Almost Adult Advice




 "You changed your password. Stop entering the old one. --Me."

How To: Avoid Being a Political Dimwit

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on any topic I choose to write about from here on out, but maybe the things that I've gone through or are going through currently relate to you and can help you in some way. At the very least, you can laugh at/with me, remembering that one time that maybe you too felt like a complete moron, as I go through the many Mishaps of an Almost Adult.

It’s almost November, which, by the way, whoa, that got here fast. Its time for the beginnings of way-too-early Christmas music, hot chocolate, beautiful fall weather, pumpkin-spiced everything, and giving thanks for all that we’ve received over the past year.

A year from now, November in America is no longer about Pilgrims and Indians, but Republicans and Democrats. If only we could make them all sit at the same table and begrudgingly stare at each other, plaster smiles on their faces, let bygones be bygones, wipe the slate clean, and be thankful for the freedoms and lifestyles this great country allows us to have. If the Indians could forgive the Pilgrims for coming in, bringing foreign diseases, stealing their lands and livelihood for a day, can’t we all get along?

Next year is an election year and unless you’ve been living under a rock or are so completely liberal that you already know who you’re voting for without a doubt, then you’ve heard about the musings over who will run against Obama in next years election.

Although this is my blog and I could inform you of my personal views right here and now, I’ve decided that a bad, one-sided political debate is one of my biggest pet peeves, and what's more one-sided than a blog turned political rant? There is nothing quite as uncomfortable and annoying than when you find yourself unintentionally in a heated political conversation that you wish had never begun. The only thing that might be worse than that is a political debate with an uninformed nincompoop. (I think that might be my favorite word ever.)

Every time I think of political debates being unbelievably ridiculous, it makes me think of the old Snickers commercial during the George W. Bush v. Al Gore campaign. The elephant is going on and on about his dad and how they even wear the same size pants, and the donkey replies, “Oh yeah, well I invented pants.” (Don’t have a freakishly weird memory like me? Watch it!)

Each year the debates just go around and around in circles, discussing endlessly candidate’s pasts, their voting records, who’s too wishy-washy, who’s too strict, who’s a mouth-breather, who has better hair, who gets Botox, who NEEDS Botox, blah blah blah.

So how do you get past the pointless stuff and develop your own opinion to avoid sounding like a complete ninny in a political conversation? Here are my tips to think about before you start up an unintentional debate.

1. So you feel a political comment coming on, its right on the tip of your tongue and ready to explode your opinion onto the innocent bystanders around you. Look around. Take into consideration your audience. Do you know their political views already? Will this lead to an unintentional and uncomfortable debate? Brace yourself for the reply. Whatever the outcome, you started it.
2. You like to consider yourself "informed". And by that you mean, you watch strictly Jon Stewart. Or maybe its Fox News. Consider if you're getting your information from a deliberately biased news source before you claim it as fact for your political ammo. All news reports are biased to some extent, so remember to take everything with a grain of salt. You say tomato, i say tomahto. (Not really, that would be obnoxious.)
3. Don't be a dolt. If you're not positive of facts to support your outrageous stance on something, find some. The "Oh, yeah, well..." comeback is so highly respected. Or just don't say anything.
4. If you post your political stance on Facebook or any other networking site, don't get mad when people who disagree with your view comment on it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if you publicize yours, its giving the right to everyone else you know to do the same.
5. You've found yourself in one of those unintentional debates. Need to get out of it quick? Put on those wedgie-inducing big kid pants, swallow your pride and your thoughts and agree to disagree. More than likely you won't change anyone's opinion in a heated debate, so just end it.
6. Always remember, an opinion is personal. It can never be wrong.
7. The best way to avoid being a complete nitwit in a political conversation is to keep your opinions to yourself. Its foolproof. Unless you end up with your shoulder elephant and donkey in the voting booth like the unfortunate guy in the Snickers commercial.

God Bless America and the freedom we have to express our own views. I think you should check back next Wednesday for my newest post, but that's just my opinion.

How To: Take or Fake an Interest in Sports

The World Series starts today!!! I am extremely torn this year seeing as I am both a Rangers and Cardinals fan. If you don't know what the World Series is, know of any Ranger besides Walker Texas or maybe the Lone, and are tempted to stop reading, don't! This article is for you! (For my avid sports-watching television-screaming readers, you'll enjoy this too. Feel free to laugh at my insightful advice.)

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on any topic I choose to write about from here on out, but maybe the things that I've gone through or are going through currently relate to you and can help you in some way. At the very least, you can laugh at/with me, remembering that one time that maybe you too felt like a complete moron, as I go through the many Mishaps of an Almost Adult.

Who has ever felt lost in a conversation about sports? How many times have the men (or maybe it was me) in your life gone off on a tangent about some sports related topic that you’ve had zero idea what they’re talking about and automatically tune out, wondering instead why squirrels don’t get fat? I know of a handful of you who this applies to right off the bat. (I rhymed.)

This is my absolute favorite time of year. Yes, the weather is finally cooling off. The leaves are changing in other states besides Texas. Here they just fall off. I just had a birthday. The Holidays are right around the corner. But I’m not talking about any of those things. I’m talking about Baseball Playoff Season, College Football Season and the start of Hockey Season. I am infatuated with all three.

For those of you who don’t know me, you’d probably never guess that I am a database for a ridiculous amount of useless sports knowledge, I have my own shotgun, I own all 22 James Bond movies, I scream at the TV while watching sports, I am a relatively good fly fisher, skier, and cycler, and I can more than likely tell you the make and model of a car by the headlights. I also apparently spent too much time with my older brother growing up. (Buddies forever, Eric.)

If you didn’t grow up with an older brother, parents who were crazed fans, or any interest in athletics at all, sports can be a hard thing to take an interest in. It’s daunting and downright boring to watch an entire game without having a single clue as to what’s going on. For women, we ask questions, and sometimes dumb ones, about things we don’t understand. (I didn't think buffaloes had wings?) Without meaning to, this breaks the first and foremost rule of watching sports with dudes. NO TALKING. Especially about things that are unrelated to the game at hand.

Well, that's where I come in. Since I can't personally sit with all of you and explain the rules and happenings of sporting events, I'm giving you guidance and rules to follow so that you won't have time to wonder if its all the cardio that squirrels do that keeps them so fit.

1. So you want to be a fan! First off, pick a sport you want to follow. Which seems least boring? Which has the cutest players? (Generally not hockey, they take a lot of sticks and pucks to the face and teeth. Sorry hockey boys, I still love you.) Now, this is key, pick a team. If you have a local team, go for that. So now you are not only a (insert sport here) fan, but a (insert team here) fan. You can even pick a favorite player. BE BRAVE! Pick one that isn't everyone's favorite. Learn a few stats about him or her and you'll really impress people when they ask you who your favorite is. EXAMPLE: My favorite St Louis Cardinals player is Yadier Molina. He's the youngest of the Catching Molina Brothers and has won the Golden Glove Award. He hits better in the Post-Season and his ability to pick people off bases from home plate makes him fan-FREAKIN'-tabulous. (See? It sounds like I know what the heck I'm talking about and that's just about one player. I could have read a Wikipedia article about him and gotten all of that info in the summary.)
2. Dress in your teams colors. You don't have to go out and buy gear that says your team's name plastered across your chest, but always check to make sure you aren't accidentally wearing the opposing teams colors. Its poor form to be wearing blue and red to a TCU-SMU game. GO FROGS!
3. The key to looking like a sports fan is your participation in the game. Lean forward in your seat, cheer with the crowd, bite your nails a little and insert random state-the-obvious yells at the players. Repetition works wonders here. "Go! GO!"
4. High five the people around you that are also rooting for the same team as you. Get involved! Be excited!
5. If you have an iPhone, download ESPN Score Center. You can set it up to have alerts as to what your team's final score of the game was, so you'll always sound prepared even if you didn't watch the game. (EXAMPLE: Man, I can't believe I missed last night's game... The Rangers STOMPED the Tigers! 15-5? Geez Louise!) You sound like a pro!
6. I haven't convinced you, you still don't want to be a fan. Live games are fun no matter what the sport or team. Pick a team, figure out how they score (be aware of switching ends at breaks in the game...) and keep drinking heavily. Cheer with the crowd! Enjoy the company!
7. Have fun! Sports are supposed to be entertainment, so consider yourself entertained. 

If you need me, I'll be sitting on my couch, leaning forward, biting my nails, screaming at the TV for the next week or so. GO RANG-INALS!

How To: Take a Trip with Frugal

Welcome back readers! Hopefully you enjoyed my birthday as much as I did. Sorry for those of you in Dallas for the freak thunderstorm… my birthday is infamous for natural disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, out-of-season snow storms, you name it, its happened. Consider yourself lucky that all we had were a few power outages.

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on any topic I choose to write about from here on out, but maybe the things that I've gone through or are going through currently relate to you and can help you in some way. At the very least, you can laugh at/with me, remembering that one time that maybe you too felt like a complete moron, as I go through the many Mishaps of an Almost Adult.

One of the (only) perks of being 25 is that now I can rent a car!! WOO! So what’s happening this week?? Mishaps is hitting the road!

Okay, so I’m not really renting a car. Lets face it, my new relationship with Frugal has me on a budget for traveling as well. I know. He's demanding.

Having a “real job” puts a kink in travel plans. There’s this mostly wonderful and partly awful thing called Paid Time Off that really messes with my head. I apparently have to plan a year ahead of time for when I intend on taking time off. My style has always been more “just wing it,” spur of the moment, than that. Instead, I’m sitting here with my work calendar pouring over how many hours I’ll have accrued of PTO by when. Carry the two, divide by four?

So let me plan for Christmas in June. No big deal. I’m also a snot when it comes to Christmas because I’m sorry, the mountains, fresh powder for skiing, Brodie accidentally burying himself in the snow, and my home are calling my name so badly I just can’t sit in my little cube.

In between now and then, I decided the best way to use my PTO is to take random three day weekends here and there, using one day at a time to get maximum amount of vacations. I went home to Colorado with one, to a family reunion with another, took a third last week for a three-day birthday, scheduled one for a wedding weekend in Florida, and then my one splurge for the year.

You (man I struggled to not say y’all there.) met Colby last week. I met her when I went to school freshman year in Boston and we’ve stayed in contact for 6 years now. Tomorrow, I’m headed to see her.

Boston; where phonetics and pronunciation have nothing to do with each other. The home of Cheers and Fenway Park, the real Patriots, Plymouth Rock, Harvard and more college students than you can possibly imagine. Signs in neighborhoods read “Thickly Settled” instead of warning to watch for children. Speed bumps are Speed Humps (ha), and round-abouts are rotaries. How I ever drove in Boston, I don’t know. The word “wicked” is used as a superlative for everything. Wicked smart. Wicked awful. Wicked funny.

I feel like I need to start dropping my Rs and put them in words that have no Rs just to get me back in the Northeast state of mind. Why yes, I’m going to Havahd Yahd, to get a slice of pizzer. Maybe I’ll take a trip to Peabuhdy (Peabody) or Wuhster (Worcester… that one always blew my mind). Its not really that bad… usually.

So here are my budget travel tips for the week:

1. If you're intending on flying, don't do it by the seat of your pants. Look at tickets at least 3 weeks in advance for better price rates. If your travel dates are flexible, look around to see if its cheaper to leave the night before/morning after/whatever.
2. Hotel rooms are expensive. Either get a hotel room with a few friends to divvy up the cost or do what I do; stay with friends. 
3. Always travel with at least a little cash. You never know what situations you may run into and having nothing but plastic doesn't always work.
4. Sign up for email alerts with airlines. I know American Airlines sends me emails all the time about great travel deals and ways to earn more miles. Fill out a survey for 2,000 additional miles? I can handle that.
5. Look into credit cards with rewards programs. Check out Award Wallet (the link is on the left under Lifesavers for Almost Adults) and use it to track all of your frequent flyer miles and credit card rewards points all in one spot. How handy!
6. Gas prices aren't quite as bad. How about a road trip? MapQuest even offers a way to estimate the cost of the amount of gas you'd need to get from point A to point B.
7. Don't waste money on going out for breakfast/lunch/dinner every day. Bring some simple snacks you can eat for at least one of your meals to cut down on spending while you're gone. Frugal will love you for it.

Ok. I really need to go pack for Boston. I'm wicked excited.