Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Solar disappointment

As I said in my previous installment, I am looking to kill time more productively.
I'm failing miserably. I'm still stuck following certain things that are wastes of time. Twitter is a time bandit... but I only have myself to blame.
I shouldn't follow sports.
I shouldn't follow the stock market closely.
My reading topics that I perused were: solar power, home repair, and being a land lord.
Solar power is way too unrealistic for my current situation. Buying stuff from Harbor Freight always looks cool and affordable, but the kit you buy doesn't set itself up and lacks some of the essentials. I'm  probably too lazy and lacking of funds to set up something worthwhile.
Home repair is an open ended matter. I have a number of unfinished projects that simply need me to focus my energy. I find excuses for not doing things... like not having a mitersaw or money to pay someone else.
Investment property isn't going to land in my lap, so it's foolish to pursue entertain the thought, right?
I wish I was wired differently. I just lack the drive to finish stuff and get distracted by unrealistic interests and things that aren't important in the grand scheme of things.
Moments like now, I hate free will for I can only blame myself for the majority of my shortcomings.
Theorectically, I put stuff out here to say I looked into things, and affirmed my home and existing personal stuff need focus before thinking of other matters such as solar power and investment property. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

summer reading - exploring better hobbies

Having spent considerable time avoiding being productive or advancing my skill set, I decided to do some cheap self-investment through reading library books.

Given my previous post, I am exploring real estate investment. I have always had interest in houses. Much like reading job postings, I enjoyed reading house listings. Given that I do not have the funds nor time to invest into such endeavors, I need to focus on my current home before moving onto pipe dreams.

I'm cutting sports from my time consumption diet. I should cut my 401(k) obsession along with following the news cycle that seems stuck since November 8, 2016.

Speaking of pipe dreams, I have dreams of making my shed a man cave. It's a small barn, which we currently use for storage, but I'd like to have electricity out there. I would like to have it be solar powered, hence off the grid.

I got a book out from the library that appeared relevant, Do It Yourself 12 Volt SOLAR POWER, but 17 pages in, I find it comical. It's translated from German with an idealistic premise of living off the grid in a van or yurt. Probably not going to do me much good to read the whole thing, but I find solar power intriguing. I doubt I will be less knowledgeable, so it should have benefit, right?

Monday, May 7, 2018

Time's take on making side money to quit your real job

Read this old article Time tweeted about making enough side money to quit your job.

It made me chuckle.

  1. Real Estate investment takes money.
  2. Writing a book is easy. Finding someone willing to pay for it is another story. I actually started writing a book in '96, but I stopped because I lacked worldly experience to properly develop characters.
  3. Sell a product on Amazon?
  4. Sell your skills?
  5. Blogging!

Seriously, I've tried to blog for money, but I have nothing anyone wants to read it seems. My tweets aren't worthy of getting followers, beyond a static 80. I have stuff that isn't being said, yet nothing catches on. I guess I don't trash Trump, so my feed isn't going to catch on. Suppressed? Perhaps the shadow ban is real enough that there's a pre-shadow ban? I know I'm not dumb, yet I must be missing something key beyond interacting with strangers. I'm joking. Dale Carnegie said in his book, people only care about themselves, so you have to indulge their ego if you hope to be successful in getting anything in return.

I need to create better twitter content, or at least dumb it down. Substweeting seems more necessary than I ever could guess. Nothing piques interest than being left out of a conversation. Obviously, I need to follow the biggies and comment on their inane stuff if I want to generate an opening. Sounds fake. Perhaps most people are fake, and that's why I have trouble following their point. 

I have multiple Twitter accounts. I could have multiple profiles to experiment with traffic flow. and such. If I were to be anti-Trump, I'd get the most followers quickly, I'm afraid. That said, I can be deranged in the tongue in cheek sarcastic way that would make Scott Adams proud. I really don't get TDS, but I never got the Obama stuff either.