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Do I Need a [New] Car?

Once you decide to buy a new vehicle, deciding which model is a delicate balance of needs, wants, and abilities.

This topic has been on my mind a lot. It turns out that none of our vehicles are really suited to the new business (Hearts, Homes and Hands), which has some fairly specific needs. Unfortunately, so do I. And those needs don’t have a lot of overlap. But rather than talk about the process of selecting a vehicle, let’s answer the question in the title of this post. Do I really need a new car? Maybe following my thought process can help you with a similar decision.

As I see it, there are three ways to answer that questions:

  • Yes, I need a new car.
  • Yes, I need a car, but a used one makes more sense.
  • No, I don’t need a car at all.

You notice I’m not getting dragged into the semantic nonsense about “pre-owned.” If someone else has owned a car, you can make it a true Daily Double that they used it.

Now, let’s look at those options.

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“Uhmm, yeah. I’m gonna need you to work on … Saturday…”

Setting goals can be a spiritual experience that helps make sure everything you do supports your core personal values.
Background photo by: NASA

I know a lot of people who hate the idea of setting goals. This aversion can make it difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish anything useful—except by accident. I believe the reluctance to set goals stems from the way we were forced to set them and ignore them in favor of 10,000 trivial tasks in the corporate world—only to be punished for not accomplishing them in our annual review.

Yes, I’m talking to you, computer industry!

But I have come to view goal setting as a spiritual practice. It focuses your intent on what matters to you.

All of your goals should derive from your personal values or principles. But you must first identify what those are. Once you do, you can use them to determine whether the 10,000 things that beset you in the course of your daily life support your values or distract you from them. With well-defined goals, you can quickly determine which tasks are important, which you should do now, which you should put off, and which you should ignore. Many of the things that seem urgent in the moment resolve themselves if you ignore them, but others can still come back to bite you in the butt.

An Example

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Sponsorships Available

If you do business in the Cameron area, here’s a chance to do good and spread the word about your business at the same time.

Every year, the Cameron Rotary Club hosts a casino night fund raiser. Last year, the Rotary Club raised about $8-thousand for various charities and scholarships.

This fiscal year, Casino Night is 18 January 2020.

Why am I talking about this so early?

Now is the time for the corporate sponsors to sign up. Each year, the Hermit Haus parent company, Hermits’ Rest Enterprises, which is based in Cameron, sponsors the activity. Hermits’ Rest Enterprises will be joined by its sister company Heart Homes and Hands this year.

If you would like to sponsor this fun fundraiser, you can contact me or any other Cameron Rotarian.

What do companies get out of it?

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Teamwork at The Hermit Haus

After a little time off, the ceiling removal crew got back to work at The Hermit Haus over the weekend, and much was accomplished. Wow!

Look at all those beautiful beams!

Mike, Randy, and Matthew (the hard-working teen) really got going and got almost all of the rest of the basement ceiling down. Now you can really get an idea of what the room will look like when it’s finished.

There is just this little bit of ceiling left.

Next on the agenda is working on the reception area wall, installing a real electrical outlet, and slightly expanding the conference room. We’re waiting for Chris and his mechanical mind to join with Mike’s mechanical mind on that project. Apparently we are in for a very busy Thanksgiving!

It’s all twinkly now.

Now that the Hearts, Homes, and Hands business is up and running, we are going to focus on getting the Gillis house finally OURS, and starting the renovation there. Lee is meeting with the lawyer today to finally get that up and running, after some delays. We want to move the HHH office across the street as soon as we can, so that the two businesses aren’t bumping into each other. That will clear the way for using The Hermit Haus for more events.

Mandi and I are looking forward to things settling down a bit and getting to work on that!

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Small Town or Big City? Where Do You Want to Live?

Small-town living has its advantages. Photo credit: @jo_elg via Twenty20

I think most people are faced with choices in their life of whether to move to a small town or a big city. The pros and cons for each can be overwhelming.

I thought about moving once, a while back, because property values in a certain area out of Texas were reasonable, and sales prices were really low for very nice properties. Seemed like a no brainer to move until I realized that it was in the center of “Tornado Alley.” Then the low sales prices made sense, as did the fact that almost all of the properties in that area ranged from brand new to less than 5 years old. Hard pass, thanks!

That was my only thought of moving from my little hometown. Cameron is much like any other small town I have ever heard about. Everyone knows everyone and all their families. When you are from here and do happen to meet someone else from here they ask, “Now who was your Mom/Dad/Aunt/Uncle/Sibling/Grandparents/etc.?” Because if they don’t know you personally, they probably know your family member(s). It made it hard for me as a rebellious teen to act out, because I didn’t kick up any dust that my parents didn’t know about before I could get home, and this was long before the days of social media and cell phones, y’all.

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Most Recent Posts

Do I Need a [New] Car?
11/16/19 - Education, Strategies - No Comments

This topic has been on my mind a lot. It turns out that none of our vehicles are really suited to the new business (Hearts, Homes and Hands), which has some fairly specific needs. Unfortunately, so do I. And those needs don’t have a lot of overlap. But rather than talk about the process of…

Continue Reading
“Uhmm, yeah. I’m gonna need you to work on … Saturday…”
11/12/19 - Business Update - No Comments

I know a lot of people who hate the idea of setting goals. This aversion can make it difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish anything useful—except by accident. I believe the reluctance to set goals stems from the way we were forced to set them and ignore them in favor of 10,000 trivial tasks in…

Continue Reading
Sponsorships Available
11/06/19 - Community Outreach, Events, Fun - 1 Comment

Every year, the Cameron Rotary Club hosts a casino night fund raiser. Last year, the Rotary Club raised about $8-thousand for various charities and scholarships. This fiscal year, Casino Night is 18 January 2020. Why am I talking about this so early? Now is the time for the corporate sponsors to sign up. Each year,…

Continue Reading
Teamwork at The Hermit Haus
11/05/19 - Business Update, Commercial Buildings, Rehabbing - No Comments

After a little time off, the ceiling removal crew got back to work at The Hermit Haus over the weekend, and much was accomplished. Wow! Mike, Randy, and Matthew (the hard-working teen) really got going and got almost all of the rest of the basement ceiling down. Now you can really get an idea of…

Continue Reading