I Solve Problems

January 7, 2010

In an absolute classic scene in Pulp Fiction, two gangsters, Jules and Vince, are driving with a passenger in the back seat. The car hits a bump, and Vince accidentally shoots the passenger in the head. This creates a big mess, as you can imagine.

Driving around in broad daylight in a blood-soaked car is a problem for gangsters.

They drive to a nearby friend's house to get off of the road. That friend's wife will be home soon and he wants Jules and Vince out of there ASAP.

Instead of working the situation out logically, they are paralyzed by panic; they see a problem and they throw their hands in the air and say, "I don't know what to do." Jules calls his boss, and his boss calls The Wolf.

The Wolf arrives and says, "I'm Winston Wolf. I solve problems." The Wolf asseses the situation, tells them to move the body to the trunk, clean the car, clean themselves, and leave; something they could have very well done on their own without having someone tell them to do it.



Well, that's me. I'm The Wolf -- both at work and at home.

Panic and irrationality are my enemies. I'm not immune to panic, but when it happens, I squash it real quick and start thinking rationally.

I'm also tremendously curious, but I don't ask questions -- I love to seek out answers for myself. That way, I feel like I've earned that knowledge, which means I'm much more likely to remember it.

I guess people notice those qualities, and think that I possess some higher wisdom than them.

That gets frustrating, but I've decided to embrace my role as The Wolf and see how that works out for me.

As Colin Powell said, "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them, or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of a relationship."

...Another Goal I Forgot to Include

January 6, 2010

I just thought of another goal I have for 2010:

Since nobody has a bracket that connects our garage door to our garage door opener, I'm going to have to use my engineering skills to make one myself. I will certainly have to wait for warmer weather on that one, though.

2010 State of the Union

January 5, 2010

I've always considered New Year's resolutions to be as corny as the Hallmark Holidays. However, there is merit to setting goals, and one of the tools to help achieve those goals is to write them down or tell other people about them; It's an accountability thing.

We are in a good place as far as our net worth goes. I have our annual net worth goals mapped out up to $1 million, which I'm forecasting we will achieve 14 years from now. After taking a hard hit in 2008, we recovered those losses and then some in 2009, exceeding our net worth goal by 2.2% for the year.

Barring another down year in the stock market, we should meet or exceed our 2010 net worth goal. I increased my 401(k) withholding to 3% pre-tax and 5% after tax. I contribute after tax dollars because you can only withdraw pre-tax 401(k) money after age 59.5 without paying a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Since I plan to retire much sooner than that, I make after tax contributions, which are not taxed at withdrawal, and have far fewer restrictions if withdrawn before age 59.5. Separate from our net worth situation, we need to significantly increase our cash reserves in 2010. We have one vacation already paid for (New York), and one still to plan (Key West, FL for Mel's 30th birthday).

Given our penchant for travel and the age of our roof, deck, driveway, and back yard fence, it's going to be challenging to build up enough cash savings this year.