A few months ago I was looking for a hunting partner for a leopard hunt in Namibia. It seemed like a deal of a lifetime (and it was) and when I mentioned it here on Accuratereloading I quickly had several chaps who were quite interested. One fellow was from Red Deer, Alberta and he phoned me right away wanting to do the hunt. He had already booked and paid for an Alaskan Brown Bear hunt in Alaska for October but said that the price I was going at was too good to pass up... I told him a couple of other chaps were also interested and that in a week or so we could figure out what to do... A week or so later he phoned and explained that he was going through a divorce and the gov't had disallowed some kind of capital gains deduction for his ex ... and being that he had agreed to pay her capital gains tax - he was now on the hook for 87,000 ... And so couldn't do the hunt. Too bad and I went with another fellow. When I returned I dropped him a line and told him of the hunt. He was very gracious and happy for us and mentioned how he would be down in my city on the Labour Day weekend. He was moving a son down for school and wanted to drop by, meet, look at pictures, and swap stories. I thought that was a fabulous idea. However long weekends sometimes keep folk moving around and I missed him somehow. On Tuesday I e mailed him expressing my regrets on zigging while he must have zagged ... On Thursday his mother e mailed me. My friend had died in his sleep unexpectantly on Saturday night. He was only 44.

Richard,

Very sorry to hear about yout friend.
Let us hope he is enjoying himself in teh Happy Hunting Grounds.

JUst goes to show what I have always thought. Regardless of your age, enjoy every day of your life, you never know how long you have left.

Richard,
I too am sorry as friends are too few and special to lose that young.
Saeed, I too have heard to many stories of folks "waiting" until retirement to do the things vacation and otherwise only to have an accident and be unable to or pass away after a year or so. Take the time now while wea re able and do it again if you like after retirement is how my wife and I are looking at it.

[ 09-08-2002, 17:46: Message edited by: amosgreg ]

Richard,

Man, that is a brutal story! I am very sorry to hear it. We should all thank God that we have been fortunate enough to do undertake all of our hunts.

I am 31 now and had a brush with my own mortality at 29. Since then . . . two African Safaris and hopefully many many more to come. Meanwhile, all my friends are buying big houses and fancy cars. To hell with that, I'm goin' huntin'. Possessions provide little comfort on ones death-bed . . . memories and friends do.

JMHO,

JohnTheGreek

Very sorry to hear about your friend Richard. That really sucks big-time, especially for his family.

J-T-G: I too am further resolved to continue on my "ill-concieved" path to spend each cent as I earn it, rather than save for the rainy day that may never come. Family history and little clues in my own health lead me to believe that my time may be limited here, and so I plan to enjoy myself with the things I love to do as soon and often as I can.

Canuck

Canuck and JTG:

Whenever I read some of these posts like yours, with sentiments that are summed us as, "I'm not going to get old, so why save for it?" I am reminded of a couple of sayings that are personally meaningful, now that I am somewhat past 50, to wit:

"If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself."

"Too soon old, too late smart."

The problem is, what if you are wrong? Even in Canada, old age without savings is not much fun. BTW, all of our time is limited, that is nothing unusual, life is a terminal disease.

In John's case, not to worry, his new economic paradigm will take care of everyone. Everyone will work according to his abilities and receive compensation according to his needs. I wonder it the central planning committee will consider Exotic Destination Big Game hunts as an appropriate need?

Richard, I remember communicating with you when you first raised this on the forum. I too am sorry to hear about your friend. How did your hunt go? Did you post it here? I will have to look for it. I did not get to go this year. Hoping for next year. Maybe this will spur me on.Having said that, I tend to agree with the post that some kind of financial planning and responsibility is necessary. We can't just live for the moment. However, I am not aware of any person who, on their deathbed said "boy, I wish I had worked harder and longer"!
Peter
Peter.

Gatogordo,

Don't worry about me, I am not dumb enough to put all of my eggs in one basket. But I will not put off what I want to do now in hopes that I can do it and a lot more when I am retired. Odds are that my retirement won't be a long one. If it is though, my health will likely not be great and I'd rather watch my pennies in my 60's than in my 30's. There is a plan, my friend. Africa may not be in my retirement plans, but hunting and reminicsing on all of my grand adventures to that point is. I do not intend to die regretting what I have not done.

Sorry for the hi-jack, Richard.

Canuck

Gato,

I never said I wasn't going to get old, I probably will as longevity seems to run in my family BUT I had a personal brush with mortality a couple years ago and had three other incidents during recent years in which relative youngsters were taken from me in both natural and unnatural ways. I am, therefore, acutely aware that we have no guarantees in life and had best enjoy life while we got it. Do I save? Sure! Will I have enough money when I retire? Probably, but if not, I will have the best stories of any homeless guy out there!

JohnTheGreek

.....but who will believe them when you are clutching that bottle of Mad Dog 20-20?

I'll believe him, provided he believes mine. We'll probably be in adjacent boxes.

Canuck

People don't seem to have trouble believing me now . . . even WITH the mad-dog, so I can't imagine they wont believe me in the future.

Seriously, I just don't see the point in obsessing about my homes square footage or how many accesories I can put on a new car. 1990 Ford Bronco still runs great. The difference between my tastes in these "things" and those of my friends makes it possible to stash a bit of cash for retirement AND go on safari now and again. I am the only guy I know living in a 700 square foot cabin but has it decorated with African taxidermy . Man, I hope I don't find a woman, all this could end pretty quickly I imagine!

Canuck,

There was an interesting little Vietnam War period film called "Dog Fight" in which, as the bunch of buddies are on the bus to basic training, a character said, "I believe your bullshit (even though I know it's bullshit) and you believe mine . . . that's what makes us friends". I think that's pretty much sums it up don't you

Regards,

JohnTheGreek