Why would any forum member want to start their own blog when they could just journal on here?!
This past summer I ran the Half Marathon with my wife then fiancee. We both finished in under 2 hours, 1:52ish, which was a great accomplishment for us. A local politician ran in the race and he beat me by about 8 minutes and I have a goal to beat him next year (May 2015)! I can't wait to train and give it my best. It will give me so much personal satisfaction to beat him. He is a big, tall and sturdy dude like 6'5" and likely over 200lbs.
Besides that, life keeps going on..I keep standing at the desk and I work out intermittently during the day. Wife and I are in position to do ERE but we have good jobs and my wife wants to start a family. I would be ok with or without children. We have the names picked out. That's my report for now..see you next time.
Haha, besting politicians and other famous people (those that get announced at the start, usually) has been my hobby at races as well. Good luck with that!
@henrik Yea, there is something special in beating someone of a higher social order or status in common competitions. I used to be a scratch golfer and when I saw the celebrity golfers on tv and saw how below average\average they were it made my ego feel good.
A re-occuring focus of mine is in perfecting my standing desk workstation set-up ergonoimcally and spatially. It seems like it is a lifelong constant quest of mine, to achieve the optimal set-up. After a quick maintenance session of wiping down the plastic tablecloth cover which sits overtop my red gingham tablecloth, I moved my three monitors back so they are 30 inches from my eyes. (There is no specific determined optimal distance, but I have seen 20-40 inches recommended.) I tend to have my right eye centered to the middle monitor, this feels most comfortable (likely because I am right eye dominant) but I am not sure what is recommended.
I trimmed up my mousepad slightly because it was a little too big for the desktop area I have, and now it doesn't curl up like it did before.
Making a few simple adjustments for the workstation is like custom fitting your favorite pair of pants just a little better and making the simple changes once, you get to enjoy the functionalities indefinitely.
I really liked JLF's post the other day when he quoted strategic theory.
"The victorious strategist only seeks out battle after the victory has already been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat fights first and afterwards looks for victory."
and
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." -Applies to all strategies
These two quotes are so loaded with knowledge that I have kept re-reading them and new examples come to me that illustrate the points. The first statement clearly speaks to leverage in my opinion. Seeking out battle or competition or opportunity where you have leverage is such a no-brainer for ERE minded people, yet you see so many that chase opportunities when they have little leverage (taking on a big student loan for instance), and then find themselves unhappy or starting over again a few months or years later.
As for an example about seeking out battle after the victory has already been won, my wife's girlfriend and her husband are masters at knowing how to scoop up great deals at garage sales like video games for a couple dollars and sell them for $20 or more online (after the husband has played them and lost interest). They ride their bikes to the garage sales to get exercise as well! So it's a strategic hobby that makes them money and gives them an opportunity for exercise.
The opposite example would be home buyers bidding over a property until the "winner' overpays for the house and is now stuck with it in an overbought housing market.
On the second quote, how true are all three scenarios. I would like to hear more examples of how this would apply in day to day life. But the successful strategists know themselves well, have a keen ability to read and know others well, and know who to deal with (the one's that will help them in good faith).
I've turned into a lurker for the past several months while my wife and I have welcomed our first baby girl, she is now 4 months old! Plus I find it takes a lot of energy to write posts when it takes much less mindless energy to just skim through the posts and read the comments from your favorite board members, which I still do day-to day.
But today I write!
Life has been going well for Wife, Baby and I. I have kept up with my running and am excited for a few upcoming races this year. I am enjoying the "s-curve" (trademarked by JLF.) progression of my running programme so I will continue to work at it. My wife has been working out a lot and we both are doing well keeping quite reasonably fit.
As far as investing, I have been buying into weakness for quite a while. I use a modified Harry Browne permanent portfolio strategy. Gold has been recovering lately and that is nice to see. But our investments did not make out so well and it is a slow start to 2016 but I am sure we are not fully alone in this regard.
I have been enjoying my morning coffee again lately after a brief reprieve in the fall. I have been back on the modified warrior diet lately, and after a few stops and starts, I feel I may be ready to do this for the longer term now. When I do have breakfast I find I can feel my blood sugar getting wonky so coffee only in the mornings has become my preference again.
I often get ask how my wife and I sleep at night with our baby's arrival. At first it was a challenge with several diaper changes and feeds required during the night. Our pattern has moved to about one diaper change per night now so my wife and I get enough sleep. Our baby girl sleeps in the bed with us and I have next to no room on the Queen sized bed but it has worked fairly well so far.
We continue to rent and our rent is only going up 1.1% next year so our lifestyles are remaining level, and we have no plans to inflate right now.
Running would be a bell curve unlike say learning cycling as one is a habit/stamina which you build and then use-it-or-lose-it while the other is learn-it-for-life skill.
Has the baby dented your budget much? I always argue that a baby doesn't have to destroy a budget, but I get the feeling from other forum members that I'm at the extreme end of the child-expense spectrum. I'm curious what your experience has been.
I find the cost of the baby has been rather minimal, or insignificant. We have been given nearly too many gifts and hand-me-downs, but have put to good use what we have received from friends and family. Our child credits from the government have gone to the baby's savings account. The most expensive items have been diapers and wipes, but many of those too have been gifts. We practically have bought zero clothing items, so much has been given to us and we have donated much away. A few items we were able to buy used like a car seat and bassinet (which we have not really used at all) and play-yard.
My wife has been breastfeeding so there is zero food cost. Our change table and the next car seat have been gifts from the in-laws. A swing and bouncy chair were also gifts. As were a handful of nice blankets. If you are a frugal and resourceful person, having a baby will not incur you very much cost at all.
Some people say having children makes you less happy because of the inconveniences. I don't feel less happy. It is nice having the little one around and I used to be someone who did not want kids at all for most of my life. My wife wanted kids and I was willing to have them with her. It really is quite special seeing your baby grow and smile. We'll see how the next stages go! (Baby is screaming as I write this. Gotta go!)
Confession, I currently no longer stand at the desk! Sacrilege I know!! The reason is because I had two large concrete blocks under each of my office table legs and I wanted to rid ourselves of that extra weight in the apartment. (We live on the 2nd floor). Also, the set-up was quite visually dominating since I moved the computer to the living room to make room for the spare bedroom to turn it into our baby's room. Our baby is 7.5 months old now and healthy and growing! It has been a great experience becoming a parent and my wife and I have enjoyed it.
I have continued running, about 200km per month and My wife is running about half that much per month. I have a few races planned for this year and I hope to set some PRs! Aiming for 1:40 in the 1/2 Marathon this summer.
ERE progress is on track. With investments and savings, have averaged over 30% growth per year in our combined net worth (Wife's and mine) for 11.3 years. That might slow down a bit now because we have decided my wife will stay home with the baby once her mat leave is over and might work part-time here and there. (So she will be part-time ERE!) I am still working 4 days a week for now, I walk to work and don't have to take work home with me so it's okay. Perhaps we will reverse rolls in a few years where my wife may go back to FT and I may become ERE. Another curve ball would be if we decide to have more children.
For the fiscal side of things our ERE status could be there. Our expenses are less than 4% of Net Worth but I am content to keep working and building for now. But I do think about ERE quite often.
stand@desk wrote: I am still working 4 days a week for now, I walk to work and don't have to take work home with me so it's okay.
Wow that sounds so nice. Those are some nice working conditions especially for a job that presumably pays enough to make good progress towards ERE. What do you do?
stand@desk wrote:I have continued running, about 200km per month and My wife is running about half that much per month. I have a few races planned for this year and I hope to set some PRs! Aiming for 1:40 in the 1/2 Marathon this summer.
Do you have a set training schedule leading up to the 1/2 or are you just going with the road so to say?
@thrifty I have a public service job with the Provincial Government.
@henrik I like to run 5 days a week. Sunday is the long run day (about 20 km) And 6-10km on Mon & Tues, take a day off Wed and again 6-7km Thu & Fri. Incorporating Speed Work, Fartleks & sprints on the weekday runs. Do a little bit of light cross training at home.
Side Note: Just thought I'd share my Grocery Shopping strategy: At store opening Monday or Tuesday at a Large local Grocer. It's quiet, usually the store is fully stocked (produce) and I can get in and out relatively easy. (Empty parking lot, empty aisles, no one in line at the checkouts) I have been doing this for the last few months and with Mom and Baby still at home sleeping it gives me a chance to get things done early and easily. I have also noticed a rare few other "regulars" who do this at the store as well.
A further side note is that this once weekly routine has turned our fridge into a (Just in time) inventory system. When the week has gone by and it's time to go shopping again, our fridge looks like a middle aged bachelor's or poor students or like some one's ready to move out, pretty much empty except for the fridge door with condiments and a big tub of Feta cheese at the back that lasts for quite a while. Otherwise all produce and milk and eggs and fresh veg are fully eaten up. If there are a few items to be eaten just before the shopping trip, I put on my "clean-up committee crewman" hat and go to town on whatever needs to be eaten so we can get fresh in the next day or two. We do have a stock of frozen & canned items and rice and lentils that last but all the fresh items seem to last a week with a typical shopping trip.
stand@desk wrote:@henrik I like to run 5 days a week. Sunday is the long run day (about 20 km) And 6-10km on Mon & Tues, take a day off Wed and again 6-7km Thu & Fri. Incorporating Speed Work, Fartleks & sprints on the weekday runs. Do a little bit of light cross training at home.
5 days a week is very well done, I usually don't manage to be that consistent. Good luck with the goals! I can relate at about the same level with an eariler pb of 1.41 and hoping to break it soon.
Did you ever beat that local politician you mentioned earlier?
Haha! Yes I did! I beat his ass by about 2 minutes last year! I went from 1:52 to 1:43 last year in the half, so I improved by about 9 minutes. My goal this year is to beat a local Mom who beat me in the local 10km last Spring. She will be tough to beat but I'll give it my best shot. I am also going to run a local 15km about a month before the Larger 1/2 Marathon race. I am hoping to win it in around 1:10. Last Spring I ran a 45 minute 10k in the same race.
First off, my wife and I ran Marathons this year! My wife had a great race in the summer running a sub 3:50 and I struggled greatly through my Marathon race in the late summer in a different event on a tough day but did complete my run in 4:07 (my goal was 3:40 so I missed it by a ton!). I had to walk a lot on the second half which was disappointing. I was running up to 100km per week in the summer and feeling great but on race day I made some tactical errors and the warm windy day wore me down on the back half.
I also improved my PR in the half marathon distance twice this year, recently improving to just north of 1:40. I have attempted a sub-1:40 run three times now and have not yet beat the mark, but I will try again next year.
In my working life, I just got transfered to a new work site that is 3.0km away from home and my previous site was about 0.5km away from home (worked there for 12 years). I plan to walk to my new work site and run home in the evenings. I have to establish a new routine and the work environment will be a bit different but I'll be doing the same job. This walk/run commute may be a big challenge in the winter but being an ERE mindsetted person I'll make it work.
Our daughter is 26 months now and doing great. It's been a lot of fun being parents, it gives you meaning. It does really wear you out at times but it rounds you out as a person and is definitely a great conversation topic with people. We'd loveto have another child, maybe 2018 will bring us that.
We upgraded our car this year to a newer model with less mileage and it has been a good decision. We are still cash flow positive on the year with only me working and having made the car purchase. YTD our portfolio is up only 1% this year, investing has been a challenge as I have been waiting for a correction/drop that has only gone nearly parabolic in the other direction. I've been too defensive and have also been hurt by the energy space. But with the poor investment experience, living on one income for our family (exception:my wife does a little bit of part-time work twice a week) and buying the newer car we are still well cash flow positive for the year. But it has been my/our least gainful year since 2008.
Expenses are in the 3-4% range of Net Worth, have a window of about 20 (conservative) to 37 (agressive) years of assets to pay for expenses currently. We still rent in the same apartment and the location is very good and rent is very reasonable.
I did win a free one year gym membership which I have been using and the gym is > .5km from home which has been awesome.
Goals for next year are to still beat 1:40 in the half marathon and possibly attempt the full marathon distance again.
