is that (decades) of continued deflation of the dollar is inevitable. The adjustment periods between these deflationary measures labeled as a "soft landing", will push the generational housing issue until stacked families, and families able to live like this will be the individuals that survive the storm. Individuals, and couples owning a home early will still happen, but will be more of an anomoly. Now if we as argueably the last remaining superpower, had citizens who had homesteading skills, and food storage the Federal Reserve could really pull the plug and the rest of the world would just have to fend for themselves, but considering that is not the case it will have to be slooooooow, and painful!
I have found there are a basic set of purchases that will take place in ones life. Occasionally my wife, overburdened by all of the details of life will hear "The Basics" from me, but they are what everyone overlooks when they are stressed, they are:
1. Food and Clothing
2. Energy
3. Transportation
4. Housing/Water (drinking, grey, black)
5. Education
The primary direction I wish to pursue is to explain the simple facts that surround the purchase of these items, the risk assessment in lifestyle, failures of, and the exploitation and failure of professionals in educating the general population of living (outside your means). I will write more directly to this point in the F&RM section of this site. In general, individuals do not value cash flow, and will leverage their positions until they are "comfortable" (that's code for: "Just at their income level"). This has become a generational problem. Parents view the economy as having no ceiling. In many cases the parent moves the child out too soon and without the proper tools for their long term survival. I do not relish the idea of living with my parents, but hear the arguement.
The individuals that control the helm of this great US ECONOMY know this one thing they really would care to keep quiet. The vast majority of the world at large, not only in our time but in history have lived 2,3, and 4 generations deep in a household. Now if you will, reflect on the economic battles that we are having with: 1. The former Soviet Union, 2. The up and coming country of China, 3 The middle east, 4 Other countries; you will note that we have developed multiple battle fronts. Some would like to dis-engage this conflict, and I'm not writing about the "war on terror." The economic war has a conventional element, but it is not the primary concern. Withdrawing from this war once it has been created has no instrument of disengagement, and all must wage it or give up their soveirgn position in the disengagement. Disengagement by any minor party will create a power vaccuum. Disengagement by any larger party a disaster for all.
The US and it's allies created this economic war to avoid greater numbers of conventional battle fronts. It is what brought the former Soviet state to it's status. If you take issue with this I encourage you to gain an informal education in Macro-economics, and foreign policy through whatever channels afforded to you. If you already do, then you have my ear. If you do not I would not trust anyone to tell you every view point, but see through the conspiracy theories to view what patriots, and traitors can see. You do not need to see it all to see what could happen to Government entities if those who are able to execute their will prevail. If you have a good broad understanding of the conflicts abroad, and a really good understanding, of basic accounting formula, it's application in the micro/macro environment, and currencies, take a good look at the entity structuring of the Reserve Bank, and how they are beginning to manage the US Currency. Every time they dilute the dollar by 50% the children in this country will DOUBLE the time they spend in the home after they are 18. They are using the dollar as the biggest weapon ever devised to provide for our national security, but it comes with a price!
I really wish someone had told me how this all worked. I would have, gone to school, lived in a tent, showered at the gym, and had a part time job. In the future I hope my children have that option! The point is that we all need to look at our Spanish speaking neighbors, and consider comments from members of the House and Senate directed at: "The next middle class will be minorities." If we as a nation in this "New Economy" are going to have the blue collar trade jobs our polititians are promising, (regardless of left or right), the sliding scale that measures the value of currencies will need to find a balance between the currency of China (the country that currently builds a great number of our consumables), and our service related economy moving back into manufacturing.
The bottom line is that (decades) of continued deflation of the dollar is inevitable. The adjustment periods between these deflationary measures labeled as a "soft landing", will push the generational housing issue until stacked families, and families able to live like this will be the individuals that survive the storm. Individuals, and couples owning a home early will still happen, but will be more of an anomoly. Now if we as argueably the last remaining superpower, had citizens who had homesteading skills, and food storage the Federal Reserve could really pull the plug and the rest of the world would just have to fend for themselves, but considering that is not the case it will have to be slooooooow, and painful!
February 4, 2009
How It All Began
I struggled with structure in my early life. Now as I reflect back on what I was trying to do, I realize that I was struggling with the life I had been led to believe was my destiny. As I served in a church service capacity I found that the standards for living as a member of my religion, and it's values did not necassarily dictate that my standard of living MUST match the mirror image of my parents, or the society that I grew up in. I learned about the basics expected of every member of my faith, it's contrast to the lifestyle I knew, and the implications of swimming against the stream of understanding that members of my faith, family, and social class mandate.
I have been accused of seeking to live out our life in a manner in an effort to embarrass certain individuals, many of whom I extracted some of my unique qualities. It suits their explaination of their greivances as they are prone to act out of social preservation rather than examining the real wisdom behind our choices, and crediting them as a greater capacity to comply with as many life guidlines that my faith has to offer. There has not been any shortage of coercion, harrassment, financial, and social manipulation, mental and emotional abuse levied against me and my small family in order to secure their interests. This continual conflict has forced me and my family to expidite at times our discovery of lifestyle goals, and critically delay some of the basic neccesities of life. On one hand I find it most disturbing that those who claim to have my best interests at heart, extract a toll in exchange for their love and support. On the other hand I feel absolute gratitude to my Father in Heaven that these individuals were placed in my path to expedite a lifestyle that when measured against the odds of survival of most will increase the likelyhood that my children and their posterity, if they choose, will out-live, out-earn, and provide the same for all those who congregate around them. In addition to this they will have a rich interactive life with their children and spouses that will provide ample time to develop proper family interactions, and communications with the heavens.
Having thus said "my two bits", I humbly submit to you my interpretation of a lifestyle that will insure a happy, and healthy life, in whatever economy that develops. The fourthcoming site based on 7 areas that I have developed out of the teachings of my faith while I was in it's service. They are no longer taught to new members in the foregoing format, but a modification of them is, and they are:
Literacy and Education
Career Development
Financial and Resource Management
Home Storage and Production
Physical Health
Social and Emotional Strength
Spiritual Strength
I have been accused of seeking to live out our life in a manner in an effort to embarrass certain individuals, many of whom I extracted some of my unique qualities. It suits their explaination of their greivances as they are prone to act out of social preservation rather than examining the real wisdom behind our choices, and crediting them as a greater capacity to comply with as many life guidlines that my faith has to offer. There has not been any shortage of coercion, harrassment, financial, and social manipulation, mental and emotional abuse levied against me and my small family in order to secure their interests. This continual conflict has forced me and my family to expidite at times our discovery of lifestyle goals, and critically delay some of the basic neccesities of life. On one hand I find it most disturbing that those who claim to have my best interests at heart, extract a toll in exchange for their love and support. On the other hand I feel absolute gratitude to my Father in Heaven that these individuals were placed in my path to expedite a lifestyle that when measured against the odds of survival of most will increase the likelyhood that my children and their posterity, if they choose, will out-live, out-earn, and provide the same for all those who congregate around them. In addition to this they will have a rich interactive life with their children and spouses that will provide ample time to develop proper family interactions, and communications with the heavens.
Having thus said "my two bits", I humbly submit to you my interpretation of a lifestyle that will insure a happy, and healthy life, in whatever economy that develops. The fourthcoming site based on 7 areas that I have developed out of the teachings of my faith while I was in it's service. They are no longer taught to new members in the foregoing format, but a modification of them is, and they are:
Literacy and Education
Career Development
Financial and Resource Management
Home Storage and Production
Physical Health
Social and Emotional Strength
Spiritual Strength
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