As little as 100 years ago, when my grandfathers were children it was not expected to own a house. Homes were required for farmers, but many people were transient laborers.  For them a bed roll and a horse had more practicality than “bricks and sticks” planted in a single locale. Prior to World War II Americans were far more agrarian and lived on larger lots to homestead. Cities were dense in population and apartments ruled the day. My great grandmother ran a boarding house for coal miners. Boarding houses are now lost to another time.

Immediately following World War II came the invention of “suburbia”. Starting in Levittown, New York anyone could buy the new American dream – a house.  I refer to these early, 1,000 square foot structures as apartment with thick walls: grass.  Denser than rural areas, but more spacious, a new living arrangement was sold to the American people. Fueled by a rapid shift in post war production to automobiles the time required to travel distances were shortened significantly.  Families could escape urban lifestyle and commuter to work.

It was in the 1950 we began training future generations to believe happiness was measured by their subdivision, brick facade, and picket fence. Along the way our parents stole freedom from us. We could only be judged successful when we had a job, married, and bought a house. Not buying a house, and quietly enslaving ourselves to 30 years of payments three times the amount of the original principal, meant we were failures. Once purchased a cycle of accumulation was required; consumerism built through the fifties and sixties by a never ending flow of cheap, meaningless merchandise from countries never heard of.

The 1990s brought us “McMansions” – homes of epic proportion. With 4 and 5 bedrooms, game rooms, media rooms and excessively large bathrooms accelerated by easy money financing anyone could look like a Vanderbilt. Again, judgment of failure fell upon those failing to keep up with the Jones’.  Furthermore, Americans found need for storage units to keep all of their stuff: the trinkets bought at stores like Garden Ridge and Pier 1.  My personal opinion, two stores that supply absolutely nothing anyone needs, but distribute trinkets made through near forced labor.

In 2008 financial mayhem fell across our country and housing sales stopped. To this day the National Association of Realtors reports we have bottomed out and housing is recovering. Fortunately, data exposes lies and their story has yet to come true.  In February 2013, five years into the Great Recession, housing sales totaled 131,000 for the entire month when backing out investor and foreclosure sales.  It is again now I ask again, “does debt or a mortgage determine one’s success?” Of course, success is personal.  Judged by others though it continues as an expectation; we must own homes to meet society’s norms. My wife and I are pushing back.

We recently moved to Florida to be near my kids after being forced away in 2009. We had planned to buy a house until we started looking. It was appalling what our money would buy: shoddy construction for $300k, homes ten feet from the neighbor’s for $275k, and a piece of dirt for $70k, or an effective $280k per acre. Why, because the Fed’s $85billion per month quantitative easing feeds a desire for cheap money. Lastly, what if something changes? In other words job opportunities, job loss, society degradation, illness, or any other reason. Why would we want to be anchored to 5,000 square feet of Volusia County Florida?

So how do we gain freedom? Break the mortgage race:  if debt is required don’t commit to dirt. I’ve seen too many people pass opportunities during the Great Recession because they were connected to a house, not a “home” with their family. A house is just the container, a home is the programming delivered inside. Thus, a compromise to take our home where we want to go can bring the best situation.  For now LeeAnn and I are foregoing bricks and sticks containers for one with mobility. We will see in six months how it feels and whether we moved far. Regardless, knowing we can brings peace.

Living full time in an RV brings many challenges.  The toughest is how to connect to the internet.  Options exist and I am not going to go into those in much details as there are several links to describe this such as the excellent Mobile Internet Options article on Technomads. The obvious solutions like phones, air cards, and hot spots provide a method to get the information highway.  However, bandwidth and cost go together so they do not necessarily work, or should be reserved for times where there are no other options.

Wi-Fi is the holy grail of bandwidth and freedom – if you don’t have to pay for it.  So, I went seeking solutions and came

TP Link

across this series of articles on Dick Eastman’s RV site:

How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System – Part #1

How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System – Part #2

How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System – Part #3

Follow-up: How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System: Configuring the Outdoor Access Point

This can be done! However, it takes a little know how, research, and simplification.

TP Link mounted at rear of RV

Mounting my access point was easy.  I bought the access point from Amazon as described in the column and mounted it on my RV using a 10 foot piece of conduit with tie straps.  Not the best for moving around, but it did accomplish the immediate need.

the way to think through how this will work is as follows:

[RV Park Internet] -> [TP Link on a mast (primary router)] -> [Your wireless acccess point (slave)]

You must know the network SSID for the open network you are connecting to.  I use my phone or computer to find this

Next – for first time configuration of the TP Link, plug in a cable as described in the prior articles.  The things you MUST KNOW:

• Make sure you set the TP Link to “AP Client Mode”
• Change the IP address of the TP Link to 192.168.1.1 from 192.168.1.254
  • this setting is under “LAN”, not “WAN”
• Under “WAN” I made no changes
• Doing a survey will find the best connection
  • You don’t have to enter the SSID name because a survey will find it
  • You can move the antenna to the 12, 3, 6, 9 O’Clock positions and survey again to find better signals
• Each time you use the TP Link you will need to correctly enter the SSID of the wireless network to which you are connecting
• IMPORTANT!!
  • Enable DHCP
  • Set the address range to start at 192.168.1.3
    • This will be one above the range for the slave router

Now we must setup the slave. Disconnect the TP Link after making all changes, rebooting, and verifying you can connect to the internet with your laptop connected.  After disconnecting, connect your wireless access point secondary (slave) router with a cable to your

Lynksys Setup Screen

computer. I will assume you have correctly configured wireless access and passwords.  Type the IP address and log in.  Make sure to make the following changes:

• Under internet setup you want automatic DHCP — this is because the TP Link will ASSIGN the IP addresses
• Under network setup where you can set an IP address for the router change the value to 192.168.1.2
• Under DHCP Server Setting, select “DISABLED” this is because the TP Link will be our Router
• Save the settings

The last step is where I went awry for a while, so here we go:

1. Unplug power to everything (clean start)
2. Unplug the ethernet cables from the computer
3. Take the LAN cable from the TP Link primary and plug it into a LAN port on the slave
   1. DO NOT plug it into the WAN port
   2. I recommend position 1 but it does not matter
4. Plug an ethernet cable into position 2 of the LAN of the Slave
5. Plug the ethernet cable from the slave into your computer
6. Plug in the TP Link power cable
7. Wait 30 seconds (let it connect)
8. Plug in power to your Slave router
9. Reboot your computer

When the computer comes back on everything should work.

I recommend this site for more troubleshooting help

I work to read books and learn everyday.  I recently wrote in this blog how I use an e-reader to gain time and read more books.  Previously I have written about using Google Reader to subscribe to RSS news feeds from blogs.  This is essentially where 100% of my news contact and outside world comes from.  Lately, I have been working on more professional development and tried Coursera – an online, free access tool to take college classes.

I want to share some outstanding links to help give professional development ideas to you:

This one was on the Under30CEO.com web site.  It is a list of outstanding blogs to follow:

24 Awesome Blogs and Twitter Accounts Every Entrepreneur Should Follow

Similarly, this one was on the same web site and is a list of free courses everyone should consider.

20 Free Entrepreneurship Courses Online to Check Out

you have a choice today, and depending on how you use your time it could be wasted watching television (especially the wasteful world of pro sports) or you could take 30-45 minutes of “tube time” and learn.

Good luck moving forward!

One of my favorite songs is Styx’ “Too Much Time on my Hands.”  However, most of us don’t have that luxury.  I assert people waste time.  People waste their own time, or more importantly they waste other’s time. Time is a nonrenewable, there’s nothing to replace it.  I hate people wasting my time due to their inability to manage their own time.

Example, have you ever waited in the doctor’s office?  You have a scheduled appointment and find 45 minutes past the scheduled time the doctor finally makes it in to see you.  How about the cable guy?  A block of time is given for cable or internet installation, “he’ll be there between 10am and noon tomorrow,” the installation scheduler tells you.  After taking off time from work you watch the clock hoping the installer will arrive anytime.  As noon comes and goes our irritation builds.  Finally, at 1:35pm the installer shows and we realize we are at his mercy.

On the other hand we expect a flight schedule or train schedule to run perfectly.  Airlines are actually penalized for a failure to arrive on time or depart.  School bells similarly ring at certain times – life as a teacher (I did this job once) is dictated by the bell.

I work with a variety of people and have noted almost all are incredibly conscientious of being on time.  Appointments scheduled with sales leads execute on time.  At the executive level there is significant respect for other people’s time I find myself guilty though, on days when over-booked with appointments and there is no slack in the schedule, of running late. I am generally late by no more than a few minutes, but running late nonetheless.

To me it appears economic status also impacts respect for time.  Additionally, culture has a huge impact.  Maybe time is not worth much to them. Culturally in America with certain groups it appears being late is fashionable, part of the norm.  Our own President Obama has been criticized as the first president unable to punctually follow a schedule; bad time management, cultural habit, arrogance, or disrespect for others?  I once had a dinner party and waited nearly 90 minutes for two guests, of a different culture, to arrive.

I’ve made a resolution to be overly conscious of how I manage time.  More importantly I have made a resolution to hypersensitivity respect other’s time.  This is especially important when someone has invited me to a meeting.  In addition I want to ensure I am not only on time, but give quality time.  I have also made a pact with myself to have no electronic devices in meetings to ensure I give them my undivided attention.

When I was an Air Force ROTC cadet I was taught a very important saying, “If you are on time you are late.  If you are early you are on time.”  A professor in MBA School similarly shared wisdom with our class and called it “flat tire time.”  He said you should always leave for an appointment with enough time to change a flat tire and not be late.  Most people could not imagine arriving early, so early, but the problem is easily solved by keeping a book handy.

My question for you is, “do you respect or waste other people’s time?”

This week at Clark Family Camground

180 square feet pushes our relationships closer, or sometimes to the brink of bickering.  However, we have all gotten along with no issues.

I think most people wonder is, “what’s daily life like versus in an RV versus a full size home?”  There are changes: no yard, no garage, no closets, no dishwasher, minimal hot water, and small space.  On the other hand, everything has a place and efficiency, combined with conservationism, rules the day.  I also find myself outside much more due to the weather and, more importantly, a need for some space.  RVs come in all sizes: from 10 foot scamps, pop-ups, to Class C’s and Fifth-wheels.  Each vehicle has its own mission.  Regardless, RV life is about a lifestyle.

What’s different and the same versus a house?  We have heat and air conditioning.  We have running water, a toilet, and a shower – probably no worse than found in a cheap European motel.  However, I limit my use.  For instance I use the bathroom in the morning to brush my teeth because it’s better to use the public restrooms.  The shower pressure is higher and there is an unlimited supply of hot water.  If it’s raining, I’ll shower in the RV, otherwise a walk in the cool, crisp morning is rewarded with a better shower experience.   The bathroom is somewhat similar; the onboard lav is best for
small, liquid jobs whereas a walk to the public facilities for “the big jobs” is much more rewarding.

RV parks supply water, cable, and internet.  On the downside there can be difficulty picking up wireless internet.  I have solved the problem via a hotspot on my phone.  These are bills eliminated from daily life.  Many RVers have satellite dishes.  However, to us television is a time waster and has no value other than entertainment to watch a family movie or documentary. Thus, we are best served by Hulu+ and Netflix.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the RV lifestyle is being outdoors.  We take walks and James rides his bike.  It is fun to walk the RV Park observing how others live.  What you do see here is a lot of friendly people.  Almost everyone has some lights hung outside, lawn chairs, canopies, and grills.

Yesterday I met our neighbors when asked if we were from Texas (we have Texas tags on our car).  I explained we were relocating.  She then asked how long we planned to stay.  The honest answer was, “I don’t know.”  I did explain we are moving to New Smyrna Beach’s Sugar Mill Ruins on Sunday.  She then shared they sold everything when they retired and went full-time. From Columbus, Ohio they come to Florida for the winters. Several years later they have bought a small house as a home base, but she prefers the RV life.

As I have answered questions from friends this week I have heard both laughter and curiosity. The common question is, “why live in our RV rather than move to a hotel or apartment?” My short answer, “Because we can.”  LeeAnn and I over the last four years have had numerous adventures: selling everything, moving to our cabin in Georgia, living in an apartment in Dallas, and now trying the RV life.  Each adventure is one most people talk about – we are executing.

Saturday afternoon we unloaded the truck with help from my kids: Haley, Marcella, and Jack.  We are happy to be united again as a family.  It is amazing it has been four years since we were together.  Finally, we are reunited and can spend time as a family.  Saturday and Sunday night we had to stay in Orlando due to lack of space availability in the Daytona Beach area (the Daytona 500 was underway).

Monday morning was a scramble – breakfast, pack, get to the storage unit to get clothes for my travels, and finally get to the RV.  We moved the RV from Sugar Mill Campground in New Smyrna Beach to the Clark Family Campground in Orange City, FL.  Since another event in Daytona is underway there remains no space…  We quickly setup and I unpacked a few items.  The only concern was making sure the power was running and the water was hooked up.  Disgustingly, I discovered the sewer hose had dry rotted and used duct tape to make some fast, instant repairs.  With confidence from LeeAnn all was OK we hit the road to go get the Jeep (in NSB) and I had to get to Miami.

Now the fun started…Monday night I got a call that the power was not working. LeeAnn did her best to explain what was going on: rain, sizzling, smoke, lights flickering, alarms going off, A/C not working.  We tried to troubleshoot the problem but from 300 miles away it was impossible.  She unplugged the outside power and went to bed — of course her phone was dead and I now had no way to get a hold of her.  The next morning all was OK and the power worked magically when plugged in.  go figure.

Checking the weather I knew crazy horrible storms were headed her way and called to let her know.  Finally around 1p she texted it was raining hard — and the roof was leaking!!!  A pot on the couch took care of that problem.

Tuesday night I got back from Miami and we settled in.  We truly settled, discussing how comfortable and relaxing the RV is.  We have had the “Beast” for four years and love it.  The mattresses have all been replaced, we painted and renovated the inside with new upholstery and floors.  It is like home and having it this long truly adds to the familiarity.  James has also taken to sleeping up top on the full size bed — which is where we want him.

Our conversations turned toward how long we can stay here – a month, three months, a year?  The longer we can stay the more we can put or fiscal house in order – incentivized by the book “America’s Cheapest Family“.  LeeAnn had seen a great link on Yahoo about living on the cheap.  I continue to believe the Great Recession is upon us and the more we can do to remain frugal the better our future.

Yesterday was amazing.  The windows were open, the breeze blowing, and the weather a perfect 74 degrees.  I managed to sit on our bed in the rear and work.  Peacefully, work. LeeAnn and I stored the rest of our belongings and finalized settling in.  The awning is out, lights hung, chairs on the porch.

Sunday is moving day again and we will make our trek back to New Smyrna.  We will be there for a month and can truly start to find a routine.

This morning we turned on the heat and the percolator brewed a perfect cup of coffee.  The boys are up and the sun is shining through the windows.

Life throws us a lot of curveballs. I’m in the middle of moving from Dallas to Florida, my third move to Florida in my life.  My first move to Florida was in 1985 for college, the second 1998 to live at the beach and again now in 2013 to restart a life with my children. It is crazy to consider in 1985 I had all my possessions in the back of my Volkswagen.  In 1998 I had a full-size U-Haul moving van pulling a car and my wife driving another car.

I wanted to start documenting our next live adventure – living in a motorhome.  For this move there are too many unknowns in our life.  However, we needed to re-unite our family: a promise I made to Haley, Marcella, and Jack four years ago when I was relentlessly pursued and force to leave Florida due to craziness. Finally, nearly four years later we are able to come back to our children.  The most difficult part of this move is we have nowhere to live.  I didn’t want to rent an apartment and have to move again in a few months.  My wife is seeking work and James will start kindergarten in the fall.  Thus, we want to be selective as to where we finally plant roots.  In addition, Florida has what is probably the worst economy in the entire country driving a healthy foreclosure market.  Thus, if we decide to buy a home I believe we can be very biased in our selection.

To make this work we have made a decision to live in our motorhome the next three to six months! This will allow LeeAnn to find a job, us to find a house, and we can focus on a good school for James. The challenge will be sharing a small space.  Our motorhome is a 32 foot class C with a slide.  This means we will live in about 180 ft².  This is an experiment in lifestyle challenge showing less is more.  As Americans we live excessively.  In America we see our homes as an extension of our personality, like a badge of honor upon our sleeve allowing us to brag to our friends about our success. The irony: we go to work, come home, close the garage door and never walk out on the street.  Typically we don’t know our next-door neighbor.

The RV lifestyle on the other hand is quite different as we all typically share common areas, community bathrooms, and the community laundry room.  Is it glamorous?  No, but it will be an adventure.

I may be writing in a few weeks about how difficult this journey.  Full-time living is far different than the adventures we have taken in the past.  Our RV has traveled to Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, and New York.  We have taken the kids to Washington DC in it.  Two summers ago I took them to Alabama for a week.  I have used it with friends to attend the Petit LeMans.  I have previously brought it to Florida and to be with Haley, Marcella, and Jack.   This past summer we drove to Texas expecting to vacation in it.  Since buying it four years ago we have had many vacations.  Now it’s not just a tool for vacation, but it’s a place to call home.

I have a Samsung Galaxy 3S in the Android world.  My three most important programs are Google Reader (for my RRSS feeds), Podcaster to listen to podcasts offline and MoonReader+ as my e-reader.

Podcaster and MoonReader allow me to listen to many things while at the gym or in the car – time otherwise wasted for most people.  This article is meant to explain how to effectively use an e-reader.

First, download MoonReader+ from the Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyersoft.moonreader

Second, download and install a better text to speech program like Ivona. You can set this as the default text to speech on your android device and use it with maps and other applicatons. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ivona.tts&referrer=utm_source%3Daffilate%26utm_medium%3Dcpa%26utm_campaign%3Divona

Install both programs from Google Play and check them for operation on your Android Device.

Next, download your epub books.  Quite frankly the public domain libraries suck and I suggest buying good books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  However, that presents a problem because they are protected with “DRM” – digital rights management.  I do not condone in any way violations of copyrights.  However, I am a believer that once I have bought the book it is mine to use as I please.  Thus, I need to use MoonReader for highlights and text to speech.

Download and install on your computer the program called Calibre. http://calibre-ebook.com/

This is a great tool for epub book files on your computer and is available for any architecture.  You can search your computer install books you already have. More importantly, you can find and add your Kindle and Nook books.  If you have only used your Nook (Android) then download the files to your computer by logging into your Barnes and Noble account.

At this point you should have MoonReader and Ivona on your Android.  You should have Calibre on your PC.  Lastly, we need to break the DRM.  To do so, download the python DRM application here: http://epubee.com/drm-removal-tool-tutorial.html

Follow the instructions.  It is not for the faint of heart, but can be done.  Just take your time.  You can now convert all of your books and test them with Calibre.  Note, you will see two copies of the books (epub and epub.original).  Calibre archives the original and it is still accessible.  You can test the true epub version within Calibre.

The last step is to copy the books over to your Android. My Galaxy has an application called “KiesAir” which allows me to copy wirelessly.  Worst case, you can use a wire….

A few other side notes:

-          In MoonReader make sure you setup a dropbox account. This will allow you to synchronize your position among different devices (i.e. android tablet and android phone)

-          In MoonReader change your background for easier reading

-          Setup an Evernote account and use MoonReader+ t o export highlights to share with others.

LeeAnn and I started talking about 2012 this morning and discussed all of the things we have done this year.  Our year has been full and I thought it would be fun to recap, share with my kids, family and friends.

New Year’s 2012 in New York

We started the new year in New York at LeeAnn’s Uncle Joe’s house after celebrating New Year’s Eve.  Haley, Marcella, and Jack had never been to one of LeeAnn’s family events before and it was overwhelming with food, family, and celebration.

Our biggest impacts in 2012 were Ty as the newest addition to our family and me traveling to Dallas. Meanwhile, LeeAnn was going to school and taking care of Ty and James on her own.  We made a trip to Daytona Beach the last weekend of the month to go to the Rolex 24-hour race, another chance to spend time with Haley, Marcella, and Jack.

Jack at the Rolex Race

February came fast and we went to Florida the first weekend for Marcella’s dance competition at Disney.  LeeAnn and I also managed a business trip to Charleston, SC that gave us a short weekend away.  We wrapped up February with another trip to Florida for Jack’s Cub Scout to Boy Scout Crossover.

March was a little easier, less traveled with LeeAnn and I making a 10 day trip to Dallas in anticipation of moving.  We had the kids in Georgia the following week and shared with them we would be moving.

The second week of April we made another trip to Florida, this time for Haley’s Sweet 16 Birthday party. Our good friends Barbara and Neal were able to spend time with us, little did we know it would be the last time we would see Barbara (R.I.P..June 2012).  The following weekend LeeAnn, the boys, and I made a trip to New York for Ty’s Christening.

May started with LeeAnn graduating with her accounting degree, two solid years of work behind her and adding to her marketing degree.   For Mother’s Day I took her to the Biltmore House in Asheville, something we had talked about the entire time we lived in north Georgia and now time to go with urgency around moving in front of us. Memorial Day capped the month with Haley, Marcella, and Jack coming to the cabin.  More importantly, our friends Greg and Chelley from Florida came up, and my sister and her family with my cousin Kevin and his family made it over.  We have a Memorial Day celebration on the porch at the cabin.

June was the Genesis of a new part of our life – a move to Dallas from Georgia,  The hardest part of the change was not Dallas, but the distance from Haley, Marcella, and Jack.  However, I “sold it” to them based on the opportunity to see a new part of the country.  We moved in to our apartment on June 8^th.  I made a trip to Salem the week of June 24^th and then flew back to Atlanta to meet my kids in Tifton, Georgia (Starbucks) on June 29^th – we drove straight through to Dallas.

James and Ty in the pool at the apartment in Texas

July was about sharing Dallas with Haley, Marcella, and Jack.  I worked my ass off at work and they went to the pool every day.  However, we all took a trip to the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Salem, Seattle, and Vancouver) which we followed by a cruise on the Inside Passage to Alaska.  A great time to leave Dallas when it is 105 degrees.  LeeAnn’s nieces came when we returned and we shared DFW

Stockyards, Ft. Worth TX

experiences with the kids.

August 9^th found us in New Orleans taking my kids back to Florida to meet their mother in Tallahassee.  In a rented minivan LeeAnn and

My daughters, Haley and Marcella, on Bourbon Street New Orleans

My Dad came to visit – four Nelson men: Bob, John, Ty, James

I made our way to the cabin.  It gave us a chance to see my parents, check on the house, and more importantly drive the motorhome out to Texas (with big plans to vacation in it!).  James started school upon our return – attending a Montessori school in Las Colinas.  The highlight of the trip was my Dad coming home with us.  We were able to take my Dad to see my Uncle Gary in LaGrange, Texas.

September  could not have come sooner.  We had no company, we were settled, and we seemed to have a routine finally.  LeeAnn started studying for the CPA exam and James was loving school.  The week of September 10^th we went to Costa Rica, a trip I had longed for a long time and a reward LeeAnn gave herself for finishing school. I also began taking steps to attend law school: registering for the LSAT, studying, accruing reference letters and filling out applications.  Long a dream, but always impossible, living in Dallas with two schools offering part-time programs made it seem realistic.  The last weekend of the month was concluded with a visit from my sister-in-law Margaret.  The highlight, LeeAnn and I bought cowboy boots.  James also started t-ball!  This was a new experience for us having practice twice per week and games all day Saturdays.

Jack came to visit – flying by himself

October 6 was the LSAT exam for me, and then  off to James’ t-ball games on a cold, dreary day.  Jack came to see us by himself, his first time traveling alone and I made a trip to Florida for NBAA which allowed me to see Haley, Marcella, and Jack in New Smyrna for dinner one evening.  We found out LeeAnn passed the Financial section of the CPA – another milestone!

November started with LeeAnn having foot surgery that put her on crutches for 6 weeks – a challenging time

My Mom, Karen, came to help LeeAnn with her crutches

for us.  My Mom came out to help for 10 days so I could travel for week.  The second weekend of the month Haley, Marcella, and Jack came to Dallas and we did an early birthday celebration for James.  Sometime in

My daughter, Haley, loves my new Jeep

the month we found time to buy a new car, a 2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, trading in our Volkswagen.   When Thanksgiving came LeeAnn was still on crutches so I did all of the cooking for us and we had our neighbors/friends from downstairs over for the day.  November 29^th was James’ real birthday so we took him to Medieval Times in Dallas (Lee on crutches..) and LeeAnn’s birthday was the following day. We managed dinner out the next day – all you can eat sushi.

LeeAnn with crutches

Ty’s 1st Birthday

James’ on his 5th birthday at Medieval Times in Dallas

It was hard to believe December finally made it.  We were challenged with LeeAnn’s crutches, Christmas shopping, planning a trip to Georgia for the holidays, and Ty’s 1^st birthday.  Somehow we managed to get it all done!  More important, LeeAnn continued to study for the CPA, I found out I was accepted to one of the law schools of many to which I applied, I traveled, balanced work, and we made important decisions for our family.

Each year I try to challenge myself to do more, to stay ahead. I also want to share with my kids adventures in life.  As I look to 2013 I know there will be many challenges and much excitement.  Like last year, LeeAnn and the boys will start the year in New York, me – Dallas.  Where we end the year I do not know.  However, I know we will move to Florida by March, LeeAnn will wrap up all of the CPA exams and find a job, James and Ty will both start a new day school, James will play spring t-ball, living in Florida will facilitate closer relationships with Haley/Marcella/Jack and bring us even closer together.  In the summer we are taking a family vacation our west to the Grand Canyon with my sister-in-law, and in the Fall James will start Kindergarten and I will start law school part time.  Haley will take the SATs again in March and the two of us will work on picking a college as she starts her Senior year of high school.  I don’t know what unexpected events will transpire but I am confident we can handle anything we face.

My daughters, Haley and Marcella, on their visit to Dallas and Bass Pro in November 2012

James celebration of life at Las Colinas Montessori

The great blizzard of 2012 in Las Colinas, TX

James’ on his 5th birthday at Medieval Times in Dallas

Arriving in Florida after a great summer – Haley, Marcella, Jack, James and Ty

Numbers

(12/01/2012)

I am a numbers guy. I feel numbers, and only numbers, give the facts behind any story. “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” – Aaron Levenstein.

I watch the news regarding the stock market, polling of the electorate, budget numbers, and the health of the economy. The media reports numbers with fanfare, but when digging deeper most are just adjustments to prior months. As an example, in the last four years there has not been a month when the unemployment numbers have not been adjusted upward, worsened, than first released. However, the media does not celebrate the worsening numbers.

As I move through this column, let’s start with this. There are 314,000,000 people in the U.S. and just over 7,000,000,000 in the entire world.

The numbers:

• · Deaths due to automobile accidents: 32,885 in 2010
• · Deaths due to drunk driving: 10,288 in 2010
• · Deaths from cancer: 571,000 in 2011
• · Deaths from breast cancer: 39,510 in 2012
• · Deaths from abortions: 784,508 in 2009

• · 314,000,000 people live in the United States
• · 234,564,00 Americans eligible to vote
• · Number who voted for Barak Obama: 62,615,406
• · Number who voted for Mitt Romey: 59,142,004
• · Americans that did not vote for either candidate: 113,806,590!

• · In 1969 2,900,000 Americans received food stamps
• · In November 2012 47,102,780 received food stamps
• · Cost to taxpayers: $72,000,000,000

And my favorite, giving credit where credit is due… I saw this in a Facebook posting yesterday.

• · Amount of this week’s Powerball lottery: $500,000,000
• · Why not “share the wealth” as Barak Obama has proposed. That is $1.6 million for every man woman and child in the United States! There’s your economic recovery.