Same, Same. But Different

We cut the cord for satellite TV a few months ago. I spent a week TDY and had a TV in my room, and thought I'd enjoy watching ESPN again. I love sports, and spent almost 20 years of my life either playing a sport or coaching, but the politicization of sport is crazy to me because sport, at it's foundation is a meritocracy.

My wife and I were talking last night about a the amount of grief high school coaches put up with (Andrea played 4 years of college basketball, and was a varsity coach after that for a while). In 8 seasons I attended or watched well over 1,000 high school games. I may have seen 120 kids that could start at the JuCo level or NAIA level or higher. The rest of those kids? I hope they were learning lessons of how to COMPETE, because that's what life is.

You're going to compete for a mate, for a job, for advancement, for your kids attention and respect. Every day you have to put on your boots and charge once more into the fray. You're not owed a single thing, but if you work your guts out each day. encourage those on your team/tribe/family to keep going you'll be amazed at what can happen.

How do we compete with ourselves though? By trying to be a better version, if not the best version of ourselves. Set goals for each week, month, and year of things you want to get done. They can be projects around the house, the yard, working out learning how to change your oil, etc. A big to do list. Leave it up, as you check those things off a sense of accomplishment in getting stuff done will start to be a habit.

How does getting rid of $70 a month in TV bills equate to this post. It's a habit, paying for something that we didn't really need that we broke. A few months later I don't miss it and wonder why we didn't do it sooner. The house is more peaceful. I'm reading more, I'm doing more around the house. In self reliance, everything comes back to how we spend our time.

New Used Tractor

Massey Ferguson 135

Well, I finally broke down and bought a fixer-upper tractor. She runs. Leaks fuel when shut down, probably needs the carb rebuilt. I replaced the cap, wires, and coil. Immediately it ran better. I've gone through and replaced the radiator hoses that were pretty much all at the end of their serviceable life.

I've replaced the metal oil filter cartridge with a twist on. The front tires will need replaced in the next year. She's not much to look at but 43 horses of getting stuff done, and she's all mine. She's easy to work on, straight forward, and intuitively put together. That and there's a YouTube video for just about everything out there.

So far I'm digging her. Hopefully she'll work out well for the farm. I'll keep updates coming for folks who're looking for an older tractor. I spent almost a year and a half on Craigslist getting to know the market for used tractors (I was lucky enough to borrow my neighbors tractor the couple times I needed to brush hog) and knew a good deal when I saw it on a tractor that is prized for it's simplicity, ease of maintenance, and solid availability of parts (NAPA in this tractor's case).

It's Different This Time - Free College and Government Cheese

It's Different This Time

Oregon State University from above.

Senator Bernie Sanders is talking about free college for everyone today, and the evil's of student loan debt. It is terrifying that someone as old as he is has no idea how economics work. When the Federal Government backstops a loan, meaning the taxpayers pay the loan when a student defaults, the institutions themselves have no skin in the game. Tuition goes up, based on rising Pell Grants and student loan amounts.

If you want to solve this problem it's pretty simple. Make the universities backstop at least half of these loans. College will be forced to look at which students can repay loans based on aptitude, prior grades, and demand from employers of each department. Pretty sure the Gender Studies department would cease to exist on most campuses within a year. There is no reason for any college, for profit or non-profit, to turn any student away right now, regardless of whether or not they'll ever be able to use their "education" to get a job. 

You also need to give students the ability to declare bankruptcy on student debt, with the institutions being on the hook for half of the tuition. If you're not preparing a young person to be responsible, to work, and to repay debt as an institution of higher learning you should cease to exist.