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A Terrifying Awakening, by Mike C.
“My grandpa taught me how to live off the land, and his taught him to be a businessman.” Remember those words from “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams, Jr.? Those lines are the story of my life. I was born just outside of San Francisco in 1963. I was raised overseas and lived in Singapore, a nation where possession of guns by citizens was (and is) illegal. The extent of my outdoor life was exploring what was left of the jungles around our home, and digging up WW2 relics (casings, helmets, hubcaps etc.) I returned to the US at 13, and lived in Miami during the cocaine wars of the 1980’s. My father was an executive for a multi-national corporation. We were pretty wealthy. Hunting and fishing were not a part of my father’s past, so he didn’t pass those along to me. Our idea of roughing it was going to the Marriott instead of the Hilton. My dad was not a “fix-it” kind of guy. When something broke, we called the repairman, or simply replaced it. I learned early the value of a good auto mechanic. I didn’t think I was totally incompetent. I could change batteries and a light bulb. I could mow the grass, and taught myself how to vacuum out the pool. I played sports in school, which consumed most of my time. I went to college and majored in political science. I didn’t take the time to look at the want ads and notice that there were not a lot of jobs for political scientists. After graduation, it took me a couple of years to figure out that my employment opportunities were limited. I finally realized that I hadn’t been trained to “do” anything. I had been trained to think deep thoughts. What was a 23 year old “deep thinking” guy to do? I looked around and asked, “Who is making money?” It became clear that the lawyers were the only ones I saw getting rich. So in 1987, I headed off to law school. I graduated three years later, $70,000 in debt and unemployed. I managed to find jobs to keep myself fed, until I began practicing law with a small property firm. Eventually, I got married and began a basic middle class life. By the time our first child was born, I was working full time as a Public Defender. We spent what we made, and saved very little. Over time, that changed, and I was able to invest in the market, and slowly began building up an IRA. Two more kids arrived, costs went up, but we have kept our heads above water. Like everyone, we got hit hard in 2002, but still managed to keep going. Over the last 10 years or so, we have been doing okay, watching our investments fluctuate and enjoying the “city life”.
Two recent situations have caused me to take a long hard look at my life, and realistically evaluate my situation. I had a total knee replacement.
Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/10/a-terrifying-awakening-by-mike-c.html
