It's a viable plan and having your own home, however problematic has its own upsides too.

But there's only so far you can go with working for yourself and saving, unless you're at the mad bank level of a star athlete, international banker, etc. BUT, even if you're dead middle class, you can work up to some pretty good scratch if you want it and catch a few breaks along the way. For that you have to build a business where ultimately other people are making money for you and investing in assets that create value. "Earned income" ain't gonna get it and there is only so much upside to saving. Technically there is no upper limit to income. For you, the closest obvious possibility I suppose is *maybe* taking up your dad's biz depending on where he is at. The other areas you know well are cars and martial arts. You're not lazy; the same energies applied towards building and expanding a business might turn into having the house of your dreams, just writing a check for a GT and so on. This does require an entirely different mindset than employee or even self employed, but is the way up. I can technically "afford" a lot more than tinkering on the old Vette. I don't spend there because I'm putting it back in to building up what I can repeatedly with the idea of being zero bullshit financially free by 50. I'm not any kind of genius at this but I am doing it and the pattern, while not for the faint of heart, does work. That's 10 years and 10 years goes fast, but it is in reach. Think hard about what you really want over life and what is available to you and spend your energy there. You might have much higher upper limits than you suspect.

I want to be clear though. There is nothing wrong with simply working hard as an employee somewhere, earning your money, and saving towards the things you want. It is in some sense no question a simpler process. My point is that outside some exceptions, it is limited. The balance of values and goals is entirely up to you.

I am going to be a cop, no question. That's my dream, it's what I always wanted to do, I got VERY close last time which means I'll be better prepared for when I reapply. I have no reservations about starting a business after I retire, but this plan is building blocks to getting hired. Having my own home at a relatively young age should help ease any concerns a hiring board has with employing me.

I know you and I do not see eye to eye on the LEO thing, nor do alot of people, but I will accept nothing less than a badge. Ultimately I'd love to do what I do now for some academy, CHP gave me a conditional offer equal to what they pay people with masters degress and doctorates to start in the academy. It's a very specialized skill set that fits the law enforcement world very well, and if I can train officers to stop accidentally killing people, that would be pretty ok.

When cops investigate and find real criminals, or on occasion actually stop a real crime, etc., they do a great service. CHP has additional functions to keep dip hits off the road, make the environment safer when things go badly, and that's good too. Most all of the rest is total nonsense, though the source starts at a higher level. If you can at least get some cops to be marginally more competent in their use of force, that would be a positive. So keep at it.

Man, not much more than a year after my dads business partner beating cancer, we found out yesterday that he has lung cancer, dude cannot catch a break.

Cancer sucks :(

Don't know if I posted about my moto on here yet, picked up a '14 Honda CB500F back in September as a new toy while all my fun cars are undergoing repairs. Went out for a ride yesterday - up to Frazier park and Mt. Pinos, then back down and over to the 33 to Ojai, and took the 101 back towards home. It was absolutely gorgeous out:

Fractured my ankle on Monday which sucks.:crutches:

I've been playing in a basketball league with my neighbor for the passed few months. We just finished our third season on Monday and took first place with a 9-1 record but lost the championship game that night. It happened with about 2 minutes left in the first half. I didn't know that I fractured anything, I just thought I sprained it so I iced it during half time and then started the second half. I scored 4 more point during the 4 minutes I played but then my ankle started getting to me. We were up by 11 points when I went out but we ended up losing by 4.

Same thing happened to me on the Groove Cruise. I was shuffling and thought I tweaked it, turns out I had 3 fractures, I guess we're all falling apart.

I went to the La Fit Expo this weekend to take as many free samples as I could, was there for a few hours and got to meet my favorite body builders. Just for reference as to how big these guys are. I am 6' tall and weigh 200lbs, and they make me feel small.

Brad Castleberry, strongest power body builder in the world

Adelfo Cerame Jr. If it looks like he's kneeling, well, he's a wheelchair physique competitor

Jay Cutler, 4x Mr Olympia

Simeon Panda, hard to believe this dude is my age, at nearly 80lbs heavier than I am.

They were all super cool as you would hope for the people you look up to in the industry. I've met some other people in the body building profession that were super tools so it's nice not to be let down when you meet someone you've been following for some time.

Nothing like the feeling of inadequacy to fuel your workouts :jester:

Sold some extra shit and bought something I have wanted for nearly a decade, to top it off it was on sale, in a new configuration from Springfield. Just need to play the waiting game now. Figured i'd grab one before they say I can't own it anymore.

FUCK CA gun laws, that is all.