Lets start at the beginning, I am not a prodigal son. I have always had issues in relation to managing money and will most likely have them for some time to come. That’s what makes these words so valuable, it’s coming from a man who is himself in the trenches. You may think that a reformed spendthrift who has changed his ways for the better would be the preferred source of such life changing affirmations, but take my word; only someone who lives with the pitfalls each day can really speak to them.

If I could be granted one wish from the gods of financing it would not be for more money, but rather for keener skills in money management. I long ago ceased to gripe about salary and it has indeed been many years since I’ve last uttered any word about a raise of pay. I don’t live within my means by any stretch of the term but I’ve at least recognized that as the key to being wealthy.

The number one truth when is comes to building wealth is this: Wealth comes from the proper management of money, not the excess of it.

The facts are these: I make significantly more than I used to at my last job, and many times my salary of just a few years ago. In my attainment of what some would consider “decent” compensation, I have only managed to plunge myself further and further into debt. I’m not about to file for bankruptcy anytime soon, but the point is only to show that the increase in monetary intake doesn’t equate to a proportional increase in wealth and can in fact have the opposite effect.

Over the years I’ve made great strides in my quest to achieve financial freedom and then some. My aim is to live a life that grants me all the time in the world to sleep and eat Ox Tail (my absolute favorite dish next to ripe bananas). Again, due to my frivolous lifestyle and uninspiring work ethic, I’ve not been able to quite get there. Notwithstanding, I was clear on where and what I was trying to accomplish. Something I call Perpetual Income. In essence it is income that, from it’s mere existence, generates more income. This is something that most of us enjoy through the passive investments made in commercial banks and the like, however the generated income tends to come from a fluctuating rate which almost never goes beyond single digits percentiles. While this is the essence of the principle, for persons with less than stellar investments it may prove to be an insignificant endeavour; certainly not one that could solely maintain a lifestyle of eating and sleeping without an exchange of sweat equity. Given this, more proactive investments mechanisms are needed of which there are many. This isn’t an investment tutorial so I wont go on any elaborate analysis of the pros and cons of the different scheme. You need only understand that the right combination of investments, leveraged with a frugal, budgeted lifestyle can give you the sleepy eyed, meat devouring days and nights that I so long for.

I say again that the (somewhat obvious) advice given above is not followed by yours truly. This is a “do as I say, not as I do” moment. Had I the willpower to dispel this penchant for impulse buying and fine liquor I could very well be talking to you from the other side of the fence, but I wont let my dire situation prevent me from spreading the good word.

I’ll probably revisit this topic in the future. There’s much more to tell and I just wont sleep well at night unless I know that someone out there is doing the right thing even though I can’t. I’m off to find some Ox Tail.

Being hated is a wonderful thing. You might not understand this until you give it some serious thought, so let me save you some time. Simply put, being hated is a good indicator of you doing something and going places with your life.

When people take time out of their own lives to form such strong opinions of you it’s one of two things: you’re either doing something very wrong or doing something very right. If it’s the former, it takes nothing at all for people to simply ignore you and move on. If you’re living a less than stellar lifestyle people will react according to whether they want your kind of influence around them and often times they wont. This simply means that the vast majority of times when someone makes their dislike of you known, something is going well for you.

Borrowing from the insightful Kat Williams, Haters are gonna hate. That’s just what they do. It’s a very peculiar human trait, some persons just don’t like to see others doing better than they are. Whether you’re ahead of them or stepping on their coattails, people like being the fastest mover and, if they can, will apply the required pressure on you to slow your roll. On it’s own this can simply be entertaining, but it can at times affect you personally, professionally and monetarily if the person with this character flaw is put in a position to derail you. Whether it be directly via authority, indirectly via associations, or passively by the misuse of information, a person who feels strongly enough can interfere with your game plan. This means you always have to be on the lookout. As you tally up your list of haters make sure you keep them in check and avoid any influence they may have on you. If you can accomplish that then it’s smooth sailing.

Once you’re at the point where you can observe these individuals for the pure entertainment that they provide, then you’ll fully realise; being hated is a wonderful thing.

I’m getting old. I know I’m getting old because whenever I hear a ball being kicked outside my house I look out the window just waiting to yell at the kids to get off my lawn (they’re never actually on my lawn, but that doesn’t quell the urge). For the last 20 years or so I’ve been trying to come to grips with it and to age gracefully; I’m still trying. While it doesn’t depress me I can’t help but think about how much time I’m losing and not doing anything with it. Every second you waste is (as best we know) gone forever and I’ve frankly wasted more than average.

Exactly how old am I? My age can be summed up in 2 words: Circle Square. For those too young to know or too old to remember what the heck I’m talking about, just liken it to the Barney of today (is that still on the air?). This was one of the ways my generation learned sharing, caring and talking about our feelings. It was Canadian so probably not very popular to the other 50 states or the rest of the world, but in Jamaica it was probably the only thing that our lone television station could afford to syndicate. It wasn’t all bad, I mean I even got the song book with Super Hymnal Action. HIYAH!!!

At this stage I can’t help but think that I should be making some life changing affirmation about grabbing life by the horns and making the best of each day, but I’ll be honest: I’m in bed right now and will probably be taking a nap as soon as I finish typing this. I say nap because I will most certainly be wide awake again by 12 when the munchies kick in. A Carpe Diem moment this is not.

I’ve been without a television for the better part of a month now. I can’t remember how long exactly as the first few days were a blur. It got water logged (don’t ask) and I decided not to spend money fixing it or buying a new one as there are plans afoot that would prevent me from realizing a return on my investment.

Being without television, which has been a steady companion my entire life, has been difficult to say the least. It has however forced me to seek out other methods of entertainment and expand my thus far limited horizon in terms media consumption.

Top of the list is of course Internet media. I’m a long time YouTuber (and a fan of many non-social streaming services before it) and have always been pleased with what it provides. A reactive source of moving pictures. Reactive in the sense that I have to tell it what i want, unlike a television that pushes content at me in a more proactive way. Sure I can view what others are viewing, see related media and some services will even give recommendations based on what I’ve watched in the past, all great stuff, but it’s not what I’ve gotten used to from years spent in front of the idiot box.

I’m not inclined to say that one paradigm is superior to the other, I will simply say that I’ve grown accustomed to one thing and while I can appreciate this new way of doing things,  it hasn’t managed to completely sway me into changing the way I expect to get my media.

Online media providers have failed to appease this crucial aspect of television watching habits. Sometimes people just want to get lost in what’s coming at them. Empowering me to control all aspects of what I absorb doesn’t really help me when I’m just in the frame of mind to watch whatever is on. In the same breath, people are varied in what they may choose to watch. My recommendations can’t be based solely on what I’ve watched and/or what my peers are watching. In the old way of doing things many times discoveries are stumbled upon from simple channel surfing, not complex algorithms. People need to have a choice and media companies need to not assume that new automatically equates to improved. At times it may simply be different.

P.S.

Television studios need to completely embrace the Internet as an avenue to distribute their content. I wanted to watch the Grammys tonight but there were no live streaming sources to be found. The technology is there and so are successful revenue models, so what’s the holdup?

Driving without it gets you a day in court, falling ill without it puts you at the mercy of bottom tier health care and dying without it means you get buried in a cardboard box.

All those reasons make it seem like having it is a swell idea, and to a tiny few it is. For the rest of us however, it’s the biggest scam you’ll ever fall prey to, and the whole thing is government backed.

Who else can legally take your money with the promise to pay you back when shit hits the fan, only to load you with half cocked lines about not being able to pay up when said fecal matter goes skyward? They remind me of a damn coke fiend. The only difference being one of the two can get busted to pound-me-in-the-ass prison. While being a coke fiend isn’t itself illegal, there are quite a few illegal steps involved in getting there. The insurance company, on the other hand, probably gets a tax break.

If they have your money why can’t they just hand it over when you say so? It’s bad enough that you can’t go back to them unless you’re laid up in a hospital or had your car written off (or both if you have bad karma), but when you do it’s as if they have a random excuse generator for not paying you that doubles as material for their lunch time comedy hour. The alignment of the planets during the last epoch has no bearing on you paying out, for Christ’s sake.

I’m griping because I had a situation recently play out, and I’m sure you can guess that I wasn’t pleased with the outcome. All I can do about it at this point is take my business elsewhere. That’s it. Not one refund or credit note in sight.

I’ve always been a well insured guy and with my particular flavour of luck will probably always be, but damn it if I haven’t had it up to here (hand below chin) with these damn, dirty apes…I mean insurance companies.

This is the obligatory fist post with the sole purpose of familiarizing you with the musings to follow.

Describing this blog will really come down to your point of view. In my mind this is just an avenue to complain about the daily doses of idiocy that I’m faced with, some being my own, while to others it may be a fountain of truth from which flows the meaning of life with a slightly PG-13 edge.

No matter what brought you here and what you may think…stay for the booze. There will be plenty.