Submit Now, Or Submit Later

Thought this post has some real potential and played around with expanding upon it but haven’t made a decision yet.

Could tell you this song is playing in my head and so is this one but I don’t know if it matters any more than saying submit now, or submit later.

Maybe I ought to take you in a different direction and talk about listening to Sandy Denny sing with Robert Plant and say I would have enjoyed hearing more from them.

Got some news yesterday that has had me smiling for two days now but am putting the smile aside because doing what I did for two weeks isn’t a big deal. Got to find a way to do it for 52.

Got to go longer, harder and deeper or it won’t lead to the bigger victory which begs a question outside of the “can I keep it up” one.

It is do I want to do it. Do I care. Is it really meaningful to me because without that pushing me it won’t matter.

You can relate it to a conversation I had with a friend and whether we would work an extra three hours each day for another $2000 a month.

Look at it from 10,000 feet and the answer is yes. Why wouldn’t you put in a little extra time for another $2k.

Break it down and that is an extra 15 hours per week, or 60 hours per month on top of a normal work week. It is a significant chunk of time for a dollar amount that might not be guaranteed.

You Didn’t Beat the System

Got a call from a guy who heard I am going to be getting car later this year and stopped his three minute shpiel about the deal he got.

“You didn’t beat the system. You didn’t break the dealer or cause them to lose money. That shouldn’t be the goal here anyway. It is about walking away feeling good about the deal you got. Nothing more.”

“Josh, this is why you don’t get the deal you could have. You don’t negotiate hard enough.”

I stopped him again and asked him if he knew whether the manufacturer was offering any spifs on a particular model or if the dealer had reason to off load all of a particular model.

“Do you know in a prior role I routinely worked with margins of 75 percent. I could cut 40 percent off of the price and still have a significant chunk of profit. Or I could give away a bunch of things and then get you at 85 percent on a half dozen other items and you wouldn’t know.

Take your ego out and learn how to walk away feeling good about a fair deal. Makes it simpler and easier. Everyone can win and that is ok.”

He didn’t like my answer and explained again that I had a defeatist attitude and I put the phone on mute and walked away.

Came back a short time later and he asked me if we had connectivity issue and I said I heard everything. I assume it worked because he didn’t fight me on it.

Wasn’t worth arguing with him about narishkeit or pointing out examples of when I refused to give up. They exist. I  have more than a couple of things I could point out that demonstrate my willingness to invest years in what I find meaningful but why bother with someone who just wants to feel like a big shot.

Sometimes you just have to play your medley and see where it leads.

Put It In

If the fine folks in charge of vaccinations do as they say they will I’ll find myself rolling up my sleeve and saying put it in before the month ends.

This time I’ll watch the needle because last time I wasn’t sure if they pricked me properly. I tend to believe they did because my arm eventually felt sore and I know others who had similar experiences.

Kind of exciting, every day we’re one step closer to getting back to normal, whatever that means.

Instead of having my neighbor yell across the yard at me to ask if I was in the big accident we can stand closer together.
Was sorry to hear about her friend who broke her hip in the big bang up and glad again that I wasn’t there because I drive that road too often.

****

Random thoughts flow through my head and I consider whether to tell you where to read or learn more but ultimately choose not to go down that path.

Because you will or you won’t and the siren song of the treadmill calls out to me as a way to ward off some of the chill of a damp winter night.

Still in the midst of a winter storm warning with a temperature well below freezing and a bemused attitude from those from the colder climates.

They have seen snow fall and have ample experience with it but for others, well it is kind of a novel experience still and I expect to hear my kids get excited about it falling.

I’ll probably go outside to take pictures and then imagine I am back on a beach hanging out somewhere tropical. Been a long time since I have been in Hawaii, perhaps it is time to go back.

Or maybe head out to the Barbados or some other Caribbean escape. If not now, than one day and maybe if you are lucky you too can retire and skip out on the nonsense of a daily grind.

And, in the end
The love you take
is equal to the love you make.”