Fran Leibowitz:
Remember that as a teenager you are in the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear the phone is for you.
Mark Twain:
The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities, we will then be a happy and a virtuous people.
Martha Washington:
The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances.
Ramona L. Anderson:
People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
PRO DEAL
I could hardly believe it when I heard it myself. Because I work at a bike place now, I have what are called 'pro deals' available to me. I can get this bike, which retails around 4500 for aroun 1400 bucks!! Woo hoooo! So, it is now my mission to come up with 1400 dollars. As soon as I do, the P3C is mine. What a beautiful thing. I haven't been this excited about getting something for a long while; remember when you were a kid and you were so excited because your parents told you that if you saved up you could buy that bike/dog/dollhouse/whatever? That's how I feel now.
P.S. It's my birthday today, 26 baby! I figured out yesterday that it's not realllly my birthday though, technically of course, I turned 25-29 last year, and I won't have another birthday until I turn 30-34. Isn't triathlon a beautiful thing?
MW
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Manager
Well, don't take it too seriously, that's really about all the advice I can give myself or anyone else. What a funny job I have now. Everything is a mess and not only do I have to learn the business from scratch but I have to fix everything that is effed up. Annnd, I have to implement all of the systems that haven't even been looked at or kept up.
Aiyeiyi (not sure how to spell that one).
But, the good news is, my life is wonderful. I know I say this over and over, but I'm young, healthy, happy and well taken care of, so what the hell is there to complain about? Well, my most important 'task' right now is to maintain perspective and not allow idiotic work related events to effect my psyche. Know what i mean??
If not, good for you, you have a calm job.
The only truly tough part for me right now is keeping it all straight. There is so much new stuff happening and so much chaos at work that it is hard to even keep things straight and focused. I've never had a job that required me to be this extremely desicive and action-oriented, it's really pretty interesting. I have to stop typing now to creat a 'closing checklist' for the store,
Peace, love and rock and roll. Or whatever you believe in.
Live your life and have fun, it's over too quick.
M
Aiyeiyi (not sure how to spell that one).
But, the good news is, my life is wonderful. I know I say this over and over, but I'm young, healthy, happy and well taken care of, so what the hell is there to complain about? Well, my most important 'task' right now is to maintain perspective and not allow idiotic work related events to effect my psyche. Know what i mean??
If not, good for you, you have a calm job.
The only truly tough part for me right now is keeping it all straight. There is so much new stuff happening and so much chaos at work that it is hard to even keep things straight and focused. I've never had a job that required me to be this extremely desicive and action-oriented, it's really pretty interesting. I have to stop typing now to creat a 'closing checklist' for the store,
Peace, love and rock and roll. Or whatever you believe in.
Live your life and have fun, it's over too quick.
M
Monday, September 17, 2007
OH my feet!
Turns out working 9 hours on your feet 2 days after doing Ironman is painful, who knew!?
I feel great though. Life is surely interesting. I was thinking today that it is all a test. Every day is identical in only one aspect: It is a test of your physical and mental strength; where are you at now? There is no pass or fail in the grand scheme of things, but, there is a pass or fail for how you perform compared to how you could/should perform at this stage of your life. What's your potential? How understanding/patient/organized/loving/couragious/decisive/etc... can you be in your life and how did you measure up to that today?
At work today there were a thousand things that were wrong and should have been done better, the test for me was accepting that situation, not experiencing any stress and working to improve the situation. It's not easy, all of our jobs are hard, but the point is I had the opportunity to succeed in a relative sense on a scale from 1 to 100. I probably got an 80. Still have a ways to go.
But the point is, everything is a test and it's fun. Don't view the 'test' as a pain in your ass but an opportunity to recognize the subtle good in life and work to improve yourself on all of the different levels.
Next thing: Life is truly short. My God, some lives are cut extremely short. And to stress out over almost anything in life is foolish. The only truly, TRULY, important aspects of life are your health, your family and their health, and your friends and their health. Yes there are many, countless aspects of our lives which we can, and often do, pretend are vastly important. But, the truth is all that counts is your health and happiness, the rest is bullshit. So take it for what you will and focus all your energy on what you choose, but don't forget that.
Allright, next important subject? The MDot Tattoo. Do I get it or not? My friend and I just completed an incredible journey, the Ironman, but...the MDot tattoo supposedly represents the 'Ironman Corporation' which sponsors certain races, and so getting that tattoo supposedly represents that you did a sponsored race. Problem is, there is no other tattoo that sufficiently represents the accomplishments in such a simple, non-extravagant symbol.
I don't pictures of a stick figure swimming biking and running on my calf, and even 140.6, which some people think makes sense doesn't really work for me (after all, we actually did a longer bike and run than we were supposed to because of course changes due to a forest fire), and having the word Ironman tattooed on my calf seems too obvious. There is something attractive, alluring, and mysterious about the MDot, but should I give a shit that somebody else might think I shouldn't have it because my race wasn't offically sponsored by that corporation? I just don't know. Me thinks not. I spoke with Rodey today and we agreed that the MDot is the way to go, to hell with what anyone thinks, it symbolized doing the distance, that anything is possible, and it only really makes sense to people who know what it is.
So I think yes, I'm getting the MDot.
Last thought: I believe there is a bet going on between the big honchos of the music lables to see who can get the most retarded, irritating song on the radio and have people approve of it. It's kind of a college-buddy kind of bet, you know, 'hah! check this one out, loser!: I got this retarded song on the air, and the idiots love it! Hardy har har!'
Mike
I feel great though. Life is surely interesting. I was thinking today that it is all a test. Every day is identical in only one aspect: It is a test of your physical and mental strength; where are you at now? There is no pass or fail in the grand scheme of things, but, there is a pass or fail for how you perform compared to how you could/should perform at this stage of your life. What's your potential? How understanding/patient/organized/loving/couragious/decisive/etc... can you be in your life and how did you measure up to that today?
At work today there were a thousand things that were wrong and should have been done better, the test for me was accepting that situation, not experiencing any stress and working to improve the situation. It's not easy, all of our jobs are hard, but the point is I had the opportunity to succeed in a relative sense on a scale from 1 to 100. I probably got an 80. Still have a ways to go.
But the point is, everything is a test and it's fun. Don't view the 'test' as a pain in your ass but an opportunity to recognize the subtle good in life and work to improve yourself on all of the different levels.
Next thing: Life is truly short. My God, some lives are cut extremely short. And to stress out over almost anything in life is foolish. The only truly, TRULY, important aspects of life are your health, your family and their health, and your friends and their health. Yes there are many, countless aspects of our lives which we can, and often do, pretend are vastly important. But, the truth is all that counts is your health and happiness, the rest is bullshit. So take it for what you will and focus all your energy on what you choose, but don't forget that.
Allright, next important subject? The MDot Tattoo. Do I get it or not? My friend and I just completed an incredible journey, the Ironman, but...the MDot tattoo supposedly represents the 'Ironman Corporation' which sponsors certain races, and so getting that tattoo supposedly represents that you did a sponsored race. Problem is, there is no other tattoo that sufficiently represents the accomplishments in such a simple, non-extravagant symbol.
I don't pictures of a stick figure swimming biking and running on my calf, and even 140.6, which some people think makes sense doesn't really work for me (after all, we actually did a longer bike and run than we were supposed to because of course changes due to a forest fire), and having the word Ironman tattooed on my calf seems too obvious. There is something attractive, alluring, and mysterious about the MDot, but should I give a shit that somebody else might think I shouldn't have it because my race wasn't offically sponsored by that corporation? I just don't know. Me thinks not. I spoke with Rodey today and we agreed that the MDot is the way to go, to hell with what anyone thinks, it symbolized doing the distance, that anything is possible, and it only really makes sense to people who know what it is.
So I think yes, I'm getting the MDot.
Last thought: I believe there is a bet going on between the big honchos of the music lables to see who can get the most retarded, irritating song on the radio and have people approve of it. It's kind of a college-buddy kind of bet, you know, 'hah! check this one out, loser!: I got this retarded song on the air, and the idiots love it! Hardy har har!'
Mike
Sunday, September 16, 2007
what blog?
OH my god! How embarasing! I completely spaced the fact that I have a blog... Was I supposed to be typing something about my life onto this website on some sort of regular basis? I had no idea.
Well, a hell of a lot has changed since I last wrote. I'm sure my loyal fans are writhing in agony from the acute pains of motivational fuel withdrawel. Or...maybe not. Either way, I'm back.
So...without further adeu: I am an Ironman. As of last night at 917pm I crossed the line of the Grand Columbian Iron distance triathlon. 2.4 mile of swimming, 118 mile of biking (that's right, the bike was extra long) and at least 26.2 miles of running...and you can bet your ass I'll be getting the tattoo.
I'll write more about the Ironman another night, but for now that's the news. My best buddy Chris Rodes also finished, and we are both very proud of the epic accomplishment.
I now manage Performance Bicycle. I began training four weeks ago in Sacramento, CA. From there I went to Hawaii for a week for our friends' wedding, and when I got back I took over my new store. And what a night mare. I mean seriously, the first week and a half of work there was as difficult as anyone can imagine. One day(s) I worked 31 hours straight, no sleep, no breaks, just trying to get the store up to speed. And this right before my first Ironman (not smart!).
But everything is working out, we just need to sell a couple of our houses and maybe get me a cheaper car and things will be awesome. I'm tired of stressing over money, that's not what life's about. You should never have more posessions/debt than you can easily cover with a reasonable income, that's my new belief. You can ruin a perfectly wonderful life by taking on too much debt and responsibility.
Relax, sit back and enjoy. This is your life, and you only get one.
Mike
Well, a hell of a lot has changed since I last wrote. I'm sure my loyal fans are writhing in agony from the acute pains of motivational fuel withdrawel. Or...maybe not. Either way, I'm back.
So...without further adeu: I am an Ironman. As of last night at 917pm I crossed the line of the Grand Columbian Iron distance triathlon. 2.4 mile of swimming, 118 mile of biking (that's right, the bike was extra long) and at least 26.2 miles of running...and you can bet your ass I'll be getting the tattoo.
I'll write more about the Ironman another night, but for now that's the news. My best buddy Chris Rodes also finished, and we are both very proud of the epic accomplishment.
I now manage Performance Bicycle. I began training four weeks ago in Sacramento, CA. From there I went to Hawaii for a week for our friends' wedding, and when I got back I took over my new store. And what a night mare. I mean seriously, the first week and a half of work there was as difficult as anyone can imagine. One day(s) I worked 31 hours straight, no sleep, no breaks, just trying to get the store up to speed. And this right before my first Ironman (not smart!).
But everything is working out, we just need to sell a couple of our houses and maybe get me a cheaper car and things will be awesome. I'm tired of stressing over money, that's not what life's about. You should never have more posessions/debt than you can easily cover with a reasonable income, that's my new belief. You can ruin a perfectly wonderful life by taking on too much debt and responsibility.
Relax, sit back and enjoy. This is your life, and you only get one.
Mike
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