Self-Help

If I read a book to help me with such self improvement as to become more frugal with my time and maximize my productivity, lose weight, or save money, that should help. However if self-help books really helped, why are there so many of them? One plan is in vogue and then another. People fill their bookshelves with self help books.

There is one I go back to from time to time. It was published in 1936 by Dorothea Brande, "Wake up and Live! A Formula for Success that works!" The main concept is to act as if it were impossible to fail. Instead of remembering all the times you have failed, you begin anew with no preconceived notions that you will again fail. It also delves into the ways we sabatoge our success with substitute activities.

I do wonder about the differences between those who reach their goals whatever they may be and those who never come close. Look at the commercials, the talk shows, the news. We are bombarded with another savings plan, makeovers, another weight loss plan, and yet another study. The latest weight study proposes that obese people spend more on health care. I don't think we needed a research study to prove that one. We even have reality shows about weight loss. Never in my life have I seen so much information on weight loss, yet none of it seems to work.

I don't recall a single weight loss type program when I was growing up. Of course, at that time there weren't many fast food places. There was a dairy queen near Chicago area where we lived, but it closed in the winter. In the small town in Texas where I lived as a teenager, there was only one Dairy Queen. The other places were locally owned like the Lottaburger and the Sweet Shop. For the most part, we always ate at home. We never had a "tv dinner" as they were called when they first appeared on the market. There were no artificial sweetners in soft drinks until Tab came along. I don't think I drank a diet soda till I was in my 40s. I fried chicken if we wanted fried chicken. I always bought whole milk. We'd have bacon and eggs, toast and jelly for breakfast. We had many a baked potato and varieties of recipes I made with hamburger meat. I'd never heard of romaine lettuce or any dressing but French dressing or blue cheese. Yet all those years I never weighed more than 115 pounds.

So why is there such a problem now? I did walk to school all through high school. It wasn't that far, but I carried a French Horn back and forth as well as several textbooks. In college I walked everywhere. Interestingly, I never had any food in my room, no snack box. I ate at supper and that was it. We had sit down family style meals with tablecloths, napkins and serving dishes. We filled up a table before we began eating, and left when everyone was finished. Even in the early days of my teaching and marriage, I did a lot of walking. I cooked all my meals from scratch, no boxed dinners. I take that back, there were two. We loved Chef-boy-ar-dee pizza in a box. I'd mix the dough and spread the sauce and toppings on it. The other one was those danish rolls that came in a can. I'd ice them after baking them. They were great on Saturday or Sunday morning even though they tasted more like biscuits that were supposed to be rolls. I think they still make them to this day.

Back to self-help and the book I'm rereading for the 14th time (or at least it seems that way). I don't know if the book is even still in print, and it's strange I'd even read it as I usually won't give the time of day to books like this. That's something I'll have to check out today online. I personally like the story of William James, the pscyhologist. In one of his books he mentions the idea of will using an illustration of getting out of bed on a cold morning. He doesn't want to get up and leave the warmth of the covers. Then finally he forgets about it and just gets up. Maybe I need to reread James instead of Dorothea Brande, "The Writings of William James," all 858 pages,including the 40 page annotated bibliography. Interestingly, I just opened the book to page 684, the chapter entitled "Will" where there's a crack in the binding.

You mean I wrote this entire essay to rediscover my 1977 edition of "The Writings of William James." For sure it beats any study by the CDC or any reality show on NBC and any diet plan. I think this is why I never gave much credence to books like Dorothea Brande's. I would always begin and end my reading with the famous philosophers and psychologists of the ages. But how many of us are going to plow through 800+ pages of a psychologist when we can sit and watch a reality show about losing weight and eat our popcorn and cupcakes while we watch it.

I'll be checking back later about my progress of reading again William James as well as the progress changing my life to be more productive.

Curves: the Long Route to Exercise

Today is Friday, just another Friday in July except it is very hot and humid. I had decided I would go to Curves to exercise today as I had taken a long break during camp. I'd come home too tired; then when I finally decided for sure I'd go exercise after camp, the soles on my walking shoes had melted, or the glue melted, and they became detached. I did have a pair of old sneakers I could wear, but somehow each day I was way too tired.

So finally today the 24th of July, I decided to go to Curves, a different location from the last one. According to mapquest it was going to take me ten minutes, door to door. So I start out in the car and decide to fill the tank on the way as I was flat on empty. I get to the nearby intersection to go to Curves, make a left turn, drive about a mile and it suddenly is bumper to bumper traffic. No, I better turn around and go back to the nearest gas station. So this is what I do, but I only put in $10.00 worth since gas is a little higher at this station.

Now for my second start. I'll go the other route, which would not be much further, but possibly less traffic. It turns out there isn't much traffic, but it is further. Finally I arrive at Curves at 2:40. Unfortunately, it is closed from 1:00 until 3:00 though it didn't say that on the website. A few minutes later a girl gets out of her car and unlocks the door. She turns on the music and tells me I can go ahead and begin.

I sign in as their computer is down so my card won't work. I go free because of the Senior Sneakers Plan through AARP. I like the ambiance of this location better than the other one. Also there are all these notes around and displays on the wall, hopefully to inspire the reluctant member. I then begin, and as I go around the circle I notice that they charge $1.00 for bottled water and don't have a water fountain. I still don't like the music they play, but I begin my routine. I am the only one there other than the receptionist who unlocked the door. I do my entire thirty minute routine, wondering if this can possibly help me lose a few pounds. It's a good start I tell myself.

I was determined to get there today, in spite of driving in traffic, stopping for gas, taking two different routes, and finding Curves closed when I got there. I finished up in about thirty minutes, got in my car and decided to return home. I tried the another route home, by the middle school where my son went years ago and where I from time to time substitute teach. As I'm driving the familiar route I notice how it has changed over the years, stop signs at nearly every intersection, new condos, most houses renovated, even the school. I keep trying to make some kind of use of this long trip to and from Curves to exercise for thirty minutes. There is no unusual traffic driving home so it does take me about ten minutes. I listen to PBS and enjoy the cool air conditioning, wishing I'd brought a water bottle with me. I refused to pay $1.00 for water since my Curves membership is otherwise free.

Though nothing particularly memorable comes from the "tour de Curves" today, I did get there and back and accomplish my goal. My weight was the least delightful moment, but I comforted myself that I weighed with my shoes on, and it's the middle of the day. Probably my weight is about the same it was when I first joined Curves before camp and went only three times. I do think it takes more than three times to see any changes. So I have begun again.

Surely exercise isn't this hard for every other woman sixty-six years old! Today I definitely took the long route to exercise including my detour and gas fill-up, plus six weeks off since I first began in June. Maybe congress will pass a bill that requires everyone to exercise daily in order to get health insurance, and it's all stored away on our health profile. Then we are taxed higher if we haven't exercised.

Credit Card Late Fee and Shoes, the Outcome

The late fees bothered me considerably because I've never had late fees. Today Bank of America gave me a $29 credit to cover the late fee with Chase. So now all the late fees have been reversed. However, I am still contemplating cancelling my Chase card. They tried to tell me the advantage of the card, no annual fee, low interest of 4%, and I said, "But you charged me a $29.00 late fee." She again said they couldn't do anything about the late fee, but they can set up automatic payment or other options to make sure the payment gets there on time. I responded that I was going to cancel both cards as for some reason I have two Chase cards. At some point the cards were different companies then taken over by Chase. She very politely said that was up to me but reminded me again of the benefits of a Chase card. I reminded her again that they charged me a late fee. Finally this merry-go-round ended when I told her I would let the final payment clear in the next day or two then I'll cancel both cards.

Something needs to be done about these ridiculous late fees banks charge. I can understand a $5.00 late fee, but $29.00 and then interest on the late fee if you don't pay off the bill. No wonder there are so many foreclosures. I think the credit cards are the only ones making money. I'm in the wrong business. I think I will start charging parents a late fee if their kids' homework is late. I'm going to bill the State of Georgia a $29.00 late fee plus interest for sending my Georgia income tax refund in July. Must we carry this late fee to the point of the absurd.

So much for the credit card late fee. Fortunately, that will soon be two less credit cards I have in my name. Now to the shoes that melted in the car. I had planned to go to the gym after camp so took my walking shoes with me. Unfortunately, the sole detached completely from the shoes. I have had a nice letter from New Balance, that the problem probably wasn't the heat but something they call dry rot.

"Typically with older styles they have been stored at a retailer or in your home for long periods of time. What may have happened to your shoes is something called dry rot. Dry rot is the oxidation of the rubber compounds in shoe outsoles. It happens over long periods of time if the shoe remains un-worn. The rubber begins to dry out and when the shoes are finally worn, the sole can crumble/separate away from the upper/or become sticky. In order to prevent dry-rot, we recommend rotating your shoes if you own multiple pairs of the same model, or wearing your shoes as often as you can."

I am at least glad to find out what the problem may have been and that it wasn't so much that they were left in the car. I was surprised though with their willingness to replace them. "If you are unable to repair the shoes locally, we would be happy to make a one time exception and issue you a return authorization so your shoes can be replaced."

One amazing thing I found out online when looking at new shoes prior to my response from New Balance is there is a walking shoe ww927 that Medicare will cover. It has a medicare code and is listed as a diabetic shoe. I wonder if people even know this is available. I doubt I would qualify for Medicare to cover the shoe since I don't have diabetes. However, my feet do overpronate and I have had care in the past from a podiatrist and orthopedic surgeon.

I guess all of this confusion the last week was a learning experience. First I won't leave my shoes in the car and I will definitely wear them more frequently so they don't get dry rot. Also I will make sure every bill I have is on my online banker; and regardless of how tired I may be that day, I will pay the bills as soon as they come in. The good news is I will have fewer credit cards in a few days. The other thing I have learned is this is not age related. Yes, I am older, but anyone, any age might have a late fee once in their life or leave their shoes in the car. So now it's time to move on and write about what I learned from camp this year.

In the mean time, maybe I should start an application on Facebook, "Speak to the Credit Cards about their obscene late fee charges." I bet I'd have a million followers in 24 hours.

After Camp

Finally, the house is cleaned up after a month off of domestic duties at home. All the camp supplies are put away, and the house is cleaner than ever. Only thing left to do is a little ironing and I'll do that tomorrow.

Meanwhile, to my dismay, I had late charges for bills to AT&T, MXEnergy and Chase Credit Card. Now that is unbelievable. I simply don't know how this has happened. I'm just about to get it all straightened out. I have gotten the charges reversed with AT&T and MXEnergy. I'm still working on the Chase card late fee of $29.00 on $109.85 bill that was due two days ago.

I guess that says my head wasn't exactly about bills lately. Anything that isn't in my online banking is likely to get lost though it has never happened before. I have never had a late fee on a credit card. Usually this credit card I have something like a $.95 credit as I don't us it often.

Anyway, I'm on the phone to the bank to see if they can reverse the late charge as they said they could do in an e-mail today because the e-bill was received late. I've already called Chase and they refused to reverse the late fee. So far no luck. Bank of America had someone from Chase on the line and they said I wasn't eligible for the fee to be reversed. Oh well, first lesson in a late fee. Now if I had started cleaning the house by cleaning the study first I would have found the bill on June 13, before the bill was due on June 14.

So always start cleaning the house in your study first, especially the desk! In the meantime, I guess I just had a $29.00 lesson in billpay.