Rich Dad, Poor Dad

So, last summer, I listened to “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” and was generally unimpressed. It is one of these books that are supposed to contain the secret to getting rich. These types of books target audiences who have no understanding of money, finances, or the way things work in the market. They give out all sorts of advice that anyone with half a brain knows, and then package it really nicely. Anyways, I am generally against these types of books. Not only are the often factually inaccurate, they are misleading, and I believe, dishonest. (Click here for another author of these same type of books case against Rich Dad, Poor Dad.)

Well, I am now much, much more against this specific series, the Rich Dad series, because of an ad I saw on hotmail yesterday, shown above.

As Nibley said in his AMAZING speech Leaders and Managers "The things of the world and the things of eternity cannot be thus conveniently conjoined," especially for making money. Persons who do this sort of thing are no better than the New Testament sorcerer Simon Magus, who tried to "include 'the gift of God' in a business transaction (see Acts 8:9-24). Not only is this book dishonest, stupid, and a peddler of ridiculous half truths meant to give hope to the financially illiterate, but they participate in priestcraft. This made me sick, and I lost several minutes looking at their website to try to find an e-mail address to complain. Not finding one, I am posting my complain here. In the end, I would put these purveyors of this get-rich-quick garbage in the same category as pornographers, payday loaners and summer sales companies—companies I would love to see disappear.

Yiiiiiiiipppppeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, for a while now, my mom and dad have been posting things about me, but finally I was allowed to have my own account, and to make my own posts. I dont have a whole lot to say, but am glad to be able to blog for my first time.

Happy Easter!

We colored eggs on Saturday and ended up with all sorts of exciting colors, mostly shades of green and blue.

Sunday Jacob wore a new shirt and pants from Grandma but before his bath and new clothes he enjoyed going through his Easter bucket and basket to discover his surprises. He loves to chew on the fuzzy bunny's ears!

Feed me! Feed me!

Hooray for rice cereal! He's taking it a little thicker now, almost two weeks later than this video was made, and today I bought 5 pounds of carrots, some of which will be pureed just for him. What a great kid!

Jacob, Jacob, and More Jacob! (and some Jeff, too!)

I've neglected my blog posting lately and for that I apologize profusely. Jacob is as cute as ever, growing (and plateauing, even), and we just love him so much. Enjoy the pictures; they go from most recent to a little bit further back!! Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a children's activity, where we got to try out one of Jacob's Easter surprises! The picture reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...minus the burping!

Friday we went ice skating at Seven Peaks for a Stake activity. Jacob was too small to skate so the bishop watched him in the stands while we went around once or twice. sorry for the darkness, the flash would have reflected off the plexiglass.

Jacob turned 6 months on Thursday last week so we had the familiar photo shoot complete with teddy bear! He spit up soon after we began so there was an outfit change. Stats from his Friday checkup: W: 17 lb 10 oz, a little below average H: 26.5 in, a little below average Head: 45.5 cm, around 90th percentile My smart little boy with the brains to prove it!! He was the same weight 2 weeks earlier when I took him in to have an RSV test. Apparently he was taller last month at 27 inches at another sick visit. Probably a case of measurement error.

He looks like a little train conductor with this hat on - I love it! He had a special half birthday party with all of his closest friends, who had not ever been allowed in the crib before or since for suffocation prevention reasons. I'm such a fun mom - look at that face! And what is a birthday of any variety, half or otherwise, without the traditional song?

Here are a few snapshots we've not posted before that are cute as well, and they come from the exhibit entitled "Sunday Pictures With Dad."

They went for a walk in the driveway/alley to try out the pack we got for Christmas!

Books

So, I have again fallen a little behind in writting about the books I have finished. Sharing Good Times by Jimmy Carter Basically, Jimmy Carter talks about all the fun things he has ever done in his life. Not too terribly great, but interesting enough not to turn it off. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway This is a classic, and I liked it as much this time as I did when I read it last time. If you have not read it, find it and read it. It is about an old man and the sea, the story of an old Cuban fisherman who catches a big fish, then the fish is eaten by sharks before he gets back home. It is great. Letters from Children by C.S. Lewis I got a $10 gift card to the BYU goodstore that was good for a week, so, along with some other stuff I didnt need, I bought this book. It is, exactly like it says, just a collection of many letters that C.S. Lewis wrote to the children who admired his books. It was a great book, and obviously very easy and quick to read. I learned a new trick. Usually on airplanes I just have my computer, and during take-off and landing, I just sit. But, in my trip to Iowa, I finished this book just in the times when you are not allowed to have electronics on. I think finding a short and pleasant book will become a traveling tradition. IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation So, this book was exactly what the title talks about, just all about IBMs involvment with the Nazis. It turns out that it took an amazing amount of computing power to do what the Nazis did, and IBM provided that computing through punchcard technology. In the end, it is written kind of like I would imagine an anti-Mormon book would be written (and how Nibley describes them in his great talk, How to Write an Anti-Mormon Book)--sensatinal, pushing the envelope, and obviously exagerating. But, it was interesting enough not to stop in the middle. So, as you can see, I am kind of scraping the bottom of the bucket as far as books, and would appreciate any good suggestions.

Rex Lee Run Thoughts

So, I am going to run the Rex Lee run in the morning. It is a 5K that is pretty popular, and it should be fun. While I should finish close to last, it will be a good time. Well, the Rex Lee run is a fundraiser for Cancer-type stuff. One of the things you can do is pay a little extra to “Honor a Cancer Fighter,” and the first thing I thought when I saw that is, “I don’t know anyone who is a cancer fighter.” Then, after thinking a little, I remembered, someone very close to me had colon cancer. Let’s call her Donna Loper. After remembering Donna, I wondered why I had not thought of her instantly when I thought of cancer fighters. Donna had colon cancer, had a goodly portion of her colon removed, had chemotherapy for a while, and has since been declared cancer free on every of the 8 or so visits since she was diagnosed. It was a process that was difficult—many tears were shed and it was a hard time for Donna and her family. So, why don’t I think of Donna when I think of cancer fighters? Donna never acted like a typical "cancer-fighter". She didn’t buy little bracelets or do any of those sorts of things. In fact, I would suggest many of the people who know Donna very well don’t even know she had life-threatening cancer. Donna is not a complainer, and is not a victim. While battling cancer was extremely difficult for her and her family, she keeps her battles to herself, and when she won, the victory was uncelebrated. So, here is to Donna. While I don’t think immediately of her when I think of cancer, I think of her when I think of amazing, tough, and vivacious woman who can’t be put down by anything.

Our first competition

So, this is the first competition on this blog. The first person to comment explaining the connection between the last post, and this one, wins. You are not allowed to just look up the story. Think about it. Here is the post. It is the begining to a story: One A Poem A Raven Midnights so dreary, tired and weary, Silently pondering volumes extolling all by-now obsolete lore. During my rather long nap - the weirdest tap! An ominous vibrating sound disturbing my chamber's antedoor. "This", I whispered quietly, "I ignore". Perfectly, the intellect remembers: the ghostly fires, a glittering ember. Inflamed by lightning's outbursts, windows cast penumbras upon this floor. Sorrowful, as one mistreated, unhappy thoughts I heeded: That inimitable lesson in elegance - Lenore - Is delighting, exciting...nevermore.

In honor of pi day

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179310511854807446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912983367336244065664308602139494639522473719070217986094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872146844090122495343014654958537105079227968925892354201995611212902196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859502445945534690830264252230825334468503526193118817101000313783875288658753320838142061717766914730359825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778185778053217122680661300192787661119590921642019893809525720106548586327886593615338182796823030195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151557485724245415069595082953311686172785588907509838175463746493931925506040092770167113900984882401285836160356370766010471018194295559619894676783744944825537977472684710404753464620804668425906949129331367702898915210475216205696602405803815019351125338243003558764024749647326391419927260426992279678235478163600934172164121992458631503028618297455570674983850549458858692699569092721079750930295532116534498720275596023648066549911988183479775356636980742654252786255181841757467289097777279380008164706001614524919217321721477235014144197356854816136115735255213347574184946843852332390739414333454776241686251898356948556209921922218427255025425688767179049460165346680498862723279178608578438382796797668145410095388378636095068006422512520511739298489608412848862694560424196528502221066118630674427862203919494504712371378696095636437191728746776465757396241389086583264599581339047802759009946576407895126946839835259570982582262052248940772671947826848260147699090264013639443745530506820349625245174939965143142980919065925093722169646151570985838741059788595977297549893016175392846813826868386894277415599185592524595395943104997252468084598727364469584865383673622262609912460805124388439045124413654976278079771569143599770012961608944169486855584840635342207222582848864815845602850601684273945226746767889525213852254995466672782398645659611635488623057745649803559363456817432411251507606947945109659609402522887971089314566913686722874894056010150330861792868092087476091782493858900971490967598526136554978189312978482168299894872265880485756401427047755513237964145152374623436454285844479526586782105114135473573952311342716610213596953623144295248493718711014576540359027993440374200731057853906219838744780847848968332144571386875194350643021845319104848100537061468067491927 This, of course, makes one ask. What is your favorite irrational number?

Amen, Glenn, Amen.

I'd like to thank Glenn Beck for apparently having read our post on Victimization. Whether you are a country, an elected official, Average Joe Citizen, or something or someone else, you are responsible/accountable/liable for what you choose to do and choose not to do. Plain and simple. Feel free to read the article and leave any thoughts here for us, or for Glenn.

P.S. Erin, here is your picture

Weekend Update (late)

Well the last couple of days have gone by pretty quickly, I cannot believe it is already Wednesday. Saturday Jeff was able to take a break for a few hours and go to Salt Lake with me & Jacob. We went up to meet a couple of my cousins and their families (Corynn and Cristin are in my sidebar). It was fun to get together and of course Macaroni Grill is always tasty. We really don't eat out all that often so it was kind of fun. Of course it was fun to see everyone, and to chat about all sorts of things, including the video I posted earlier. Corynn and Jer's baby Clayton is just a few weeks older than Jacob so it was exciting to see him in person again. Jacob didn't get to mingle with Clay though, because.... Jacob and I have been sick for about a week now, me a little longer. I don't care about myself though, but I took him to the doctor last Friday. He doesn't have RSV but some other type of viral URI. He's still coughing a little this morning, but I'm hoping he is on the mend. This little virus (which I most likely gave him! Bad mommy!) came right after he finished Rotavirus the week before last, so you can imagine he is ready to feel better by now. Plus all these sicknesses make his eczema flare up on his cheeks. Sunday and Monday I watched 5 nieces and nephews. My sister in-law and her husband got home from their trip to St. Thomas really early Tuesday morning after spending a nice several days there. There were several funny things that happened as I tended the kids; here I list just a couple: - Anna, age 5, when asked to pick the closing song for Family Home Evening: "Do we sing 'Bunny Foo-Foo' in Primary?" Well, I never did, but I don't know if she has or not. She chose "I am a Child of God" instead. - Ryan and Anna accidentally calling me Grandma (she had watched them for about 10 days before I finished) - Rachel deciding to open my bag and pull out the deodorant to take a bite of it. I always did think it smelled good, but never thought to eat it. She was quick to repeat after me when I was cleaning out her mouth and saying, "Yucky! Yucky!" - Ryan, age 3, teaching me how to play Stratego: "When you get the flag you win." And then 5 minutes into it (after he spent considerable time setting up the board while I fed Jacob) he said, "I need to draw something" and went to get his drawing supplies. That was the end of my Stratego playing experience. All in all a great few days we've had. Jeff had his interview at Iowa yesterday and came home last night - I imagine he'll write about that soon. And now to appease my younger sister, the token photo for this post, which she has probably already seen on Facebook, but it is still cute. If all our kids have this gorgeous of eyes like Jacob does, I think we will have them start being eyewear models. Or something.

Brought to you by our funny friends at SNL

It is scary how many people would probably actually respond to something like this the way these characters do.

Here

Someone just left a post on my blog that said to click "here", and nothing else. By devious means, I determined that the link was malicious, and intended to damage ones computer through viral infection. All I can say is that there is going to be a hot place in hell for people who get joy out of causing other people pain through creating and distributing viruses and other such things. **Update: It is always important to log your wife out out of her google account after you check her e-mail for her while on the phone with her before you write posts like this. Thank you.

Victimization

Sometimes I use this blog not as a way to communicate what few interesting things happen in my life, but rather, as a pulpit from which to preach. This is that kind of post, so if you are not looking for a soap-box sermon, skip this one.

In the end, one very useful way to classify people fits into two categories: victims, and non-victims. I will describe both categories generally, and then talk about people I know who fit into each category.

Victims

Victims are exactly what their name implies—victims. They do not take responsibility for their actions, and they think that everything that happens to them is someone else's fault. They often do things that are financially imprudent, and then, when they are left with no money, they blame others. They view the world as a hard and difficult place that kicks you when you are down, and where those who rise, rise not as a result of real effort, but because of some unfair advantage they have.

There are several examples of this from people in my ward. They have gym memberships, eat out every meal, live in expensive housing, often buy new clothes (especially when they are on sale!!), drive nice cars that they owe a lot of money on, have large credit card debts, owe a lot of student debt, and so on and so forth. Interestingly, these people often have jobs that pay more than jobs of students who get no help from parents, but have no financial problems. The difference is that the people with problems simply do not take responsibility for their own actions—they blame their employer for firing them, their lack of education (which they chose not to get), some artificial bias against them, or other things. Those that don't have problems simply spend less than they make, and if that becomes a problem, they take responsibility and figure out how to spend less, or make more.

Non-Victims

Non-victims take responsibility. When given a problem, they solve it. When given a difficulty, they overcome it. However, they also plan ahead into the future. They notice, for example, that without a useful education or skill, they will never be able to demand a high wage in the marketplace. Knowing this, they take responsibility and gain the skill or education. They plan for disasters that will inevitably come, so when they do come, the non-victims are prepared.

A friend of mine is a great example of a non-victim. He buys his cars with cash, owns him home outright, and is well prepared for his upcoming retirement. The interesting thing about this guy (we'll call him Mike), is that he is not some fancy lawyer or doctor—he is a welder. He obtains and does welding jobs for random people. I will often see his old truck with barbeque grills or toolboxes in the back—odd things made of metal that he is fixing for people. Mike takes responsibility for his actions—he knows the skill he has is not one that pays a lot, so, he spends very little. He manages his finances well, does not go out to eat much, does not waste a lot of money on new clothes or other fancy things. He knows what he makes, and spends less than that. As a result, he is happy and financially secure, even with the very little money he has coming in.

The Result

The problem is, much of politics relies on the fact that there are a great many people who feel they are victims. These politicians confirm that the victims have been victimized, and find easily blamable things like the government, their political opponents, other countries, corporations, big business, foreigners, and the like. They then promise to punish those that are victimizing, and saving the victims.

This is, essentially, what is wrong with America. People don't take responsibility, have problems, and politicians help those people blame those problems on other people in order to gain power. Thus, the responsible are blamed for the problems of the irresponsible, and bear their burden.

 

 

Monte L. Bean's Furry Friends

Jacob and I journeyed to the north end of BYU's campus to visit the Bean Museum, home to many a taxidermied fauna and other such things. Jacob and I chanced to meet this black bear upstairs after storytime was held, and luckily he took time out of his busy schedule to pose with us. (We were safe, I'd been close to a black bear before, so I knew what I was doing. Really.) Jacob liked the museum so much that he was sad to go, obviously.

And I took this picture on the way home for my dad. This is all that is left of your old freshman dorms, Dad. And this was more than a month ago. Now all that is left of one of these buildings is the stairwells and maybe an elevator shaft. I hope I'm not breaking this news to you.

A speaker at stake conference said we should probably call it "Deseret Flats" now instead of Deseret Towers.

Snowshoeing

For the second year in a row we went up to Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon to attend the Married student retreat. This time we took Jacob with us so he could experience the outdoors a little bit. It was a really nice day so Jeff and I didn't even wear our coats when we went snowshoeing. Jacob enjoyed it so much that he fell asleep in the front carrier. I am not meaning to wink here, but it was pretty bright out with the sun/snow combination. Aside from my strange face, I think Jeff took an awesome picture. It was my first time snowshoeing and I thought I did fairly well, especially since we strayed from the trail a bit towards the end and my descent from the hill wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

Five months and hungry?

Here are Jacob's 5 month pictures from Feb. 20th - I'm a little late in posting them as usual. You can see that the bear is not so much a prop anymore as it is a snack. The latest stats: 17 lb 5 oz and 27 inches long. He may pass me after all.