365 Days Around The Sun

Unlocked

The Door on The Right or the handle on The Left? Twist and pull on one or the other. You have the choice. A key rests in the palm of your hand that will unlock both, however, once you open one; the other door is closed forever.

Right, has an opportunity to wipe away all of your indiscretions from the past. You can change those choices and make them different, better or leave them unchanged.

Left. Well, the LEFT door holds a million dollars, IN CASH. Breaking Bad this is not.

What door would you choose?

You would not think it would be a hard choice. LEFT. Wipe away all your debts and maybe buy a sea-side beach home that faces the Atlantic.

Think really hard!  Because it really is not an easy decision to make, do I (Steve) want the left or the right?  Honestly I would take the RIGHT.

I would make better ‘life’ decisions to not get me to where I am today financially, and financially only.  “But Steve, the Left gets you out of that hot mess you are in immediately.” And there in lies the problem.  Nothing is learned.

My family (wife/daughter) are both great, and that decision is an easy one as that goes UNCHANGED, should I choose the RIGHT door. 

A=0+B=3-squared, what is the total? In my opinion the answer is 9.  See how utterly useless Algebra is at least in my eyes. WHO uses those calculations in real life?  I am sure some of you do, but I haven’t run across many if any. That is UNLESS I say, “Dave we have zero beers in the bucket, let’s get 3-squard or 9 more!”  First off, he would look at me like I am an utter idiot, second, he would say, “Why didn’t you just say we need 9 more!” OK, so no one needs 9-more, that is unless you are watching a pro golf tournament in person on the course and it is hot as ‘blue blazes’ outside. Then you will need a whole lot more than nine.  

Algebra is dumb.  And if you are a parent trying to help your school aged kids learn that whole A=this B=that well than what does X=? Well, my friend you are fucked.

Teach a class on money and finances, not some alphabet riddle that gets you a number.

The door on the Right. Would I choose a new career path…maybe. But it would not have given me all I have gotten to experience or my dearest friends.

Let me tell why my choice would be Right.  Up until the age of 23/24 I always drove ‘beaters’ for cars.  That all changed in 1995.

I get my first real ‘out of college job’ and what do I proceed to do?  You got it! I drove to the nearest dealership and picked out a brand-new truck.  Not just any new truck, nope!  One that had to be ordered so that I could get the exterior color I wanted (black) and the interior too (grey).

Mind you at the time a NEW car cost around 18-grand, well I was making around 21K a year.  How in the holy hell did I get financing?  Especially with zero money down.

The salesman probably went to his boss and said, “We got a real sucker that wants to SPECIALTY ORDER a truck!” I’m sure his higherup was like, “Make it happen, somehow.”

The call came a few weeks later.  And there it was. A stunning black truck that on the interior smelled amazing. “Even got you a full tank of gas too” the same salesman said. Paperwork was signed and off I went. By the way I never read over the terms and conditions.  I just wanted to put miles on that thing.

He probably received a nice commission. At the time I didn’t care that is until the first ‘Pay this amount by so and so date’ came in the mail. It was over five-hundred dollars a month…dead serious. 84 months did not seem that long.  Oh, hell yeah it was, and still is.

“I got this!”  Only around $1750 month, pre-tax at my “NEW” job was less than ideal. “I got this,” my ass. I had to pony up rent, half the utility bills as I was sharing the apartment with someone, and I also needed food. The money was stretched beyond thin almost non-existent.  You know what else didn’t last a long time? That new car smell.

I ate bologna sandwiches and those 79-cents noodles for a while a long while.  I also needed GAS money, but hey I got a BP gas card in college, remember the so called ‘free shirt’ if you signed up for said card? I soon found out I could use it also for ultra-expensive crappy food in the gas station too. THAT was until that BP bill came in the mail. $25 minimum payment, no problem I thought. Welp paying the minimum adds up and soon you are out of credit and in a shit storm of debt.

And you by now you know what I did next, yup got a different CC. I needed gas and food. The cycle continues.

Paycheck-to-Paycheck this was not! This was broke to beyond broke.

This is a lesson I learned way to late in life, FAR too late!

The black truck is probably in a junk yard. Available for parts only, if the damn thing still exists.  I hope it doesn’t, but ultimately it was my choice to buy it.

Does it (my job) pay a ton? Nope. And it did not in ’95 either. That truck is and always will be my last NEW vehicle. And one of my biggest regrets.

But it (videographer) is what I am good at, and I have created things that will be forever remembered. THINGS today not captured on a cellphone, only to be discarded when your cell device has limited space available and buh bye to that video shot the WRONG way on your cell phone. 

*Side note. How does your TV sit or hang, vertical or horizontal?  Remember that the next time you take a video for the love of God!  

An actual moment, is not the video. NOPE. it is where you are capturing it, and who you are capturing it with.

Capture a moment and wipe it away or take a bunch of Benjamin Franklins and buy a Chevy truck with actual cash. No financing needed.

It is not an easy choice.  Choose it wisely, Left or Right. No judgment.  Just enjoy the opportunity and do not make a mistake.

NOPE, not choosing LEFT because I will be in the same predicament, I find myself in now down the road.

And I sure as Hell am not taking Algebra II. Just a dumb actually a really dumb class. Kind of like a sucker that buys a brand new truck.