Taekwondo

My son is 12, and has been doing taekwondo for almost 18 months. Taekwondo is for my son, the only thing that produces him some kind of physical exertion. He spends most of his time glue to the X-box and I have to admit, he is good at it. However, we do believe he needs to do some type of physical activity. During the last class, he wanted to quit. His reasoning to quit was because “I am not really good at it.” This provided me with a good opportunity to teach him that he can’t quit every time something gets hard. Also, I tried to teach him that constant practice helps you reach perfect. Indeed, in my time with the Corps, I have seen many people quit because things get hard. I have many times thought in quitting. I kept going because I had no other choice. And, this is what after all had to do with my son and taekwondo…giving him not choice. Food for thought: I truly believe taekwondo is great for my son…but the thing is expensive! Decades ago I took martial arts and it was never about the business. Today, you have to pay for testing, for each belt…and how many belts exists? They even have double colors and intermediate between to solid colors!

Deadlines and Money

Everything related with money has deadlines. Bills have to be paid at the due date. The monthly payment for the kid's after school activities have a deadline. Money is always related with time. For the government these deadlines are the same. For some in larger scale than others, but deadlines are always the same. On September 30, the Fiscal Year 2014 is done. Thus, we have a deadline to use the money before this date. However, this deadline is the other way around. We have to spend the money allocated for us because if we don't, we shouldn't wait for the same amount for the next fiscal year. I wish I could that with my own bills. Regardless, we don't know what is going to happen next Fiscal Year 15. Last year, we didn't have money during the month of October. This resulted in no training executed by the reserves companies. Let's hope this don't happen again. In the meantime, I need to find out where the bosses will use the next few hundred dollars left in the accounts.

Another day in the trenches

Trenches is what we called. Indeed, sometimes it feels like this trench is not deep enough or secure enough to stop the onslaught that comes every day. Every day bring different problems. Thus, you never know how to prepare your trench for the next day. The variety sometimes keeps you sharp. However, the same variety makes you tired. No one can understand it completely unless you are living it. Some days are better than others…but this is just another day at work It is an immense amount of paperwork required to keep the organization moving. Maybe one day someone will realize how cheap is to have everything electronically. However, until that day happens…triple copies and signatures are required. Are we the most advanced nation in the world? Let me go back into my trench.