Rowing, Financial Literacy, and Sunglasses

My last couple of entries have been pretty much focused on one topic after a period of writing more than I need to on many topics each week. I switched to just one topic because quite frankly writing a couple of paragraphs about 7 or 8 or more issues each week was pretty freak'n stressful...finding something to write about, then writing it all while trying to actually BE a Balanced Guy with a family, job, hobbies, friends, etc to tend to. But...writing on one topic was kinda boring and so I'm experimenting a bit. This week I'm going for less on each topic but more topics...I think. Of course I recognize the irony of this due to my posting from March 24 in which I extol the virtues of learning about fewer things but in more depth. I'm fishing around to make for the best reading so cut me some slack.

The Competitor - Big sports news this week were the Final Four and Tiger's return (even more so than season opener for MLB). What is that old saying? Something about "Catch a tiger by it's tail"..." Or is it "Tiger catching tail?" Those are the easy stories and no doubt you know the outcomes of them, so I'll go a bit more obscure. Have you ever driven past a body of water and seen those long skinny "speed canoes" (as they were monikered by a rural resident of South Carolina many years ago as we were traveling to Florida for winter training) propelled by people pulling on long, long oars? Of course I'm referring to the sport of rowing, sometimes called crew. It's the oldest collegiate sport in the US, dating back to 1852 and one of the oldest competitive sports in the world with the annual Boat Race between Cambridge and Oxford dating back to 1829. In fact, with some estimates of 120 million world-wide viewers of this race each year, it would be the most viewed single day sporting event in the world. Even if this estimate is a bit inflated, very reliable numbers of 250,000 people standing along the banks of the Thames River watching the 4+ mile race in person make for it to be bigger than just about anything in the US shy of a NASCAR race. And not to burst your bubble but the coxswain (the little person who steers the shell) does not shout "stroke, stroke, stroke...".

 So if you've ever had an inkling of interest in sitting on your butt while going backwards...fast - which by the way is one of the premiere forms of aerobic exercise and calorie burners known to man - take note that June 5, 2010 is National Learn to Row Day. Click on the link to find out where you can learn to row at a club near you. You can also find out what the coxswain actually says.

Oh yeah. For a much better rundown on sports than I can provide, check out my buddy Dave over at The Savage Truth (just bring your dictionary along as he likes to use words like "umbrage").

Your Ride - Those spots of oil in the driveway are telling me that I've got to get underneath the minivan and repair something...but I'm not sure what just yet. Admittedly I'm avoiding it ever so slightly for two reasons: 1) it's messy and will take a good chunk of a day. and 2) while I'm pretty handy around the house, car repair is not my strength. However I'm willing to tackle it, although there will be plenty of praying before, during, and after that I won't, aren't and didn't screw something up in the process. Of course, the prayers will probably be augmented by brief periods of swearing. Should make for an interesting combination. Check out Haynes online for repair manuals for your ride should you want to save a few bucks and DIY.

Greenbacks - From the economic rubble around us, it's pretty apparent that many Americans are financially illiterate. Why is it we teach can high school kids how to calculate differential equations or debate the Middle East peace process but can't seem to provide basic life skills like how to balance a checkbook, assess a car loan or manage monthly bills. Not only this, but a lot of financial stuff out there is either excessively complex (even some of our supposed Wall St Lords of the Universe had trouble making heads or tails of some of the derivatives and other financial instruments proffered by their own firms) or not explained in clear terms. I'll admit that it sometimes takes me a few reads through financial documents to understand them despite the fact that I have an MBA in finance. So how in the world is the average American supposed to understand this stuff when less than 30% of Americans have a 4-year college degree?  Not that a college degree is required to be financially literate or even successful (e.g. Bill Gates) but the odds are not in favor of someone lacking one having at least some basic financial proficiency. Luckily, about 75% of the US population has internet access of some sort (obviously you do since you're reading this). Thus there are resources available to ensure that you AND your kids are financially literate. Take a look at Banking on Our Future as well as Wise Money Choices.

Now...if we can just get the bankers and folks on Wall St to hold up their end of the bargain and do the right thing...

I've also got a couple of books on my reading list: 13 Bankers  by Simon Johnson and The Road From Ruin by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green.

Arguing - The state of political discourse in our country has gotten ridiculous. How the folks in Washington and all over the country spewing venom (both sides) can't see that the majority of Americans are fed up with it is beyond me. If you are tired of the political and economic news being almost universally disheartening (at least as offered to us by the major news outlets), try stopping in at The Good News Network for your daily dose of "Good Things are Happening in the World Today". It may be a bit trite and escapist but it's a nice foil to all the bad, sensationalist, fear-mongering news constantly thrown at us. And the stories aren't sappy stuff about puppies and kittens. Just real news about real people doing real good in the world.

Black Sock and Flip-Flops - Growing up with a father who flew nearly 60 combat missions in Vietnam in an F-4 Phantom left an indelible mark on me. One of those was the sunglasses he wore - Original Pilot Sunglasses by AO Eyewear. The style has been around since 1958 and our men and women in uniform are still wearing it, although the official supplier since 1982 has been Randolph Engineering. It's no wonder they remain popular as, in my opinion, sunglasses don't get any cooler looking. They used to be hard to find but now you can get them through a number of online outlets. Fortunately for me, I got my most recent pair through my uncle, a retired USAF Lt Col. If, like me, you came of age during the Big 80's, you no doubt remember Ray-Ban aviators being worn by Tom Cruise in the 1986 hit movie, Top Gun. They were originally popular after WWII as a result of MacArthur wearing them. I still have my pair bought in 1987 but no longer wear them as they make me look like a deranged bug. These days I go with nothing but my AO's.

And finally, because I do it so often anyway, here's yet another pic of Kim Kardashian.

Lady Liberty, Spring Cleaning and Bikini Tweets

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 

These words from the sonnet The New Colossus, familiar to people worldwide, bring to mind the inspiring sight of the Statue of Liberty. Millions of immigrants saw her as a beacon of welcome and hope as they completed one journey across the Atlantic only to begin another one in this great, dynamic and exciting land called "America".

 

On a blustery spring break day we took our boys, along with two of our best friends and their children, to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island.  I wonder how many people living in the New York City area have never been there? I know my grandmother, nearly 98 years old, born and raised in Manhattan, has never been*. It seems we often take for granted that with which we become familiar. When we lived in Florida, 10 minutes from the beach, we often didn't get there for a month or more at a stretch, caught up in our daily lives. Have you visited the Statue of Liberty? If so, when was the last time? For me, it was when I was about 11 or 12. Whether it's been years or never, now is a great time to visit with your children to learn about the history of our country and be inspired.

 

The ferry from Liberty State Park in NJ first stops at Ellis Island. Definitely get off the boat and visit the island. With over 12 million immigrants coming through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, it is estimated that over 1/3 of all Americans today are descended from those who entered the United States here. That means if not yourself, than there's a good chance either the person on your left or on your right is one of those Americans (including yours truly). This place holds a special place in American history not so much because any singular event happened here, but because of exactly the opposite. It was a workaday location: processing immigrants day-in and day-out for over 60 years. Unlike a place such as Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed, it's a notable location at the personal level by having intimate connections with more than 100 million Americans alive today even if they've never visited. Why? It's the place their ancestors arrived having, at great risk and uncertainly, left their homelands to join the ranks of Americans that have made this country great.  

 

Because the story at Ellis is at its core about people and not objects, unlike many other museums there's not a lot of "stuff" in display cases. To be sure there are artifacts - suitcases, clothing, and other personal articles to help understand the immigrant experience, however the main story is in the photographs and words of the people. People of every race, creed, color, religion, ethnicity and nationality. You truly see the Great Melting Pot that made, and continues to make, the United States the greatest nation on earth. As Bill Murray said in Stripes: "We're Americans, with a capital 'A', huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts!"

 

Yes, I'm a mutt: half Polish and half Irish. And in those photographs of Poles and Irish at Ellis Island I can see the strong ethnic blood lines; they look so much like the faces in the yellowed family photographs we have. In the Registration Hall I imagined how 100 years ago my great-grandparents, excited yet undoubtably nervous, waited to be processed; the same process for them all yet stories so individual. One of my great-grandmothers left her village in eastern Poland when she was 16 years old and walked across Europe by herself to Holland to take a ship to America. And from Ireland, my great-grandparents came with 5 children in tow and one on the way. Yet common to all the stories, of my family and those told at Ellis, was a desire for a better life and the promise America held. 

 

It's easy see the unique appeal of Ellis Island to the American people. While we visit Independence Hall and gaze in awe at the chairs Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington sat in during the Continental Congress as our Nation was framed, at Ellis Island I gazed and wondered if the chair I was looking at was used by my great-grandmother to rest her weary feet upon joining this Nation. Visit the Ellis Island research website where you can delve into your own family's arrival.

 

While Ellis Island may be a more compelling story at the personal level, The Statue of Liberty is the world-famous symbol of all the collective individual stories. The two places complement each other perfectly. Another short ferry ride and we arrived at Liberty Island, home of The Lady herself. Until you see her up close, it's hard to appreciate just how enormous she is. Lady Liberty was often the first recognizable landmark an immigrant would see as he or she sailed into New York Harbor, a symbol that they had indeed arrived in the Promised Land. She has also been a symbol to American soldiers going off to and returning from war, representing all they fought, and died, for. When my father was stationed in England (where I was born) for 3 years while on active duty in the USAF, my mother recounts how she wept tears of joy upon spotting the Statue of Liberty as our ship sailed into New York Harbor (yes, we took a ship back to the States; it was the 1960's). I, being not quite 3, had other things on my mind and asked if the tugboat I spotted was, in fact, one of those "grandmothers" I'd heard so much about.

Given her symbolism, it's fitting that her crown in now open to the public again since closing after 9/11. We can never allow terror to win by curtailing our civil liberties and American way of life out of fear. If you go, be sure to make reservations, either for the monument (the base) or the crown, well in advance (this is required as you cannot purchase passes to get into the base or statue once on Liberty Island). Prices are certainly reasonable: $15 for adults and $8 children 12 and under to visit the crown.

 

*Technically, my grandmother came through Ellis Island but was still in the womb.

 

__________________

 

For a great rundown on the firing of Boston College basketball coach, Al Skinner, check out my buddy Dave over at The Savage Truth.

 

It's springtime (in case you didn't notice) and this weekend is looking to be sunny and near 80. Other than being Easter weekend, this means it's the first real chance (at least the first chance I feel like taking advantage of) to get the yard cleaned up for the warm weather. I've already sourced out a number of bulk mulch providers and need to give them a call for delivery. Here and there after work a few nights I've spent time picking up the piles and piles (and piles) of broken branches and twigs covering the yard from the winter weather. The mystery that confounds me is who moved the piles I put along the curb for pickup off the road and back onto my lawn. Everyone else's piles of broken branches are right where they left them - out in the street along the curb. Go figure.

My celebrity intrigue, don't ask me why but it's Kim Kardashian, has apparently broken up with Reggie Bush and has been Tweeting pics of herself in a bikini. Yes, she's famous for being famous, certainly not for talent; but look, a lot of people watch trashy TV shows or read pulp fiction. This is my equivalent so give me a break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Value Invested Life....and a pimped-out Franklin.

I took a break last week from this blog. You wouldn't think it, but given that I contribute part of my ramblings to a for-profit website with deadlines, doing this on the side for free can become a bit burdensome week-in and week-out (and before you ask why for free - because it gets me readers). I was starting to feel none-too-balanced. Since creating The Balanced Guy, I've had to examine my own efforts at being one. One insight is that managing your time and energy is a lot like managing your stock portfolio. If you broadly diversify, you eliminate a lot of the ups and downs but you wind up with more-or-less the S&P 500 or Wilshire 5000 return - relatively safe but unspectacular. The same is true of your time - get involved in too much and you wind up doing a lot at a shallow level with pretty average results. It's not that it's impossible to be the complete Renaissance Man, but there's a reason why history has a limited number of Da Vincis, Newtons and Franklins. And while it's nice to fantasize I'd be able to keep up a lively banter around the dinner table with these three as the conversation shifted from science to art to philosophy to politics, I have a feeling I might come up a tad bit short. I'm realizing that probably a lot of people are interested in all the world has to offer, but that they have just decided to focus on fewer of the choices and not become sidetracked by distraction. You are now probably thinking "Duh. What took you so long to figure this out?" And then this discussion is a moot point for you if you don't have the ADD-inspired approach to life like I've had.

It's no great secret of the universe that to be really good at anything takes a significant investment of time and energy (keep your eye on the term "investment"). I'm not saying you have to adhere to the 10,000 hour rule as put forth by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers, but focusing your efforts on fewer things in life will get you overall better results. Consider it the value investing approach to life. I happen to think Warren Buffett is quite the financial guru and his investing style is one worth emulating (not to mention he does a killer Axel Rose impression). Some people might say that he doesn't diversify enough and this can be risky. In response I say Buffett didn't get to be one of the richest men on the planet by being a crappy money manager. Second, which is more risky: owning so many different stocks that you have no chance of having enough time to keep up with every company let alone understand each one in sufficient depth, or owning stock in just a few companies that you understand very well and have the time to keep up with? Third: Life is risky so get over it. If you chose the index fund approach, it requires very little effort; but don't expect anything more than average returns. If you take the value investing approach, you should expect to put in effort and in return see solid, above average (but not spectacular) returns over a long time frame with some ups and downs along the way and you might just wind up very, very comfortable. If you don't want to put in effort, then be prepared for average. Of course, these are both different than speculation, which is essentially a roll of the dice: some spectacular results if you get lucky, some devastating losses if not.

To get back to my point: Life is a lot like investing. Sometimes there are moments akin to speculative stock trading - a trip to Vegas, being the 100,000 customer through the door, or having a winning lottery ticket. But these aren't methods you want to use to pay the monthly bills, let alone build your life around; they're too tied to chance. No matter how often you play the lottery, you can't get any better at picking the numbers to increase your odds of winning. And, since each lottery drawing is a statistically independent event, playing more often does not increase your odds of winning - you're just as likely to win millions the first time you play as the 1,000th time. In juxtaposition, keep playing tennis or create yet another painting and you'll develop real skill and get better. 

As for me, I'm trying to craft my life to be less like an index fund and more like value investing by picking just a few things to learn about in depth and become somewhat "expert" at them (and certainly not at all like speculative investing - waiting around and hoping a pot o' gold falls into my lap). This doesn't mean that I stop being interested in the world around me, but I simply make an effort to be a bit more focused in using my free time. You never know where it might lead, but I'm pretty certain that I'll never be asked for advice or to be a guest speaker or something like that by knowing a little bit about a lot....unless I happen to make it onto Jeopardy. The hard part, as with most things, is putting in the effort on the front end when it feels like you'll never get any better. It's frustrating and we are probably all guilty at some point of giving up out of a fear of failure - if you don't try you can't ever fail. What could be more comforting? However, like the change of the seasons, eventually (and it seems oddly sudden) we find we're actually pretty good at whatever we've been doing all along.

So if you already have managed to cut the information overload, trying to be everywhere, do everything and please everyone all at once, all the time, I applaud you. At the same time, try to remain broadly informed; especially on the important issues (and I don't mean just what's important to you...like the box scores from last night's game). I'll be the first to admit it's a difficult balancing act, hence the reason it's such a challenge to be a Balanced Guy.