Swing Life Away

Recently I realized that life is whatever you want it to be. You don't have to be a big successful business man, or some kind of famous artist. You can build the life that you want to live. If college isn't for you, find something that is you. If living in someone else's dreams isn't you, then find your dreams. Basically, be happy with your life and build a great one. Be the best dad, husband, wife, mother, Bugman, office person, construction worker, insurance salesman ... that you can be.

Love this song.
So I quickly recorded it.

Dust it off and fire it up!

It's about time to get this blog back into shape. It's been sitting on the couch eating Cheetos and watching reruns of Home Improvement. Well, not anymore. Today we post again! What inspired this act or heroism equal to that of Sylvester Stallone in Rocky? Simply, I needed a medium to be able to write how I felt. I think my friends tend to get tired of my political rants on Facebook, so this blog is perfect! It's like walking into an old garage filled with boxes full of embarrassing pictures and old journals.
So what can you expect? Well probably politics, gaming, life, and ramblings. I hope you can stick with me long enough to experiment with this. Another reason I rebooted the ol' blog was because of this quote I read, posted by a friend on facebook.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

~Steve Jobs

I could die tomorrow, and what could I show for my life? Who knows? But I'm going to start today paving my path for the future. I want to do all the things I have wanted to do, with no fear, because... why go your entire life with dreams and goals and then be too afraid to ever try to accomplish them?

So here's to expressing my thoughts and living my dreams. You are more than welcome to join me in my journey.

Not actually my book, or about me, but it has the name of my blog! Weird right?!

I woke up like a champ.

Woke up today at 5:10 and I felt great. Only 5 hours of sleep, but I'm running like a champ today. Why?! Because I'm freakin awesome that's why. I ate bullets for breakfast so I could spit steel.

Subway Manners

Dear lady that prepares sandwiches at Subway,
I would like to inform you, and others like you, that manners, politeness, and a general compassion for others will get you a long way in life. There is no need to take out your disdain for your job on others. If anything, your job done right could make people super happy! I mean honestly you make people sandwiches. I am so happy to be partaking of your product! So please try to be happy.

To the guy standing behind me in line, please try to understand that we all have personal bubbles, mine is a good two feet away. This is why I keep walking away from you, that doesn't mean you can keep walking forward.

Love,
Blair

How to buy a car.

I was browsing on reddit.com and I stumbled upon this little gem. I always wondered the best way to buy a car and this seemed to be a pretty decent way. Thanks to "Bobsmithshome" for the advice.

Here's what I do. I haven't done it for awhile because I buy new and keep the car a long time, but the last time I did this was 12 years ago, and with three cars before that:
1) Email a specific salesman. If I can't get an address from the dealer's site I email the general address and get the address of a salesman.
2) I also get the invoice price (or as close as I can to that). I add $300 to the invoice price.
3) I send an email to the salesman with an offer (invoice plus $300). I tell him that I have family in the car business, that I don't want to be a pain in the ass, and I assure him that if he'll agree to sell me the car for that price I will come in with a check and seal the deal.
4) I also tell him that I promise to give him and his dealer the highest rating possible on all survey questions. When you buy a new car you'll get a factory survey. These are extremely important to dealers, so promising to give them top ratings is an incentive for them to deal with you - even if they aren't making as much as they might otherwise.
5) I stress that I'll be very easy to deal with... that it will be a "no bullspit" transaction and that I won't waste his time.
6) I give him a couple of days to get back to me, or I'll need to move on, but I assure him that I always buy a car this way and it's almost always from the first person I contact. BUT, I also tell him that I'm in no rush, and if it will help him to meet a quota or put him over the top for any incentive his dealer has going for salesmen, I'm willing to hold off and time it so it's most advantageous to him (as long as it's within the next 30 days or so). This basically tells him three things: that I'm really not going to be a pain in the ass, that I'm not at all desperate or rushed, and that I see him as a person just trying to make a living. It just sets a much better tone.
7) I always honor any commitment I make to him - 100%.
This has worked very well for me. It really makes the process pretty painless. It involves just two or three emails back and forth and then I go in to sign the papers, hand him a check, and pick up the car.

Too Much on my Mind

Tonight is one of those nights where there is just too much going through my mind to sleep. It’s not little things either. More about my future and the things to come. Why is this time in my life so full of hard choices haha?

I miss those good ole days hanging with the guys before volleyball practice playing Halo. Or kickin it at Taco Bell after school. Driving up to Mt. Charleston and hiking up a mountain. Those were the days where the choices that you made didn’t really have much of an effect on what your future looked like.

Now it’s a whole other ball game. What am I going to become? Who will I marry? Where will I go for school? What will I do for work? All of the questions need some answers, at least for me they do and because the answers are not all set in stone its hard for me to be complacent with them. I need to feel like my life is mapped out before I go getting lost in the woods of life.

I understand that not all questions will be answered. For example I realize that I won’t really know who I will marry till it feels right. But the other questions about what I will be doing with my life I feel should be coming to more of a round up right now in my life than just starting to be developed.

For now, lets just hope I might be able to get some sleep.

And Yet Another Day

Yep, just another day at work. That’s kinda how I like it really. When I first started this wasn’t my favorite thing in the world. But now that I have more of a designated position it’s one of my favorite places to be. I would rather spend my entire day at work than face to real world when I got home. Sad right?

Not that home is bad, because its not, I love being at home. But I just feel busy and aggressive at work, then I go home and lose that drive and desire to do anything.

I figure the money is good so this isn’t exactly a bad thing so this isn’t really a major crime of a desire.

Anyways, take it easy blog!