2016 etiketine sahip kayıtlar gösteriliyor. Tüm kayıtları göster
2016 etiketine sahip kayıtlar gösteriliyor. Tüm kayıtları göster
Looking Back: 2016 Money Pie
Happy New Year!! It's that time of year again...money pie time!! As you know, each year I recap my spending throughout the year as a percentage. I think this is a great way to see where the money is all going so that I can make smarter decisions with my money in the future years. You can find previous year's posts here: 2014, 2015.
Groceries/Dining Out: Once again, these are almost the same! This year some friends and I went out to a nice meal once a month and we took turns paying. This equates to about once every four months me spending way too much on dinner. However, it is a lot of fun, but it's not helping my "dining out" budget.
Misc: This includes personal care, toiletries, gifts and donations, credit card fees and things like that. The bulk of it is gifts. The other things are minor.
Health: This includes pre-tax deductions and any copay or charge for contact lenses etc.
Entertainment: This includes movies, baseball games, and running related (or other hobbies) expenses. This year, most of it went to race fees. I probably should shift some of my "travel" over to this category, but once again, I am too lazy to really sort it out that thoroughly.
Shopping: This category included clothing, toiletries and items from Target that were not home or running related. This year I bought a couple of pairs of work shoes and some things from REI which could be in the entertainment category...and that is pretty much it.
So, what did I learn from this? This year I definitely spent more that last year, although a lot of that extra cost was due to my purchase of a car. However, excluding the transportation category, the biggest increases over last year belonged to the Entertainment (53%), Health (33%) and Home (26%) categories. This makes sense, as I signed up for more big ticket races, my insurance premium went up, and I was in my house for a whole year vs. 7 months last year. On the flip side, I also saved more this year, so I am pretty happy with that, as my goal from the beginning of this year was to save more if I could.
What do I want to accomplish this year? This year I hope to do a bit of deeper analysis and develop a plan regarding getting the best bang for my buck. For example, does it make more financial sense to put my money into savings or use it to pay off my mortgage quicker. I have most of the information I need; now it is time to execute! In addition, once again I would like to save more this year than I saved last year. I would like to say I could minimize the Home category, but in reality, there is always a backyard project or a broken pipe or a random thing that goes bump in the night. So, that's it!
Do you keep track of your spending habits? What is the biggest piece of your money pie? What are your financial goals this year?
As always, I did not include any savings in this chart. This is not technically "spending" although I do track it and it is part of my yearly financial plan.
Home: This category includes mortgage, utilities, taxes and insurance, as well as other misc items, such as appliances and other crap that comes with owing a home. However, the bulk (about 86%) of it is mortgage, taxes and insurance, with the others trailing way behind. Also, anything I buy on Amazon, I categorize as "home" as I am too lazy to figure out what it was I actually bought. It is probably a mix between shopping, home and entertainment in actuality.
Transportation: This year I bought a car. As you can see from the pie, it affected the transportation category greatly! In addition, I still spent money commuting (BART) and definitely drove more, as a friend and I started a weekly run meet up after work and I took advantage of nice summer days to get the heck out of dodge as much as possible, including a road trip to Oregon and Kings Canyon.
Travel: Speaking of Oregon and Kings Canyon, once again, my indulgent category was travel. Funny enough though, I actually spent less this year than last, or my calculation methods could be inconsistent. Either way, I had a great time traveling abroad as well as to several U.S. destinations and many local weekend trips.
Groceries/Dining Out: Once again, these are almost the same! This year some friends and I went out to a nice meal once a month and we took turns paying. This equates to about once every four months me spending way too much on dinner. However, it is a lot of fun, but it's not helping my "dining out" budget.
Misc: This includes personal care, toiletries, gifts and donations, credit card fees and things like that. The bulk of it is gifts. The other things are minor.
Health: This includes pre-tax deductions and any copay or charge for contact lenses etc.
Entertainment: This includes movies, baseball games, and running related (or other hobbies) expenses. This year, most of it went to race fees. I probably should shift some of my "travel" over to this category, but once again, I am too lazy to really sort it out that thoroughly.
Shopping: This category included clothing, toiletries and items from Target that were not home or running related. This year I bought a couple of pairs of work shoes and some things from REI which could be in the entertainment category...and that is pretty much it.
So, what did I learn from this? This year I definitely spent more that last year, although a lot of that extra cost was due to my purchase of a car. However, excluding the transportation category, the biggest increases over last year belonged to the Entertainment (53%), Health (33%) and Home (26%) categories. This makes sense, as I signed up for more big ticket races, my insurance premium went up, and I was in my house for a whole year vs. 7 months last year. On the flip side, I also saved more this year, so I am pretty happy with that, as my goal from the beginning of this year was to save more if I could.
What do I want to accomplish this year? This year I hope to do a bit of deeper analysis and develop a plan regarding getting the best bang for my buck. For example, does it make more financial sense to put my money into savings or use it to pay off my mortgage quicker. I have most of the information I need; now it is time to execute! In addition, once again I would like to save more this year than I saved last year. I would like to say I could minimize the Home category, but in reality, there is always a backyard project or a broken pipe or a random thing that goes bump in the night. So, that's it!
Do you keep track of your spending habits? What is the biggest piece of your money pie? What are your financial goals this year?
Look Back: Goals 2016
At the beginning of this year, I set a few goals for myself. Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job of sticking to them this time! Last year, out of about 10, I completed or partially completed 8 of them. This year, well...you shall see! I found that this year I focused more on a few specific things in my life and a lot of the other little things went by the wayside.
1. Run a 100 mile race. As much as I hate to say this yet again, this was one goal that I Did Not Complete. I signed up for the Silverheels 100 mile race in Colorado, where the course was from 10,000 feet to 12,500 feet. I got about 60 miles into it before I finally threw in the towel. This was after a lot of nausea and a very difficult time keeping food down, hence very little energy overall. However, I learned from my time in Colorado, and I am ready to try this goal again!!
7. Try new things: Partially Complete. (1) Visit 12 places that I have never been before. DONE (2) Learn one new recipe a week. Did Not Do. (3) Try 6 new things. DONE (ate Polish food, went cycling in New York city, walked over a huge frozen lake, went to a jug band party, carried chairs down the streets of Brooklyn, ate at a three Michelin star restaurant [and many more!]).
1. Run a 100 mile race. As much as I hate to say this yet again, this was one goal that I Did Not Complete. I signed up for the Silverheels 100 mile race in Colorado, where the course was from 10,000 feet to 12,500 feet. I got about 60 miles into it before I finally threw in the towel. This was after a lot of nausea and a very difficult time keeping food down, hence very little energy overall. However, I learned from my time in Colorado, and I am ready to try this goal again!!
2. Run 2,000 miles / climb 250,000 ft elevation: Completed. Last year I ran about 1,800 miles and climbed about 250,000 feet, but my goal was to train smarter than last year, because last year I got injured, which put a damper on my running. Happily, I ran approximately 2,230 miles this year and according to Strava, I climbed 413,000 feet. I will take this with a grain of salt, as my weekly running partner did about 300,000 feet. However, I probably got about 100,000 feet more than him just by hiking in the Alps. So I will call it something between 300,000 - 400,000 feet. Total win.
3. Read 52 books. Completed. This year I read 72 books. I also did the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, which I will probably not do again next year. I found it fun to try new things but felt pressure to complete the categories and guilt if I read something that did not "count toward something". See this post for my favorites of 2016!
4. Read 12 books from my own shelves. Did Not Complete. I ended up reading 3 books from my own shelves and throwing all three away. It's not great, but if I was a baseball player, I would have a better batting average than most pitchers.
5. Ride my bike to work 2 times per week: Did Not Complete. According to Strava, I biked 134 miles for a total of 57 rides or 2.35 miles per ride. Before you say that it's not so bad because that's still over 1x per week, let me remind you that a "ride" to me is to AND from the BART station, which would be about 4 miles each day. So I probably rode to work 28 times, which is an average of about once every two weeks.
6. Practice my Spanish: Did Not Complete. My goal was to talk to a friend for at least 5 minutes once a week, and to study and learn at least 100 new words per week. This is a goal that I didn't really even try to make happen. My running husband is from Mexico and he would happily talk to me in Spanish, but I didn't even try. Total fail.
7. Try new things: Partially Complete. (1) Visit 12 places that I have never been before. DONE (2) Learn one new recipe a week. Did Not Do. (3) Try 6 new things. DONE (ate Polish food, went cycling in New York city, walked over a huge frozen lake, went to a jug band party, carried chairs down the streets of Brooklyn, ate at a three Michelin star restaurant [and many more!]).
8. Spend less than I spent last year: Did Not Complete. This year, although I did not buy a house, I did buy a car and so my transportation category is way inflated over last year. In addition, paying all the household bills myself rather than splitting them like I did for part of the year last year probably increased the "bill" portion of my "home" category by at least twice as much. I will be posting my annual 2016 money pie very soon and will give a breakdown of how much each category increased/decreased from last year.
As you can see, out of the eight goals I posted, I only completed two and partially completed one. Next year I will have to think about where I could improve upon achieving my goals. I think my biggest downfall this year is lack of planning, which is not normal for me! But, in the words of good old Benny F., "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So true. First goal of 2017: be more structured in my planning! (Side note: If you haven't listened to this episode of Freakonomics about productivity, you should do it now!)
In case you think that I am a totally negative Nellie, fear not! I have a lot of things that I am proud of from this year! I installed a ceiling fan in my room, I did a ton of work in the backyard, I did a huge purge and Goodwill run (and got rid of a ton of books etc. in the process), I had a new 100k PR and beat my old 50 mile time for one difficult race (in the snow no less), I spent a lot of good times with my friends and family and I traveled to some fabulous places! However, those items are not as easy to quantify, but all in all, I would say it was a successful year.
Did you make goals in 2016? Which ones were difficult for you to obtain? Do you fail to plan or are you good at seeing things through? Did you have a successful year?
Best of 2016: Books
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 03:00
2016, Best Of, Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, BOOKS, lists, Recap
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Wow, this year has really flown by and it's time again for the best of the best lists! I enjoy looking back at other people's prior year's lists as well as my own and seeing how things went in years past. So I can't pass it up this year and am looking forward to checking out everyone else's posts. As much as I love all lists, the best of lists for books are probably my favorites.
This year I read 71 books and I gave five of them five stars on Goodreads. They were:
Winter of the World by Ken Follett: This is book two in the Century Trilogy. The first is about WWI, the second takes the characters through WWII. He does a great job of introducing characters from different walks of life which gives you a lot of insight into what different sides and countries were going through during the war. I am looking forward to reading the third set of the series, although these books are a bit long, so I have to space them out a little!
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult: This was a great story of a girl working at a bakery who befriends an old man, who ends up being a former Nazi SS officer. To make it even worse, the girl's grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. This book was recommended to me years ago by Lisa and I am glad that I finally took her up on her suggestion!
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: The first book in the Shades of Magic trilogy, this is a great step away from reality. The story takes you to several variations of London, some good, some bad, and is full of magic, kingdoms, good, evil and adventure. The characters are likable and the second book in the series is also a lot of fun as well!
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly: Set in WWII, this is a story about three different girls, a doctor from Germany who ends up working at Ravensbruck, a Polish girl who ends up imprisoned in Ravensbruck and an American socialite who ends up entangled in the mix. I learned a lot about the horrors that happen in the camps that I hadn't really known much about before.
In addition to these, some of my other favorites were: Aristotle and Dante Discovery the Secrets of the Universe, Circling the Sun, Between the World and Me, Ready Player One, Homegoing and Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. See other 4 star recommendations here.
I also participated in the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, which encourages people to try new types of books. I did not finish the list of 24 categories, but I had a lot of fun exploring new categories! Below is my list. Yellow are the ones I did not complete.
1 A horror book - The Terror
This year I read 71 books and I gave five of them five stars on Goodreads. They were:
Winter of the World by Ken Follett: This is book two in the Century Trilogy. The first is about WWI, the second takes the characters through WWII. He does a great job of introducing characters from different walks of life which gives you a lot of insight into what different sides and countries were going through during the war. I am looking forward to reading the third set of the series, although these books are a bit long, so I have to space them out a little!
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult: This was a great story of a girl working at a bakery who befriends an old man, who ends up being a former Nazi SS officer. To make it even worse, the girl's grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. This book was recommended to me years ago by Lisa and I am glad that I finally took her up on her suggestion!
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: The first book in the Shades of Magic trilogy, this is a great step away from reality. The story takes you to several variations of London, some good, some bad, and is full of magic, kingdoms, good, evil and adventure. The characters are likable and the second book in the series is also a lot of fun as well!
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly: Set in WWII, this is a story about three different girls, a doctor from Germany who ends up working at Ravensbruck, a Polish girl who ends up imprisoned in Ravensbruck and an American socialite who ends up entangled in the mix. I learned a lot about the horrors that happen in the camps that I hadn't really known much about before.
In addition to these, some of my other favorites were: Aristotle and Dante Discovery the Secrets of the Universe, Circling the Sun, Between the World and Me, Ready Player One, Homegoing and Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. See other 4 star recommendations here.
I also participated in the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, which encourages people to try new types of books. I did not finish the list of 24 categories, but I had a lot of fun exploring new categories! Below is my list. Yellow are the ones I did not complete.
1 A horror book - The Terror
2 A nonfiction book about science
3 A collection of essays - A Manual for Cleaning Women
4 Read a book out loud to someone
5 A middle grade novel - Finding Someplace
6 A biography
7 A dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel - Ready Player One
8 A book originally published in the decade you were born
9 Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award - Euphoria
10 A book over 500 pages long - The Lake House
11 A book under 100 pages long - Holy the Firm
12 A book by or about a person that identifies as transgender
13 A book that is set in the Middle East - Prisoner of Tehrah
14 A book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
15 A book of historical fiction set before 1900 - The Taming of the Queen
16 The first book in a series by a person of color - Blanche on the Lam
17 A non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years
18 A book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie
19 A nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes - Spinster
20 A book about religion - 1000 Lashes
21 A book about politics, in your country or another
22 A food memoir - Cleaved
23 A play - Death of a Salesman
24 A book with a main character that has a mental illness - Tender Points
How was your year of reading? What was your favorite book of 2016? Did you participate in any reading challenges this year?
Looking Back: October & November
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 04:50
2016, BOOKS, lists, Looking Back, November, October, Recap
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You know how sometimes you go into a motivation rabbit hole and you just can't climb back out into the light? I have been going to work earlier than normal and it's dark all the time and a glass of wine and a movie has been sounding way more appealing than suiting up and going running. Not to say that nothing is getting done. I have been revamping the backyard, which is my excuse for not running on some days (cross training!) and there is a never-ending supply of leaves to be raked. And I've purged the closets again and again. And now it's December, the month of parties and friends and eating and merriment and although fun, it sometimes gets a little overwhelming! I look forward to January, when things quiet down and I get back into the running groove. Until then, here's what's been happening!
Running: In October, I ran 167 miles. I am actually surprised at this number, as I was sick for a couple of weeks and went home to visit my parents one weekend. In November I ran 125 miles, which doesn't surprise me, as I was sick (again!) and I had my Mom in town one weekend. My longest run was the Quad Dipsea (28 miles) and man was I sore afterward! As for the biking plan, it's pretty much gone out the window, as I got a flat and I have been lazy about fixing it! I need to get back on track with that for sure! However, I have already reached my 2,000 mile running goal for the year and have way overshot my 250,000 ft climbing goal (I have about 400,000 feet of climbing so far this year)!
Reading: In October and November, I read 5 books each month, the best being Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, which talks about aging and having too much stuff and life in general. It was a quick and easy read that, although I am not of the same age, I could relate to a lot of the author's tales. Otherwise, a lot of them were just so-so and I especially was not a fan of The Nest, which got great reviews or A Little Life, which was really depressing and just went on and on.
Travel: Having traveled a lot during the summer and then gone on vacation in September, October and November were more like decompression months, where I stayed home a lot and worked in the yard and/or around the house. I did get up to see my brother a couple of times in Santa Rosa, I went to visit my parents once and I took a couple of smaller trips to Auburn, Sacramento and Tahoe. I found a great video game arcade and bar in Sacramento that has all of the old games, like Donkey Kong and Mrs. Pac Man. Along with pizza and beer and the fact that the games still cost a quarter, it can't get much better than that!!
December is almost over and Christmas is nearly upon us! I hope that you and yours have a great time wherever you are and I will see you all next year!!
What do you like to do when the weather gets cold and its dark outside? What are your plans for the holidays?
Running: In October, I ran 167 miles. I am actually surprised at this number, as I was sick for a couple of weeks and went home to visit my parents one weekend. In November I ran 125 miles, which doesn't surprise me, as I was sick (again!) and I had my Mom in town one weekend. My longest run was the Quad Dipsea (28 miles) and man was I sore afterward! As for the biking plan, it's pretty much gone out the window, as I got a flat and I have been lazy about fixing it! I need to get back on track with that for sure! However, I have already reached my 2,000 mile running goal for the year and have way overshot my 250,000 ft climbing goal (I have about 400,000 feet of climbing so far this year)!
Reading: In October and November, I read 5 books each month, the best being Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, which talks about aging and having too much stuff and life in general. It was a quick and easy read that, although I am not of the same age, I could relate to a lot of the author's tales. Otherwise, a lot of them were just so-so and I especially was not a fan of The Nest, which got great reviews or A Little Life, which was really depressing and just went on and on.
Travel: Having traveled a lot during the summer and then gone on vacation in September, October and November were more like decompression months, where I stayed home a lot and worked in the yard and/or around the house. I did get up to see my brother a couple of times in Santa Rosa, I went to visit my parents once and I took a couple of smaller trips to Auburn, Sacramento and Tahoe. I found a great video game arcade and bar in Sacramento that has all of the old games, like Donkey Kong and Mrs. Pac Man. Along with pizza and beer and the fact that the games still cost a quarter, it can't get much better than that!!
December is almost over and Christmas is nearly upon us! I hope that you and yours have a great time wherever you are and I will see you all next year!!
What do you like to do when the weather gets cold and its dark outside? What are your plans for the holidays?
Looking Back: September
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 04:51
2016, Looking Back, reading, Recap, Running, September, Travel
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For the past two Septembers, I have taken advantage of the fact that I get Labor day off, that the weather is still nice, and that the flights are a bit cheaper, and I have gone on my annual vacation. This year was no different In my line of work, I am actually required by law to take 10 business days off in a row. Fortunately, this has never been too much of a problem!
Since I was on vacation, I am going to switch this up and put the travel category first....
Travel: This year, my travels took me back to Europe, as I could not pass on the cheap Euro and the great deals on flights. I had my eye on heading back to Nepal to finally finish my Himalaya trek, but when I saw a great deal on United to Frankfurt, I knew that Nepal could wait another year. I flew to Germany, then did some hiking in the Stubai region of the Tyrolean Alps (Austria), the Dolomites (Italy) and the Bavarian Alps (Germany). In addition to lots and lots of hiking, I drank way too much wine and ate way too much good (read: carb loaded) foods!
Running: I ran about 180 miles, about 100 of which were mostly hiking in the Alps. Other than that, I did a couple of runs in Frankfurt and around the fields of the Bavarian Alps as well as some short runs while I was home.
Reading: In September, I read 5 books. Surprisingly, it was not more, as I traveled a lot. However, I also watched 5 movies on the plane ride home, so I didn't get a lot of reading done then. In addition, I ended up reading magazines, news and other items, so did not get as much book reading in as I normally would. The best book was Winter of the World, which is the Ken Follet Century trilogy. The first book was about WWI, this one was about WWII and there is a third, which I believe is about Vietnam, the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. None of these books were mine; nor were they part of the BR Read Harder Challenge.
Lab Girl (3 stars)
The Kings Curse (4 stars)
A God in Ruins (3 stars)
Winter of the World (5 stars)
Everyone Brave is Forgiven (3 stars)
All in all, September was a great month. Now I just need to start planning my next vacation!
What was the highlight of your month of September? Where did you go for vacation this year?
Since I was on vacation, I am going to switch this up and put the travel category first....
Travel: This year, my travels took me back to Europe, as I could not pass on the cheap Euro and the great deals on flights. I had my eye on heading back to Nepal to finally finish my Himalaya trek, but when I saw a great deal on United to Frankfurt, I knew that Nepal could wait another year. I flew to Germany, then did some hiking in the Stubai region of the Tyrolean Alps (Austria), the Dolomites (Italy) and the Bavarian Alps (Germany). In addition to lots and lots of hiking, I drank way too much wine and ate way too much good (read: carb loaded) foods!
Running: I ran about 180 miles, about 100 of which were mostly hiking in the Alps. Other than that, I did a couple of runs in Frankfurt and around the fields of the Bavarian Alps as well as some short runs while I was home.
Reading: In September, I read 5 books. Surprisingly, it was not more, as I traveled a lot. However, I also watched 5 movies on the plane ride home, so I didn't get a lot of reading done then. In addition, I ended up reading magazines, news and other items, so did not get as much book reading in as I normally would. The best book was Winter of the World, which is the Ken Follet Century trilogy. The first book was about WWI, this one was about WWII and there is a third, which I believe is about Vietnam, the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. None of these books were mine; nor were they part of the BR Read Harder Challenge.
Lab Girl (3 stars)
The Kings Curse (4 stars)
A God in Ruins (3 stars)
Winter of the World (5 stars)
Everyone Brave is Forgiven (3 stars)
All in all, September was a great month. Now I just need to start planning my next vacation!
What was the highlight of your month of September? Where did you go for vacation this year?
George Washington's Legacy - Not What People Think
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 11:07
18th century, 2016, 2016 election, american revolution, federalism, Hamilton, Jeffersoniasm, US History, Washington, Whiskey Rebellion
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2016 has been an acrimonious year election-wise in the United States and I've noticed a trend in this particular election to generate memes like the one above. In it we see George Washington scolding the United States population for some sort of vague "make your government more what you want it to be" without actual specifics. For me, this meme implies that George Washington would find the current United States federal government, and its actions, unacceptable and challenges the citizens of the United States to "step up" and take back their government. Which to me is taking the actual presidency of George Washington, and its legacy, and corrupting it. Because George Washington as President faced off against the very sort of action this meme espouses, and he did not take kindly to it at all.
This glorious painting is from 1791 during the Whiskey Rebellion, and the figure on the horse is George Washington leading a combined force of United States federal troops and local state militia units on an expedition to disband an armed rebellion against a tax law passed by the United States Congress. The Whiskey Rebellion formed in reaction to the high debt held by the federal government after the Revolutionary War, in which the federal government absorbed individual state debt along with its own. Import duties, it was felt by Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, could not be raised higher and a tax on a domestic product was needed. Distilled spirits became the target of the new law, it was seen as a "sin tax" and Hamilton, along with Washington, felt that the tax would spark the least anger of any taxed domestic industry. They did not figure with the anger of farmers living in the western portions of the United States at the time, in particular western Pennsylvania, who felt this tax violated their traditional rights and position.
Distilling spirits was seen by western farmers as a legitimate means of storing surplus grain and generating a valuable product for sale in eastern markets. Whiskey was also used as a means of currency in the region, so this effort to tax farmers for making whiskey was widely seen as a new form of "taxation without representation." Rebels in the region rose up, attacked tax collectors, and refused to pay the tax. Many claimed they were defending the spirit and principles of the American Revolution. Hell many of them were veterans of the American Revolution. Washington strongly disagreed and although he sent out peace delegates to deal with the rebels, he also marched out with an army to disperse them. The Whiskey Rebellion collapsed and the right of the federal government to tax internally was defended, by Washington, against individuals rising up to defend the spirit of the revolution - a.k.a. traditional limited federal government.
But hang on, because evidence is even more present in Washington's economic policies. Although he attempted in his first term as President to stand neutral between two rival factions, Hamilton and Jefferson, who respectively wanted a larger federal role in the economy and a lesser federal role (Jefferson and his yeoman farmers concept) - Washington leaned in Hamilton's direction. By his second term Washington fully agreed with Hamilton's ideas about a broader federal government and used his executive powers, along with raising support in Congress, for new laws that expanded the role of the federal government in the domestic economy of the United States. This included controversial actions like creating a Bank of the United States, strong investments in infrastructure, and tariffs to protect rising domestic industry. It even involved direct federal investment in the creation of local factories, a level of federal involvement today that makes many scream.
Overall Washington was not the man depicted in the first meme at the top of this post, he was actually as President a strong believer in a firm, well organized, fiscally involved federal government that firmly held in its hand a whip to coerce those who would rise in rebellion.
Sources: Wikipedia articles on George Washington's Presidency and the Whiskey Rebellion
Looking Back: July & August
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 04:54
2016, August, BOOKS, July, List, Looking Back, Recap, Running, Travel
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I wrote the July portion of this post over a month ago and then it just sat in my drafts folder until today, when I was going to start an August post and....voila and oops, there it was! SO this is going to be a combined belated effort!
July: July is one of those months that always flies by. It is usually full of summer outings, camping, family and fun. You just can't sit inside in July; in fact I can't even get any chores done, as there is so much fun stuff to do! Needless to say, my garden is a bramble and my fridge looks like a cross between Siberia and the Amazon (empty but tangled?) as I have not been home enough to care for it!
Running: In July, I ran about 240 miles. This was the month with the ramp up and the taper for my 100 mile race at the beginning of August. The first couple of weeks were 70 - 80 miles and the last couple of weeks were very little miles (40ish). In addition I had a week off where I went running almost every day, with the highest day being 40 miles, which was the Rae Lakes loop (beautiful).
Reading: Not surprisingly, this was not a good reading month for me. I read 4 books, but it was hard, as I was traveling with other people a lot, as well as training for my race. (Books are starred for RHC, bolded for my own).
Fangirl (3 stars)
Death of a Salesman (2 stars)*
City on Fire (3 stars)
Blanche on the Lam (2 stars)*
Travel: I had a great time in July! I went to Tahoe a couple of times, to Yosemite once and up to my parents neck of the woods for a family gathering. My favorite part was...everything!
August: August is usually full of birthdays and outings and trips, and this year was no exception!
Running: I attempted to run another 100 mile race, this time in Colorado, but once again, I did not finish. Due to this, I ran about 156 miles. This included 50 miles of Silverheels for myself and a pacing stint in Leadville, which was about 20 miles.
Reading: I only read three books and they were:
1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think (2 stars)*
The Doubters Almanac (3 stars)
A Darker Shade of Magic (5 stars)
Travel: I went to Colorado twice in August; as stated above, once for my own race and once to pace a friend in Leadville. I am not a huge fan of the Denver airport (or highway 70) but I became very familiar with it in August. In addition, I had one weekend where I stayed home (blissful) and one weekend where I went to visit my parents.
So there you have it, my summer in a nutshell. It is a bit late, but I think that just shows that it was fun!!
How was your summer? Are you ready for Fall? What was the favorite part of your summer?
July: July is one of those months that always flies by. It is usually full of summer outings, camping, family and fun. You just can't sit inside in July; in fact I can't even get any chores done, as there is so much fun stuff to do! Needless to say, my garden is a bramble and my fridge looks like a cross between Siberia and the Amazon (empty but tangled?) as I have not been home enough to care for it!
Running: In July, I ran about 240 miles. This was the month with the ramp up and the taper for my 100 mile race at the beginning of August. The first couple of weeks were 70 - 80 miles and the last couple of weeks were very little miles (40ish). In addition I had a week off where I went running almost every day, with the highest day being 40 miles, which was the Rae Lakes loop (beautiful).
Reading: Not surprisingly, this was not a good reading month for me. I read 4 books, but it was hard, as I was traveling with other people a lot, as well as training for my race. (Books are starred for RHC, bolded for my own).
Fangirl (3 stars)
Death of a Salesman (2 stars)*
City on Fire (3 stars)
Blanche on the Lam (2 stars)*
Travel: I had a great time in July! I went to Tahoe a couple of times, to Yosemite once and up to my parents neck of the woods for a family gathering. My favorite part was...everything!
August: August is usually full of birthdays and outings and trips, and this year was no exception!
Running: I attempted to run another 100 mile race, this time in Colorado, but once again, I did not finish. Due to this, I ran about 156 miles. This included 50 miles of Silverheels for myself and a pacing stint in Leadville, which was about 20 miles.
Reading: I only read three books and they were:
1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think (2 stars)*
The Doubters Almanac (3 stars)
A Darker Shade of Magic (5 stars)
Travel: I went to Colorado twice in August; as stated above, once for my own race and once to pace a friend in Leadville. I am not a huge fan of the Denver airport (or highway 70) but I became very familiar with it in August. In addition, I had one weekend where I stayed home (blissful) and one weekend where I went to visit my parents.
So there you have it, my summer in a nutshell. It is a bit late, but I think that just shows that it was fun!!
How was your summer? Are you ready for Fall? What was the favorite part of your summer?
Looking Back: June
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 03:00
2016, BOOKS, June, lists, Looking Back, Recap, Running, Travel
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Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January. Hal Borland
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
"Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January." - Hal BorlandRead more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/june.html
Running: June was a pretty good running month with a one week setback where I was sick so I laid off the miles during that week. However, I still managed to get three weeks with mileage around 60 miles, bringing my month's total to 235 miles with a total elevation gain of about 45,000 feet. I did no hiking and my cycling miles were puny = 1.7 miles. My Garmin has been on the fritz, so I am not totally tracking all of my data but so far my elevation gain for the year somewhere near 210,000 ft, which is well over my target for this time of the year. My mileage is also over target, but I do expect to have a slower and milder 2nd half of the year, running-wise.
Reading: In June, I read 6 books. None of them were really very good! I gave all of them 2 stars on Goodreads except for the last two, which I gave three. As before, starred books below are for the RHC and bolded ones are "owned" books. Total RHC books read so far = 12/24 ; total owned books read = 3/12.
In the Unlikely Event
Reminiscence of a Stock Operator
Holy the Firm*
The Disappeared
The Beautiful Mystery
After You
Travel: I actually stayed local two weekends this month, as plans fell through one of the weekends and I was sick on the other. However, the other two weekends were spent up in Tahoe: one in the north and one in the south. Both were beautiful, although running up there still involves a lot of snow scrambling, slipping and sliding and route finding, so runs are a lot more work than normal. One of the days we went on a 26 mile run/slog which ended up taking almost 10 hours, although only about 7 and a half of it was "moving" time. The rest of the time was spent route finding, map gawking and head scratching! However, the scenery was stunning, as you can see from the Lake Aloha photos below.
Lake Aloha |
Lake Aloha |
My brother and I met up on one of the "local" weekends and did an anniversary Mt. Diablo hike. Three years ago, on almost the same day, we did a 14 mile run/hike and it was probably about 100 degrees that day. It was during the drought and some of the water fountains were turned off. We remember it as being hot and dry and dusty and unpleasant!! So, the other day I got this photo from Google:
2013 |
So we decided to try it again! We went for a 12 mile hike and once again, El Diablo lived up to its name. It was hot and dry and dusty and we were so thirsty! How's that for two suckers! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Fool me twice, shame on me!
2016 |
How have you been spending your long summer June days? It's mid-year: how are you doing on your yearly goals so far?
Looking Back: May
By Coğrafya Blogcusu at 03:00
2016, BOOKS, lists, Looking Back, May, Recap, Running, Travel
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My favorite month of the year is over! I always like May, as it is springlike and jolly, plus it includes Mother's Day and my birthday! It also is the real kickoff of trail racing season, although here in the Bay Area things don't really slow down too much, even in the winter months.
Running: In May my totals were 215.6 miles running / 40,000 ft climbing, 6.6 miles hiking, and 5.36 miles cycling. So far, I am on track for my running mileage and climbing goals but I need to step up my cycling goal. The month of May involved two races, a 100k and a 50 mile race, which makes it easier to keep the mileage numbers up. However, soon I will need to ramp up even more in order to conquer the dreaded 100 mile race in August.
Reading: In May I read 6 books, which are listed below. None of them really wowed me, but my favorite of all of them was Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed, which was a bunch of different people's takes on why they decided not to have children. I think I would have read a lot more, but The Terror was almost 800 pages long! I also knocked 3 books off for the RHC and read two books from my own library (books I own in bold, star next to the ones that satisfy the Read Harder Challenge). So far my totals are 11/24 for RHC and 2/12 for reading my own books.
Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed (4/5)
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others (3/5)
The Measure of a Lady (3/5)
Cleaving: A Story of Meat, Marriage and Obsession* (3/5)
Tender Points* (3/5)
The Terror* (3/5)
Travel: This month involved a few local trips. I went to Reno for a race, which ended up being a 9 hour drive due to snow conditions (on May 21!!). I also had a great time in Tahoe with friends, doing some snow running/hiking, swimming in Donner lake and eating our weight in hamburgers. Other than that, the only other travel has been near the Bay Area for race spectating and participating.
Do you have a reading or running goal this year? What is your favorite place for a weekend getaway near you?
Running: In May my totals were 215.6 miles running / 40,000 ft climbing, 6.6 miles hiking, and 5.36 miles cycling. So far, I am on track for my running mileage and climbing goals but I need to step up my cycling goal. The month of May involved two races, a 100k and a 50 mile race, which makes it easier to keep the mileage numbers up. However, soon I will need to ramp up even more in order to conquer the dreaded 100 mile race in August.
Silverstate 50M -- bit o' snow this year. |
Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed (4/5)
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others (3/5)
The Measure of a Lady (3/5)
Cleaving: A Story of Meat, Marriage and Obsession* (3/5)
Tender Points* (3/5)
The Terror* (3/5)
Travel: This month involved a few local trips. I went to Reno for a race, which ended up being a 9 hour drive due to snow conditions (on May 21!!). I also had a great time in Tahoe with friends, doing some snow running/hiking, swimming in Donner lake and eating our weight in hamburgers. Other than that, the only other travel has been near the Bay Area for race spectating and participating.
My friend KH -- snow running near Castle Peak. |
Do you have a reading or running goal this year? What is your favorite place for a weekend getaway near you?