BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

Early Mornings

Maybe it's not actually all that early.  I guess for some it's possibly late.  I guess it's all relative.  For me it's early though!  I suppose some people get up at 4am... so my new wake up time would be sleeping in to them.

So what time am I waking up?  The last two mornings I've pushed myself to get out of bed at 6:30.  I might move that to 6am.  The reason?  Well... Most nights I'm just super sleepy and all I want to do is just go nap.  But if I take a nap at 8 or 9 or 10pm it turns into 2am waking up with all the lights on.  And then I just go brush my teeth and turn all the lights off and go back to bed.

I hate falling asleep without brushing my teeth.  It's the worst feeling ever.  I'm all about great dental hygiene apparently.

So, instead... I just make a quick list of all the things I need to do.  Anything I don't get done before I start to fade gets taken care of in the AM.  It's working out well.  I actually tried it out last week one morning and liked it.  So, over the weekend I decided to try for this whole week.

The other reason is this lawn of mine.  When you own a house... There's a lawn that needs to be kept up.  When my mom was alive and well she had a friend from her high-school days that ran a landscaping biz come cut it and then she would pay for it from the trust income she was receiving.  But since we're still waiting in the wings for the trust (the distributions stopped when she passed away because they have to restructure it or something... also... we're getting this new trustee as the courts have decreed so it's in the process of being transferred to a new trustee)... I decided to clamp down on any extra money and expenditures.  So I'm cutting it myself.

I don't know.  I enjoy it really.  I just put on some iTunes U material, or podcasts... or various conference recordings from different developer's conferences that are freely available from infoq.com and mow away.  Not having a gas mower makes it so I can comfortably listen without having to figure out a way to block out the noise of a traditional gas mower.

I had bought a reel push mower, this one from Fiskars, years ago.  It works fine, it just takes a longer time to cut the lawn than a smelly old loud gas powered one.

AND on top of getting the lawn cut so my neighbors don't give me the stink eye... I'm using it as an early morning work out.  6am, mow for a half hour, or an hour.  Shower.  Feel pretty great... Like I've had a nice full workout.

Then I go do some other things before starting to get ready for work.

Maybe once our trust is all setup and things are in place and things start going however they are supposed to go I might subscribe to a lawn care service again and just send the bills out to the trust to be reimbursed for the cost.  Apparently that's how things are supposed to work.  We just live our lives... and then if I need a car repair, or a home repair, or something...

I just send the bill to the bank managing the trust and they pay it.

This will be true for our spouses as well.  If myself or my siblings need something, or our married sig others (should I ever actually meet a girl and get married) need something, we can just request from the trust.  And then we can also request for our kids.

Money certainly can't buy love but... It can definitely make life a little easier.  So to the girl I eventually marry... We certainly won't have to worry about that whole living paycheck to paycheck thing.  If we need a new car... We just request it.  If we need a new roof... Or fridge... We just request it.

My goal is to try and not use the trust... Only use it for emergency things and keep the rest invested for my retirement.  From what I understand I received the full amount once I turn 50.  So I plan to retire at 50.  Or, maybe I'll just go back to school and do something else instead.  I doubt I'll ever stop working.  I'll just do something different.  Start a non-profit.  Really get into writing, or who knows.  Just manage my investments full time...

I can't really say where I'll be in 17 years when I turn 50.  Who knows.  I can't say where I'll be next year!

Anyways for now... I'm going to try for 6am every morning.  There's something fulfilling about caring for your own lawn.  I don't know.  It's just cool.

And while I keep the lawn nice and neat, I also give my brain an educational treat via iTunes U courses.  Zing!  It's a two-fer.

I'm really trying to start the process of making my mom's house mine.  I just stowed away her Golden Girls DVD's.  Only took me 6 months to touch those.  She was all about watching those Golden Girls.  I just get full of tears and a heavy heart when I go to touch something.  Some days it just doesn't seem real.  Like I'll hear her opening the front door saying "Hey Ken!  I'm home!"

But she never does.

Tonight I plan to move her cell phone over to Google voice and start the process of canceling her cell.  Just have to do it.  Just have to go ahead with it already.  There's no sense in keeping it going any longer.  That will be another cost to cut.  Again, I don't know how long trust stuff and estate things take.  Who knows.  I mean our original trust case started in 2007 with the courts... So I'm just trying to be extra frugal and be cost conscious and just not count any chickens before they have completely hatched.

So for all I know, I might be carrying the weight of the costs around this house for years to come.  I'd just continue to figure out ways to get thrifty.  I'm all about being thrifty.  I hope not.  And in all honesty, I DOUBT it will be THAT much longer... But you never know.  Life has a way of giving you exactly what you weren't expecting.

So there ya go.  6am wake up call.  Try it out.  Get in the groove.  Become an early riser.  Go out there and get 'em!  Or maybe you already wake up at 5am and you're just reading this thinking... Wow... Slacker.  You're just getting up and I've already been awake for an hour.  Well look at you all fancy with your 5am wake ups... La-te-da.  Whatevs.  Stop raining on my parade!

I guess whatever works for each of us right?  I feel all successful with 6am, so I'm going to stick with that.  5am is a bit too early for me.  But if it works for you... Do it up!