I’m not sure if this will have been my last legislative session 🏢

I’m not sure if this will have been my last legislative session 🏢

This past week has been tough with the long hours and lack of sleep. While I do good work and make good money, my moral quams about my work and these crazy work schedules make me start to think about hanging up my hat at the end of the year and starting something new.

I listened a lot to the debates over the past week over gun control, abortion and welfare spending. While I consider myself a Democrat and work for the majority, I really have a lot of moral quams about the fundamentally unfair way they are taking the state, making the government more intrusive in our lives. Too often these days I find myself agreeing with the GOP. Maybe because I abhor government power and they are in the minority and can only throw stones.

I get that my job is just a job, just like the guy who makes sandwiches at the Subway shop. I do what I do for work for money, not for justice or what is right and fair. I’m resigned to do what is best for myself and my life, not be an agent of change or be out there on the picket line. Put in the hours, work hard, deliver quality products and services and make good money to invest towards my future.

At the same time, things are passing by so quickly in my life time. The long hours at work have quickly grayed my hair. In less than 7 months I will be 40 years old with more than half my life come and gone. The money is really good in my position today and I’m able to save a fair amount but taxes, inflation and a declining market make it increasingly difficult to make ends meet while making my savings goals. What I thought was a responsible amount to save and invest seems to little as paper values decline in a weak stock market. I should be happy that I’m getting great deals on new investments today.

Maybe this is the year to think seriously about taking the leap – either moving down south or out west to a state that more reflects my conservative values. A place where the winters aren’t so cold and harsh, where people are friendly and land and taxes are much cheaper. I probably wouldn’t make nearly as much money at such a job but the hours would be more consistent and no so long. I reminded of my friend who was a big AR-15 enthusiast who moved to North Carolina to keep his guns, and now besides his regular job homesteads, has cows and pigs. Doesn’t have to live through all the bull shit that New Yorkers are forced to live with every day.

I really dislike my falling apart, run down apartment, busing it to work every day, living in the city and feeling like I can’t afford anything but the basics when I shop or want to drive anywhere. I hate how much I pay in taxes often for government services clearly inferior to many other states. I see all my friends buying houses, getting ATVs and livestock while I live in poverty hoping for a better tomorrow while I watch my assets decline in the face of inflation. I know there is a better way to live.

I’ve made no decisions yet, and indeed I’m hopeful that all my savings and investments will lead to a better tomorrow even if things look bleak today. Staying a few more years will allow me to save and invest more and over time, markets will recover. Money saved opens more opportunities for tomorrow. Money that buys land, guns, livestock and even freedom to live in a place like Missouri or Tennessee which isn’t so cold but people mind their own business and not the crap called living in New York State.