Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

goals

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I am not a new-year’s resolution kinda guy. This year, having de-cluttered my life a lot more than this time last year, I feel a mental freedom to explore more avenues. Hence, the 2010 goals. I took about a month to create these goals. Some were loosely formed last year, some this year. Coincidently, they total to six, in line with 6 changes by Leo Babauta.

I have divided them into three categories, namely biological, social and intellectual.

BIOLOGICAL
Go camping (involves buying gear)
Train atlas twice a week for bicycle tour (home to baldwin trail)
go on a bicycle tour
SOCIAL
do not eat any candy from coworker’s candy jar
buy no clothes all year unless absolutely necessary
INTELLECTUAL
start writing book about the people of jacksonville (project cup-a-tea)
BIOLOGICAL
  • Go camping (involves buying gear)
  • Train atlas twice a week for bicycle tour (home to baldwin trail)
  • go on a bicycle tour
SOCIAL
  • do not eat any candy from coworker’s candy jar
  • buy no clothes all year unless absolutely necessary
INTELLECTUAL
  • start project ‘cup-a-tea’
I want to some day be able to pack my xtracycle with camping gear and a wad of cash and take off chasing the sun, a dream or just plain answers. I want to be able to do it by myself. I have always been interested in camping but never had the opportunity. This year, I make my opportunity. To tour, I need to get into shape to ride a fully laden bicycle upto 50 miles a day. Hence the training. I dont do well with training routines, so this will be a good challenge.

My coworker generously lets us dig our hands into a bottomless candy jar. I am tired of my afternoon cravings for candy. I pledge to never touch that jar all year.

I have enough clothes. I have enough good quality clothes. If I lose weight with my bicycle training, I will get my pants altered. No buying clothes.

Project cup-a-tea is a super secret project. It is an intellectual challenge and will surely carry forward to next year’s goal. It involves some heavy reading.

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Light Pockets

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

It is amazing how many things we learn by just watching. We learn activities and habits both good and bad from a very young age. How to eat, how to speak, how to drive etc.

All my time growing up, I can’t remember anyone not having a folding wallet, stuffed to the brim with cash, change, bills, tickets and first born! In fact, I remember having a play wallet when I was very young stuffed with my dad’s expired credit cards. That was a long long time ago.

Many moons later, I was earning a small salary from my internship. My then girlfriend bought me a beautiful suede wallet. Wrapped in a static filter of carrying a folding wallet and fastened by the gift, I was starting my journey towards a fat back pocket. At the peak of my folding wallet habit, the wallet was so thick that I had to take it out of my back pocket while I was driving.

A few years back, I saw a coworker pull out a much thinner card wallet from his front pocket. It rang a few bells and made me investigate the frequency with which I use every item in the wallet. The static filter was slowly breaking and I bought me a card wallet that had a money clip attached to it. Over the next few weeks, I proceeded to fill it to the brim with insurance cards, office ID, debit card, credit cards and business cards. This was way thinner than what I was carrying but still quite thick.

I read about using a money band from money-band.com on mnmlist.com (http://mnmlist.com/carry-less-or-pockets-like-air/). I promptly bought it and have been using it happily. Only cards that I use everyday are in it, namely, my debit card, driverís license, motorcycle insurance card and work ID. Everything else that is not used at least once every week stays in the old card wallet which resides in a bag I usually carry with me.

The key chain I carry around is downsized also. I have eliminated carrying all my bicycle and mail box keys. I now only carry two keys: key to the front door to my apartment and the motorcycle ignition key. A petsmart pet perks key ring card adds adequate substance to the skimpy key chain. I visit petsmart once in two weeks.

Now only if there were an iPhone Nano, all my pockets would be light and airy.

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