Traffic Survey Follow-up

About a week and a half ago, I put out my traffic survey to try and determine what kind of drivers you all were.

Probably the most interesting comment in the bunch was Amanda's comment that made it seem like it is impossible to survive as a #2 in NC. This was most interesting because other people made NC out to be a safer environment for #2's, as compared to LA. So, I guess it comes down to point of reference.

Percentage of #1's in LA > Percentage of #1's in NC > Percentage of #1's in Ohio

Here are a few charts that give you a picture of the kind of drivers that read, and are willing to comment on, my blog. The "Line Walkers" are people that claimed one side, but admitted tendencies on the other side. I was in the #2/#1 camp, though I am rarely on the #1 side; pretty much only when I am feeling like Ricky Bobby and want to go fast.




I was a little disappointed that I didn't find anything super insightful in the data. Maybe you can come up with something better. Let me know if you do.

One World, Two Wheels

I'm looking for opinions here.

I'm in the market for a bicycle. I've actually been window shopping for a bicycle for about two years. Now, I am actually thinking about spending the money to buy a bike to call my own.

I want a road bike. I want to be able to use the bike in triathlons and charity rides, but more importantly, I want to have the bike to use as transportation around town.

The two main places I have been looking are on craigslist for a used bike and at Cycling Spoken Here for a new bike.

I've heard varying opinions about buying a new bike versus buying a used bike and I thought I would see if there were any more opinions out there that I had not yet heard.

So, let me know what you think.

Searching

I was in an introspective mood last night. I decided that the reason I am involved in so many random things and the reason I want to read so many different books is that I am in search of something. I'm not sure what that something is and I'm not sure that I'll know when I find it, but I do feel like I'm searching.

Do you ever feel like that?

Saddled with Debt and Guilt

I recently found the American Consumer News blog and subscribed to it. They have had several good posts. Today's post was about 7 Benefits to Getting out of Debt. This is something that I have been struggling with for several years. We've made a lot of progress by way of altering our buying habits, but we still have a long way to go. I look forward to these benefits.

Something that I struggle with is giving while in debt. Financially, it seems like it behooves me to not give to others, the church, or various charities. However, there is a part of me that feels that even though I am paying the consequences of poor decisions, in the way of school loans and credit card bills, that I still have much more than other people. So, I continue to give.

Any one have thoughts on how one balances the desire to be charitable with the need to become debt free?

Presents

I just listened to a talk and the speaker said that he asked his kids this question...

If Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday, who should get the presents?

He said they looked at him like he was a moron and said if it's Jesus' birthday then he should the get presents.

If we were to believe that, what do you think Jesus wants for his birthday?

Balance

Well, I was going to ask "Where does one find the balance between sharing all things (Acts 4:32) and simply enjoying what God has blessed you with?", but when I did a quick search for scripture relating to finding joy in what God has blessed you with, I couldn't find anything that said what I wanted.

So, can someone point me to scripture that validates the idea that I should do things or buy things that only benefit me; The idea that I should be okay with spending time or resources on something that brings only me pleasure?

Who comes up with this stuff?

These are weird words that I had never typed: nonetheless, nevertheless, notwithstanding

I would have thought these would have each been three separate words.

I wonder if there are other weird multi-words out there?