Posts filed under ‘OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS’
THE SECRET TO A GOOD RETIREMENT: WHAT NO ONE WILL TELL YOU, PART 3
Here are some guidelines I put into play during my life and are helping now in retirement.
Get as much education as you can. With costs today, it is not easy but it is important. If you think a high school diploma will be enough, learn a trade during those years and work as hard as you can learning it.
Here I’m going to be a little philosophical, but a good education will not only get you a good job but enhance your appreciation of your life and the world around you, give you the ability to understand and analyze the world around you. Today we have become a population of sheep spending and wolves profiting. Question everything. This was once a hallmark of youth, to think and question, not to bury your mind in an endless stream of the latest electronics.
Don’t spend like a drunken sailor – sorry sailors. This is the really hard part.
For your entire life, buy only what you need, not everything you want.
Learn that bigger is not better. We are only told bigger is better is by those who sell big.
Don’t upgrade just because you can. It may cost you down the road.
Don’t move from that small house you’re in now just because you can. If you don’t need the room, stay where you are. If you have kids and it seems a little crowded just wait awhile. The kids will move out after a time, and if you’re lucky, will only come back to visit.
Develop a comfortable lifestyle and stick with it no matter how much money you make. The money you don’t need, save. And find the most profitable way to save. In today’s world, a bank is not the place. Find a financial advisor, but only through references that you trust.
The next may be difficult, for in the reality of today’s world, it may no longer exist.
Find a decent paying job and stick with it.
Earn a 401k or pension that is properly funded. Even if at times the job is shit, stick with it. I’ve better.
Here is a fact none will tell you in all the seminars you will be offered to attend at the finest restaurants in the area. If you are young, you may not believe it but this will happen. If you maintain a decent salary all your life, you can retire early and not need to wait until you’re 70. I retired at 62 and the increase I would see at whatever age was minimal, because I maintained a good salary with increases and qualified for a decent social security payment at the age of 62.
What retirement guru will tell you all this?
I strongly feel, that the secret to a good retirement begins when you are young. When you reach the age to retire and are offered a plan where all is taken care of, it is probably bogus.
This is just my opinion, take it or leave it.
I just had to get this out of my system. There’s more where this came from and will follow.
Now back to the important subject of writing.
THE SECRET TO A GOOD RETIREMENT: WHAT NO ONE WILL TELL YOU, PART 2
I’m here to tell you, what I think, is there a secret to the good retirement. But if you’re an old flatulence (trying to keep it clean) or approaching old flatulence age, it’s already too late. The secret, of course, is to start saving early. But there’s more to it than that, much more. Lifestyle is a big factor, what you expect from life and what you have experienced is a big factor. I’ve been lucky, in that the situations in my life formed an individual primed to save and not expect much, not need much. Let me explain.
Those familiar with my blog have probably read some of my memoir pieces. Born and raised in Newark, N.J., my family was poor. By the time I began college, we had always lived in the same cold-water flat. Six of us in two bedrooms. The experience was less than pleasant, but little did I realize it primed me for the future. Extravagance has no place in my existence, never has, never will.
What follows are some truths I have learned. Truths the retirement hucksters will not dare tell you. How will they make their money for their retirement? When you reach that certain age, and if you’ve not been diligent with your career and finances, anyone painting a rosy picture of what life could be like is just reaching into your pocket. .
I feel that preparing for retirement is not something you suddenly do when you’re ready to retire, or nearing that point. It’s a lifestyle you establish while you’re young and stick too. Perhaps not so much a lifestyle you establish, rather one that happens upon you.
But there is a way to prepare, depending on your age, not so much for you but for your offspring. Teach your kids well. If you talk on the phone while driving, and demand that they don’t because it is dangerous, no matter what they say, they will talk on the cellphone while driving. Our children learn by example. And whose example, yours.
If you max-out your credit cards and buy whatever you want, and then turn around and tell your kids to spend responsibly, what do you think they will do? It is the future generation we have to teach by example, not by words.
Here are my three simple rules to a secure retirement. You will not like them, even if you are young. Most of the young will not listen, it’s the immortal and all-knowing thing, but here they are… to be continued
THE SECRET TO A GOOD RETIREMENT: WHAT NO ONE WILL TELL YOU , PART 1
I am a writer, and I hope that someday to gain some success. I am also a retired scientist therefore, have some knowledge of this game of ‘the good retirement’ you might say I gained through ‘on the job training’. With that in mind, I am writing a piece that many will find discouraging and I’m sure with which many will disagree. I can only speak from experience, and for myself. With all the talk about retirement, due to that nasty habit we have developed by living longer, I thought I’d voice my experience. Nothing you read here may help you. My hope is that someone out there may benefit.
Here we go.
Other than being a writer, I am a person trying to survive in today’s world and economy. I think I have the secret, at least for myself and maybe those young and prudent out there (that’s a hint as to what is coming up) to a secure life after you retire. If you are beyond ‘young’ you will not enjoy what I’m about to say, but such is life, but then again, you may have journeyed down the right road early on.
Newspapers, periodicals and direct mailings focused on seniors tout the way to a retirement where all your dreams are fulfilled. Where life will be a comfort and no worries will cloud your future. Once you reach a certain age, you will bombarded with offers to free dinners at the trendiest local restaurants to listen to the profits of retirement success. The only success realized will be their own profit.
I’m not saying that you don’t need advice, but what you get at these fancy restaurants may not be the most helpful. Could even hurt you.
I’m not going to give any specifics, but what follows next is fact. You just have to believe me.
My first experience with a financial adviser was through my employer, a large company with many who signed up. After my wife and I provided all the data asked for, he asked me, “How you like to retire at 57?” Who wouldn’t? As time went on and our daughter set off to attend NYU, during a meeting he just mumbled saying, “I don’t know how you’re going to pay for it.” That retirement ‘at age 57’ went out the window. Eventually, we heard about another adviser with a local reputation. Word of mouth, the best way to a reputable business whether it’s plumbing or investments. We decided to change advisors and that’s when things got a little ugly. Attempting to switch our investments for one to the other was like pulling hen’s teeth. The new advisor expected there to be difficulties and he was right. To make a long story short we are very happy with our new man. Oh, and he doesn’t charge a fee, only takes a percentage of our profits. If we don’t make money he doesn’t.
So if you’re at that golden age to take action, stay away from the free meals, unless you’re really hungry. To my mind, it’s all bullshit… to be continued.
BEGINNING A NEW YEAR, 2014 in review
This is the time we make promises to ourselves, most of which we won’t keep. Time to reflect on the year past and the one that approaches. Time to get on with life.
As in the past, my blog will focus on writing, on where and how to publish your work, and how to endure this absurd profession. If I have any successes, I’ll share them with you. Failure will find itself under the rug.
For the coming year, I’ve decided to begin a new category, one I’ve felt growing for some time now. I already have a category, Observations and Opinions, but I find the title too mellow for what I observe as I travel through space and time. Rants & Raves will be the new category I plan to visit often in this upcoming year. It will encompass subjects which, to me, make little sense, or in general, just piss me off. The older I get, the larger this category grows.
“How does that apply to writing?” you may ask. As I read I find many current authors address issues in their fiction nudging important topic into public view. My last post, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, is a case in point where she addresses climate change incorporated in a fantastic story. But this trend is not new. Currently, I’m reading Charles Dickens’, Hard Times, an author whose work constantly addresses the wrongs in English society. Then, there is Upton Sinclair writing The Jungle, altering the meat processing industry. The list goes on and on where fiction is used to alter fact.
Let me finish this post by thanking you for entering my life and thoughts this last year, and hope that our relationship continues.
Finally, I’ve included my past year’s blog life as reported by WordPress.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
This short post will surely tell what I was doing today.
I firmly believe, if someone out there wants to be awarded a Nobel Prize, category yet to be determined, they should delve into the electric logic of Christmas lights. Here is the problem to be solved. What is the logic behind these strands of insanity? They light in the garage, yet when taken into the outside environment will not illuminate. I have recently discovered a new phenomenon with my indoor tree, lights one fine are now dimmed. What demented spirit governs these strands of torment?
Am I the only one that thinks there is some demon lurking to do me wrong?
You’ll hear from me again, I know you will as the lights chose their own fate.
Time to watch the Eagles’ game.
What is that noise? Sounds like some demented Christmas bells.
I’m sure you’ll hear
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: SCI/FI & HORROR MARKETS
In the past I introduced you to Duotrope, a fantastic resource for writers’ markets. It’s still my favorite go-to place to place my work. The site provides you with the ability to make a highly specific market search, and then save the search if your first submission should be rejected (a little writer humor). But, there is always a ‘but’; it is not free. You can, however, give it a trial run free of charge.
For those of you who produce science fiction and horror, and on a tight budget, i.e. broke, Ralan.com is for you. The site provides a wealth of market information as well as additional information critical for writers no matter what your genre such a host of links to finding and checking on the credentials of agents.
This site may take a little more effort that Duotrope, but for you sci/fi and horror writers, the price is right.
Ralan.com
http://www.ralan.com/index.htm
Duotrope
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
CONTINUING ON J.D. SALINGER AND THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
I spent some time reflecting on my impressions after reading the Catcher in the Rye and came to the conclusion that my age and the span of time since it was written were the primary factors in my interpretation of the work.
Counted among the ranks of senior citizenry when reading this novel, I found the main character, Holden Caulfield, whiny and immature. Perhaps, if I could somehow shed fifty years my impressions would be quite different. But since that is unfortunately impossible, I won’t dwell on its potential outcome.
However, I would like to address some thoughts about the novel’s impact when it was first released and how it is viewed today. The language and the fact that a prostitute appears within its pages made the work extremely controversial when it was published in 1951. I look at my own work and my use of questionable language is much more prevalent than Salinger’s, but then, my talent does not approach is so my stories slip under all radar undetected. Salinger’s novel is listed among the top ten censored books, and most frequently banned book in schools from 1966 to 1975. It is studied now in high schools but still, on occasion, provokes adversity.
What I find interesting and the reason I look forward to reading Salinger’s mysterious output produced during those 45 years of seclusion is that his classic work, once considered risqué, might now be considered a YA novel.
What are your thoughts?
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
SALINGER by DAVID SHIELDS, SHANE SALERNO, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J. D. SALINGER
Until recently I knew little about J. D. Salinger other than the fact that he was the author of the Catcher in the Rye, that he was out there remaining secluded, and then he was dead. I could not remember if I had ever read his classic.
After catching some of the documentary by Shane Salerno on PBS about Salinger, I decided to read the biography he and Shields wrote about the author. I found it to be a compelling read exploring the complex personality of the writer and the influence of WW II on his work, and how an off-shoot of Buddhism, Vedanta, influenced his life and made him the man he became after the war. Shields and Salerno brought home the point that Salinger could not tolerate phoniness in people and the life that surrounded him. This, of course, is the primary theme of Holden Caulfield, the main character in the Catcher.
After reading Salinger’s biography, I decided to either read or reread the Catcher. After finishing the book, I can say that I either totally missed the great revelations supposedly contained within the pages of the work, wouldn’t be the first time, or the book is like a good poem, you take away from the reading what you bring.
Holden Caulfield, Salinger’s alter ego, cannot tolerate the phoniness in all he sees around him. At the age of sixteen, he has an opinion on everything and yet has accomplished nothing other than being kicked out of a series of exclusive prep schools.
It seems to me, and here is where I may be missing something, that Caulfield is the biggest phony of them all. His total existence is dependent on his lawyer father’s ‘dime’. The language in the novel is true to the era, but dated by today’s standards. This should make the future publication the 45 years of constant writing Salinger supposedly accomplished in solitude interesting. During those years, Salinger was allegedly working diligently in fleshing-out the Caulfield family along with the Glass family, the subject of much of his other works.
The setting for the Catcher strongly reflects the 1940’s. It will be interesting, taking into account Salinger’s isolation from the world, how he handles the development of his characters, their language and lifestyles. Needless to say, Salinger’s publishing future provides great anticipation.
To be continued…
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
ISAAC’S STORM BY ERIK LARSON
I just completed reading Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson published in 1999. This was my second reading of this impressive and informative work on the great hurricane which devastated Galveston in 1900.
I wanted to revisit this book during hurricane season. Looking back, it would have been more enriching read done the year Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi coast or Sandy the New Jersey coast and surrounding area. More on Sandy and my Seaside Heights connection in an upcoming post.
This book will give you an appreciation of the current state of storm tracking and weather forecasting. I recommend you read it to compare today’s weather service with that of the late 1800’s when storms appeared from nowhere unannounced with prediction dependent on inflated egos and politics. Larson does an excellent job delving into the competition between the American weather bureau stationed in Cuba and the Cuban forecasters; how they were at odds on the future of the storm passing Cuba. The Cubans speculated that the storm would head into the Gulf of Mexico and impact Galveston and the Americans that it would veer north along the Atlantic coast discounting the accumulated experience of the Cubans. The competition between the two groups was such that the Cubans were forbidden to communicate their forecasts by telegram the Washington. At the same time, the Americans were forbidden to use the word hurricane in a forecast unless it was a certainty and Washington granted permission. The result of this egocentric approach was a storm of monumental proportions taking Galveston by surprise and claiming more than 6000 lives.
The title of the book is referring to the fact that the name of the head of the Galveston weather bureau was Isaac Cline. In addition to an observer to the storm he was also a victim losing his house and pregnant wife. Larson does an excellent job of following Cline and other Galveston residents through the horror and devastation. He also goes into great detail on the formation and development of a hurricane.
I am a huge fan of Erik Larson’s work, especially this gripping tale of death and destruction in Galveston in 1900.
MY FARMER DAUGHTER: ANOTHER VIDEO
Bear with me as I play the role of ‘proud dad’, for I am.
Attached is another video about Lynn’s work on the farm. I find it so interesting that this kid from Newark, New Jersey has raised a farmer.
From Farm to Patient: How One Medical Facility is Rethinking Hospital Food
I’ve also reposted a memoir piece of my childhood gardening experience.
You might say agriculture is in our roots. (Ha, Ha)
MEMOIR
GARDENING
I have always been amazed at the resilience of plants. There are those you can abuse and they come back stronger than ever. My small garden in Newark, New Jersey did not endure the harsh treatment I unknowingly subjected it to. But I enjoyed that patch of green and my small connection to nature.
Have you ever stopped for a red light while driving and gazed over at the concrete median and there, against all odds, growing through a tiny flaw in the concrete is a plant? I am amazed to see how life persists even under the most adverse conditions. As a child in Newark I simulated those exact conditions, although I called it gardening.
The yard we had on Christie Street was actually quite large. Large enough to have kickball and baseball games, but then again, we were quite small. Once I was older, we would have barbecues on our charcoal grill, summer nights spent sitting on beach chairs on the hard-packed soil, enjoying burgers and hot dogs as we listening to the sound of the city as night closed the day.
Next to our house was the landlord’s house, which was a small two story one family dwelling with and alley running between the two houses. Behind the landlord’s house was a garden, fenced in. On the opposite side of this small house was a driveway, which was actually quite long, and when I was old enough to shovel snow, it seemed to become longer still.
Our yard was large enough to hold a couple of cars, with some scraggly patches of grass growing defiantly, despite the conditions. To the rear of the yard was a three-car garage, one of which my father rented, and this was the reason I was given the opportunity to shovel the driveway. Next to the garages, and beyond the area of the yard where we were permitted to play, was another fenced area where the residents were not allowed. An old glider swing back there, but nothing much more. At the edge of this restricted area was another small fenced space, about six feet by six feet, sheltering a small garden belonging to the old woman across the hall. She had mostly zinnias and marigolds and it was a great place to catch whatever butterflies found their way into our yard. I admired her garden. She was always out there tending her flowers, pulling weeds, tying up plants with wooden stake and old stockings, the traditional way of supporting tall plants back then.
One day the fence bordering the back of the yard came down and that area of the yard was no longer restricted. I’m not sure why the fence came down. The glider swing came down about the same time. Now a whole new area of the yard was available, an area perfect for a garden. With our landlady’s permission, my sisters and I started construction
The ground was as hard as concrete; there was a total lack of anything that resembled topsoil. So off we went in the old Chevy for some rich loam. We traveled a short distance to where my grandparents lived in Hillside. There was a little-used park along a stream not far from their house, and that is where we headed for our soil. We parked as close as we could and, armed with a shovel and several large containers, started digging up the bank of the stream.
Once our topsoil was obtained, my sisters and I framed out small areas. We each had an area about twenty to twenty-five square feet backing up to the fence separating our yard from the neighbor’s yard. We made a feeble attempt to turn the soil before adding the topsoil, but the product of our digging was only reddish soil and rock, so we dumped our topsoil on top of our little garden areas and started planting.
I was rather ambitious when I planted my garden. I bought tomato and pepper plants, planted carrot, beet and parsley seeds all in neat little rows. These poor plants and seeds did less than thrive. I grew everything in miniature. My beefsteak tomatoes were more like their cherry cousins, the plants barely needing any support at all. My peppers were the size of plums. And my carrots – I grew those tiny carrots that they feature in seed catalogs, ones as big as your pinky, but I in fact was going for the full-sized edition. Why I attempted to grow root crops in concrete-like soil is a mystery to me now. But I was proud of my little garden. When my sisters lost interest, the size of my garden grew. I watered and weeded the few limp weeds that dare take up residence amongst my crops and generally enjoyed the little area of green I had created out back.
Then one summer it happened, a true sign that I had truly established a growing zone in Newark, I was infested with insects. The leaves on my plants were full of holes. This phenomenon amazes me to this day. How you can grow a plant that is unknown to the area, yet an insect that specifically attacks that plant will find and destroy it. And so it went for my little plot in Newark. I purchased a powder that I thought might remedy the situation, and after a heavy dusting that left my plants white under the strong mid afternoon sun I read the directions. This pesticide was to be applied lightly and only during the cool of the evening, always avoiding exposing the plants to this killer during the heat of the afternoon. By nightfall, my whole garden was withered and dead. I eliminated my insect infestation and in the process eliminated my garden.
The next year I planted again with a new knowledge of pesticide use. I branched out to flowers, planting some morning glories in a corner of the yard near my garden, another small square of the yard taken over for horticulture.
I have my own yard now, much larger than the yard of my youth. I enjoy my vegetable garden and the flowers planted around the property, but there are days when I think back to my little plot in Newark where I teased life from the concrete soil.
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