t always surprises me what criminals (scammers, embezzlers, politicians) do with their ill-gotten gains. Generally they are arrested and the monies they so desperately stole has gone to “jewelry and lavish vacations”. And even that doesn’t cover it, since the vacation is usually to some place that is a vacation destination amongst beach idlers and discotheque-goers.

I mean, really, what the hell?

I think this is true of more than just criminals. People who know me know how much I scoff at the upper-middle class (I see your hand up, Denise). Like these ill-considered criminals, these are people who don’t seem to have a clue about what their base values are. They don’t have hobbies, interests, passions. They don’t trade money for the desperate time we all seek.

Trinkets and lavish vacations.

These ghosts really annoy me. I spent thirty years trying to save up enough for a slightly Early ReTyrement (plug). I understand they wanted to cut corners but now that they are here, they live out their life dream of… shiny bling and Cozumel?

The whole point of this is that we must have a core to ourselves, loves and interests that drive us. And yes, if we achieve out goals then our core will determine the things we do. For example, tonight (Wednesday, as I write this) I’m going to my model train club. Tomorrow morning I’ll be having outdoor breakfast with the wife and our books. Tomorrow evening is a family stroll through the nearby botanical gardens. As humans who enjoy the leisure that our modern world gives us (we aren’t grubbing cabbage out of the ground and living in huts) it seems a waste to center our beings on shiny stones and empty trips abroad. You must determine what sort of person is in the center of your being, and if you have the opportunity of time and money, spend it towards those ends.

Otherwise, your life is nothing more than a minor character in some minor novel that never got fleshed out. And I’ll ding your damn author here for that.

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