My values...

The problem with resolutions, per se, is that they exist in a vacuum. They are often inspired by feeling that we "ought" be behave a certain way, or that we "should" do certain things. Sometimes, our resolutions aren't even our own, as we strive to do things other people want us to do.

This year, I decided to carry through - even imperfectly if necessary - the principles I've learned and read about over the years. Up to now, you see, I've really only sipped at the fountain, so to speak. I've made stabs at identifying my core values, but I haven't consciously tried to consistently take actions to support them.

So, herewith and without further ado (and without getting into the nitty-gritty implementation details) is a rundown of what kind of person I envision myself to be in this upcoming year:

• I provide unlimited love and moral support to my children and grandchildren.
  
• I demonstrate financial acumen by setting up a trust fund for my grandchild.
  
• I provide guidance to my children when it is asked for, or when such guidance is sorely needed.
  
• I spend time with my wife, including intimate time, time spent talking, and time spent doing nothing at all... just being together.
  
• I spend time doing non-work, non-maintenance things with my children and spouse.
  
• I write at least once per month to my parents, and draw my mother out on our family history.
  
• I respect my family's roots by documenting them.
  
• I visit my parents, when this is feasible.
  
• I visit my friends on a regular basis.
  
• I take an interest in the lives of my neighbors and acquaintances.
  
• I remember birthdays and anniversaries of my family, friends, and associates.
  
• I exercise regularly; at least twice a week for an hour, and at least 30 minutes on other days, engaging in movement and stretching.
  
• I refrain from eating within 3 hours of retiring and refrain from eating junk food.
  
• I consume a healthy diet.
  
• I file all business-related paperwork by established deadlines.
  
• I am aware of my financial position: of my net worth, of my debt, and other important data.
  
• I act in a manner that is consistent with reducing my debt.
  
• I improve my mind by reading one serious book every two months.
  
• I am a competent administrator who plans and meets deadlines.
  
• I am an efficient planner who improves work flows.
  
• I am an innovative entrepreneur who finds ways of improving customer satisfaction.
  
• I find ways to maximize my income without overwork.
  
• I keep meticulous financial records on an ongoing basis.
  
• I maintain a positive attitude with regard to life and the resolution of problems.
  
• I avoid petty vexations and useless political discussions.
  
• I am aware of how tax laws affect my life.
  
• I constantly improve my knowledge of accounting practices.
  
• I constantly improve my knowledge of Spanish.
  
• I constantly improve my written Russian, to the point where I shall write one substantial journal entry per week in Russian.
  
• I continuously simplify my possessions by organizing them and/or discarding them to reduce the clutter in my life.
  
• I am a competent, professional linguist who enjoys peer recognition.
  
• I record my life and thinking in a journal.
  
• I am a fiction writer.

To be sure, this list doesn't cover details, but that's not the point of the list. I've already got about two dozen specific activities written down that support one or another of these value statements. I'll probably come up with a few more in the course of the day. And more, still, in the course of the year (in fact,I'm counting on it!).

Cheers...

Oh, that bean soup...

Years ago, when Galina and I lived in Florida and Drew and Lee were still in diapers, our neighbors introduced us to an old Southern tradition, that of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Aside from being tasty, the practice was supposed to assure good luck in the coming year, even if the "peas" are really beans.

I am not superstitious, but I am not above eating beans on January 1. Over they years, I suppose we've had more "bean" years than "beanless" years, and though I can't present any hard data relating bean consumption to luck, I can say that eating beans on New Year's Day puts me and Galina in a good frame of mind.

Anyway, Monday night, I happened to run across a package of dry black-eyed peas in the pantry as I was looking for a can of black olives. Though the package suggested I soak them overnight before cooking them, I proceeded to ad-lib my way through a soup right then and there.

First, I added nine cups of water to three cups of "peas," as I was going to cook them for a while (and everything needs more water when you cook things here; we are, after all, a mile and half up). Then I added about two cups of cubed beef and about a half teaspoon of salt before I remembered that we had beef bouillon cubes in the pantry. I added a couple of the latter and turned down the heat.

I let the soup simmer for a couple of hours, at which point I added a handful of the dried bolete mushrooms we collected in August, some sliced onion and some celery and carrot. The soup continued to bubble for a few more hours, until I finally turned it off and had a taste around 8 pm.

It was pretty darn good! And Galina seconded the opinion!

Unfortunately, the both of us were so pooped yesterday evening (Galina from working in the store,and me, from working around the house), that we both fell asleep around 10:30 pm or so and thus missed ringing in the New Year, which came of its own accord, anyway.

Today, over a couple of steaming bowls of soup, Galina attributed her tiredness last night to watching what she termed an "utterly boring" Marx Brothers film titled Coconuts that I tuned in last night on the Turner Movie Channel (the movie's the source of the famous "viaduct" routine between Groucho and Chico). You just have to be in the right mood to watch the Marx Brothers, I guess.

* * *Today has been a fairly productive day, all things considered. The most important part was getting my vision down on phosphor. The fact that I managed to get 23 pages of translation in during the rest of the day is icing on the cake.

Very nice icing, I might add, as the job is due Thursday and after today, I have 22 pages of material left to do, not to mention reading and reviewing about 150 pages of final copy. Fortunately, there was a lot of repetitive stuff on today's pages, and the trend may continue. This last document is a user manual to a software application used in nuclear materials control and accounting, and it is pretty d-r-y going.

* * *After getting my PalmPilot back up with new batteries and restoring my backed-up data, I spent some time getting rid of some of the older memos and appointments on the unit, until I realized that I still have plenty of free memory left on the unit.

The device is still plagued with some kind of database corruption that makes it impossible to do searches, and now that spontaneous battery drainage looms as a real threat (I'm not sure carrying a spare set of batteries is a solution), I'm just that much less enthusiastic about committing my daily working notes to the thing.

Returning to paper, however, is not in the cards.

I can tell I'm starting to babble, which is a sure sign I should sign off.

Cheers...