Monday, January 28, 2008
A dollar fifty
My wallet is never empty. Sure, there typically isn't much in there, 3 dollars right now I think, but it's never empty. I have $1.50 stored away just in case. Just in case of what? I don't know exactly what it will do, but I do know exactly why it ended up there. One day this summer I was at Best Buy getting Guitar Hero. My mom and a friend of hers were at Target (if you don't know the area they are right next to each other). It was nice out so my mom and her friend were sitting on a bench waiting for me. Just about the time I got to them a man stopped me and asked for some money. The common beggar. Not exactly. He asked for a quarter, not some random "can I have some change", a quarter. He also said it was for the bus and that he was just a quarter short. I looked at my mom and she gave me "the look" people typically get when someone on the street approaches them for money. I told him I didn't have a quarter. In reality I didn't have a quarter, but my mom surely did in her purse and my car was with in 30 feet from me and I knew there was all sorts of change in there. "Nope, I don't have one". I don't remember what the mans face really looked like but I will never forget the look he gave me. It wasn't angry, complacent, or any of the looks you typically get when you tell the guy on the street "no", it was despair,disappointment, and heartache all in one. My heart sank. He walked away from the guy standing there that didn't have a spare quarter but managed to gather up $80+ bucks for a video game. I left my mom and went to my car started to drive away. That guy's face was just tearing at me. I turned my car around, made a couple of laps around the lot and surrounding stores to see if I could find this guy anywhere, no such luck. I don't know if that guy really only wanted a quarter, if he was actually trying to catch a bus, or anything else, but I learned something...... that doesn't really matter. From that day since I keep a dollar and fifty cents in my wallet, always. If you listen to Christian radio there is a song called "21st time" and it really made me think. What if that was Jesus? What if I passed up that opportunity? Life lesson learned and God nailed that one home hard. In the whole scheme of things how much is giving out 25 cents from time to time going to hurt, I waste triple that on a regular basis for candy bars. Sometimes God is very subtle and if you aren't in tune you'll miss it, sometimes he hits you with a sledgehammer with no choice but to notice. I don't know what that dollar fifty is going to do some day, but I know exactly what it's for.
Friday, January 25, 2008
3 Jobs coming to a close
This is my second attempt at a blog, the first one was poor at best. After much inspiration from reading blogs of some good friends I thought I'd give it another shot.
For the past 2 months, give or take, I've been working 3 jobs. Velocity is my "main" job and I've been there for a year now (this seems crazy). The other two jobs are less than exciting. In fact I'm "working" right now. I answer the phone for a company that host baseball camps and the camps have basically all started so there aren't many phone calls which means I have nothing to do. This job is coming to a close on Monday when I tell my boss I'm not coming back anymore. I'm sure he won't mind since he's paying me $10 an hour to write this blog right now. My third job is at the IUS bookstore. This was supposed to be temporary to help out with rush but for some reason I remain on the schedule. This job has become boring too because.... rush is over, which was what I was hired for...... and now it's over..... so there is no need for me....... hence it's boring. I've had some interesting experiences. Some girl upon finding out two books were going to cost her over $200 proceeded to yell "That's F***ing ridiculous", not exactly appropriate behavior. I also made a girl cry. This was not fun and really not my fault but I felt bad just the same. She wanted to pay for $300 worth of books with a check but had no ID on her. No drivers license, no student ID, nothing. So couldn't take the check. This sucks, but who doesn't have these things with them, especially at a commuter school, everyone has to DRIVE to get there. I'll be glad to be done with that job too. On the plus side I have some "extra" money so that's always good.
Since graduating college I've found that I actually do enjoy reading. It's a totally different thing when no one is telling you what to read and when you have to have it read and what you need to know about it. Reading before turn off the light to go to sleep is very nice. I can read a page or a chapter with no pressure to get anything done. I've read a few books. Growing Up on Daisy Hill, written by a relative is about his life growing up during the depression in the hills of Southern Indiana. If you can find this book and you're interested in history, especially of Indiana, it's a good read. Upon recommendation from Adam Hunt I read "Red Letters" which is sobering to say the least. Read Adams post about how money could be used to get an idea of what this book is about. arindaadam.blogspot.com Currently I'm reading America: The Last Best Hope. It's basically a history book that is much more interesting than a textbook. Here are some interesting tidbits of info:
Arlington National Cemetery was started on Robert E. Lee's front yard in an attempt to shame the family from ever moving back to their estate. Later Lee's family sued and regained their home then sold it to the government for $150,000 when the cemetery was officially started.
Johnson, who became President after Lincoln's assassination, was pro white and would have sent the South back into slavery if not for the quick thinking and unusually emotional response of the general of the US Army Ulysses S. Grant.
Socially I've had a busy life. New Years, a surprise birthday for Miller that turned into a whole day event, going out with a very cute, very sweet girl that I intend to go out with some more in the very near future. Things are going very well indeed.
For the past 2 months, give or take, I've been working 3 jobs. Velocity is my "main" job and I've been there for a year now (this seems crazy). The other two jobs are less than exciting. In fact I'm "working" right now. I answer the phone for a company that host baseball camps and the camps have basically all started so there aren't many phone calls which means I have nothing to do. This job is coming to a close on Monday when I tell my boss I'm not coming back anymore. I'm sure he won't mind since he's paying me $10 an hour to write this blog right now. My third job is at the IUS bookstore. This was supposed to be temporary to help out with rush but for some reason I remain on the schedule. This job has become boring too because.... rush is over, which was what I was hired for...... and now it's over..... so there is no need for me....... hence it's boring. I've had some interesting experiences. Some girl upon finding out two books were going to cost her over $200 proceeded to yell "That's F***ing ridiculous", not exactly appropriate behavior. I also made a girl cry. This was not fun and really not my fault but I felt bad just the same. She wanted to pay for $300 worth of books with a check but had no ID on her. No drivers license, no student ID, nothing. So couldn't take the check. This sucks, but who doesn't have these things with them, especially at a commuter school, everyone has to DRIVE to get there. I'll be glad to be done with that job too. On the plus side I have some "extra" money so that's always good.
Since graduating college I've found that I actually do enjoy reading. It's a totally different thing when no one is telling you what to read and when you have to have it read and what you need to know about it. Reading before turn off the light to go to sleep is very nice. I can read a page or a chapter with no pressure to get anything done. I've read a few books. Growing Up on Daisy Hill, written by a relative is about his life growing up during the depression in the hills of Southern Indiana. If you can find this book and you're interested in history, especially of Indiana, it's a good read. Upon recommendation from Adam Hunt I read "Red Letters" which is sobering to say the least. Read Adams post about how money could be used to get an idea of what this book is about. arindaadam.blogspot.com Currently I'm reading America: The Last Best Hope. It's basically a history book that is much more interesting than a textbook. Here are some interesting tidbits of info:
Arlington National Cemetery was started on Robert E. Lee's front yard in an attempt to shame the family from ever moving back to their estate. Later Lee's family sued and regained their home then sold it to the government for $150,000 when the cemetery was officially started.
Johnson, who became President after Lincoln's assassination, was pro white and would have sent the South back into slavery if not for the quick thinking and unusually emotional response of the general of the US Army Ulysses S. Grant.
Socially I've had a busy life. New Years, a surprise birthday for Miller that turned into a whole day event, going out with a very cute, very sweet girl that I intend to go out with some more in the very near future. Things are going very well indeed.
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