Lessons from a Classic Car Show

Let me start out by saying that I am not a classic car expert. I, like many women I suspect, look at classic cars and can appreciate that they are old and worth more now then they did when they were new, but when it comes right down to it we don't salivate like our male counterparts when one comes down the road. That being said, I can tell you that my family is into classic cars and we own a few. As a matter of fact, the 1937 Ford in the picture belongs to my step-father. Because of owning classic cars, I am a member of a car club called the Prescott Antique Auto Club (PAAC) in Prescott, AZ. Last weekend I attended, worked rather, the 35th Annual Watson Lake Auto Show hosted by the PAAC. My job was to assist with the registration and ballot counting of the cars, and while I do not know much about the cars themselves, I did pick up on some characteristics on the people both attending the show and car owners in the show.

I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of classic car owners. The first type are those who have the money to purchase a car already restored just to add to their collection. You can tell which people they are because they will park their car, open the hood, and display their trophies or dash plaques. Now there is nothing wrong with this type of person, they have a beautiful collection and maintain their cars well. The second type are those who either bought their car as a piece of junk and restored it or those whose car was passed down from father to son over the years. You can tell who this group is because instead of trophies, they display photos of the car's history and documentation as to the car and restoration project. The biggest difference between these two groups is only discovered when you speak to them. Both groups will talk about how beautiful the car is, but you can tell the level of pride and enthusiasm is far greater in the people whose blood, sweat, and tears have contributed to the immaculate machine you are looking at. Also, the people who are attending the show will gravitate towards those cars just to see the progression of when it was first a rust bucket, and slowly morphed into a car that looks like it was just driven out of the showroom. To see the before, during, and after pictures really makes you appreciate the car as a work of art and not just a machine you trade in after driving it for a few years.

I am reminded of another car I saw not too long ago at a car gathering. A few months back, Jon and I went to a gathering that occurs every Saturday night near our home. As we were walking through the cars, we came up to one that beautiful to look at. Although I cannot recall the actual make and model of the car, it was a metallic gray 1960's muscle car. The owner of the car was kind enough to all us to open the doors and check out the interior. When he started the car up, "she" purred like a kitten. The interesting thing is that the car was not the focal point. Placed on a podium in front of the car was a scrapbook. This book did not contain the restoration process or bills of sale, but it had photos, news clippings and movie stills of the man's sister. She was a popular 1960's screen actress who originally purchased the car as her daily driver and according to her brother, she loved this car. When she died, she willed the car to her younger brother; and since then, he has restored the car to its former glory. As we thumbed through the scrapbook which displayed her life's work, he mentioned to us that he was always so proud of her and the car is his way of showing his appreciation and pride for his sister and her legacy.

Pride in one's accomplishments can apply to any situation or task, but this level of pride can only be achieved when you have a meaning purpose and you put in your own efforts to see it though. Just think, once you are done, you will have "one sweet ride".

I Fail Therefore I Don't Try

How many times have you heard people you know automatically give up or assume the worst before they even try. Well, I see this too often and given the economic times, people seem even more beat up than before. I know that it is difficult to think positive when you have been searching for a job for months or concerned about losing your home; but when you approach a situation with a "I am going to fail" attitude, guess what you will. Sure this sounds harsh, but the truth can be harsh. The secret is that you do not have to be this person but it does require you to recognize what it is that you are doing and change it.

In addition to my regular employment, I also teach nights at a local community college. I see students of all ages and backgrounds who walk in already defeated on the first day. Last year in fact, I had a non-traditional student who was getting back into school after many years and was concerned that my class was going to be too difficult. On the first day of class, I was sitting on the bench outside of the room waiting to go in and set up. This student (not knowing I was the instructor) approached me and asked if I thought this class was going to be a lot of work (which is a normal inquiry) but her reasoning was because she did not know if she could handle it. She hadn't even seen the syllabus or assignment list but she already has put in her mind that she was not going to do well. Oh by the way, I teach Interpersonal Communication which is a freshman level class and not something like Bio-Chemistry. I understand that people are going to be successful at some things and not so much on others; but don't set yourself up for failure before you even try. I am passionate about this and therefore I decided to say something, especially since my brother-in-law made the following comment last night "Stressing over this damn college placement test. I know there are no grades, but I'm gonna fail anyway."

My bother-in-law is going back to school. He has been out of a "school" routine for quite some time now. As expected, he has some anxiety about starting college. As part of the process, he is required to take some assessment tests so the school will be able to properly recommend the right courses for him. Before he even saw the test, he already decided that he was going to do poorly.

You can't be perfect any everything, but you don't have to be the one stacking the cards against yourself. We have enough adversity against us without having to add our own mind talk to the pile.

I am reminded on another situation. A couple of years ago I had a couple football players in my class. There was a big game the next night and my footballers were already counting themselves out of the game. They were convinced that they did not stand a chance against this other school. I told them that they may win or lose but don't walk off the field before the coin is even tossed. After a few minutes, one of my students said that I had give them the best pep talk they have ever received. Although they did not win, they played the game with their heads held high.

If you are ever doubting yourself, just think about what the AZ Cardinals did in 2008. When no one believed in them, they believed in themselves.

It doesn't hurt to ask

As many of you know, my husband, Jon, and I recently took a trip to Europe. What most of you don't know is the process I went through to get the best deal I could on this trip. I am reminded of this because of some friends who also took big trips to Europe (you know who you are) were amazed by the constantly reducing price of my trip.

People who know me best, know that I will not pay full price for anything including vacations. With the Internet you can do quick searches to find who has the best deal, that's a given. But how many of you then call the company to see if you can get even a better deal???? I do!!!

We took a 12 day cruise from Venice to Barcelona and booked the trip almost a year in advance. We were part of a larger group although we each booked separately. I searched several websites and compared what was being offered at each site and against a local travel agent. How cruises work is that you put a down payment and then have to be paid in full a few months prior to your cruise. So we found the best deal and put the deposit down. What a lot of people do not realize is that during the time from your deposit to the full payment date, if the price of the cruise goes down, you can get the reduced rate. The catch is that you have to call the agency because it is not automatic. The first time we called, the cruise price dropped $1,000. Needless to say, I did this a couple of times. Even after the cruise was paid for, I called again to see if they are offering any upgrades and what the price would be? We upgraded from an obstructed view room to a veranda (balcony) cabin for a total price of $250. But once again, had I not called, we would not have received the deal.

Now the airfare. Just like the cruise, we booked our airfare well in advance. And like the cruise the prices dropped. Most people's initial response is that the airfare is booked and nothing can be done. WRONG!!! I noticed on the website that the price was lower so I called and discovered that the ticket agent's price was even lower that what the website said. Most airlines will not refund money, but they will give you a voucher for the difference. So we both received a voucher for $350 each which we will be using very soon.

The lesson is that it does not hurt to ask for a discount. This also applies to shopping at a store. For example, we go to Best Buy a lot and will check out their open box items. When we find a OB item we are wanting, we will ask if that is the best price they can do. Many times we'll get another 10% off. A few years ago we purchased a TV that was an OB, not only did we get an additional 10%, they threw in a remote since the original one was missing.

I even applied this to EBAY "buy it now" items. I will contact the seller and see if they will take a less price. What is the worst they can do but say no.

Even my mom applied this. She was looking a a new washer/dryer and went to Lowe's first. After noting the prices and specials she then went to Sears. As it turns out, Sears had a lower price on the units, but Lowe's was offering additional specials on delivery and other components. She returned to Lowe's and explained that Sears had a lower price, not only did Lowe's honor Sears' price, she also got all the other specials being offered. Many retailers have a price match but of course you have to do your homework and make sure you ask for the match.

Eating out while staying in

I have to say that the new movie, Julie and Julia, has inspired me to write this.

With my and my husband's schedules being what they are, finding a date night can be limiting. When we do have that night, we would go out to one of the restaurants around here. After a while it got to the point where we were going to the same places, and ordering the same food and of course the price of going out keeps going up. I came up with an alternative to going out but also be able to enjoy the same quality and uniqueness of food for less the cost. I have to be honest, no one can ever accuse me of being a gourmet chef. For those of you who know me know that a good bowl of pasta will do me fine. Nonetheless, I was determined to be different. So a couple of years ago I purchased some cookbooks from Williams Sonoma and decided to surprise my husband with some fabulous meal.

Not sure if it turned out to be fabulous or not, but it did spark an idea. Instead of going out, we would go through the cookbooks and pick out what we would like to have for dinner and then help out making the dish. I found this to be much more fun that I anticipated and cheaper.

For me, cooking is rather boring; but, as it turns out, that is because of what I was making. You can only do Hamburger Helper so many times before you can't stand looking at the box. By trying new recipes, we got to enjoy unique dishes using ingredients we never though much about in the past. Also, because we did this together, we discovered a new shared interest.

Now when we do go out, we compare the quality of the Prime Rib at the restaurant to our recipe and no one is able to top my Creme Burlee.

The real cost of employment

Many years ago when I starting working, I was so excited to earn a paycheck so I can buy what I wanted when I wanted and not have to depend on anyone. What I did not realize is how quickly my paycheck seemed to disappear even though I did not make any major changes to my life style. I remember my mom giving me $10 a week to pay for lunch when I was in high school and I could make that last the entire week without a problem. So why was it that when I started to earn money, it seemed like I had less money? Here was a lesson I learned about the real cost of employment.

This is not to say that it is better to be unemployed. I know too many people who are looking for work and not finding it. What I am saying is to evaluate how much it costs to go to work and then use that infomation to make sure the job you have or looking at is right for you. What is the cost of actually working. Sure, you get paid for you employment, but do you realize that you pay to be employed? Let's start at the begining of the day. Most employers require some form of dress code. Whether it is a required uniform or just a dress code, you as the employee are required to purchase the clothing and shoes. Of course, you have to keep your clothing clean and if you work in an office, your clothing may require dry cleaning. How much do you think you spend on work related clothing in a year? Women will on average spend more per year then men. So let's say that the average work clothing purchases are $700 per year and another $300 in cleaning those clothes. ( I am sure some of you can think about just one day's spending at the mall being more that this)

Next is your overall appearance. Most people bathe and groom before going into work. This is not to imply that you do not do those things on other days. This is just to get an idea of the cost of the "little" extras you do for work. So let's say $200 per year to just the work cause.

Now how do you get to work. Assuming you drive to work, that means you own a car and put gas in that car and provide insurance and maintance. If the average commute is 30 miles round trip per day and the average gas right now is $2.50 and the average MPG on cars is 19 mpg which means that you spend $3.75 a day or $975 a year in gas getting to and from work. What about insurance and maintance? Let's say $1,000 a year to cover insurance and maintance of which 24% of that is allocated for the working time during a year so $240 a year.

Where are we at so far:

$700
$300
$200
$975
$240
_____
$2,415

Now food. Of course you have to eat regardless of working or not, but if you are working away from your home, you are more likely to eat out for lunch on occasion. Let's say you eat out twice in a week for a meal (this could also include the starbucks you got in the morning or happy hour). If you spend $10 per outing that is $20 per week or $1,040 per year in meals. This puts our total to $3,455. For people without kids, you can stop right her and determine that it cost you $1.66 per hour to be employed and for some that may not seem a lot.

Now consider if you had children who are not of school age. The cost of day care per year is about $8,150. That puts the cost of working to $11,605 or $5.58 per hour.

This is not taking in consideration your morgage/rent, car payment, utilities, personal debt, general living expenses or taxes.

I am lucky enough to have a job that I absolutely love. For those who are not as fortunate as I am, just make sure you are getting paid to work and not paying to work.