You Raise Me Up

Some midweek inspiration. I have always been a fan of musical interpretation. Here are two versions, of the same song, "You Raise Me Up". Originally an instrumental piece entitled "Silent Story", the song, as we know it today, was released in 2002 on the "Secret Garden" album "Once In A Red Moon", which was performed by Irish singer Brian Kennedy.

Music By: Rolf Lovland
Lyrics By: Brendan Graham

Lyrics

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up: To more than I can be

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up: To more than I can be

There is no life - no life without its hunger
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly
But when you come and I am filled with wonder
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up: To more than I can be

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up: To more than I can be

Celtic Woman

Josh Groban

Simple Math for Getting Started

As my children begin paying their own bills, I thought I would document some Simple Math here in this blog as a reference for them. I have tried the "family meeting" thing, usually after dinner, and having educated thousands, the looks on my children's faces told me that they thought I was on drugs or from another planet. The bottom line - they are a SMS/text reading generation - so here it is in writing.

It really does not matter if you are employed full-time or part-time. However, if you are full time, there are 2,080 work hours in a year. While there are 52.177457 weeks per year, just use 52 weeks for any computations, (40*52)=2080. Yes, I realize how elementary that is but read on, PLEASE. Therefore, if you are hired, and were told you will be working between 30 & 35 hours per week, count on (budgeting) 30 hours. 30*52=1560 hours per year. Always underestimate your income and over state your expenses.

The common mistake of NOT matching your Income with your Expenses will cause complete financial destruction. Since most billing cycles are monthly, to properly align your monthly income with your monthly expenses, remember the following.

3 months per quarter
4 quarters per year
7 days per week
12 months per year
13 weeks per quarter
52 weeks per year
362 days per year

If you are Salary, or paid on the 1st & 15th, the math is actually easier, therefore, for the sake of this blog, I will only use the following two examples pertaining to income.

INCOME: If You are Paid Weekly
((((hrs worked*pay rate per hour)*13)/3)*80%)=Income per Month
Let's assume you are paid $7.00 per hour. How much do you make per month? If full time, (40hrs*$7.00 per hour)=$280 per week. There are 13 weeks per quarter, so, (13*$280)=$3,640 per quarter. There are 3 months per quarter, so, ($3,640/3)=$1,213 per month. Again, this is simple math, so we will need to take the $1,213 and reduce it by 20% to allow for various taxes ($1,213-($1,213*20%)) or ($1,213*80%)=$970.40 Expendable Income per month.

INCOME: If You are Paid Every Other Week
(((((hrs worked*pay rate per hour)/2)*13)/3)*80%)=Income per Month
Let's assume you are paid $7.00 per hour. How much do you make per month? If full time, ((80hrs*$7.00 per hour)/2 weeks)=$280 per week. There are 13 weeks per quarter, so, (13*$280)=$3,640 per quarter. There are 3 months per quarter, so, ($3,640/3)=$1,213 per month. Again, reduce it by 20% to allow for various taxes ($1,213-($1,213*20%)) or ($1,213*80%)=$970.40 Expendable Income per month.

Now you have a good number to use for Income. What about your expense? The following two examples will use the following monthly expenses:

Auto Insurance $100 (per month)
Rent $500 (per month)
Cell Phone $60 (per month)
Cable/Internet $100 (per month)

That's a total of $760 per month (I realize there are more expenses - this is just an example)

INCOME after EXPENSES: If You are Paid Weekly
We determined above that your Expendable Monthly Income was $970.40. Expendable Weekly Income can be computed as (($970.40*3 months per quarter)/13 weeks per quarter)=$223.94. Weekly Expenses, from expense numbers above, (($760*3 months per quarter)/13 weeks per quarter)=$175.38 per week. When you deposit that $223.94 check, you only have ($223.94-$175.38)=$48.56 left, or, ($48.56/7)=$6.94 per day for other things.

INCOME after EXPENSES: If You are Paid Every Other Week
Once you have computed Weekly Income & Weekly Expense, all that's left to do for this computation is multiply the above by 2. So, When you deposit the ($223.94*2)=$447.88 check, you only have ($447.88-$350.76)=$97.12 left, or, ($97.12/14)=$6.94 per day for other things.

You get a 50 Cent an Hour Raise
Great, I am making (40hrs per week*.50 pay raise)=$20 more every week! That's $80 more a month! I think I can afford the $85 per month payment on a "Whatever". Wrong. Put the pay raise through the above formula. ((((hrs worked*pay raise per hour)*13)/3)*80%)=Pay Raise per Month or ((((40*.50)*13)/3)*80%)=$69.33. Your weekly raise computes to (($69.33 monthly raise *3 months per quarter)/13 weeks per quarter)=$16 per week BEFORE inflation (another topic).

Don't get me wrong, any raise is great! Just remember to keep Income properly matched with Expenses.

Final Thought
Taking a drink or two and your lunch from home, you can easily cut the following number in half. If you purchased 2 drinks (2*.70)=$1.40, and a Meal from "The Drive-Thru Speaker Thing" ($5.00), every day, working 5 days per week, you would have spent ((($5+$1.40)*5)*52)=$1,664 in a year when you could have spent less than $800.

You are also "In-Between Swing Sets" during this new "bill paying" phase of your life. Properly aligning your Income with your Expenses EARLY in your adult life, will not only make life easier, it will assist in any financial decisions you will make.

Remember, 3 months per quarter, 4 quarters per year, and most importantly, 13 weeks per quarter.

4:00 AM

It is actually 2:55 AM as I begin typing this addition to my blog. I prefer to begin my day around 4:00 AM, when possible. No ringing phones, No people, and No signs of life, have always provided for a necessary backdrop to focus on life's direction, and of course, the current day.

My first "paychecks", at the age of 12 or 13 , consisted of delivering Goldblatts department store sales papers to houses within a 3 mile radius of my home in Clinton, IL.. Getting up and being on the street by 4:00 AM to deliver the papers was actually fun and educational. I also took great pride in each paper I delivered.

Delivering papers simply to the house was not enough for me. For years, I had noticed news papers being delivered to every part of the recipient's address. For most recipients of papers delivered, by someone else but me, it must have been like a daily treasure hunt. Papers on the roof, curb, sidewalk, driveway, and even hanging in a tree or bush. My papers were not only delivered to the door, they were delivered to the opening of the door. A person could open their front door 3 inches and blindly reach down to find any paper I delivered. I simply delivered the paper to where I would have wanted it delivered if the given house was mine.

I especially liked delivering the papers in bad weather. Seriously, I love Rain & Snow. This morning is potentially one of those mornings with a light breeze and distant lightning filling the sky. I love to be "weathered", it makes me feel more alive, and adds to the experience.

The experience from something as simple as delivering a paper taught me that much can be accomplished while most are sleeping. It taught me to treat the customer as I would want to be treated. And, it taught me that while "elements" may be challenging, by accepting the challenge, and working through any "elements", I am more prepared to deal with the next unknown.

To my children: as you find your way to your future profession, you will work many jobs that you may not be crazy about, but trust me, you will learn something from each. Remember your dad walking at 4:00 AM, through the snow, In-Between Swing Sets, delivering a simple paper, and enjoying every minute. Remember to carve out some quiet time for yourself. My quiet time has always been 4:00AM.

Drive-Thru Speaker Thing

I realize people are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. However, when will technology at the fast food drive-thru allow for at least an invisible experience. Google "drive-thru communications" and look at all the companies that apparently sell these things.

Today, Anger Management Clinics should be buying ad space on the drive-thru speaker thing. Reality television? "The Speaker Thing" on television could be better than most of the reality shows available today. If I was taking the orders, I would leave the Speaker's transmitter in the "on" position all day. Can you imagine the dialog coming from the vehicle prior to the order?

Enjoying the Drive-Thru Experience

While waiting in line, watch the tail lights of those in front of you. While they are wearing out their brake pads with every one inch advancement in line, witness the lead car and the verbal skills and antics of the person communicating with the speaker thing.

The person in the lead car, is on stage for all of us to enjoy. After they invent countless ways of ordering a hamburger, they hang from their window, resting on one arm, yelling at the speaker thing, while swatting their children with the other arm. Once the order has been well communicated, 3 or 4 times, they donate rubber to the asphalt below.

The next lead car has one of those driver side windows that won't go down. I anticipated that one since it was not down listening to the communication between the previous lead car and the speaker thing. While opening their car door, so they can scream their truly inventive order, the door smacks that poor speaker thing right in "the kisser". After the order has been clearly communicated to the speaker thing (and everyone else in line), the car pulls forward displaying all of the "dings" on the drivers door. I ask myself, "I wonder if this place requires one to make two more stops; one for paying and one for receiving"?

I am almost there, one more vehicle to go. I've been watching the new lead vehicle for about 5 minutes. It's a nasty looking truck, with oversize tires, and a driver that has been spiting tobacco from his window. I must admit, he's a pretty good shot, he's been aiming at the trash on the ground and hitting most of it. A friend of mine would always sit In-Between Swing Sets at the park and spit into a bottle. Back to the lead vehicle, the man is screaming an order for a milk shake. No, vanilla MILK SHAKE, oh a VANILLA MILK SHAKE. Great, he's done, oh, he spat tobacco on the poor speaker thing - he's driving off - passing everyone on the right (the shake machine is broken). Note: when in line, watch for passing vehicles on your right side.

Being the lead car now, I can give my order ..., wow, that speaker thing has been brutally mistreated. Leaning to the right, decorated with coke, coffee, fresh tobacco stains, four flavors of gum, and topped off with a pickle stuck on it's face, I wonder if someone really hit the front of it with a fist or baseball bat? Anyway, ordering "drinks only" is easy, you can actually say, " 1 ar-ar-ar-ar (Dr Peppers), 1 ar-ar-ar (Seven Ups) and 3 ark (Coke)"; 3 art = Sprite - remember to hit the "k" or "t" hard. My personal order is easy, it is one of the numbered offerings with no adjustments. My family's order (three children & a wife) is usually printed on a piece of paper in three languages; English, Spanish & Persian. If they are with me, my wife, not being in the driver's seat, leans toward the middle of the car and yells the order from the piece of paper. My job is to scream YES after a bunch of noise from the speaker thing stops. If I am alone (me - speaker thing - and order document) I order by the numbers then show remorse at home because they got the order wrong.

The Future?

With bluetooth technology, perhaps we could type our order into our cell phone and transmit it to the speaker thing? Perhaps a memory card, or a flash drive slot that we can utilize to insert our own storage device that contains an order.html or order.txt file?