I was the Zen Master

I wrote little haiku poems. I emailed them to everyone.
___________

So here I am, still alive and planning for my future.

I got an email suggesting that my Korean vacation should include a stopover for some cosmetic work. And that actually was something I was considering.

For the last week or so I've been going over my finances. I've got a lot saved up, but I'd like to have an even $50,000 before I head out.

That would be enough for all the surgeries I plan on, plus a nice long vacation/recovery that will most likely end up in a relocation from San Francisco, with enough left over to establish myself in the new locale, wherever that may be.

If I step up my current Rate of Savings, I should have that amount by the end of '08... Sixteen Months sure seems like a long time on paper, but I spent the better part of the other day reflecting on how quickly the previous three years here have flown by.

A lot of it was just wasted time, but now that I'm getting older, with 25 looming on the horizon (that last peak before it all goes downhill) I'm working on organizing myself. Feng Shui'ing my life, if you will.

I went through my room, throwing away a good portion of the things I've hoarded. Bought a couple of cheap plastic drawers and gave everything a place. And I've actually kept it clean these past couple of weeks.

On the financial side of things I put a spreadsheet together (An OpenOffice one. Not as elegant as Apple's recently released 'Numbers' appears to be, but it's free, so...) that shows my future goals, current expenses, and amount Saved to date.

Seeing everything mapped out, I've been able to squeeze a couple of extra hundred bucks a month into savings.

To further motivate me, I printed out a list of everything I'm saving for and how much it'll cost, and taped it onto my wall. Every time I save enough to pay for an item on that list, I put a Fat Green Line through it.

Very satisfying, in an almost visceral sense of the word. I got the idea from a website that said Jerry Seinfeld used a calender to mark off the days that he sat down to write jokes- the goal being to mark off everyday and create an unbroken chain.

A little more elegant than my little list, but still nice to see all that green.

So all my bills are being paid on time and I can afford to eat, even though I'm putting almost 90% of what I earn into the bank. I stumbled a bit with the iPhone and the MacBook Pro purchase earlier this year, but in the long run it only added an extra six weeks of saving time.

And, if I ever find that second job, it might be a lot sooner.

I find myself thinking less about 'Amy' and 'Weena' (Did I mention I haven't had any contact with 'Amy' either for almost a month?) and find that I'm actually feeling pretty good, like I've been exercising everyday, or something. (Which probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe I should fit that in somewhere.)

Ahhh, it feels good to be organized and motivated. It smells like....Fulfillment!