Hi to all fans of LiveBetteronLess. I've now launched the heir to this column, which you can find by going to: http://dailykostkutter.blogspot.com. The new blog has nothing to do with The Daily Kos, other than perhaps irritating the political fanatics there. I hope you'll visit Daily Kost Kutter frequently. It will always try to live up to the concept of helping you to live better on less. The columns there will be, in the main, original, but I might borrow some of the concepts from the ones I did previously on this site.
I have three (count em!) political blogs. The main one is:
http://camp2008victorya.blogspot.com.
I cross-post "Camp2008VictoryA" columns (with occasional variations) at:
http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com.
A third blog is directed toward politics in Pennsylvania, with emphasis on the forthcoming general election that apparently will pit Barack Obama against John McCain. You can find that blog at: http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com.
I love visitors, and I appreciate their comments. If you'd like to send me an e-mail, you can do so at: TalkTop65@aol.com.
Steve Maloney
Ambridge, PA
Showing posts with label PA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PA. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, November 12, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Changing Our Circumstances, Adjusting Our Habits
You know those New Year’s Resolutions most of us make – and usually break? We vow to eat less, drink less, smoke less, exercise more, adopt a positive attitude, take time to “smell the roses,” and then we end up doing none of those things.
We talk about people, mostly others, who are “creatures of habit.” In fact, that definition applies to all of us. It’s more than us having habits. In fact, we ARE those habits. What we regularly DO is WHO WE ARE.
In my previous piece about living in Ambridge, PA – or places something like Ambridge, a town of about 7300 people – I discussed how just every place I want to go is nearby. In fact, most places where I want to be are within walking distance.
I walk a lot, and so does my wife. If I lived in the Pittsburgh suburbs, where getting anywhere quickly demands getting into the car, I wouldn’t walk much at all. For example, if “the mall” is five miles away, I’m not going to walk there.
My “habit” is to a couch potato – and a car potato. Living in the suburbs – or residing “far from town” – reinforces my bad habits. If it takes me half the day to get somewhere, I’m either not going or driving.
I mentioned the places that are close in Ambridge. They range from the post office, to the library, to the doctor’s office, to the bank, to the drug store, to the grocery store, to the bus stop, to the pizzeria(s).
If they’re close – say, within a 5-10 minute walk – I’ll hoof it. If they’re not, I won’t.
In short, my habits are a product of my circumstance. If I’m in a tightly-knit community that encourages walking – my main form of exercise – I’ll do so.
A couple of years ago, I asked a woman in her early 40s how she stayed so thin – in fact, she had a “normal” weight. She thought for a minute and said, “Oh, I just don’t buy very much food!”
Bingo! If we buy lots of nice fatty foods, what do we do with them? In fact, we eat them. That is, we eat what we have around. If we don’t have it, then we stay nice and trim.
In summary, because I don’t have to drive, I don’t. Because driving is unnecessary, I get lots of exercise. I’ve set myself up not for failure in habit modification but rather for success.
We talk about people, mostly others, who are “creatures of habit.” In fact, that definition applies to all of us. It’s more than us having habits. In fact, we ARE those habits. What we regularly DO is WHO WE ARE.
In my previous piece about living in Ambridge, PA – or places something like Ambridge, a town of about 7300 people – I discussed how just every place I want to go is nearby. In fact, most places where I want to be are within walking distance.
I walk a lot, and so does my wife. If I lived in the Pittsburgh suburbs, where getting anywhere quickly demands getting into the car, I wouldn’t walk much at all. For example, if “the mall” is five miles away, I’m not going to walk there.
My “habit” is to a couch potato – and a car potato. Living in the suburbs – or residing “far from town” – reinforces my bad habits. If it takes me half the day to get somewhere, I’m either not going or driving.
I mentioned the places that are close in Ambridge. They range from the post office, to the library, to the doctor’s office, to the bank, to the drug store, to the grocery store, to the bus stop, to the pizzeria(s).
If they’re close – say, within a 5-10 minute walk – I’ll hoof it. If they’re not, I won’t.
In short, my habits are a product of my circumstance. If I’m in a tightly-knit community that encourages walking – my main form of exercise – I’ll do so.
A couple of years ago, I asked a woman in her early 40s how she stayed so thin – in fact, she had a “normal” weight. She thought for a minute and said, “Oh, I just don’t buy very much food!”
Bingo! If we buy lots of nice fatty foods, what do we do with them? In fact, we eat them. That is, we eat what we have around. If we don’t have it, then we stay nice and trim.
"If you build it, they will come," as they say in The Field of Dreams. If we buy it -- junk foods -- we will eat it.
What we do depends that is on our circumstances. In fact, we get to choose those circumstances. And the choices we make determine which habits we practice.In summary, because I don’t have to drive, I don’t. Because driving is unnecessary, I get lots of exercise. I’ve set myself up not for failure in habit modification but rather for success.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
SELL YOUR CAR -- NOW!
"How in goodness name can you live for 10 years WITHOUT A CAR?" People ask me that all the time.
Answer: We walk (a lot), or take the bus. Occasionally, we get a ride from one of my daughters or -- on special occasions -- rent a car from Enterprise. That's the one that picks you up and takes you home.
A car: that's the entity that costs you $60,000 to buy when it's gleaming new. Then it costs you thousands of dollars a year to pay for, maintain, and insure.
After 10 years, your $50,000 car is a piece of junk worth $10,000 -- if you can find a sucker that will pay that much. Or, you can use it on as down payment on another $50,000 car, which turns out to cost $80,000.
Inflation, you know. It consists of spending more to get less.
A car is a VERY BAD INVESTMENT. In fact, because it loses value every day and every miles, it's not an investment at all. It's a money pit.
A car is something that makes the auto dealer, the insurer, and the oil company rich. It makes you, the car owner, poor, at least relatively so.
But, you say, "I've gotta have a car. Otherwise, how would I get to work, or to the mall, or to the gas station to pay $3 a gallon?"
In my case, I work at home. When I have to somewhere that's too far to walk, I take the bus -- either Beaver County Transit or (Pittsburgh) Port Authority Transit. If I need to go somewhere buses fear to tred, I bum a ride from my daughter -- or, on rare occasions, I rent a car.
All cars should be red. Why? Because they hemorrhage money.
In the 30 years I did have cars, I estimate they cost me at least $100,000. If I'd invested that money, it would probably be worth at least a quarter-of-a-million. I wish I had that money!
Of course, you may insist you absolutely must have a car. In your case, you might be right. But it still would be nice if had that quarter-of-a-million dollars resulting from being car-less.
Absolutely, positively needing a car isn't a fact of nature. Like most things in life, it's a matter of the choices you make -- mainly about where you work and where you live.
As for me, I've chosen to live in places -- like Carnegie, PA, Ambridge, PA and West Hartford, CT -- where I didn't need a car. I've chosen to work at home, sometimes in my underwear, and the commute time is about five seconds.
In a year, with a rental car, I spend less than $100 on gasoline. If gas prices go, say, to $5 a gallon, it really doesn't affect me.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about where I live -- its advantages (many) and its disadvantages (few).
steve maloney
ambridge, pa
Answer: We walk (a lot), or take the bus. Occasionally, we get a ride from one of my daughters or -- on special occasions -- rent a car from Enterprise. That's the one that picks you up and takes you home.
A car: that's the entity that costs you $60,000 to buy when it's gleaming new. Then it costs you thousands of dollars a year to pay for, maintain, and insure.
After 10 years, your $50,000 car is a piece of junk worth $10,000 -- if you can find a sucker that will pay that much. Or, you can use it on as down payment on another $50,000 car, which turns out to cost $80,000.
Inflation, you know. It consists of spending more to get less.
A car is a VERY BAD INVESTMENT. In fact, because it loses value every day and every miles, it's not an investment at all. It's a money pit.
A car is something that makes the auto dealer, the insurer, and the oil company rich. It makes you, the car owner, poor, at least relatively so.
But, you say, "I've gotta have a car. Otherwise, how would I get to work, or to the mall, or to the gas station to pay $3 a gallon?"
In my case, I work at home. When I have to somewhere that's too far to walk, I take the bus -- either Beaver County Transit or (Pittsburgh) Port Authority Transit. If I need to go somewhere buses fear to tred, I bum a ride from my daughter -- or, on rare occasions, I rent a car.
All cars should be red. Why? Because they hemorrhage money.
In the 30 years I did have cars, I estimate they cost me at least $100,000. If I'd invested that money, it would probably be worth at least a quarter-of-a-million. I wish I had that money!
Of course, you may insist you absolutely must have a car. In your case, you might be right. But it still would be nice if had that quarter-of-a-million dollars resulting from being car-less.
Absolutely, positively needing a car isn't a fact of nature. Like most things in life, it's a matter of the choices you make -- mainly about where you work and where you live.
As for me, I've chosen to live in places -- like Carnegie, PA, Ambridge, PA and West Hartford, CT -- where I didn't need a car. I've chosen to work at home, sometimes in my underwear, and the commute time is about five seconds.
In a year, with a rental car, I spend less than $100 on gasoline. If gas prices go, say, to $5 a gallon, it really doesn't affect me.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about where I live -- its advantages (many) and its disadvantages (few).
steve maloney
ambridge, pa
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