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DAY 58

I updated the below blog text while traveling and now on Sunday, 17-Apr-2005 8:23 PM

Blog update: 17 April 2005

Now in Baltimore, Maryland awaiting a Southwest flight to Columbus, Ohio. Remember a while back talking about the CEO of Southwest –Herb Kelleher. Southwest happens to be the best run airline for more than 30 years, and I enjoy flying then each time.

What makes the difference? Usually, the attitude of the staff. Plain and simple.

Anyway, I spent a few hours on my flight to Newark, New York talking to an engineer. Let me call him the EE Guy. We talk about family and work and he had extensively traveled in Asia –mainly China, Philippines and India. On this occasion he was coming back from the Netherlands and a plant there. The gentlemen and I had a discussion about “will” and the lack of it.

The discussion centered around the reason that American people continue to have a will, a want, a drive to make things better, to make life better and that at times makes the difference between success and failure in just about everything that we face.

He expressed a view that in many of the countries there was a lack of such “will” and for what ever reason, the population was suffering.

But the question begs, WHY?

Why do some people just dwell in their misery? While others start out with what seemingly is nearly nothing, but nevertheless they manage, despite all the odds to make it to what ever goal they have?

UPDATE from COLUMBUS, OHIO: Sunday, 17-Apr-2005 6:08 PM

Greetings once again, from the heartland of the US of A. I am in what many refer to as the "midwest" of the USA. I am not sure how that stuck, but I usually correct people and say that it is a "Great Lakes State". Officially, it is the Buckeye State.

I am once again, staying with my mother who I believe is the only person in Ohio that has hi speed wireless Internet access any where in the house and a Coo-Coo Clock!

Well, what can I say. My mother is a typical "pack rat" that saves a lot of things and lately, buys things in bulk from Sam's Club (a unit of retail giant Wall Mart). Sam's club will sell you things at a good discount, but you need to buy a 1000 plastic cups or 20 rolls of toilet paper or an extra large container of peanut butter.

This is a very big contrast from our life in the Netherlands, where things come in extra small sizes and the shopping is done about twice a week.

Unfortunately, the extra large sizes of the things in the Great Lakes and the midwest for that matter are showing up on the waste lines of most Americans, and that is very unfortunate.

As I walk around here I see it. The Dutch are much fitter and more active. I drove around today doing some errands and I later realized that I was carefully looking around streets stop lights for bikes and there were none.

In fact, there are side walks, but no body is walking on then.

Everyone is in a car, and today was such a beautiful day.

Anyway, I've got a busy week ahead, and I need to do some planning...

Update: Sunday, 17-Apr-2005 8:03 PM

Well, back from a long walk. Great weather. Had some time to take my daily walk, however, today it was just an hour. Last week, on Sunday I had about a 4 hour walk and earlier in the week almost 7 hours hiking.

But, today, in suburbia USA it was nice to take in the sounds and smells of the old neighborhood.

Things haven't changed much. However, things keep piling up. The two car garages are filled up with "things". I must say I didn't see two many opened garages that have room for two cars. Most were lucky to have room for one, while most seem to have filled them with what could not go in the basement. Lots of stuff.

IF you need to get a P31-STEP Success Plan started and perhaps, a 31-STEP Financial Success Plan going, I suggest that you start by selling everything that you don't need. And I saw plenty of things that could be put up on the action block to raise money to get the savings started.

In this area I don't see some of the extravagant items that many people seem to pile up like bass boats and campers and such that are just a shear excess. Of course, this is IF you are working with two or three weeks of vacation a year. There are plenty of retirees who could spend most of their time on the road all year long.

Anyway, it's nice to walk the house dog around and hear all the "hi's, hello's and howdy's" that came at you from everywhere.

And I managed to also see one biker in the process!

Alright, enough of my day.

Let's see what is there in my task list!

Interesting start to the week. Wonder what will happen with the stock market. It has gone down a bit last week and the 'bad news' kept mounting.

Wonder what will happen tomorrow?

With some disappointing earnings reports or some other types of not so good news, things will continue to head south.

How much? No guess. I just hope that oil will keep going south as well.

DAY 57 | Today: Day 58 | Tomorrow, DAY 59!