Money Money Money

649 million dollars! That's more cheddar than all the cows in Wisconsin could produce, more dough than all the bakeries in Boston could bake, more cabbage than whatever place grows cabbage could grow! If you haven't heard, that's what the lotto has gone up to so far, and I can't say I haven't been tempted to buy a ticket. It's as if the fact that there's so much money up for grabs means my chances will improve. I never even considered the lotto before it got so high, so why now? Greed? Hunger? All of the foods associated with money, can you really be mad at me? Everyone says money wouldn't change them if they ever made it, but how truthful is that statement. 90 percent of Americans live off of what they make, and not what they need. The statistic might not be right, but think about that. A person that makes 100,000 a year buys a house that's bigger, clothes that are nicer, and food that's "healthier". But if you asked them for 20 bucks they'd probably say they've got bills to pay, children to feed, or in so many words "I can't afford to share right now". An interesting concept when you really stop and think. Ask a guy that makes 30,000 a year and a guy that makes 100, and they'll probably say the same thing. They probably feel like they're in the same situation financially. Never can have enough money, right? So, just in case someone reading this hit's it big, or is already making a pretty comfortable living, stop and think about how you're using your money. Do you need an apartment that big when they're still children dying from hunger? Change starts with you, and it only takes a little to make a huge impact (haha get it, spare some change to make some change...yeah I know that wasn't worth saying...so).

Snacks for Thought

A good friend of mine called me the other day and it got me thinking. They were torn up over an issue they were having with their boyfriend. As important as the issue was for them, this isn't a gossip blog, so just forget I even mentioned that. The important point here is that relationships are a critical part of human life. How many of us are defined by the relationships we hold (or can't hold)? If you take the time to think, you'll probably realize that nearly everything about us is somehow glued to a relationship with other people. Whether it's family, friend, or romantic, our happy balloons seem to be inflated when relationships progress in a positive direction.

But most people know that, or at least have some level of understanding when it relates to relationships and happy balloons. But is this notion of happiness being tied into other people an okay thing? Disregard the difference between joy and happiness when thinking for this blog. Also keep in mind that I'm a single 24 year-old male, so I'm referring to people in a similar division. That means if you're married, or 3 years old, or both, then what I say may not apply to you. Allowing the height of our happy balloons to rise or fall depending on how outside relationships are going may or may not be an okay thing, but I propose a deeper look.

What I really took away from the conversation with my friend is stress. Stress equates to an excited porcupine that's trying it's hardest to show your happy balloon how special it's quills feel. Think about the last issue you had with a relationship, and how unhappy it made you feel, and then think about why? Was it something you did wrong? Something they did wrong? Either way, how much control did you have over the situation? I'd bet my eleventh toe that there came a point when you couldn't do anything more about the situation, but it still made you sad. Humans feel sad, it's understandable. That's why God created a guy to think of ice cream and hot dogs. But how sad should you be feeling? Unless you enjoy porcupines, you shouldn't be feeling very sad for very long. I'm sure you already did, but when a relationship goes sour, do everything you can to mend the situation (as appropriate), and then stop. Stop does not mean go in most languages, but this notion of stopping will probably be the hardest thing you have to do. By stop I mean stop stressing. Once you do all that you can do (which does not include more stressing), then that's exactly what it says. You can't do anymore, so by stressing all you are accomplishing is creating pain for yourself.

Of course it's easier said than done, but do it. Do what you can, eat a hot dog dipped in ice cream, breath some air into a balloon, and let the situation go. The rest is up to the other person, but if they are worth being hurt over, than they will be there no matter what. That means if they aren't worth being hurt over they'll leave...so let them go because they aren't worth it.

Virginiadventures - Choo Choo Yup It's Time to Train

As you may or may not know, I got hired to be the Planet Fitness Fitness Instructor/Trainer not too long ago. The job was rather deceiving at first, and even though my shirt said "trainer", I wasn't actually training inside the gym. From my understanding, and from what managers had told me, I wasn't allowed to "train" members in any way. The classes we offered were general instruction and guidance, but as far as doing a full workout during the class, that was a no-no. But after numerous people asked me about it, and I got a few complaints about how misleading my shirt was, I thought I'd speak with my managers to see if things could change. Apparently there was a slight misunderstanding, and I am allowed to train...kinda.

Essentially, I can now give the members a workout during the classes, whereas before they just did one or two reps to make sure they had down the technique, but they'd have to do everything on their own. I'd show them new things, and they'd do it on their own. But now, I can show the new things, then can workout in front of me and I can ensure they're doing it right, and hopefully they'll have some fun too. Why is this exciting you may ask? Well aside from the fact that it's something more to do...training is fun! Who wants to be a teacher all day...well, maybe teachers do...but I'm no teacher. I'd much rather be doing the hands on classes where I show them, they do it, they sweat, and we go from there. Now I can actually do that.

The managers told me I can't break any of the normal PF rules (no grunting, weight dropping, intimidation, etc) and I can't really record their progress from week to week, but pish posh I'll still have fun. Excited. The manager also whispered that there's talk of possibly starting a pilot program with training that's similar to the Biggest Loser's setup. Since they are our sponsor, that would make sense, but we'll see if it works out or not. Of course, nothing is official (as far as I know) so I'm not going to get my hopes up, but heezy (do people still say that), I'm happy I can train now!

Virginiadventures - New Start

Haven't posted on here in a while, but I figured it was that time again. I'm done with AmeriCorps (phew), started up classes (for the second time), got a new car (for the third time), out my mother's house (for the fourth time), and started a new job (for the sixth time). Living in a condo with a guy from AmeriCorps and so far all is well. Love having my own room again.

I probably should have rethought spending around 15,000 bucks and then moving out, but it's too late now. Live on the edge or become dull. Dull is bad for writing so the edge is where I'll balance my life, just no pushing allowed. Money is definitely tight, and it's not helping that new things seem to pop up. Leave it to life to be a noose around my wallet. But, there's hope at the end of the tunnel, hopefully. I'm still waiting on a refund check from my school, and hopefully I'll get a rebate check from taxes. If both of those fall through, then at least I get a raise in April, and in May I can start training my own clients again (gotta finish up these crazy classes first). Still waiting on my paycheck from the medium that bought my short story for their anthology, but we'll see how long that takes lol. Realized that I didn't mention it in the blog, but I got a short story accepted for publication in a science fiction anthology. I'll put up a link when it shows up. It is my first paying acceptance, so I'm proud to be able to say I'm a paid author now. Lol hopefully a novel is the next step.

Haven't been writing as much as I want because of the two classes, but I am still writing and submitting a little bit. I can't believe how much I hate being in school again. Possibly because it's the first time (since the first undergrad semester) I took classes that interested me about as much as watching a fly go poo on a pile of manure. Thankfully I'm not in a classroom this time around, but taking two graduate classes in something that's boring is extremely uninspiring. Just ten more weeks and I'll be done, and until then life is mediocre. Sure, It'll add another credential to my already random list of credentials, but I'll probably use it the least out of the rest. How many friends do you have that can write you a novel, certifiably secure your house, make your body look like hot fire, and manage your nonprofit organization? Why you would ever need all of that is beyond me, but there will be that one time you'll need it all and not have it. Then you'll be like gah, I wish Jeremie was in my life. But I'll be somewhere random making a house sweat. Or writing something for the Boy Scouts. Pretend like all of that will happen so I feel better about having all the education no one needs.

Won another contest

Hooray! Happy to announce that I've won another short story contest. This one is for a weekly contest, but it feels good just the same. If you want to read the story just click on the link and read away. As you can see below, there's the wonderful badge =). Enjoy





http://www.litfestmagazine.com/2011/10/weekly-short-story-winner-after-1953-by.html

Iowanna do that - All mostly there

The results are in. My last project with AmeriCorps is scheduled to be in the place where I started; Camp Courageous in Monticello Iowa. Neither excited nor disappointed to be going. The plan is to be a special needs camp counselor for two months. I’ve never done that before so it will definitely be a learning experience. Of course it wouldn’t be my AmeriCorps experience if something hadn’t gone wrong or bad, and the powers that be made sure to find a way to punch me in the face, even at the end. This project is pretty nice. No manual labor, catered food, beds, showers in housing, laundry on site, wi-fi, and even a kitchen. The downside? It’s not a very big side, but we have to work 7:30-9:30 mon-fri. What really hurt though was the fact that our original third round project was given to another team. Sound dumb, well it is. We were robbed of the project for the third round, and then instead of giving us the project back for our last round, they gave it to another team and gave us the other project. But I can’t be mad. Like I already illustrated, I wanted a nice housing situation at the end and I got it. But come on AmeriCorps! I wanted to paintball. Jeez. I think this situation fell on us because some of my teammates are lacking on hours and the Camp Courageous project has plenty of hours. Not sure if that’s the reason, but it’d make sense. Did I mention there’s essentially no cell service at Camp Courageous? Oh well, guess we’ll see how the project turns out…better not feel like the super wash spin cycle at the Laundromat.

Speaking of Laundromats, my dumb butt dun did it again. I put yet another nice cell phone through the wash before I had it for a year. Sorry sis, and thanks for letting me have it. Wish I could have had it for longer because I really liked that phone. I’m starting to think that me being distracted hardly ever results in something good. I don’t know what was distracting me, but I definitely saw my phone in my pocket, and still washed it. And it wasn’t until 30 seconds after the water had started destroying my communicator that I realized my phone was getting its sudsy suds on. I know you guys think I’m a germaphobe, but I promise I wasn’t trying to get it extra clean. At least I was able to salvage the sim card, so if you ever decide to text I’ll still get it.

Being here has really shown me how little free time the Corps provides. I want to write, but I have barely any time. You see how long it took to write another blog didn’t you? I still have weekends to write, and that’s still good, but sheesh I just want to write all the time.

It’s crazy to know that I’m on the last leg of my AmeriCorps journey. Used my arms in Milwaukee to cut down invasive species, lent a hand in Mississippi to help clean up Mother Nature’s mess, provided an ear in Minnesota to hear the stories of various veterans, and threw my back in North Dakota mucking and gutting houses. A little over two months and I’ll be free! At least for a couple months, before I have to go be a slave to something else.

Didn't win, but was an editor's choice finalist in this contest

I didn't win this contest but I was an editor's choice finalist. Here's the link to the story and the shiny banner they gave me:

http://writingcontest.then​ovelette.com/jeremieguy/