Living Well in Ambridge, PA

I heard today from an old friend, Noel in NJ. who read with approval previous installments of "LiveBetteronLess." However, he admitted he had THREE cars (compared to my none). I wrote him the following:

Ambridge, PA is a wonderful place to live – one of those towns where everybody knows your name (or soon will). I

(If you'd like to read more about the details of Ambridge, click here or here.)

My wife Pat and I were walking (of course) back from the doctor's at the end of August, and standing near the sidewalk was a Black family, a mother and three children, two of them sturdy boys around 8-9 and a beautiful little 5-YEAR-OLD girl with "corkscrew hair."

I said, "Hey kids, ready for the beginning of school?"

The little girl looked at me and said in an intense voice, "I CAN'T WAIT FOR SCHOOL TO START!"I said, "Honey, with that attitude, I bet they can't wait for you to get there!" What an angel.

I'm a great believer also in diversity in lifestyles. And the philosophy of "LiveBetteronLess" isn’t appropriate for everyone. However, the traditional suburban approach to living has pitfalls.

I remember visiting my brother and his wife in about 1974 in CT. They had bought a relatively expensive house in, and they had two small kids. Only one room was furnished and their were beds for the kids and (maybe?) a couch. Hey, if you buy a nice house, you don't have any money left for furniture, right?

Billy (brother) and the wife were fighting like cats and dogs -- over money and many other things. It was The American Nightmare. They'd fallen into every trap our society offers. Eventually, they ended up divorced. Soon after, my brother lost his job.

It occurred to me that they fell into my philosophy: we choose our circumstances and they're what determines the quality of our lives. They’d bought a house they couldn’t afford, but assumed -- falsely – they’d be able to afford it later. And their lives imploded.

A good part of my own life depends on circumstances, including some beyond our control. In 1991, my wife had a totally unexpected stroke (cause still not clear), and I decided I was going to "work from home" for the rest of my life.

In terms of finances, I had many ups and downs, but somehow we continued to survive. She's disabled but not anything like bedridden or in a wheelchair. She can do most things she did before the stroke, although she has trouble talking and can't work or drive. If you only have one wage-earner, you must adapt your life to that fact.

The car ownership thing I'll talk about again (several times in future columns), but automobiles are the world's worst "investments." Of course, if work is 20 miles away, you're going to need a car!

As you may know, some people make a lot of money "blogging." If they have a herd of visitors, they can use the sites for advertising. I'm going to try.

There's a famous photo -- will send you a link -- of a guy who got from Google's Ad Sense a check for $132,000. At that point, you're talking real money. Admittedly, the blogs that make the most money are those that write columns about how to make a lot of money blogging.

Why am I me? I grew up in a different world from a lot of American kids. It's Veterans Day (yesterday ), and I knew well as friends MANY kids who were killed or wounded in Vietnam -- two from my elementary school, two from my high school, one the husband of a student of mine, and others. I probably grew up in the most pro-American setting possible. That affected who I am.I

I'm very much into animals, both domestic and zoo animals (elephants, polar bears, tigers), and my cat, "Larry Bird," age 20, is sitting on my lap. We now have two cats -- had three -- and they play a big role in our lives.

Our cat that passed away, Lucky, would sit in my office and holler when Pat or I went by. What was up?
Lucky it turned out wanted us to say, "Hi, Lucky" as we passed by. She was pointing out that we shouldn't confuse her with the potted plant.As far as work:

Overall, my health is good. I found out three years ago that I had adult onset diabetes, so a lot of the foods I used to eat (candy, ice cream, white bread) are now out-of-bounds. I also found out I was (mildly) bipolar, so I started taking a med for that, and it did wonders to improve my disposition.

In terms of ifluence on my life, one book that had a major influence was Thoreau's "Walden." People asked him why he didn't travel much, and he said, "I have traveled much in Concord [, Mass.]." I know exactly what he meant. I doubt he would have thought much of TV, but I do a lot of my "mental traveling" on the tube.

Note: This is Tuesday's column. I'll have more on Wednesday about living happily in a small town.