Its Been On My Mind

This has been on my mind recently...

I would really appreciate some feedback.

I have been wondering a lot about the weight of my own decisions. How much of what I decide to is right? How do I know my decisions are in God's will for my life? How do you make any decision without thinking 'Is this the right decision'?

I do my best to make sure to pray about any decision I make in life. But how much of what I do is my mind telling me something and God telling me something else.

I do my best to use the Word to see what God has to say. Thats why he gave it to us. But what if I fail to properly seek God in a decision? What kind of weight do my decisions hold in my life?

This isnt a major issue in my life. But it sure does make me think a lot. Ive heard many things through my life about trusting God, hearing God, and other things of that nature. It isnt God I worry about. Its me putting my own agenda first. Or ever really being sure of something. How can we be sure?

Sorry for the serious post. But its on my mind {You mentioned that}.

-Pat

Economic Wednesday

Before I talk any more about economics, want to know where I stand in the whole picture of the economic world? {No!}. Yes? Ok then, here it is...

I am very pro free market.

I am pro international trade.

I am pro union. <-- blog about that coming in the future.

I am against too much government involvement.

I am against government run institutions that can be {or are} also run privately. (i.e. a public option for health insurance).

I am pro babies, cause they are cute.

My favorite economist is Adam Smith.

I am not against giving to the poor. But I dont think redistribution of wealth is the right call. Giving to the poor should be by choice, not taxes. <----Going to be blogged about at some point.

I am pro Jesus. That could be relevant. I think.

That about sums up what I think. I am sure there are more. But I doubt they will be missed by anyone {true that}.

I hope that helps in some way {theres no way that could possibly help in any way} or at least gives you an insight into how I view the things I write about.

-Pat

Friday the 13th

Its Friday the 13th...

Which is irrelevant to what Im going write about today {Pat sure does know how to throw a curve ball}.

Really the main idea behind this post revolves around chicken pot pie...stay with me...this gets better {It absolutely does not get better}.

I made chicken pot pie last night, it was pretty good. Cooking is one of my many, many talents {A vast over exaggeration of how many talents Pat has, he has very few}.

I was so proud of it. I was like, "Look what I created from nothing". It made me really happy to create and enjoy that pie.

I have a very special relationship with my food....

-Pat

Economic Wednesday

{Pat is unsure if he can be this committed to these semi-daily posts}

Does anyone read these?

In this week's economic Wednesdays I will briefly give my opinion on debt.

Personal debt to be more specific. Is it bad? Should we be scared of it?

First of all, no it is not 'bad', but yes we should be at least weary of it. Should we just completely stay away from debt in every situation? No. Debt can be helpful. It can be used as a way to give your self an advantage, such as with a college degree, or it can be used wisely in investment. Where we need to very, very weary of debt is when we would classify it as 'consumer debt' {Consumer debt is no good}. Your house..not consumer debt; your school loans...not consumer debt; your car...consumer debt. Consumer debt is really anything you buy that you could live without {That is in very simple terms}. You could live without buying a $30,000 car {Pat sure can}. You could live without that new boat, or new dress, or...you get it.

Consumer debt totalled $2.58 trillion in October 2008. This amounts to a debt of roughly $8,500 per person. It has risen since that date.

The big kahuna in consumer debt...the credit card. The credit card really does a number on Americans consumer debt and purchasing practices. It is not inherently bad, but it sure can be dangerous.

So....

Debt isn't the worst thing ever. But consumer debt can really cripple people and sometimes an entire country. Consumer debt isn't backed up by any sort of assets {Like a house would be}. Its in a league of its own and should be avoided.

So when you think about whether or not debt is bad in your own life. Consider what sort of debt your getting into. Thats the best way to figure out what the right choice is.

What do you think about debt? Whats the best way to handle debt in life? Should we get into any debt? Or should we try and avoid debt in all situations?

Pat

Not About Sports

This blog is not about sports. {Actually it is}.

Its about the fact that there may be more than sports. {Its still technically about sports. Pat is misleading}.

Lets start on Sunday. Sunday = Football {Math is important}. But this Sunday was different, I had something I wanted to do more than sit and watch football. I wanted to....

...this is hard for me to admit...

...I wanted to go for a walk {*Gasp* Pat is loosing it...}

Tis true, I wanted to be with Mary {Girlfriend of Pat, lucky duck} and go for a walk down the train tracks by my house. It was the perfect weather, at the end of an awesome weekend, in the midst of my favorite season, on my birthday weekend, and with the perfect girl. I just couldn't think of a better scenario than that. I wanted to go for a walk INSTEAD of watching sports.

I don't know how to handle this...

...I am not equipped....

Pat

{Pat just ended up watching sports}

Do Not Bet on Basketball

Ive mentioned these things a few times thus far in my blog, I will now expand on them...

{Pat would like there to be a disclaimer on this blog post}

*Disclaimer*:

{Pat does not endorse nor do does he condone betting or a gambling lifestyle}

I am going to talk about...

1. Sports Betting

2. Not betting on basketball

3. NFL bets this weekend, including my pick of the week.

1. I use centsports.com, which I have mentioned before, to place very small wagers on sports games. And to reiterate a point, it is not my money on there nor would I ever bet my own money. I dont think gambling is wise.

However...it is funny to watch Alan put all his "money" on the Wizards +11.5 {That means the Wizards basically started out with a 11.5 point head start on the Cavs} and see the Cavs win by 12 points. It was great. Alan lost by .5 points. Classic.

I like talking about the lines with various people, listening to pod casts about the lines, and reading columns about the lines. It is interesting to see which team Vegas thinks will win and which teams I think are better. Fun way to watch sports...and so far I have been pretty good at it. Going from 10 cents {They give that to you at the beginning} to $10.88 cents. Not bad. It just makes sports more exciting.

That brings us to number 2...

2. {There it is} Do not bet on basketball. It is the wackiest of betting sports. You never know what will happen. Their is more of an emphasis placed on winning week in and week out in football, but in basketball its normal for a good team to loose to a bad team. Its way less predictable. It comes down to chance way more. The difference between making a shot and not. Too close to call. There can be some good bets...like me picking the over on the Hornets vs Knicks game....but thats the exception to the rule.

Just saying...its no good.

3. My NFL pick of the week is...

{I think he's trying to build suspense}

...49ers (+4) over the Titans (-4).

Heres why...49ers arnt as bad as they seem. Titans are really as bad as they seem. End of story. You have a sporadic Gore vs a sporadic Johnson...

Plus my bet has been re-affirmed by Vegas...the line moved up to +4.5 today. Which means Vegas thinks they put it too low. Good sign for me.

Thats all I got today.

Pat

Economic Wednesdays

Why I Like Economics

Economics is knows as the silly science. Why? Because you can never actually prove anything in economics. Sure you can speculate why something happened. Lets take the Great Depression for example. How did we come out of the Great Depression? Was it....

A. The New Deal saved us, by pumping the economy full of money, raising the savings curve and increasing productivity.

B. WWII. Increased production for the war...and WWII actually lowered unemployment because so many people were in the army or died {that's sorta depressing sounding}.

C. Easing of tariff taxes in the 40's cause more international trade.

D. It was just a very difficult recession and it bounced back like it was supposed to after a certain amount of time.

The Answer {unbelievable suspense right now}...

No one knows. Everyone has their theories. It could be all of them. It could be just one. All we can do is speculate and try and learn from what worked or didnt work in the past.

Barack Obama just pumped like a trillion dollars into the economy in hopes of revitalizing it. Did it work? Maybe. Would the recession have been even worse if he hadnt done so? Maybe. It could have just turned around on its own in due time. But people say that the New Deal helped during the great depression. So...well...maybe {we get the maybe part dummy}.

Thats why I like economics. Cause theres so many theories, opinions, and ideas but we really dont know what works. We have a pretty good idea in a lot of cases. But on the grandest of scales...no idea. Fascinating.

*Stay tuned for this Fridays special on sports betting. Including my sports pick of the week*

Pat

{Pat is severly missing something in his life right now....

....thats right...he has not been able to watch the Cav's games recently...}

This is Huge

{A glimpse into Pat's mind}

A great moment in my life happened this past week. The Cleveland Cavaliers tipped off the 2009-2010 basketball season. This is huge. You dont understand {seriously you dont}. I do {Pat does}. Im thinking long term on this baby. {Long term, 100% behind Pat today, as you should all be}. Im thinking like this, "You see Pat Jr. {Great Name} I actually witnessed the 2009-2010 season, I watched Lebron, Shaq, Mo, and company. I was there....". Now that is forward thinking {north-south}. I have all my hopes and dreams in this team. This could be it. This is what it comes down to. Im not freaking out about the 2-2 start. I am already freaking out about the playoffs {Forward thinking}.

But my point is...this is huge.

Side Point {Bonus!}...don't bet on basketball, way too unpredictable. Just nutty all around.

A side point to my side point. I am up 1000% on my original 10 cents on centsports.com. $10.47. Impressed? You should be. {Pat is}.

Go Cavs!

Pat